Uttara Padwar | |
---|---|
Nationality | Indian |
Occupation | charity worker |
Known for | awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar in 2013 |
Uttara Padwar is an Indian charity worker from Madhya Pradesh who was awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar in 2013.
Uttara Padwar is from Madhya Pradesh where she leads a "Prayas Shiksha Samiti". This group works with Baigas, Gondi people and the Abhujhmarias. These tribal people suffer from poverty, malnutrition and disease and her group strives to alleviate it. [1] Padwar started teaching children and her small class grew into a school which was registered with the name "Rani Durgawati School". [2] One of the common causes of death locally is fire as people will make a mattress of dried grasses and then go to sleep beside a fire. They then die when their mattress catches alight. A related problem is cold as each winter people need to decide between warm clothing and eating. Padwar and her charity supply "winter kits". The kits consist of warm clothes, woollens and blankets and they can save families thousands of rupees each year. [3]
Padwar was chosen to receive the Nari Shakti Puraskar/Stree Shakti Puraskar on International Women's Day in 2016. [4] The award was made by President Pranab Mukherjee at the Presidential palace in New Delhi. Another fourteen women and seven institutions were honoured that day. [5]
Mukherjee and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave speeches about the need to empower women. Mukherjee highlighted the problem of the higher number of male babies due to some parents choosing to have an abortion if their child is female. [6]
She is profiled for her work in the media [7] and she has been recognised with other awards. [8]
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.
Padala Bhudevi is an Indian social activist with Savara women to help people to improve entrepreneurship and their family diet. In March 2020 she received the Nari Shakti Puraskar.
B. Codanayaguy is an Electronics & Instrumentation Engineer at the ISRO. She is responsible for the instrumentation of control systems for the solid rocket motors used in rocket launches. She was given the highest award for women in India, the Nari Shakti Puraskar, at the Presidential Palace in 2017.
Latika Thukral is an Indian banker who transformed her city, in particularAravali Biodiversity Park in Gurgaon. where a million native trees were planted by the group #IAmGurgaon. She was awarded the Nari Shakti Award in 2015 by the President of India.
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.
Sailakshmi Balijepally or Sai Balijepally is an Indian Pediatrician and the Founder of Ekam Foundation, an NGO working in the areas of Child and Maternal Health & Well Being. She was awarded the Nari Shakti Award in 2015 by the President of India.
Snehlata Nath is an Indian activist known for her work with the Nilgiris. She is a recipient of the Jamnalal Bajaj Award and 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.
P Kausalya, aka Periasamy Kousalya is an Indian HIV activist. She came to notice as the first woman to talk to the media about being one of India's HIV-positive people. She was awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar in 2015 by the Indian government. She was one of four people who started the Positive Women Network to champion the rights of women who were HIV+.
Swaraj Vidwan is an Indian social worker and activist for the underrepresented. She is a member of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes. She was awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar by the government of India for her work with vulnerable and marginalised groups.
Dr. Saurabh Suman is an Indian Agri researcher who was awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar. She leads an NGO that empowers women in Bihar. Suiman has also been involved in organising celebrations of Mahishasur martyrdom day.
Basanti Devi is an Indian environmentalist. She has been concerned with preserving trees in Uttarakhand. She was awarded the highest award for women in India, the Nari Shakti Puraskar in 2016.
Suparna Baksi Ganguly is an Indian activist concerned with the treatment of animals and in particular elephants that are held captive. She was given the highest award for women in India, the Nari Shakti Puraskar in 2016.
Dr. Meena Sharma is an Indian journalist who was awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar in 2016. She has identified scandals of children who did not look after their elderly parents and the large number of abortions that were taking place of pregnancies that were predicted to deliver a female child.
Jyoti Mhapsekar is an Indian award winner. She worked as a librarian and a playwright. She is known for her role as founder and President of Stree Mukti Sanghatana. She has won awards including the Nari Shakti Puraskar.
Shakuntala Majumdar is an Indian animal rights activist who was awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar for her work for the Society for Protection of Cruelty to Animals in Thane.
Sumita Ghose, is an Indian entrepreneur who started the Rangsutra collective and won the Nari Shakti Puraskar award from the president of India. Hundreds of artisan's co-own Rangsutra and through the company they sell their goods bridging the gap to global customers such as Ikea.
Jayamma Bandari is an Indian former sex worker turned social worker. In 2018 she was awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar. In 2011 she founded an organisation which supports sex workers and their children with choices.
Kalyani Pramod Balakrishnan is an Indian textile designer based in Chennai in Tamil Nadu. She has worked with weavers through the Ministry of Rural Development. She received the 2016 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.