President Ram Nath Kovind to confer Nari Shakti Puraskar for the year 2020 and 2021 today

New Delhi: International Women’s Day is being celebrated today. The Day is observed every year to celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women's equality. The theme for this year is 'hashtag breaks The Bias'.

As part of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’, week-long celebrations of International Women’s Day started on 1st March in New Delhi. The week-long events will culminate with the conferment of Nari Shakti Puraskar for the years 2020 and 2021 by President  Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan today.

The award ceremony for the year 2020 could not be held in 2021 due to COVID situation. Nari Shakti Puraskar is an initiative of the Ministry of Women and Child Development to acknowledge the exceptional contribution made by individuals and institutions, to celebrate women as game changers and catalyst of positive change in the society. In all, 28 awards will be presented to 29 individuals today.

The winners for the year 2020 are from fields as diverse as entrepreneurship, agriculture, innovation, social work, arts and crafts, STEMM, and wildlife



conservation.

They include Social Entrepreneur from Bihar Anita Gupta, Organic farmer and Tribal Activist for Gujarat Ushaben Vasava, Innovator in Environmental Conservation from Jammu and Kashmir Nasira Akhter and Artisans in Toda embroidery from Tamil Nadu Jaya Muthu and Tejamma.

The winners of the Nari Shakti Puraskar for the year 2021 are from the fields of linguistics, entrepreneurship, agriculture, social work, arts and crafts, STEMM and education and literature.

They include Farmer and Entrepreneur from Haryana Pooja Sharma, Disability Rights Activist from Odisha Sruti Mohapatra, Captain in Merchant Navy Radhika Menon from Kerala and Social Entrepreneur from Maharashtra Kamal Kumbhar.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has greeted people on International Women's Day. In a tweet, Mr Naidu called upon people to collectively strive to build a gender neutral world by ensuring that women are not discriminated against in any form. He called upon everyone to empower women by upholding their dignity, ensuring their safety and providing them with equal opportunities.