Genda Bai is a wood collector in the Bundelkhand region of India. She is from Purusottampur village, Panna District.
She has 6 children to feed and depends on collecting wood from the forest and selling it.
On Wednesday, July 27th, she was doing this when she noticed a shiny stone near her feet. She collected it and brought it back.
The diamond was submitted to the Government Diamond Office. The officials assessed the stone and informed her that it was a 4.39 carat diamond!
What happens now?
The diamond will be auctioned by the government. The money made from the sale will be given to the finder. The government keeps some charges(11.5% royalty and some part of the applicable income tax) and fees, and gives the rest to the finder.
This money means a lot to the family. Genda Bai ji has mentioned that she intends to use this money to build a house and for her children’s education.
About Panna
Panna is a tiger reserve (a large area where tiger conservation is done in a natural setting and the area is protected from human habitation and development, so that natural resources can grow undisturbed).
It is also a diamond mine. Small plots (8*8 meters) are leased to locals, who look for diamonds among the stones. There is a Diamond office that assesses all stones and facilitates the sale of diamonds for a fee.
In 2020, a 10.59 carat diamond was found by another local miner – Anandilal Kushwaha.
In June 2022, Arvind Kondar, who had a leased mine in the Hirapur village, found a 5.7 carat diamond.
Aside from the legal mining licence, there is also a lot of illegal mining in the area. Some villagers prefer to sell the diamonds quietly to unofficial middlemen.
India’s diamond mines
The known diamond mines of India are on the eastern side – from Bundelkhand (Panna) to Golconda (near Hyderabad). The Nizams of Hyderabad owe much of their wealth to the Golconda diamond mines. Currently, there are no diamond mines in Golconda.
This satellite image of Panna shows some diamond mines and the general terrain of the area. Image Credit: ISRO’s Bhuvan interface
