Modi again praises Swachh Bharat crusader Kamala Moharana

Bhubaneswar: The sexagenarian Kamala Moharana from Kendrapara district in Odisha again hogged the limelight after Prime Minister Narendra Modi showed his respect towards the former by prostrating before her during an election rally in Odisha.

Moharana, among a few others, was felicitated by Modi during the meeting on Wednesday.

“I have never thought of meeting PM Modi. I am very happy to get the opportunity to see PM Modi,” said an elated Moharana. She also heaped praise on PM Modi for the construction of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya.

The 65-year-old Swachh Bharat crusader first caught the attention of the nation when Modi appreciated the contributions of the Woman Self-Help Group, Ama Dakhyata, created by Moharana in 2016, during 98th episode of his weekly Mann Ki Baat programme, which focused on waste to wealth, on February 26 last year.

Praising her efforts,Modi said: “The women of this group craft many things like baskets and mobile stands from milk pouches and other plastic packing materials. This is becoming a good source of income for them along with ensuring cleanliness. If we resolve this, we can make a huge contribution towards a clean India. At least we all should take a pledge to replace plastic bags with cloth bags.”

The SHG, run by Moharana in her village Khairabad in Kendrapara, has been engaged in making baskets, pen stands, mobile phone stands, flower pots, hand fans, wall-hanging and other items from waste materials for the last eight years.

Her SHG has at least 40 to 50 female members who assist Moharana in her crusade towards turning garbage into wealth.

The women members of the group collect the plastic waste materials from the village and nearby areas and later they clean and dry them. The plastic pouches and foils are cut into strips of different sizes for making various products.

Moharana, who considers PM Modi her brother, had also sent him a Rakhi in August last year.