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Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav: Centre honours seven women change makers
Stories of these seven women have been documented in collaboration with over-the-top platform Netflix and will now be screened as short films, said information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur at a press conference.
As part of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ programme to celebrate 75 years of Independence, the ministry of information and broadcasting on Tuesday honoured seven women for their extraordinary achievements in fields including environment protection, healthcare and aviation.
Stories of these seven women have been documented in collaboration with over-the-top platform Netflix and will now be screened as short films, said information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur at a press conference.
“Women change makers Ms. Basanti Devi, Padma-award winning environmentalist from Pithoragarh known for her contribution towards revitalizing the Kosi river; Ms. Anshu Jamsenpa, a Padma Shri awardee for being the first woman in the world to summit Mount Everest twice in five days in 2017 and Ms. Harshini Kanhekar, the first female firefighter in India, were also present at the launch,” the government said in a statement.
The four other women who were honoured at the event were: Poonam Nautiyal, a healthcare worker who launched a drive in Bageshwar district of Uttarakhand to increase Covid vaccination rates; Dr Tessy Thomas, the first woman scientist to head a missile project in India; Tanvi Jagadish, India’s first competitive woman stand-up paddleboarder; and Aarohi Pandit, the world’s youngest and first woman pilot to cross the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean solo in a light-sport aircraft.
The ministry added that stories of these women will be available on various social media channels of the ministry, Netflix as well as broadcast across the Doordarshan network. They will also be made available in other languages like Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, Tamil, English and Malayalam to ensure maximum reach.
Secretary of I&B Apurva Chandra felicitated the women.
“The plank of jan bhaagidaari (participation of people) has been at the core of the movement to mark the 75 years of independence,” said Thakur.
“This is one of the initiatives to celebrate the involvement of women and their achievements. Netflix and the ministry will partner to develop a creative ecosystem by organising training programmes for post-production, VFX, animation and music production, among others and will be organised on ground and virtually.”
The minister also commended the growth achieved by platforms such as Netflix and Prime video. “Today, content is king, people will switch to OTT platforms,” he said. “That is the power that content has. I’m sure in the years to come, India will be the largest and the best content creator in the world,” he added.
The event was attended by several of the women honoured, Netflix’s head of global TV Bela Bajaria and senior I&B ministry officials.
