DD Sahyadri honours women achievers across social spectrum

MUMBAI: The 12th Sahyadri Hirkani Awards Ceremony was organised at the Doordarshan Kendra in Worli on April 20.

Mukesh Sharma, additional director general, Doordarshan, said, "We honoured distinguished women from across Maharashtra who, with sheer grit and determination, have left a stamp in a male-dominated arena and brought social change in society.''

The awards were decided by an independent jury including Meera Borwankar, DIG, legal & technical of the Maharashtra government, actress Nishigandha Wad, journalist Dilip Chaware, advocate Jai Vaidya and Sanjay Awate, Editor, Mumbai Sakal.

Eight women were felicitated that evening. Priyanka Mohite, 21, was the youngest Maharashtrian girl to scale Mt Everest. Usha Madavi, who hails from a Naxal-infested area named Salekasa, was able to protect five acres of forest land from land mafia owing to strict patrolling.

Suman More who worked as a ragpicker was selected to speak at the International Labour Organisation conference held in Geneva. Pune resident Vahbiz Bharucha who captained India's women's rugby team, and Dr Madhavi Khode Chavre from Yavatmal who is additional tribal commissioner in Nagpur, were among the winners. Shabana Sheikh is the first Muslim woman police officer from an orthodox village in Ahmednagar. She was one among nine siblings who were born into a poor family. In 1992 Shabana passed the MPSC exam and joined the police force.

Mumbai activist Mumtaz Sheikh who demands proper sanitation facilities for women was honoured as was dancer Sandhya Purecha, a disciple of Guru Parvathikumar.

The awards were distributed by Anup Jalota, Vijaylaxmi Chhabra, former director general of Doordarshan, Nishigandha Wad, Bharat Dabholkar, Nirmala Samant-Prabhavalkar, Sridevi Goel, Meera Borwankar, Ramesh Bhatkar, Sucherita Hegde and Smita Jayakar.

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