PUNE: On International Women’s Day, 29 women from different parts of the country were awarded the Nari Shakti Award for the year 2020-2021 in recognition of their excellence in various fields.
Three awardees hailed from Maharashtra amongst other states — Sayali Nandkishore Agavane, a kathak dancer with Down Syndrome, Vanita Jagdeo Borade, known as a first female snake rescuer, and Kamal Kumbhar, a social entrepreneur.
Agavane from Pune received the award in recognition of her excellence in promoting Indian Classical Dance internationally, despite facing hardships. She has performed at over 100 programmes and collected national and international accolades.
Hailing from Buldhana, Borade, was commended for her exemplary efforts in wildlife conservation, particularly by rescuing snakes and creating awareness on the subject. Not only has she rescued over 50,000 snakes and released them into their natural habitat in the forests, she also conducts training on first-aid for snake bites, safety precautions and so on.
Osmanabad-based Kumbhar said that the award would encourage her further to reach out to more women to make them self-sufficient.
“I have trained around 20,000 women from rural areas, with many of them starting their own businesses. While my work is restricted to few districts of Marathwada, I plan to spread my network in around 15 districts,” she said.
The awardees were felicitated by the President of India Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi on March 8.
The Nari Shakti Puraskar is an initiative of the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development to acknowledge the exceptional accomplishments of women and contributions towards empowerment.
