The Nari Shakti Puraskar is an annual award given by the Ministry of Women and Child Development of the Government of India to individual women or to institutions that work towards the cause of women empowerment. It is the highest civilian honour for women in India, and is presented by the president of India on International Women's Day at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. The award was instituted in 1999 under the title of Stree Shakti Puraskar, renamed and reorganised in 2015. It is awarded in six institutional and two individual categories, which carry a cash prize of 200,000 and 100,000 rupees, respectively.
Bharti Kashyap Navigating Health Care Reform in Jharkhand From a crusader against blindness to Cervical cancer activist the extraordinary success and figures of cervical cancer eradication campaign, eye donation awareness campaign, diabetic retinopathy screening, “Jyot Se Jyot Jalao” campaign and vision protection campaign being run in Jharkhand over the past three decades by Dr. Bharti Kashyap is a testament to the fact that she has carried out the campaigns with full devotion and dedication and has successfully achieved the set targets. Nari Shakti puruskar Awardee Dr Bharti Kashyap is an Indian ophthalmologist and great family and child welfare social worker in Jharkhand, also known as vision and Janni suraksha Lady. She is honoured with Nari Shakti Puraskar in 2017 by hon'ble president of India and is a five-time recipient of the National IMA Award for the welfare of the underprivileged section of society
Subha Varier is an Indian space engineer. She has specialised in the video systems used on Indian satellite launches. In 2017 she received the Nari Shakti Puraskar, India's highest award for women after the record release of 104 satellites in one launch.
Lizymol Philipose Pamadykandathil is an Indian dental materials scientist. Her work has been recognised with a Nari Shakti Puraskar - the highest civilian honour exclusively for women in India.
Anita Bhardwaj is an Indian high-altitude rescue doctor. She is joint medical director of the Six Sigma High Altitude Medical Rescue Services and she has received the highest award for women in India, the Nari Shakti Puraskar.
Rashmi Anand is an Indian activist and writer concerned about domestic violence. The President of India awarded her the Nari Shakti Puraskar. This is the highest award for women in India. She founded the "Woman of the Elements Trust" which supplies support to victims of domestic abuse in Delhi.
Uttara Padwar is an Indian charity worker from Madhya Pradesh who was awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar in 2013.
Pragya Prasun is an Indian activist who survived an acid attack and set up the Atijeevan Foundation. The organisation has supported more than 250 other survivors and in 2019, she received the Nari Shakti Puraskar awarded the Government of India in recognition of her work.
Kagganapalli Radha Devi is an Indian activist who successfully protested against a Hindu temple that would only employ male barbers. The Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala, which gathers over a ton of hair every day, agreed to also employ female barbers to carry out the ritual tonsuring. Devi received the Nari Shakti Puraskar in recognition of her work.
Urmila Balavant Apte is the Indian Founder of the BhartiyaStree Shakti organisation in 1988 which is dedicated to the empowerment of women. She received the Nari Shakti Puraskar from President Ram Nath Kovind in 2018 for her work.
A. Seema is an Indian scientist from Kerala who led a team that developed a bra that indicates whether the person wearing it has breast cancer. After it was sent for commercial development, she was awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar in 2019 for her work.
Madhuri Barthwal née Uniyal is a folk singer of Uttarakhand, India. She is the first woman to be a music composer in All India Radio. She is said to be the first female musician from Uttarakhand to become a music teacher. On International Women's Day in 2019 she was awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar by Ram Nath Kovind. She was awarded the Padma ShriIndia's fourth highest civilian award in 2022 by the Indian government in the field of art.
Sheela Balaji leads the Indian educational nonprofit organization (NGO) AIM For Seva. She is the recipient of the Nari Shakti Puraskar award. She is the grand-daughter of T. V. Sundram Iyengar.
Ambica Beri born Ambica Subherwal is an Indian art gallery owner. She was awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar in 2018 for establishing a retreat for artists.
Kshetrimayum Indira Devi, known as Chirom Indira, is an Indian entrepreneur, designer, and social worker.
Madhu Jain is an Indian textile designer who is an advocate for bamboo fabric which she sees as the "textile of the future". In 2018 she was awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar after 30 years in fashion.
Rekha Mishra is an Indian police officer from Railway Protection Force(RPF) who was recognised for finding hundreds of lost children. She was awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar in 2018.
K. Syamalakumari aka Syamala Kumari is an Indian temple painter. This was an occupation traditionally carried out by men. Her work includes painting at the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Kerala. She has been awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar.
Krishna Yadav is an Indian entrepreneur. She is known for her successful pickle business venture, which she started after receiving training from Krishi Vigyan Kendra in Delhi. Over several years she sold pickles at the roadside and gradually turned her venture into four different entities with a turnover of 40 million INR. She was awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar in 2016.
Anita Gupta is an Indian social entrepreneur, organic farmer and tribal activist. She has arranged training for more than 50,000 rural women.
