A lady mason, a centenarian athlete, Jharkhand's lady Tarzan and a "mushroom mahila" were among the 15 women awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar by President Ram Nath Kovind for their contribution in acting as game changers and catalyst of positive change in the society.
The government confers the Nari Shakti Puraskar every year to recognise the relentless service of women towards the cause of women empowerment and social welfare.
The winners for the year 2019 are from fields as diverse as agriculture, sports, handicrafts, afforestation and wildlife conservation, armed forces and education.
Bina Devi, fondly known as 'Mushroom Mahila' for popularizing mushroom cultivation, was one of the awardees.
Devi, 43, is a mushroom grower and was 'sarpanch' of Dhauri Panchayat, Tetiabamber block for five years. She has trained farmers on mushroom farming, organic farming, vermin-compost production, organic insecticide preparation at home.
She has been awarded for popularising mushroom production in five blocks and 105 neighbouring villages in Munger district, impacting 1,500 women. She has been involved in spreading digital literacy and was awarded for training 700 women on how to use mobile phones by Tata Trusts.
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Another awardee was 103-year-old Mann Kaur. Known as 'Miracle from Chandigarh', Kaur started her athletic career at the age of 93.
She won four Gold (Track and Field) at World Masters Athletic Championship, Poland and has set a record by becoming the world's fastest centenarian at the American Masters Game, 2016.
She has been associated with Fit India Movement and is the oldest person to walk along the top of Auckland's Sky Tower (2017).
The award was also conferred on Kalavati Devi, a 58-year-old lady mason, who acted as a driving force towards reducing open defecation in the district of Kanpur.
She is responsible for building over 4,000toilets in villages in and around Kanpur and has gone door to door to create awareness about the ills of open defecation.
Padala Bhudevi, 40, has been working for the development of tribal women, widows, Podu lands through a community based organization- CAVS (Chinnai Adhivasi Vikas Society), established by her father, in 1996.
She was awarded for training 30 women in making mehendi cones and hair care products.
Despite being forcefully married at the age of 11 years, facing mental and physical torture from husband and in-laws, Padala Bhudevi has come a long way, single handedly raising three daughters and successfully motivating women to participate in agri-entrepreneural activities
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