grassroots changemakers

Meet five extraordinary changemakers transforming Indian agriculture with bold ideas, indigenous wisdom, and innovations that are quietly reshaping the way India farms, eats, and thrives. This September, Optum Presents The Better India Showcase, supported by the M3M Foundation, is honouring their impact.

Freedom lives in planting forests, protecting wildlife, educating girls, lighting villages, saving lives — meet 7 Indians shaping a stronger, kinder India.

Meet three women sarpanches from Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh who are transforming rural India. One rescued a child bride. One broke caste barriers. One led menstrual health drives. Together, they show how women-led governance brings dignity, inclusion, and bold change where it’s needed most—at the heart of India’s villages.