The Padma Shri awards are the fourth-highest civilian awards of India, and honours people who have contributed to a number of fields, including literature, education, arts, science, social work, etc. The awards are announced on Republic Day each year, and conferred by the President of India around March or April. This year, President Ramnath Kovind has approved the conferment of 107 Padma Shri awards. Here are a few women on that list you must know more about, because they are truly inspirational.
KV Rabiya
The 55-year-old social worker from Kerala’s Malappuram is paralysed from the neck below. Her spirit and passion to improve the conditions of women, children and the disabled has never dimmed though. She has started six schools for children with special needs, trained and empowered women through a small-scale manufacturing unit, and has relentlessly raised awareness about social issues like addiction, dowry and superstitions.
Shakuntala Choudhary
This 102-year-old Gandhian social worker from Assam, popularly known as Shakuntala Baideo, has been promoting the rights of rural women and children for seven decades. Currently a supervisor at the Kasturba Ashram in Ulubari, Guwahati, she has dedicated her life to promote social welfare by following the examples set by Mahatma Gandhi and Vinoba Bhave. She founded Gram Seva Kendras across the Northeastern states, and has fought for the rights of women through the Stree Shakti Jagaran movement.
Dr Lata Desai
This 75-year-old paediatrician quit her cushy job in the US 50 years ago, and came back to her native Gujarat with her husband, Dr Anil Desai, to provide affordable healthcare to the rural population. Over five decades, she has worked to empower the tribal population of rural Gujarat through her initiative, SEWA Rural, and provided treatment for more than 24 lakh patients across 1,000 villages.
Lourembam Bino Devi
This 77-year-old applique artist from Manipur is credited to have revived the art of Leeba motifs, a type of ornamental needlework from the region. Belonging to the Meitei community of Manipur, Devi learnt the fast-fading art of Leeba from her mother-in-law. For over five decades now, she has been passing her vast store of knowledge to students to preserve this beautiful art form.
Gamit Ramilaben Raysinghbhai
This 52-year-old social worker from Tapi, Gujarat, has been promoting education, healthcare and sanitation among the tribal population of the state. Hailing from a humble tribal background herself, Raysinghbhai has put in dedicated efforts to make nine villages completely free of the problem of open defecation, created 300-plus sanitary units, and held awareness campaigns on proper sanitation and healthcare in the tribal belts.
Prabhaben Shah
The 95-year-old social worker from the union territory of Daman and Diu has dedicatedly worked for over six decades for women empowerment and environment preservation. From organising a Vastra Bank for the flood victims in Gujarat’s Kutch region to starting a canteen for patients from economically weak backgrounds at hospitals, she has had an immense impact with her works.
Prof Badaplin War
At 60, this scholar and author from Meghalaya is best known for promoting the language of Khasi around the world. A professor at the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Shillong, she is the Founder President of the Society for Khasi Studies, and a member of the Khasi Authors’ Society. She is also a member of the committee set up by the Meghalaya government to include the Khasi language in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.
Acharya Chandanaji
This 84-year-old Jain spiritual leader and social worker is best known for leading movements to empower the poorest of the poor in rural Bihar. She founded the NGO Veerayatan, which has centres in more than 10 countries, and works towards promoting health, education and spirituality. She founded the Netra Jyoti Seva Mandir to highlight eye care, and established 36 vocational training centres as well as relief camps to provide protection against natural calamities.
Prof Najma Akhtar
This 69-year-old professor who has been working for gender equality in higher education is best known as the current and first-ever female vice-chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi. Before that, she was the VC of the University of Kashmir, and has also headed the Department of Educational Administration at the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA) for 15 years.
Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay
This computer scientist was appointed the first woman director of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) in 2015. A Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar awardee, Bandyopadhyay has extensively researched the area of pattern recognition, machine learning and bioinformatics. Currently, she is working on a computational model that analyses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Indian GDP and unemployment.
Tara Jauhar
As the Chairperson of the Aurobindo Ashram in Delhi, and a spiritual and social leader, the contributions of Jauhar have been many over the last few decades. With a grasp of over eight languages, she is also known as a linguistic scholar. One of the daughters of Surendra Nath Jauhar, the founder of the Delhi chapter of the Ashram, Tara Jauhar has also authored a book, Growing Up With The Mother.
Tatyana Shaumyan
This 84-year-old professor is a Russian scholar and a champion of Indo-Russian relations. An Indologist and scholar of Indo-Russian political and social history. She is one of the few non-Indians to be conferred the honour of Padma Shri due to their immense impact on India and her people.
Vidya Bindu Singh
A prolific Hindi writer, Singh is known for her immense contribution for preserving and promoting the Awadhi language. Her contributions in the field of literature are so immense that this is not the first time she has been honoured for them. Singh is a recipient of the Sahitya Shri, Rashtra Bhasha Ratna, Mahadevi Verma Samman Puraskar, etc.
Muktamani Devi
This 49-year-old entrepreneur and artisan from Manipur once worked in paddy fields to make ends meet. When, in 1989, her daughter asked for some shoes, Devi decided to knit her some shoes. This incident quickly popularised the concept of knitted woollen shoes in the region, and in 1990, Devi established Mukta Shoes—a small business that she has now taken global through sheer grit and hard work.