women empowerment

PV Satheesh, the founder of Deccan Development Society, played a pivotal role in improving the livelihoods of thousands of women largely from the Dalit community across 75 villages in Telangana through the the magic of millets. He passed away recently on 19 March.

Jhunbala Malick, a tribal woman from rural Odisha, shares how she started her life afresh as a farmer after coming out of an abusive marriage. Here’s her story of finding her tribe in a women self help group, and finding strength in farming,

Uttarakhand’s Nidhi Pant, along with her six college friends, launched an agri-tech startup to help women from low-income, climate-threatened communities sell produce dismissed as spoilt by converting farm losses to value-added products.

Witnessing the changing food traditions of the mountains, Sashi Bahuguna Raturi from Uttarakhand started Namakwali, a brand to introduce the state’s traditional recipes of the age-old pisyu loon salt to the world.

Suraj Bai Meena was born in a village near Ranthambore where it was unheard of for girls to pursue a career or education. Today, she is Ranthambore’s first woman naturalist. Watch this video to see her journey.

Itsy Bitsy founders Harish and Rashmi Closepet had flourishing careers in Australia when they decided to leave it all, with a vision to employ rural women in India. They share their journey.

Hailing from Meerut, 32-year-old Dolly, an MBA graduate, became the sarpanch of the gram panchayat in Bihar’s Shadipur village. While challenging patriarchy and orthodox work culture she also digitised the village’s panchayat system.

Among the first women in India to enter and transform male bastions, Aruna Bahuguna shares her journey of becoming united Andhra Pradesh’s first woman IPS officer, and the sexism she had to challenge throughout her career.

Bengaluru-based Srutiza Mohanty narrates what prompted her to quit her engineering job and launch Risham Jewellery, a venture that aims to revive the ancient art of bead making, and empower women with jobs and education in the process.

Surabhi Yadav is empowering rural women in Himachal Pradesh with the essential skills required to get jobs through her NGO Sajhe Sapne.