Kerala's pioneering literacy advocate K.V. Rabiya passes away
Known as the 'ambassador of literacy movement', Ms. Rabiya defied adversity her entire life. She illuminated countless lives with the power of knowledge.
Ms. Rabiya was celebrated as Kerala's Aksharaputri (meaning 'daughter of letters') for her pivotal role in the State's total literacy movement. Despite being wheelchair-bound due to polio since age 14, she taught hundreds of people, spanning ages 8 to 80, as part of the literacy movement.
In 1994 she founded Chalanam, an organisation that drove social transformation for thousands in her native Vellilakkad village and beyond. Its pioneering women's empowerment programme mobilised 60-odd neighbourhoods even before initiatives like the Kudumbashree became popular.
Ms. Rabiya founded schools for physically challenged children while also promoting libraries and women's empowerment. Her efforts brought essential infrastructure to Vellilakkad village, including roads, power and water supply.
She fought against social injustices and mediated in family and social disputes, earning her both admiration and adversaries.
Ms. Rabiya's remarkable work earned her widespread recognition, including the prestigious Padma Shri in 2022. Her earlier accolades included the National Youth Award (1993), Kannagi Sthree Shakti Award (1999), UNDP Award (2000) and Joseph Mundassery Award (2010).
Challenges and resilience
Ms. Rabiya's life was marked by significant challenges: polio left her unable to walk at 14, breast cancer led to a mastectomy at 32 and a spinal injury confined her to bed for over 25 years. She also battled gastrointestinal and lung issues for over a decade and survived two COVID-19 infections, which left lasting effects. She finally succumbed to cancer, bringing an end to her remarkable yet challenging life.
Her inspiring story of resilience has entered into school textbooks. Though the literacy movement she spearheaded more than two decades ago has slowed, its impact still persists.
Ms. Rabiya wrote an autobiography titled Swapnangalkku Chirakukalundu, which translates to Dreams Have Wings in English. Some cultural leaders even drew parallels, suggesting she would have been considered for sainthood if she were Christian.
Her body was brought to PSMO College, Tirurangadi, where people from different walks of life paid their last respects to her. She was buried with State honour at Naduvil Juma Masjid graveyard, Tirurangadi, in the evening.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Indian Express
4 days ago
- New Indian Express
The Forest Queen of Majuli
On a misty morning in Majuli, Assam's ever-eroding river island, a barefoot woman hoists a sack of saplings over her shoulder and steps into a waiting boat. The river is high, the current restless, but she's done this hundreds of times. As she balances against the rocking vessel, a villager on the bank calls out, 'Forest Queen!' Munmuni Payeng smiles, nods, and keeps moving. There are trees to plant. Daughter of Padma Shri awardee Jadav Payeng, the 'Forest Man of India,' who famously turned barren land into the lush Molai forest, Munmuni's own journey began in 2022, when she assembled a grassroots team of around 60 people. Their mission: reforest the flood-ravaged zones across Majuli using only native species. 'There were no trees when we started. Now, slowly, the land is changing,' smiles the 25-year-old. Each morning, her team packs food, gathers tools, loads saplings or seeds, and crosses the river to reach planting zones. During the March-to-May planting window—when survival rates are highest—they plant 3,000 saplings a day. The team collects seeds from the Molai forest, grows them in community-run nurseries, and plants them across erosion-prone sandbars and river isles. They revisit sites, monitor growth, and replant where needed. By early 2024, the team had already crossed the one-million-trees mark. 'We weren't counting on a milestone. It was only later that we realised how far we'd come,' says the young woman.
The Hindu
4 days ago
- The Hindu
Tree man of Telangana, Daripalli Ramaiah's legacy erased before his death
Daripalli Ramaiah, also called Vanajeevi Ramaiah for his monumental efforts towards afforestation in Khammam district, and for his campaign for plantation drives, may have received the most uncharitable tribute before his death. That too from the very same government that had honoured his work with the 'Padma Shri' award eight years before. Hundreds of seedlings he had planted 25-30 years ago on the road margins of his village and beyond, which had grown into magnificent trees, got axed towards the end of 2024 for the widening of the national highway. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had approved the ongoing widening of the Khammam-Kuravi stretch and sanctioned ₹140 crore for the same. This is part of the 39 national highway projects sanctioned by the Central government at ₹5,658 crore. The 37 km section of National Highway 365A was to be expanded from single lane to double lane, as per the project specification. The road had a thick canopy of fully grown trees, planted and nurtured for decades by Mr. Ramaiah. 'The road was totally covered from end to end by the canopies of the trees on both sides. Officials from the National Highways visited our father and informed him that the road had to be widened if accidents were to be prevented. He could not say no to it, but felt miserable for days,' recalled Daripalli Kanakaiah, Mr. Ramaiah's son. Mr. Ramaiah, 87, requested the authorities to allow him to replant the road margins once the road work was finished, but did not live long enough to fulfil his wish. Kanakaiah remembered that his father would start at 6 a.m., carrying water cans on his bicycle, and water the saplings up to 11 a.m. Post lunch and a short nap, his work would begin again. Ramaiah even sold part of his land for this endeavour and grew trees in the rest of the land. During his lifetime, he planted and donated crores of saplings and seeds. Many of the planted varieties on the road were rain trees and pongamia, apart from native species such as tamarind, bael and other fruit bearing trees. A tamarind tree which is now gone, was right near the door step of Mr. Ramaiah at Reddypalli, in the shade of which the barefoot environmentalist rested often. Naresh Jilla, the biographer and close associate of Mr. Ramaiah, recalled that he had conducted a photo shoot for the book in January 2024, with the trees in the background. 'Later, I got busy with my work and the book, and could not visit the place till Mr. Ramaiah passed away in April. I was in for a shock to learn that all the trees had gone by then,' Mr. Jilla said, recalling that the trees, around a thousand, were planted between Reddypalli and Nayudupet villages, covering four km. 'The government, which had granted him Padma Shri for his lifelong effort, thought it fit to erase the same to facilitate a road. How much more dystopian could it get? In any other country, trees would have been saved for their heritage, but not here,' said Udaykrishna Peddireddi from Vata Foundation, who brought the incident to light.
The Hindu
6 days ago
- The Hindu
Kudumbashree's State-level BUDS Day fete at Thrithala on August 16
Minister for Local Self-Government M.B. Rajesh will inaugurate the State-level Kudumbashree BUDS Day celebrations at the BUDS rehabilitation centre, Thrithala, Palakkad, on Saturday (August 16, 2025). Thrithala block panchayat president V.P. Rajeena will preside over the function. BUDS Day will be celebrated in all BUDS institutions too. As many as 13,081 learners attending these institutions will participate in the celebrations. BUDS institutions are run by the Kudumbashree in association with local self-governments for education and rehabilitation of intellectually challenged children. The first BUDS Day was celebrated on August 16, 2023. It marks the day the first BUDS school in the State formally opened in the Venganoor grama panchayat in the State capital in 2004.
