Snakefriend Vanita Borade gets Prestigious Presidential Award 'the Nari Shakti Puraskar'

 'Saanpwali bai' from Buldhana gets prestigious 'Nari Shakti' award.

"Don't you get sca red while catching snakes?", President Ramnath Kovind asked Vanita Jagdeo Borade while conferring the presti gious 'Nari Shakti' award 2020 on the gutsy woman. "No, snakes are more scared of humans when we catch them," was her reply.

Borade, popularly known as 'Saanpwali Bai' (snake woman) in Buldhana district, has rescued and re- leased more than 50,000 sna kes into their natural habi- tat in her 25-year-long jour- ney as a 'snake friend'. Recognized as 'India's first woman snake friend', she is a self taught person who has contributed signi- ficantly not only in rescu- ing snakes but also in spre- ading awareness.

"I was overwhelmter receiving India's hig- hest civilian honour for wo- men. Iconsider myself fort- unate that the government of India has recognized my efforts. Snakes are a very different species. They ne- ver interfere with humans and neither do they like us interfering with them," sa id Borade, adding, snakesare an important part of the environmental cycle and food chain.

"Killing snakes due to fear is common in India but it creates a major environ mental imbalance. Snakes are silent creatures. Most of them are non-poisonous. They bite us out of fear," Borade said. Creating awareness about snakes is her mission. "I want our generation next to develop skills to identify poisonous and non-poisonous snakes. This will save the lives of many snakes. I keep on visi ting schools and creating awareness," added Borade.

The 'Nari Shakti' award comprises a cash prize of 2 lakh and a memento. The women and child welfare  department confers the award every'Saanpwali bai' from Buldhana gets prestigious 'Nari Shakti' award .