‘Nehru’s tribal wife’ passes away

Local politicians demand memorial next to Nehru’s statue at a park in Panchet

Dhanbad: Budhni Manjhiyain, a woman from the Santhal tribe, passed away at the age of 80 at her residence near Panchet in Jharkhand.

Budhni Manjhiyain lived and died in exile. She acquired fame, rather infamy, as the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s ‘tribal wife’ after she was garlanded by him during the inauguration of a dam in 1959 following which the then 15-year-old was ostracised by her community and she remained an outcast.

On Dec. 6, 1959, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru travelled to Dhanbad in West Bengal to inaugurate a dam over the Damodar River, also known as the ‘sorrow of Bengal’.

Nehru had then insisted that a woman working on the project be a part of the inauguration and the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) selected 15-year-old Budhni, along with Ravan Manjhi, a Santhali man, to welcome the PM.

In reciprocation of Budhni garlanding him, Nehru garlanded Budhni. He also insisted that the teen press the button at the power station to signal the start of operations. She was flanked by Nehru, which offended the tribal community.

When Budhni returned to her village that evening after all the fanfare, the village elders at Karbona told her that by garlanding the PM at the function she had in effect married him. Furthermore, since Nehru was not a Santhal, she was no longer a part of the community and was told to leave the village.

Left with no option, Budhni left her home behind and then took shelter in Panchet. In 1962, Budhni, who was employed by Damodar Valley Corporation, was thrown out of her job and found herself helpless. Budhni then took up work as a daily-wager in Purulia.

In 1985 when Rajiv Gandhi learnt of her plight, he met her and it was at this meeting that she requested that she be reinstated at her job in DVC. Her request was approved and she worked there until 2005 when she retired.

Following her retirement, Budhni lived a quiet life and passed away on Nov. 17 following prolonged illness.

Now, there are calls for a Memorial be built in her honour, next to the statue of Nehru in a local park and pension be provided to Budhni’s daughter Ratna. Bhairav Mandal, the Chief of Panchet Panchayat and others have written to the DVC management about the Memorial and a house to Ratna in DVC Colony.