Sheela Borthakur (1935 – 21 June 2020) was an Indian social worker, littérateur and the founder president of the ''Sadou Asom Lekhika Samaroh Samity'' (SALSS), a non governmental organization working in the socio-cultural and literary milieu of

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

. She served as the president of the organization for three terms, 1974 to 1976, 1990 to 1992 and 1993 to 1994 and as its general secretary for two terms, from 1976 to 1990. Borthakur was born in 1935 to Nabin Sharma and Pritilata Devi at Charingia, a small village in

Jorhat Jorhat ( ) is one of the important cities and a growing urban centre in the state of Assam in India. Etymology Jorhat ("jor" means twin and "hat" means market) means two hats or mandis - "Masorhaat" and "Sowkihat" which existed on the opposite ...

, in the Northeast Indian state of

but her early years were spent in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

. She did her graduate studies at

Jagannath Barooah College Front view of JB college Jagannath Barooah College (popularly known as ''J.B. College'') is an autonomous college located in Jorhat, Assam, India. It was founded on 19 August 1930. The College is affiliated to Dibrugarh University and recogniz ...

, and after her marriage to Saranan Borthakur, a dancer, she started her career as a teacher at Tezpur High School, but continued her studies to secure master's and doctoral degrees, her thesis being on ''Social Change in Assam''. Later, she joined Darrang College as a lecturer of Philosophy and worked there till her superannuation from service. In between, when the first girls' college in Tezpur, ''Gopinath Bordoloi Kanya Mahavidyalaya'', was started in 1979, she worked there as its founder principal. It was during her days at Darrang college, she proposed the idea of an independent literary organization for Assamese women in 1974 which paved way for the formation of SALSS. Her efforts were also reported in the organization of five adult education programmes in Tezpur and she was the editor of three books, composed of writings of Nalini Bala Devi, Dharmeswari Devi Baruani and Sneha Devi. The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honor of the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

, in 2008, for her contributions to society. Sheela Borthakaur died on 21 June 2020 due to prolonged illness in Guwahati, she was 84 years old.

References

Recipients of the Padma Shri in social work 1935 births People from Jorhat district Social workers from Assam 20th-century Indian women educational theorists 2020 deaths 20th-century Indian women writers 20th-century Indian writers Founders of Indian schools and colleges 20th-century Indian educational theorists Women writers from Assam Women educators from Assam Educators from Assam Writers from Assam Writers from Northeast India 20th-century Indian women educators 20th-century Indian educators {{India-bio-stub

See also

References