A young woman from the Chuktia Bhunjia community, a particularly vulnerable tribal group (PVTG) in Odisha, successfully defended her PhD thesis in Bhubaneswar on Friday (September 19, 2025) – to become the first girl of the tribe to reach this Milpone.
Jaiminee Jhankar, the 28-year-old girl from the Chuktia Bhunjia-Stam, will soon receive a doctorate-the highest level of academic qualifying in a convocation ceremony.
Her performance is remarkably in view of the deep -rooted discrimination in which women are confronted in her community. Until a few decades ago, Chuktia bhunjia women were not allowed to wear petticoat, blouse or colored sari. Girls were not even allowed to wear shoes.
From a remote village in the Sunabeda sanctuary, she has overcome social and geographical barriers to achieve this historical achievement.
Her studies ‘toxicity and safety implications of herbal medicines: a case study of the Nuapada district’ investigated the potential harmful effects of three commonly used traditional drugs, such as Tinoospora Cordifolia, cymbopogon Citratus and Gymnema Sylvestre in Oda.
“Although these plants are widely used, there have been no earlier studies into their toxicity. The use of zebra fishing as a model organism has shown this study that these plant extracts can cause developmental problems in Zebravisembryos, including heart deviations, spinal malformations and raised mortality,” said Mrs. Jhankar
Her research emphasizes the need for further studies to assess the safety of these traditional medicines and to identify the specific connections responsible for the observed toxicity. The Chuktia Bhunjia girl completed her doctoral research in five years under the supervision of Rasmi Mohapatra, head of Botany Department of City based Kiss University.
The journey of Mrs. Jaiminee Jhankar has been downright extraordinary – the kind often finds in novels and films. Until two years ago, her Panchayat headquarters in Sunabeda, 3500 feet above sea level, was first connected by a road for all weather conditions.
Before that, Jaiminee had to cross more than 20 km of dense forest, sometimes Pildenbarsen-just to take a bus to reach the university. Each of her academic milestones marked a ‘first’ for the Chuktia Bhunjia -Stame. No other her male counterpart in her tribe had completed the bachelor’s degree in science.
“I am proud of my daughter. Our tribe has long been discriminated against women. Two decades ago, women were not allowed to wear petticoats, blouses or colored sari’s. They only had to attend social functions dressed in a single piece of white saree,” her father, Biju Jhankar.
For generations, girls in the tribe did not come to school to go to school as soon as they reached puberty. With this biological change, further limitations came: it was forbidden to eat food that was cooked by others. In public positions, women and girls were asked raw food and asked to prepare their own meals separately.
“Although girls go to school nowadays and wear shoes, many traditions still discriminate us. Because I wear footwear and eat food outside the house, I will have to undergo rituals after death if I will ever cook in our holy kitchen at home,” said Mrs. Jaiminee Jhankar.
She mentions her success to her parents, who tarted the thickness of the tribe. Her mother, Baidehi Jhankar, was one of the first to broke the convention by wearing a petticoat, blouse and colored sari. The family has passed social boycott for this act of resistance for five years, but it opened the door for other Chuktia Bhunjia women to free themselves from rigid traditions.
One of her mentors, Rajeev Kumar Swain, senior scientist at the Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar, praised her doctoral presentation as ‘impressive’.
Published – September 20, 2025 01:39 am ON
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