Tsultrim Chonjor

Tsultrim Chonjor, also known as Chhultim Chhonjor, is a retired tailoring master from the government weaving centre at Padum in Zanskar, and a social worker. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2021 in the field of social work, from Ladakh ^[1].

A monastery education

Chonjor was born on 3 July 1943 into a poor family in Stongdey ^[2]. His village had no school, so he was sent to the Stongdey monastery to learn the Bodhi language ^[2]. In gratitude he later built a 30-foot assembly hall for the monastery, and an artificial ice store there to ease the shortage of water ^[2].

Rescues in the snow

In 2003, when an avalanche left travellers stranded on the Padum–Kargil highway, he cleared snow from the road and helped rescue 64 people from the bitter cold ^[2]. In 2009 he rescued seven people stranded in a car on the Penzi La pass ^[2].

The road

In 2016 he built a 40 km stretch of road from Ramjak, on the Ladakh side of the Shinku La pass, to Kargyak village in Zanskar, linking the area with the outside world ^[2]. He spent more than Rs 57 lakh of his own money on it, including his life savings and the proceeds of selling his ancestral property ^[2].

He has received certificates and district awards from the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Kargil ^[2].