Keepu Tsering Lepcha

Born:      Kingdom of Sikkim

Nationality: Sikkimese Indian

Occupation:

• Social worker
• Civil servant
• Educationist

Main Awards:

• Indian National Padma Shri
• Real Heroes Award
• CNN-IBN Senior Citizen Award
• Jewel of Sikkim
• GoS Best Social Service Award

Education and Early Career:

Keepu Tsering was born in 1942 in a Lepcha family to a government official in a rural area of Sikkim. She did her primary and secondary education in Gangtok Schools. Then, she joined Kolkata University for her bachelor’s degree, and subsequently, she secured her master’s degree in the same institute. She speaks six languages such as English, Hindi, Nepali, Bengali, Lepcha and Bhutia and accumulated a profound knowledge about Himalayan culture.

In 1967, she became the principal of the Enchey Senior Secondary School, Gangtok, but she stayed there only for a short period to move to the Government High School, Gangtok where the majority of students were the children of Tibetan refugees. She later decided to join government service and became the assistant director of education with the additional responsibility of managing the primary teachers’ training institutes. During this time, she initiated to bring out the textbooks for primary classes and training of teachers in the local languages.

She is receiving Padma Shri Award:

Social Service:

Keepu Tsering joined Sikkim Civil Service in 1994 and rose in ranks to the position of a joint secretary. She was in charge of the Rural Development Agency, as a project director, and was involved with the development activities in the rural areas for 28 years. She was the secretary of the Department of Sports and Youth Affairs, at the time of her superannuation in 2000. During her years at the civil service, she also continued her social activities for which she founded the Human Development Foundation of Sikkim.

One of the significant contributions in her life is to revive Lepcha culture and Lepcha language. She also hosted a few Lepcha children in her house, The Lepcha Cottage, and has been taking care of them since 1989. She has been holding the chair of the organisation since its inception and the organisation which won the National Award for Children’s Welfare in 2003, runs a school for the underprivileged children, numbering 400.

With Lepcha orphan children at her home

Achievements and Recognition:

Keepu Tsering was the one among the 1000 Peace Women from the year 2010-2018.   With the effort of the Global Organisation, Keepu Tsering was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. The same year, Sikkim Intellectuals Conference on Humanism, Nationalism and Peace awarded her the title, Jewel of Sikkim.

Her Lepcha Cottage School

Two years later, she received the Best Social Service Award of the Government of Sikkim, the investiture ceremony taking place on 16 May 2007. The Government of India awarded her the civilian honour of the Padma Shri in 2009, and she received the Real Heroes Award of the Reliance Foundation in 2012. In 2013, CNN-IBN awarded her the Senior Citizen Award for her services to the Lepcha community.

Her Lepcha Cottage and Real hero Award:

Keepu Tsering’s TEDx Talk: