Bhubaneswar, Yadu News Nation: Dr Mahendra Kumar Mishra, a renowned folklorist, linguist and champion of multilingual education from Odisha, has been selected for the Padma Shri award in the 2026 Republic Day honours list announced today.
The Padma Shri, one of the country’s highest civilian distinctions, recognises his outstanding lifetime contribution to literature and education, particularly in preserving tribal oral traditions and promoting mother-tongue-based schooling for indigenous children.
A native of Kalahandi (now Nuapada) district, Dr Mishra holds a PhD in Indigenous Culture and spent more than four decades in primary education and cultural documentation. He previously served as State Tribal Education Coordinator with the Orissa Primary Education Programme Authority (OPEPA).
In 2006 he launched pioneering Multilingual Education (MLE) programmes in Odisha, creating curricula in over ten tribal languages to help bridge the linguistic divide between home and school. His work drew heavily on local folklore, storytelling, arts and community knowledge, making education more relevant and effective for tribal pupils and influencing national policy.
Among his key initiatives are the Rupantar teacher-training programme, based on Paulo Freire’s pedagogy to sensitise non-tribal teachers to tribal languages and cultures, and the Srujan programme, which involved more than 15 lakh children in activities rooted in indigenous heritage in line with the National Curriculum Framework 2005.
Dr Mishra has authored several influential books in Odia and English, including Oral Epics of Kalahandi, Saora Tales and Songs and Odishara Loka Kahani. He has lectured internationally, served as visiting professor at Mahidol University in Thailand, and advised UNESCO, UNICEF and governments in Nepal and India on indigenous languages and education.
He is the founder of the Folklore Foundation and editor of the e-journal Lokaratna.
Over the years, Dr Mishra has received several notable recognitions for his work. These include the Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award in 1999 for his literary criticism work Kalahandira Loka Sanskruti (Folklore of Kalahandi), the Kshetrabasi Sahitya Vidya Puraskar in 1991, the Kalahandi Yuba Prativa Award in 1989, the Sahitya Puraskar in 1992 from the Bhubaneswar Book Fair, the Veer Shankar Shah Raghunath Shah National Award in 2009 from the Government of Madhya Pradesh for his book Oral Epics of Kalahandi, the Kalevala Award from the Kalevala Institute, University of Turku, Finland in 2001, and the UNESCO International Mother Language Award in 2023 for his pioneering contributions to multilingual education and preservation of endangered mother tongues.
This year’s Padma awards have placed special emphasis on “unsung heroes” whose sustained grassroots efforts have enriched India’s cultural and educational landscape. Dr Mishra’s recognition is widely seen in Odisha as a fitting tribute to a scholar-educator who has empowered tribal communities, safeguarded endangered oral traditions and ensured indigenous knowledge finds a place in modern classrooms.
