Dhaniram, a Toto (Dengka) language preserver is a recipient of Padma Shri award in the field of Literature & Education.

• The Toto is a primitive and isolated tribal group of population of only 1,632 people.
• They are residing only in a small enclave called Toto Para in Alipurduar district in West Bengal.
•  Toto Para is located at the foot of the Himalayas just to the south of the borderline between Bhutan and West Bengal (on the western bank of Torsa River).
• They speak the eponymous language called Toto language.
• Toto language belongs to Tibeto-Burman family of sub-Himalayan group, as classified by Hodgson and Grierson.
• The Toto language does not have their own script.
• Dhaniram has created the Toto language script and Toto alphabet, for which he received ‘Padma Shri’.
• At present, poems and novels are written in Toto.