Bhubaneswar: Sruti Mohapatra, a well-known crusader for the rights of differently-abled people in Odisha felicitated with Nari Shakti Puruskar for the year 2021 on the occasion of International Women’s Day today.
President Ram Nath Kovind gave the award to the winners in a special event held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. Sruti along with 29 other women personalities conferred with the award for the year 2020 and 2021 for their exceptional work in rendering distinguished services towards empowerment of women, especially vulnerable and marginalized women.
Sruti is the former Chairperson of the Odisha State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights. At present she is a member of the national committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. She also the founder of the NGO ‘Swabhiman’ in 2001, which works for the upliftment of differently-abled in Odisha.
President Kovind presented Nari Shakti Puraskar to Sruti Mohapatra for empowerment of Divyangjan. Known as the ‘Crusader in a Wheelchair’, she founded NGOs working for upliftment of divyangjan in Odisha. pic.twitter.com/wetaS5qo3r
— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) March 8, 2022
The winners of the Nari Shakti Puraskar for the year 2020 are from fields as diverse as entrepreneurship, agriculture, innovation, social work, arts and crafts, STEMM, and wildlife conservation, etc. The winners of the Nari Shakti Puraskar for the year 2021 are from the fields of linguistics, entrepreneurship, agriculture, social work, arts and crafts, Merchant Navy, STEMM, education and literature, disability rights among others.
‘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.