Chaitram Pawar

Chaitram Pawar’s village of Baripada is now surrounded by dense forest. Three decades ago, the trees were being cut down. In 2025 he was named for the Padma Shri in the field of social work, from Maharashtra ^[1].

From his own village

Chaitram Pawar was born on 1 June 1967 in Baripada, in Sakri tehsil of Maharashtra, and comes from a tribal family ^[2]. He earned a master’s degree in commerce from the University of Pune in 1993 ^[2]. For about thirty years he has worked with forest-dwelling communities on development, forest rights, farming and conservation ^[2].

Forest and water

He began by stopping tree-felling in his village and planting 5,000 trees with his own money ^[2]. With the whole community, he built small structures such as loose-boulder bunds and contour trenches to catch rainwater ^[2].

The results are visible on the land: a dense forest of 445 hectares has grown back, and the water work now gives protective irrigation to at least 500 acres and a winter-crop irrigation system to 250 acres ^[2]. In 2015 he was appointed an expert member of the Government of India’s Forest Advisory Committee ^[2].

Beyond trees

His work has spread to about 100 villages in Maharashtra and Gujarat through the Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram, which he heads ^[2]. Alongside conservation, he has worked on nutrition, primary and girls’ education, sanitation and women’s role in village decisions ^[2].

His honours include a UNDP biodiversity award in 2014 and Maharashtra’s Vanbhushan award in 2024 ^[2].