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. The awards are presented by the President of India on International Women's Day, at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. The awards were instituted in 1999 under the title of Stree Shakti Puraskar and were renamed and reorganised in 2015. There are given in six institutional and two individual categories, which carry a cash prize of rupees two-lakh and one-lakh, respectively.
Sardarni Man(n) Kaur is an Indian track-and-field athlete. She holds the world records in the Over-100 years old categories for a variety of events. When she was 103 she was given the Nari Shakti Puraskar award by the President of India.
Gargi Gupta is the founder and secretary of Voice Of World (NGO), a multi-unit non-profit organization for visually impaired and differently-abled and orphaned children in Eastern India, headquartered in Kolkata, India.
Mumtaz née Maqsood Ahmed Kazi also popularly known as Mumtaz M. Kazi is an Indian train engineer who is also regarded as the first Indian woman to drive a diesel engine train. In fact, she is also Asia's first woman locomotive driver. She was awarded the prestigious Nari Shakti Puraskar in March 2017 coinciding the International Women's Day from the then Indian President Pranab Mukherjee.
Qamar Dagar is an Indian calligrapher. She is the founder of the Qalamkaari Creative Calligraphy Trust. In 2016, she was awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar, India's highest civilian award for women.
Nilza Wangmo is an Indian restaurant owner and an enthusiast for the local food of the Ladakh region of northern India. Her work in 2019 was recognised with the highest award for women in India – Nari Shakti Puraskar.
Rashmi Urdhwardeshe born Rashmi Ranade is an Indian automotive engineer. She is the director of the Automotive Research Association of India. In March 2020 she received the highest award for women in India - the Nari Shakti Puraskar
Padala Bhudevi is an Indian person helping her Savara women to improve entrepreneurship and their family's diet. In March 2020 she received the highest award for women in India - the Nari Shakti Puraskar
Kalavati Devi is an Indian mason who became an award-winning toilet builder in Kanpur. She transformed her own community by installing a 50-seat toilet and then moved to other communities. She has helped build 4,000 toilets improving the lot particularly for women and children. In 2019 she was awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar.
Arifa Jan is an Indian activist for felt rug making in Srinagar in Kashmir. Jan was awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar on 8 March 2020.
Chami Murmu is known for plantings trees in India. When she was awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar award in 2020 she had been involved with planting 2,500,000 trees.
Sailakshmi Balijepally or Sai Balijepally is an Indian paediatrician and charity founder. She was awarded the Nari Shakti Award in 2015 by the President of India.
Sonia Jabbar is an Indian plantation owner and elephant lover. In 2019 she was awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar, India's highest civilian award for women, in recognition of the example she has made the year before. The Wildlife Trust of India noted her work and made her a Green Corridor Champion of North Bengal. Vogue India recognised her contibution in 2020.
Sunita Devi is an Indian mason honoured for building toilets. In her village 90% of the women did not have access to a toilet. After her work they all now have access. She was given the Nari Shakti Puraskar award in 2019 by the President of India.
Smriti Morarka is an Indian reviving handwoven cloth. In 2017 she was awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar in recognition of the example she has made.
Lizymol Philipose Pamadykandathil is an Indian dental materials scientist. Her work has been recognised with a Nari Shakti Puraskar - the highest civilian honour for women in India
Priyamvada Singh is an Indian fort restorer in India. She returned to her ancestral home and used the skills of the local community to restore the fort near Bhilwara. Her use of local skills and workers won her the Nari Shakti Puraskar from the Indian government.
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 Idia 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.
Prof. Nanditha Krishna is an Indian author and activist. She was recognised by the government of India who gave her a Nari Shakti Award in 2015. This is the highest award for women in India and eight awards were made that year. She leads the C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation in Chennai.
