17 Facts About Digamber Hansda

Digamber Hansda was an Indian academic and tribal activist who worked for the social and economic advancement of the underprivileged communities in West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Odisha.

Digamber Hansda was a founding member of the Santhal Sahitya Akademi and was considered a pioneer of Santhali language literature.

In 2018, Hansda was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian honour, by the President of India for his work in the field of tribal literature and education.

Digamber Hansda was born in Dobhapani village in Ghatshila, East Singhbhum district on 16 October 1939.

Digamber Hansda's parents were farmers; from a young age, Hansda helped his parents on the farm.

Digamber Hansda completed his schooling at Rajdoha Middle School and Manpur High School.

Digamber Hansda obtained a graduate degree in political science from Bihar University in 1963 and a postgraduate degree in political science from the same university in 1965.

Digamber Hansda started his career by working as the secretary of the TISCO Adivasi Co-operative Society in the early 1960s.

Digamber Hansda helped introduce Santhali and other tribal languages as a medium of instruction in colleges in the region.

Digamber Hansda was a pioneer of the Santhali language literature, and a founding member of Santhal Sahitya Akademi.

Digamber Hansda developed intermediate, post-graduate and under-graduate courses in the Santhali language under the directive of the state government.

Digamber Hansda regularly visited villages across Potka and Ghatshila to collect folktales and folksongs from local artists and to compile them to spread awareness of literary works among the tribals.

Digamber Hansda translated the Constitution of India to Santhali language from the Devanagari script.

Digamber Hansda retired as the principal of the Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial College, Karandih.

In 2018, Digamber Hansda was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian honour, by the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, for his work in the field of Santhali language literature and education.

Digamber Hansda was married and had two sons and three daughters.

Digamber Hansda died on 19 November 2020, aged 81, after a long illness at his home in Karandih, Jamshedpur.