The Telangana government has announced awards to 24 eminent women from various fields on the occasion of International Women’s Day on March 8.
The Department for Women, Children, Disabled and Senior Citizens, in an order issued on Monday, said a high-level committee headed by the Minister for Women and Children selected the awardees.
Among the award winners are two women farmers for their innovative farming techniques, two sarpanches for ensuring 100% cashless transactions in their villages, and three women from the field of journalism.
The awardees will be honoured with a cash prize of ₹1 lakh and a citation. They are Dr. Vidyavati, the first woman Vice-Chancellor of Kakatiya University in Telangana (education sector); Janaki, a visually impaired woman running a school for children with disabilities in Hyderabad; Tirunagari Devakidevi of Mahbubnagar for active participation in the Telangana movement in 1969 and in the second phase; Gayathri of Wanaparthy, a visually impaired headmistress of Zilla Parishad High School; and Kurma Laxmi, a Kolama woman of Dhaiguda village in Adilabad, in recognition of her struggle to get her land back under the Social Service Sector.
The following are women selected for the award in various fields: Duddeda Sugunamma (Janagama) and Nagamani (Nalgonda) — women farmers; S. Manemma, D. Swapna (from Hyderabad), and Moola Vijaya Reddy(Peddapalli) — for active participation in the Telangana movement; Prameela — lawyer from Mancherial; Anisetty Rajitha (Warangal) and Shajahana (Khammam) — literature; Vanaja Uday — dance, head of department, Telugu University; Anjani Reddy (Zaheerabad) — painting; Payal Kotgareekar (Nizamabad) — tabla, music; Chaitanya (Nalgonda) and Swarna (Karimnagar) for contributing to the Telangana movement through songs; Priyadarshini (Warangal) — gold medal winner in weightlifting in the Commonwealth Games; Madapati Satyavathi (Hyderabad) — first news reader in radio; Katta Kavitha (Nalgonda) — journalist, print media; G. Malliswari (Warangal) — first video journalist; and M. Padma, Gollapalli sarpanch in Karimnagar, and Kumbhala Lakshmi, Ibrahimnagar sarpanch in Siddipet, for striving for 100% cashless transaction in their village.
