North Lakhimpur: Dr. Purabi Shaikia, a botanist from Assam‘s Lakhimpur district, has been awarded the prestigious Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Prize, India’s highest honor in science.
Currently serving as an Associate Professor in the Department of Botany at Banaras Hindu University, Dr. Shaikia is the sixth recipient of this award from Assam.
Instituted in 1958, the Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Prize includes a cash award of Rs. 15 lakh, a plaque, and a monthly stipend of Rs. 15,000.
Dr. Shaikia’s groundbreaking research in plant ecology, biodiversity conservation, and soil ecology earned her this coveted recognition.
Hailing from Kadam village in Lakhimpur, Dr. Shaikia is the youngest daughter of the late Chandreswar Saikia and Aaidhan Daikia.
In 2021, Assam scientist Dr Binoy Kumar Saikia of CSIR-North East Institute of Science & Technology, Jorhat won the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology.