Bhubaneswar: Sruti Mohapatra, a leading crusader of disability rights in Odisha, is among the 29 outstanding  personalities to be conferred with the prestigious Nari Shakti  Puraskar for the years 2020 and 2021 on the occasion of International Women's Day tomorrow. 

The felicitation ceremony, is a part of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’, the week-long celebrations for International Women’s Day in New Delhi.

President Ram Nath Kovind will give away the award at a special ceremony to be held at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The award ceremony for the year 2020 could not be held in 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also participate in an interactive session with the awardees to applaud their efforts and inspire the masses to work and excel in areas relating to women empowerment.

In all, 28 awards (14 each for the year 2020 and 2021) will be presented to 29 individuals in recognition of their exceptional work in rendering distinguished services towards empowerment of women, especially vulnerable and marginalized women.

The winners of the Nari Shakti Puraskar for the year 2020 are from diverse fields like entrepreneurship, agriculture, innovation, social work, arts and crafts, STEMM, and wildlife conservation, etc. The winners for the year 2021 are from the fields of linguistics, entrepreneurship, agriculture, social work, arts and crafts, Merchant Navy, STEMM, education and literature and disability rights.

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.