PM Modi interacts with Nari Shakti Puraskar Awardees on International Women’s Day

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with Nari Shakti Puraskar winners in the capital on March 8, 2020. Fifteen  women achievers from various parts of the country including  Leh, Kashmir,  Andhra Pradesh shared their trials, struggles and how they achieved their goals with the Prime Minister.

The achievers include 103 year old Ms Mann Kaur, who started athletics at the age of 93 and went on to win 4 Gold Medals in Field and Track events at World Masters Athletic Championship, Poland.

Arifa Jan from Jammu & Kashmir, who is the founder of Numdha Handicrafts, is responsible for reviving the lost art of Numdha handicrafts. She  shared her experience of training more than 100 women in Kashmir and reviving the dying handicraft.

Indian Air Force’s first women fighter pilots Mohana Singh, Bhawanna Kanth & Avani Chaturvedi also shared their experiences. The trio was inducted into IAF fighter squadron after Government of India decided to open fighter stream in IAF for women on experimental basis. They became the first Indian women pilots to take a solo flight in a MIG- 21 in 2018.

Padala Bhudevi, a tribal woman farmer and rural entrepreneur from Andhra Pradesh, Bina Devi from Munger, Bihar, who is fondly known as ‘Mushroom Mahila’ for popularising mushroom cultivation, also shared their experiences in farming and marketing with the Prime Minister.

Kalavati Devi, a lady mason from Kanpur district in Uttar Pradesh, is a driving force towards reducing open defecation in the district. She is responsible for building 4,000 + toilets in villages in and around Kanpur. She shared her experience with the Prime Minister on how she has gone door to door to create awareness about the ills of open defecation and how she travelled for multiple hours to villages across Kanpur in her effort towards reducing Open defecation.

Chami Murmu from Jharkhand, a passionate environmentalist who formed more than 2,800 groups with over 30,000 women, shared her experience in planting over 25 lakh trees in barren land.

Kathyayani Amma, 98,  from Kerala shared her experience how she passed the IV standard equivalent exam under Kerala Literacy Mission’s Akasharalaksham Scheme in August 2018. She bagged the first rank and scored 98% marks.

Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister said that the Nari Shakti Award winners have made great contribution in building the society and inspiring the nation. He said the country could not have achieved the open defecation free status without significant contribution from women. Similarly, he said, malnutrition issue can also be resolved with greater women participation.

The Prime minister also  touched upon  the issue of water conservation and highlighted that the  Jal Jeevan Mission needs a greater participation of women. He congratulated the achievers and said that they are a source of inspiration to the whole country, according to a PIB release.