Smita Tandi (born c. 1992) is an Indian police constable in the state of Chhattisgarh. She set up a fund to help people unable to pay for medical treatment and received the 2016 Nari Shakti Puraskar in recognition of her humanitarian efforts.
Career
Smita Tandi works as a police constable.[1] In 2013 her father, who had also worked for the police, became ill and died when her family could not afford to pay for treatment. In his memory, Tandi set up a fund called Jeevandeep for people unable to access medical treatment.[2] She opened a Facebook account to promote the fund in 2015 and twenty months later had almost 7.2 lakh (720,000) followers.[1][3] When Tandi receives a request for help, she visits the person and if the story is true, she then posts about it on Facebook and makes an appeal for funds.[1]
Tandi received the 2016 Nari Shakti Puraskar in recognition of her humanitarian efforts.[4] After her superiors heard about her activism, Tandi was moved to a position dealing with social media complaints on the Bhilai women’s helpline.[1]
Personal life
Smita Tandi was born c. 1992 and lives in Durg, a city in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh.[1] She represents Chhattisgarh at volleyball.[1] In 2018, Tandi reported an incident of sexual harassment on a train between Bilaspur and Bhatapara. Her assailant was arrested by the Railway Protection Force.[5]
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