Meet The Nari Shakti Awardees On Women's Day

On March 8, the world celebrates International Women’s Day. India aptly celebrates woman power by presenting Nari Shakti awards. This year, 39 women are Nari Shakti awardees who are being honoured for their extraordinary work. Their achievements as individuals or in organisations are a symbol of working towards empowering women.

Transforming the lives of women, harnessing Nari Shakti to create a New India. #InternationalWomensDay pic.twitter.com/KiEcZQ3cBQ

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 8, 2018

Instituted by the Ministry of Women and Child development, the annual Nari Shakti awards will be presented by President Ram Nath Kovind.

The award is arguably the “highest civilian honour for women in India”

This year's awardees include 30 individual awardees and nine institutional awardees, according to a press statement.

She gloried in my Ability ! My mother is my inspiration. Do write about some Women who inspires you. #SheInspiresMe #NariShaktihttps://t.co/AJysDARrrX pic.twitter.com/Zy8QSctGPl

— Maneka Sanjay Gandhi (@Manekagandhibjp) March 8, 2018

Each awardee will receive certificate and cash prize of Rs 1 lakh

The winners include the all-woman crew of Indian Navy's sailing vessel Tarini which circumnavigated the globe. Justice Gita Mittal who worked for the vulnerable witness project for survivors of sexual violence and Thinlas Chorol who founded the Ladakhi Women's Travel Company are some of the awardees.

Justice Gita Mittal

Meet Justice Gita Mittal, #NariShakti Puraskar 2017 awardee. Justice Gita Mittal long recognized that following a universal procedural approach in typical court room trials involving sexual violence on women and children severely impedes equal access to justice pic.twitter.com/axkOmnS1ap

— PIB India (@PIB_India) March 7, 2018

Acting Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, Justice Gita Mittal will be the first person from the legal field to be bestowed with this award. Mittal took over as acting Chief Justice after Justice G Rohini's retirement.

Navy's sailing vessel Tarini

INSV Tarini Team, winner of #NariShakti Puraskar 2017, is a part of Indian Navy’s unique project #NavikaSagarParikrama, an all-women team circumnavigating the globe, promoting ocean sailing activities in Navy & depicting Government of India's commitment towards women empowerment pic.twitter.com/Xe2okiN0eV

— PIB India (@PIB_India) March 8, 2018

India’s first all-woman navy crew consists of six female officers who created maritime history with their circumnavigation trip. Sailing onboard INSV Tarini, they are on a five-leg expedition. The women’s crew is led by Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi.

Master Trainer @SuchetaPalZumba made India groove with her matchless skills. Our salutations to this #FirstLadies awardee #NariShakti #SheInspiresMe #MinistryWCDhttps://t.co/nKFW3aPvlW pic.twitter.com/0Qbm9gtMBJ

— Ministry of WCD (@MinistryWCD) March 8, 2018

Railway women employees are taking up challenging roles of Gang women, Gate women, Supervisors, porters. #SheInspiresMe #NariShakti4NewIndia pic.twitter.com/5vbkOiwegz

— Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) March 8, 2018

Till date Tulasi Munda has set up nearly 20 schools across the tribal areas of Odisha and about 20,000 students have passed out from these Adivasi Vikas Samiti schools.

A self-taught tribal woman from a remote area of Odisha, is the hero we should celebrate today. #Sheinspiresme pic.twitter.com/KbKfXUzJDK

— Pratyasha Rath (@pratyasharath) March 8, 2018

Meet Ms. Jayamma Bhandari, #NariShakti Puraskar 2017 awardee. She has been working for over 20 years to rehabilitate sex workers. pic.twitter.com/zEi5g7S5gl

— PIB India (@PIB_India) March 7, 2018

Meet Ms. Jetsun Pema, #NariShakti Puraskar 2017 awardee. She has dedicated her life for Tibetan refugee children since 1964 pic.twitter.com/oKATgweG2g

— PIB India (@PIB_India) March 7, 2018

Meet Dr. Lizymol Philipose Pamadykandathil, #NariShakti Puraskar 2017 awardee. She is a scientist with three decades of experience in the field of polymers and biomaterials pic.twitter.com/iNrhDN7DPf

— PIB India (@PIB_India) March 7, 2018

Meet Dr. M.S. Sunil, #NariShakti Puraskar 2017 awardee. The term Good Samaritan is exemplified by Dr. M.S. Sunil, a retired zoology teacher in Pathanamthitta. pic.twitter.com/HcToXiRr0P

— PIB India (@PIB_India) March 7, 2018

I’m receiving the “Nari Shakti Puraskar”, a National Award from the President of India at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 8th March 2018 on the occasion of International Women’s Day ♥️ Thank you @MinistryWCD #NariShakti #IWD2018 #Disability pic.twitter.com/s5QCPQ5nsW

— Dr. Malvika Iyer (@MalvikaIyer) March 6, 2018

Rekha Mishra

Meet Ms. Rekha Mishra, #NariShakti Puraskar 2017 awardee. She has single-handedly rescued 953 runaway/ lost/ trafficked children from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) Railway Station in Mumbai. pic.twitter.com/4FucSZ88xJ

— PIB India (@PIB_India) March 7, 2018

Mishra is an RPF sub-inspector of Central Railway who is known for her outstanding contribution to women empowerment. This 34-year-old railway cop joined the RPF in 2014. She created a record of sorts by rescuing 434 kids, 45 of them girls, at CSMT station in 2016.

Thank you @MinistryWCD for choosing me as advocate of #NariShakti campaign this year!

Even sitting on a wheelchair we can stand for our rights...I have broken a tough glass ceiling...!! pic.twitter.com/al7fMExkp7

— Abha Khetarpal (@Khetarpalabha) March 4, 2018

Meet Ms. K. Syamalakumari, #NariShakti Puraskar 2017 awardee. She is the first known female temple Mural Artist in Kerala. She has painted, preserved and restored traditional Mural Art in the temples of Kerala pic.twitter.com/OoXzVH9FzH

— PIB India (@PIB_India) March 7, 2018

Meet Ms. Chirom Indira, #NariShakti Puraskar 2017 awardee. She is a handloom entrepreneur and social worker based in Imphal. In 2015, she became the first Indian recipient of the National Award in Design Development of Handloom Products pic.twitter.com/xZPS90aT4s

— PIB India (@PIB_India) March 7, 2018

Meet Ms. Gauri Maulekhi, #NariShakti Puraskar 2017 awardee. She has contributed to animal welfare advocacy in India. She has been the lead resource person for animal welfare laws for state agencies pic.twitter.com/C6wpcId0Hk

— PIB India (@PIB_India) March 7, 2018

Meet Ms. Gargi Gupta, #NariShakti Puraskar 2017 awardee. She founded ‘Voice of World’ NGO in 1992, which works for visually impaired and differently-abled orphaned children in Eastern India pic.twitter.com/nYAXK8UwhD

— PIB India (@PIB_India) March 7, 2018

Meet Ms. Revanna Umadevi Nagraj, #NariShakti Puraskar 2017 awardee. She has emerged as the female world champion in billiards pic.twitter.com/9obv0FauZS

— PIB India (@PIB_India) March 7, 2018

Meet Ms. Sabarmatee, #NariShakti Puraskar 2017 awardee. She is a scholar, conservationist and founder of Sambhav, an NGO that runs large organic and training farms near Bhubaneswar. pic.twitter.com/rjj5fgWEJf

— PIB India (@PIB_India) March 8, 2018

Meet Ms. Mittal Patel, #NariShakti Puraskar 2017 awardee. She has done extensive work for the rights of nomadic and de-notified tribes of India pic.twitter.com/GuPQqQKxKS

— PIB India (@PIB_India) March 7, 2018

Shrujan, winner of #NariShakti Puraskar 2017, was started by Mrs Chanda Shroff in 1969. During her visit to Dhaneti village in Kutch, she saw a way to enable the locals to earn a sustainable and dignified livelihood through the exquisite embroidery on their clothing pic.twitter.com/qAbtnOZVYj

— PIB India (@PIB_India) March 8, 2018

Beti Zindabad Bakery, winner of #NariShakti Puraskar 2017, is Chhattisgarh government's unique initiative of setting-up a bakery unit for survivors of human trafficking. As its pilot project, the first bakery was set up in the tribal belt of Pathalgaon, Jashpur pic.twitter.com/QtpDLH9uMv

— PIB India (@PIB_India) March 8, 2018

Avani Organization, winner of #NariShakti Puraskar 2017, was started by Miss Rashmi Bharati & Mr Rajneesh Jain in 1997. Avani in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand, is a community built on principles of sustainability & community-centric rural development programs pic.twitter.com/ZnWeQ2kK2O

— PIB India (@PIB_India) March 8, 2018

Karuna Society for Animals and Nature, winner of #NariShakti Puraskar 2017, was started by Clementein Pauws Koenegras who came to India from Belgium. She formed a group called Karuna Society for Animals and Nature in 2000 and built a hospital and shelter in Anantapur district pic.twitter.com/eaWK2QQjf9

— PIB India (@PIB_India) March 8, 2018

Meet Ms. Madhu Jain, #NariShakti Puraskar 2017 awardee. She has been a frontrunner in Indian Textile Innovation pic.twitter.com/zKUwEMdctA

— PIB India (@PIB_India) March 7, 2018

Aranya Naturals, winner of #NariShakti Puraskar 2017, is based in Munnar. They seek to preserve a unique repository of community heritage. Set up in 1994, they have been working to produce non-toxic natural dyes based on nature’s discards pic.twitter.com/gTyDT0bztO

— PIB India (@PIB_India) March 8, 2018

National Millet Sister Network, winner of #NariShakti Puraskar 2017, is a first of its kind group launched by 100 women to provide knowledge to women in the area of millet farming. Set up 8 years ago, now over 5,000 women from across the country are part of this network pic.twitter.com/VwZZlyJzSt

— PIB India (@PIB_India) March 8, 2018

Meet Dr. Bharti Kashyap, #NariShakti Puraskar 2017 awardee. She has dedicated her life for the well-being of women and children in the tribal areas of Jharkhand. pic.twitter.com/c4TRQfiPUW

— PIB India (@PIB_India) March 7, 2018

One Stop Centre 'Sakhi' winner of #NariShakti Puraskar 2017, provides 24x7 integrated services to women affected by violence, under one roof. About 1,840 women have availed services at the centre, till date pic.twitter.com/MR7MGl1DnT

— PIB India (@PIB_India) March 8, 2018

Meet Ms. PushpaGirimaji,, #NariShakti Puraskar 2017 awardee. She is India’s best-known journalist on consumer affairs pic.twitter.com/uEKtOI1hmy

— PIB India (@PIB_India) March 7, 2018

READ: Meet the Young Women Influencers Who have the Power to Change!

READ: When Sportswomen Made Us Proud In 2017​

Read More Stories By Ria Das