Dhanbad: Budhni Manjhiyain was cremated in Panchet today on Saturday. His last journey took place with musical instruments. Women were also involved in this. Let us tell you that on December 6, 1959, the country’s first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Budhani Manjhiyain, who became famous across the country by inaugurating the DVC Panchet Dam and was ostracized from the tribal community for garlanding her, died at 8 pm on Friday night. He breathed his last at DVC’s Panchet Hill Hospital. She was 85 years old. She was ill for several months. Budhni’s ancestral village was in Khairbana of the then Manbhum district, which was completely displaced during the construction of the dam.
Rajiv Gandhi had provided the job
Budhni’s issue kept cropping up in the media from time to time. After Rajiv Gandhi became the Prime Minister, when Budhni’s case came before him, he ordered DVC to search for Budhni and give her employment. DVC had called Budhni from Saltod and given him a job in DVC. After retirement, she was living in Saltod. Budhni has a daughter Ratna Dutta. Ratna is married. Hearing the news of the demise, Chief Sachin Mandal and Chief Bhairav Mandal reached Panchet Hill Hospital and met the bereaved family and expressed their condolences.
Pandit Nehru was garlanded at the inauguration ceremony of Panchet Dam.
At the inauguration ceremony of Panchet Dam, Budhni welcomed the then Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and garlanded him. That night a meeting of Santhali community was held. It was said that Budhani has now become Nehru’s wife because according to the tradition of the society, if a woman puts a garland around the neck of a man, it means that she has married that person. Ultimately, the Santhali community decided to expel her from the caste and village on the charge of marrying a non-tribal. She went to Saltod (Raghunathpur) in the neighboring Purulia district in search of work. There he met Sudhir Dutt of Saltod. Sudhir Dutt married Budhni. Both have a daughter.