NITI Aayog organized the fifth edition of the Women Transforming India (WTI) Awards on 21 March 2022.

This year, as part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav to celebrate 75 years of India’s independence, the WTI Awards were conferred on 75 women achievers to celebrate their contribution towards a ‘Sashakt Aur Samarth Bharat’. (See Appendix for the full list of winners.)

Today’s 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.

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.

NITI Aayog CEO 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.

Appendix

Full List of Winners

1. Aardra Chandra Mouli, Aeka Biochemicals
2. Aditi Avasthi, Individual Learning Limited (Imbibe)
3. Aditi Bhutia Madan, BluePine Food Pvt. Ltd
4. Akshita Sachdeva, Trestle Labs Pvt. Ltd
5. Akshya Shree, Tad Udyog Pvt. Ltd
6. Alina Alam, Mitti Social Initiatives Foundation
7. Anita Devi, Madhopur Farmers Producers Company
8. Anju Bisht, Amrita SeRVe (Saukhyam Reusable Pad)
9. Anju Srivastava, Winegreens Farms
10. Anu Acharya, Mapmygenome India Ltd
11. Anuradha Parekh, Vikara Services Pvt. Ltd (The Better India)
12. Aparna Hegde, Armman
13. Ayushi Mishra, DronaMaps
14. Chahat Vasal, NerdNerdy Technologies Pvt. Ltd
15. Chayaa Nanjappa, Nectar Fresh
16. Chetna Gala Sinha, Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank
17. Darshana Joshi, VigyanShaala International
18. Dhevibala Umamaheswaran, Bigfix Gadget Care LLP
19. Dipa Chaure, Krantijyoti Mahila Bachat Gat (Rural)
20. Gauri Gopal Agarwal, Skilled Samaritan Foundation (Sirohi)
21. Gayathri Vasudevan, LabourNet Services India Pvt. Ltd
22. Geeta Solanki, Unipads India Pvt. Ltd
23. Dr Girija K. Bharat, Mu Gamma Consultants Pvt. Ltd
24. Gitanjali J. Angmo, Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh
25. Hardika Shah, Kinara Capital
26. Hasina Kharbhih, Impulse NGO Network
27. Hina Shah, ICECD
28. Jo Aggarwal, Touchkin eServices Pvt. Ltd (Wysa)
29. Khushboo Awasthi, Mantra Social Services
30. Kirti Poonia, Okhai
31. Malini Parmar, Stonesoup
32. Mayura Balasubramanian, Craftizen Foundation
33. Megha Bhatia, Our Voix
34. Meha Lahiri, Recity Network Pvt. Ltd
35. Mita Kulkarni, Forest Essentials
36. Neelam Chhiber, Industree Crafts Foundation
37. Neetu Yadav, Animall Technologies Ltd
38. Neha Satak, Astrome Technologies Pvt. Ltd
39. Nimisha Varma, Aloe ECell
40. Nisha Jain Grover, Vatsalya Legacy Educational Society
41. Payal Nath, Kadam Haat
42. Pooja Sharma Goyal, Building Blocks Learning Solutions Pvt. Ltd
43. Prachi Kaushik, Vyomini Social Enterprise
44. Preeti Rao, Weljii
45. Prema Gopalan, Swayam Shikshan Prayog
46. Priti Patel, Raspian Enterprises Pvt. Ltd
47. Puunam G. Kaushik, Meteoric Biopharmaceuticals Pvt. Ltd
48. Dr Radhika Batra, Every Infant Matters
49. Rajoshi Ghosh, Hasura
50. Ramya S. Moorthy, Nimaya Innovations Pvt. Ltd
51. Richa Singh, YourDOST Health Solutions Pvt. Ltd
52. Romita Ghosh, Heal Healthtech Pvt. Ltd
53. Roopa Maganti, Greentatwa Agri TechL LLP
54. Samina Bano, RightWalk Foundation
55. Savita Garg, Eclassopedia
56. Sayalee Marathe, Aadyaa Originals Pvt. Ltd
57. Shaheen Mistri, The Akanksha Foundation
58. Shalini Khanna Sodhi, National Association for the Blind
59. Shanti Raghavan, EnAble India
60. Suchetha Bhat, Dream a Dream
61. Suchi Mukherjee, LimeRoad
62. Suchitra Sinha, Ambalika
63. Sugandha Sukrutaraj, Amba
64. Sulajja Firodia Motwani, Kinetic Green Energy and Power Solutions
65. Sumita Ghose, Rangsutra Crafts India
66. Supriya Paul, Josh Talks
67. Susmita Mohanty, Earth2Orbit
68. Dr Swapna Priya K., Farms2fork Technologies Pvt. Ltd (CultYvate)
69. Swati Pandey, Arboreal Bioinnovations Pvt. Ltd
70. Tanuja Abburi, Transformation Skills India Pvt. Ltd
71. Trishla Surana, Colour Me Mad Pvt. Ltd
72. Trupti Jain, Naireeta Services
73. Victoria Joshlin D’Souza, Swachha Eco Solutions Pvt. Ltd
74. Vidya Subramanian, Vidya Subramanian Academy
75. Vijaya Swithi Gandhi, Chitrika

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DS/LP