Padma Awardees 2021 – Leading Edge Women (Part 1)

In 1954, the Indian government established two civilian honours, the Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan. Pahela Varg, Dusra Varg, and Tisra Varg were the three classes in the latter. By Presidential Notification dated January 8, 1955, these were renamed Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri.

Padma Vibhushan - for extraordinary and distinguished service

Padma Bhushan - for distinguished service of higher level

Padma Shri - for distinguished service of higher-order

The award is intended to reward accomplishments in all fields or disciplines where public service is a factor.There have been 29 women awarded Padma Awards 2021. Let me bring you the stories of a few leading-edge women from this list.

1. Rajni Bector

Source: Tribune India.com 

The 77-year-old self-made entrepreneur runs India’s one of the biggest foods companies. She is the founder of Cremica, the leading name in the bakery products and condiments industry. Rajni belongs to Karachi, Pakistan.

She got married at the age of 17 in a typical family in Ludhiana. Bector was born and bought in a very open-minded and well-educated family but was married to a conservative family except for her husband.

She always enjoyed experimenting with her culinary skills and received a tremendous appreciation for the same. She pursued a baking course from Punjab Agricultural University. Rajni began her career taking orders informally for friends and family. Also, participated in various small and big competitions.

Gradually with her husband’s support, she began to commercialize it and ultimately began with Cremica. Her brand never needed marketing; word of mouth always was enough to grow her business.

Despite countless hurdles and issues on her way, today, Cremica is the supplier of some of the premium brands like MC Donalds, has tie-ups with Quaker oats, and received a terrific response on their IPO in 2020. Today, the third generation of the Bector family has also joined the family business, and the company is doing exceptionally well.

Women are stereotyped to win the hearts of their families with their culinary skills. Especially during the 70s and 80s when Rajni just began with her journey taking baby steps. 

She is one trailblazing example who made a fortune out of her culinary skills and taste buds. Rajni won the hearts of the entire nation and not just her family.

 She is not as active as before in the business for a decade now even so, till today, she is the one who decides the recipes and taste of their products sold.  

2. Lakhimi Baruah

Source: indiacsr.in

With her microfinance institution, Konoklota Mahila Urban Co-operative Bank, she has rescued over a hundred underprivileged women from poverty and helped them become financially independent.

Lakshmi Baruah founded the bank, which is Assam's first for women and is administered entirely by women, and she started it and is currently in charge of its operations. She was one of all the women in Assam who constantly faced financial distress.

Due to their illiteracy and lack of supports, they were constantly facing extreme troubles getting loans. They did not have any stable savings. They had no choice but to take loans from the lenders charging extreme high interests. The situation was worst for all the women in Assam.

Lakshmi, a well-educated woman with sufficient financial literacy, decided to open a bank, especially for women, to help them out. With a lot of effort and consistency, she got the permission from Reserve Bank of India and commenced the bank.

The bank today has eased the financial distress of the women in Assam and is generating good returns. Baruah, who is 67 years old, continues to work and is at the bank every day. Before she dies, she aspires to have at least one branch in each state's district. Women helping other women to be financially independent is the only women empowerment we need.

3. Dulari Devi

Source: en.gaonconnection.com

Dulari Devi, a woman of the marginalised Mallah Community, has had a difficult life. Her story is a true inspiration. Her life is nothing short of a remarkable narrative of an Indian rural woman rising from terrible poverty and constant menial labour to become a well-known and excellent painter.

Dulari was once married and gave birth to a girl child who did not live long. Her problems were worsened when her husband left her and remarried. She was forced to return to her ancestral village, where she was forced to work as waged labour in the fields. Dulari represents millions of unmarried, untrained women who struggle to make ends meet, from cultivating paddy in rice fields to washing dishes in someone's home.

 Dulari happened to work as a maid to a well-established Mithila artist, Karpuri Devi. She agreed to teach her the art of Mithila paintings at Dulari's request. And that was the beginning of her new life. She fell in love with the art of Mithila paintings and passionately trained for it for six months.

Today, she is a renowned Mithila Painting artist in her state. She is financially independent and has secured the future of her own and her family by her own solely. A daughter who returned home from her broken marriage may be uneducated and illiterate or whatsoever, but she will never be the burden as what is the notion.

4. Chutni Mahato

Source: ABP News

Chutni Mahato, who is 62 years old, has had a rough life. Mahatao, who was formerly labelled a witch and was on the point of being executed for it, has come a long way to be awarded the Padma Shri for saving and assisting hundreds of women from horrors over the years.

She has earned the title of 'Tigeress' in all true sense.  She was married at the age of 12. A few years after the marriage, the wife of her elder brother-in-law fell sick. The superstitious village quacks blamed it on Chutni. She was made to face gruesome tortures and atrocities by her own family and village members. However, she managed to run away and save her life.

According to a state survey conducted in 2019, 27 women died due to claims of witchcraft. From September of last year to September of this year, 19 women died due to identical charges.

The majority of these women are tortured, sexually assaulted, and ultimately murdered. Chutni has been working for the past 20 years and intends to dispel deep-seated superstitions among the people in order to eliminate the social evils of witch-hunting.

5. Dr. Padmavathy Bandopadhyay

Source: latestly.com

Air Marshal Padma Bandopadhyay served in the Indian Air Force as a flight surgeon. In the Indian Air Force, she was the first woman to be elevated to the rank of Air Marshal. After Surgeon Vice Admiral Punita Arora, she is the second woman in the Indian Armed Forces to be promoted to three-star.

Padmavathy was born in Andhra Pradesh but bought up in Delhi.  Padmavathy's mother was ill for most of her life and spent most of it in the hospital. Padmavathy was deeply touched by this experience, which made her feel inclined to help her mother and thousands of other people like her who needed medical expertise.

Her parents were not particularly supportive during the early stages of her work. She persuaded her parents to let her enter AFMC after much persuasion. In 1971, India and Pakistan were at odds. Padmavathy and her husband were deployed to the Halwara airbase in Punjab after finishing their internship in Bangalore. Their services at the base were so outstanding that the President gave them the Vashisht Seva Medal (VSM) for distinguished service.

In 1975, she earned a specialty in aviation medicine, which was a relatively new subject at the time. She has completed 23 research projects and has a total of 27 publications to her credit over the years. She was definitely at the top of her game at all times.

She is also a distinguished member of the New York Academy of Sciences. She has also worked at the Air Headquarters in New Delhi as the Director General of Medical Services (Air). She is also the first woman to be elected as a fellow of India's Aerospace Medical Society, and she has performed scientific research in the North Pole.

Padma has always been the one who has advocated for women to be permitted to serve in combat capacities, just as they are allowed to join the National Defence Academy (NDA). Fear of being caught as a prisoner of war (POW) should not be used against women, she argued. Above all, she believes in the power of women. Her faith in women instils in me the confidence about the unstoppable power every woman carries in herself.