Two TN women invited for tea party with President of India

COIMBATORE: A woman autorickshaw driver at Kavundampalayam in Coimbatore city and a tea plantation worker in the Nilgiris district have been invited to the Republic Day parade in Delhi and to a tea party with the President of India in Rashtrapati Bhavan. N Sangeetha, 40, of Kavundampalayam and R Indrani, 45, Gudalur in the Nilgiris have received a special invitation from President Droupadi Murmu.A Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board official said applications of 15 beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Housing for All (PMAY-HFA) had been submitted to the Centre. The Centre shortlisted Sangeetha and Indrani for the Republic Day function and the tea party. The official said, "The two women have been recognised for their best utilisation of the PMAY-HFA scheme and mainly for women empowerment. The two of them received a subsidy of Rs 2.10 lakh each under the PMAY-HFA."On Monday, Sangeetha was felicitated by Coimbatore district collector Pavankumar G Giriyappavar on receiving the special invite.Sangeetha has been an auto driver for the past seven years. Talking to TOI, Sangeetha said, "My husband is a construction worker. His income was insufficient to provide education to our two children and to run the family. So, I chose auto driving as a profession. Though I owned ancestral land, we have lived in a rental house for all these years. With a little savings, we decided to build a house on the land and also applied for the PMAY-HFA scheme."Indrani, a single parent, managed to educate her son until under his undergraduation and also invested in building a home.During the function in Delhi, the women will be accompanied by one family member each and two officials.