Pooja Sharma honored with 'Nari Shakti Puraskar' | 10 Mar 2022

Why in News

• On the occasion of International Women's Day on March 8, 2022, President Ram Nath Kovind honored Pooja Sharma of Haryana with 'Nari Shakti Puraskar' for her extraordinary work towards women empowerment.

Key Points

• In a special ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the President honored 29 women from across the country with the 'Nari Shakti Puraskar'. For the year 2020 and 2021, 14 awards were given and one award was given jointly to two women.
• These awards are given to women who have done remarkable work in the field of entrepreneurship, agriculture, innovation, social work, art, handicrafts, wildlife conservation, linguistics, merchant navy, education, literature, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) and rights of persons with disabilities.
• Farmer and entrepreneur Pooja Sharma from Gurugram, Haryana has been honored with the Nari Shakti Puraskar for the year 2021 for her outstanding contribution in the field of skill development and women empowerment and entrepreneurship.
• Pooja Sharma formed self-help group 'Kshitij' based in Gurgaon (Gurugram) in 2013 and 'JingEngest' company based in Delhi in 2017.
• They used IARI standardized technology to create processed soy, soy health drinks, biscuits and other soynut items.
• She established 9 Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and trained over 1,000 women in Haryana. Their food manufacturing units employ about 150 women.
• In 2016, ICAR honored him with the 'Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Antyodaya Krishi Puraskar' and the 'Innovative Krishi Samman'.
• It is noteworthy that women who have done exceptional and outstanding work towards the empowerment of weak and marginalized women are honored with Nari Shakti Puraskar every year. The 2020 Nari Shakti Puraskar ceremony could not be held due to the Corona epidemic.