MUMBAI: Permanent makeup specialist Shagun Gupta recently got yet another feather in her cap when Jharkhand Global Convention and Pradhan Mantri Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan Sangathan gave her the Rashtriya Sewa Samman-2022 for her social works. Rajya Sabha member Zafar Islam and Railway Board (PSC Committee) Chairman Ramesh Chandra Ratan were among the guests who attended the award ceremony.
Through her NGO Shagun Gupta Foundation, she has reached out to the needy and the underprivileged. She uses her technique of beauty enhancement to empower less-privileged and marginalized women.
Recently she distributed 100 saris among the transgenders at a function in Malad West. “This is a small gesture for the transgenders who have been neglected and put to disadvantage in our society for long. We have planned to train transgenders in permanent makeup to enable them to find jobs in the beauty market,” she said. Lauding her efforts, Maharashtra’s first transgender lawyer Advocate Pawan Yadav said that she has done a wonderful job by reaching out to the members of the transgender community. “We have to educate and empower the transgender so that they don’t remain jobless and end up begging at traffic signals or do prostitution to make a living. Help to them from any corner should be appreciated,” she said.
One of Gupta’s plans is to help acid attack victims find their lost confidence back. “Acid attack victims often get depressed and begin cursing their fate. Through permanent makeup we cover the scars and make them look better. They regain their confidence and stop blaming fate for whatever happened to them. They must be made to have hope and believe that tomorrow never dies and there is light at the end of the tunnel,” Gupta said.
She wants cosmetology as a serious course of study in the universities and to train youths in this field. “Thousands of jobs can be created in this business and, if we have trained individuals, they can find jobs. Which is why we have also launched an academy,” said Gupta who has got several other awards, including The Changemaker Award from Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at Raj Bhavan.
“We have so many women in our studio in a day. Making them feel better is our motto. Why do the poor feel deprived when it comes to getting permanent makeup? We must find a way out to reach out to maximum needy women,” she said.
