75 women conferred by WTI Awards to celebrate 'Shashakt Aur Samarth Bharat'

As a part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav to celebrate 75 years of India's independence, the Women Transforming India (WTI) Awards were conferred to 75 women achievers to celebrate their contribution towards a 'Sashakt Aur Samarth Bharat'.

NITI Aayog organized the fifth edition of the WTI Awards on March 21, 2022.

The award ceremony recognized women entrepreneurs who have made their mark across different sectors.

The selection process spanned several months, and the 75 awardees were chosen on the basis of nominations received on WEP and through shortlisting by a search-and-select committee, according to a release by the NITI Aayog.

In his keynote address, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said, "The WTI Awards celebrates the dynamic efforts of women by sharing their exemplary stories and exceptional work. From shattering social boundaries to paving the way for an equal India, these winners lead by example."

The awards were conferred by acclaimed personalities such as Kiran Bedi, former Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry; Lakshmi Puri, former Assistant Secretary-General of UN; Dr Tessy Thomas, Director-General of Aeronautical Systems, DRDO; Arundhati Bhattacharya, former Chairperson of State Bank of India; Debjani Ghosh, President of NASSCOM; and Ila Arun, acclaimed singer.

Sports champions Shiny Wilson, Track and Field Athlete; Karnam Malleswari, first Indian woman to win a medal in weightlifting in the 2000 Olympics; Lovlina Borgohain, Tokyo Olympic medallist in boxing; Mansi Joshi, World No. 1 para-badminton singles' player in SL3; Pranati Naik, Tokyo 2020 Olympian gymnast and 2019 Asian Championship medallist; and Simranjit Kaur, Tokyo 2020 Olympian and 2018 AIBA World Championship medallist; and women defence officers also attended the event.

Amitabh Kant and Senior Adviser Anna Roy; Shombi Sharp, UN Resident Coordinator in India; and Padma Shree awardee and acclaimed singer Kailash Kher were present at the event as well.

The event also saw scintillating performances by Kailash Kher and dancers Aishwarya and Shinjini Kulkarni, eventually culminating in the release of a coffee table book on the WTI 2021 award-winners.

The Women Transforming India Awards is NITI Aayog's annual initiative to highlight the commendable and ground-breaking endeavours of India's women leaders and change-makers. The WTI Awards have continuously recognized role models who have broken glass ceilings and created a positive impact. Since 2018, the Awards have been hosted under the aegis of NITI Aayog's Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP), with a special focus on entrepreneurship.

Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) is an aggregator portal that aims to catalyse the entrepreneurial ecosystem for women and address information asymmetry. To build a vibrant ecosystem for women-led enterprises, the platform works to strengthen industry linkages and increase awareness of existing programmes and services.

To date, more than 900 women entrepreneurs have been benefitted through 77 programmes and events hosted on the platform.

( With inputs from ANI )