Runa Banerjee | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1950 (age 72–73) Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India |
| Occupation | Social worker |
| Known for | Revival of Chikankari |
| Awards | Padma Shri |
Runa Banerjee is an Indian social worker and the co-founder of the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA), Lucknow, a non governmental organization promoting the interests of the poor working women of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, where she serves as the General Secretary and the Chief executive officer. [1] She was one among the PeaceWomen Across the Globe [2] who were collectively nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005, which was eventually won by Mohamed ElBaradei. [3] The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2007, for her contributions to Indian society. [4]
Runa Banerjee was born in 1950 in a Hindu family, at Model House area in Lucknow, the capital city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. [5] She is reported to have been active in social service during her early years and was involved in educating the women and children of the locality. In 1979, she organized a health camp for the poor with the participation of locally known physicians such as Devika Nag. A UNICEF report published that year prompted her to train her focus on artisans of Chikankari, a traditional form of embroidery originated in Lucknow. [5] The report revealed that the artisans were being exploited by middlemen and were living in poverty. Banerjee, along with her friend, Sehba Hussain, started a primary school for the children of the artisans, charging them a nominal fee of ₹1; the school which was a single teacher one in the beginning would later develop into SEWA Montessori School. [6] In 1984, she started a mission, Earn While You Learn, with a membership strength of 31, and the organization was formally registered the same year as the Lucknow chapter of Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA). [7] The organization provided a platform for chikankari artisans to teach the craft while working and the membership, over the years, grew to over 7500. [5] Around 8000 women have reportedly been trained by the organization and their efforts is known to have assisted in the revival of then declining craft of Chikankari. [8] Under the aegis of the organization, she organised several exhibitions in India and abroad, the first such exhibition was held at Islamic Centre, New Delhi, followed by Silk Road Campaign in Washington, Macef International Home Show of 2003 in Milan, Brides of the Orient Show in Melbourne and other exhibitions in London and Barcelona. [6] The organization is a part of the Ambedkar Hastashilp Vikas Yojana (AHVY) of the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. [9]
Banerjee's efforts were also reported in the rehabilitation of the victims of the 2002 Gujarat riots. [2] She, along with Hussain, toured Gujarat in the wake of the riots and helped the victimized women to take up Chikankari for a living and provided them with required training.[ citation needed ] These efforts earned her a nomination, along with her colleagues at the PeaceWomen Across the Globe, for the Nobel Peace Prize for the year 2005. [3] Two years later, the Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honor of the Padma Shri in 2007. [4]
Akhtari Bai Faizabadi, also known as Begum Akhtar, was an Indian singer and actress. Dubbed "Mallika-e-Ghazal", she is regarded as one of the greatest singers of ghazal, dadra, and thumri genres of Hindustani classical music.
Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA), meaning "service" in several Indian languages, is a trade union based in Ahmedabad, India, that promotes the rights of low-income, independently employed female workers. Nearly 2 million workers are members of the Self-Employed Women’s Association across 8 states in India. Self-employed women are defined as those who do not have a fixed employer-employee relationship and do not receive a fixed salary and social protection like that of formally-employed workers and therefore have a more precarious income and life. SEWA organises around the goal of full employment in which a woman secures work, income, food, and social security like health care, child care, insurance, pension and shelter. The principles behind accomplishing these goals are struggle and development, meaning negotiating with stakeholders and providing services, respectively.
Ela Ramesh Bhatt was an Indian cooperative organiser, activist and Gandhian, who founded the Self-Employed Women's Association of India (SEWA) in 1972, and served as its general secretary from 1972 to 1996. She was the chancellor of the Gujarat Vidyapith from 7 March 2015 to 19 October 2022. A lawyer by training, Bhatt was a part of the international labour, cooperative, women, and micro-finance movements and won several national and international awards, including the Ramon Magsaysay Award (1977), Right Livelihood Award (1984) for "helping home-based producers to organise for their welfare and self-respect" and the Padma Bhushan (1986).
Sehba Hussain is an Indian social activist. She is the co-founder and honorary treasurer of Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) in Lucknow. and founding board member and executive director of Lucknow-based, BETI Foundation, established in 2000.
PeaceWomen Across the Globe (PWAG), previously known as 1000 PeaceWomen, is an organization based in Bern, Switzerland that aims to increase the visibility of women promoting peace all over the world.
Renana Jhabvala is an Indian social worker based in Ahmedabad, India, who has been active for decades in organising women into organisations and trade unions in India, and has been extensively involved in policy issues relating to poor women and the informal economy. She is best known for her long association with the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA), India, and for her writings on issues of women in the informal economy.
Martha Chen is an American academic, scholar and social worker, who is presently a lecturer in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and senior advisor of the global research-policy-action network WIEGO and a member of the Advisory Board of the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER). Martha is a development practitioner and scholar who has worked with the working poor in India, South Asia, and around the world. Her areas of specialization are employment, poverty alleviation, informal economy, and gender. She lived in Bangladesh working with BRAC, one of the world's largest non-governmental organizations, and in India, as field representative of Oxfam America for India and Bangladesh for 15 years.
Malini Awasthi is an Indian folk singer. She sings in Bhojpuri, Awadhi and Hindi, She also presents Thumri and Kajri. The Government of India awarded her the civilian honour of the Padma Shri in 2016. She is known for her contribution in Bhojpuri music.
Manju Bharat Ram was an Indian educationist, who was the founder, chairperson of the managing committee and member of the board of trustees, The Shri Ram Schools, New Delhi; ranked as India's No. 1 day school by Education World’s Schools survey in 2008, 2009 and 2011.
Reema Nanavaty is an Indian developmental worker based in Ahmedabad, India. She has been active for three decades in organising women into co-operative organisations, enterprises and trade unions in India. She is the director of SEWA and is credited for building women's livelihoods and enterprises within eighteen states in India as well as in neighbouring countries such as Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan.
Laila Tyabji is an Indian social worker, designer, writer, and craft activist. She is one of the founders of Dastkar, a Delhi-based non governmental organization, working for the revival of traditional crafts in India. She was honored by the Government of India in 2012 with the Indian civilian award of Padma Shri. She is the daughter of late Badruddin Tyabji, ICS, who was a senior Indian civil servant and diplomat.
Binny Yanga was an Indian social worker, a member of the National Planning Commission of India and the founder of Oju Welfare Association (OWA), a non governmental organization based in Arunachal Pradesh, working for the welfare of the weaker sections of the society and campaigning against social Illnesses such as child marriage, forced marriage and dowry. She was honored by the Government of India, in 2012, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri.
Neidonuo Angami is an Indian social worker and one of the founders of the Naga Mothers' Association, a non governmental organization working for remedying the social problems in Nagaland, India. She is reported to have been selected as one of the 1000 women shortlisted for the Nobel Peace Prize for 2005. She was honored by the Government of India, in 2000, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri.
Mona Chandravati Gupta (1896–1984) was a British Burma born Indian social worker, educationist and the founder of Nari Sewa Samiti, a non governmental organization working for the social and economic upliftment of women.
Meera Mukherjee (1923–1998) was an Indian sculptor and writer, known for bringing modernity to the ancient Bengali sculpting art. She is known to have used innovative bronze casting techniques, improving the Dhokra method employing Lost-wax casting, which she learnt during her training days of the Bastar sculpting tradition of Chhattisgarh. She received the fourth highest civilian award of the Padma Shri from the Government of India in 1992 for her contributions to Arts.
Shanti Hiranand was an Indian vocalist, classical musician and writer, known for her proficiency as a ghazal singer. She was the author of the book Begum Akhtar: The Story of My Ammi, a biographical work on Begum Akhtar, a renowned Ghazal singer.
Kshama Metre, popularly known as Doctor Didi, is an Indian rural development leader, and a pediatrician, who has led the Chinmaya Organization for Rural Development (CORD) since the founding of its predecessor organization in 1985, and she leads the organization as its National Director. The organization serves the rural areas of India with its unique approach for sustainable and comprehensive community driven integrated development program, under the aegis of the Chinmaya Mission. While holding the directorship of CORD India, she also serves as an adviser to CORD USA, the US wing of the Organization. A recipient of several awards including the Guardian International Development Achievement Award of 2012, she was selected as the Woman of the Year by The Week magazine, in 1993. The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honor of the Padma Shri, in 2008, for her contributions to society.
Keepu Tsering Lepcha is an Indian social worker, educationist, former civil servant and the founder of the Human Development Foundation of Sikkim (HDFS), a non governmental organization serving the socio-economically challenged people of Sikkim. A former secretary of the Government of Sikkim, she has served as the project director in the Rural Development Agency of the government. She is a member of the PeaceWomen Across the Globe organization which was shortlisted for the Nobel Peace Prize of 2005, and a recipient of the 2012 Real Heroes Award of the Reliance Foundation and the 2013 Senior Citizen Award of the CNN-IBN. The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2009, for her contributions to society.
Hamida Habibullah was an Indian parliamentarian, educationist and social worker. She has been called the iconic face of Indian womanhood in post-independence India.
