Vizag’s women break barriers to change

VISAKHAPATNAM: Braving numerous challenges, the women of Vizag have made their mark in society while helping others become self-reliant. On International Women’s Day, TOI looks at some of their contributions.
After the demise of her husband in 2018, 60-year-old Annapurna Kottapalli from Chodavaram turned her passion for pickle-making into a business. She refused to take financial help from her children and started the initiative by herself.
Within three years, she was providing employment in the mango season. Her pickles gained in popularity within and outside India through word of mouth.
Heritage narrator Jayshree Hatangadi has been striving for conservation and raising awareness about the city’s heritage while doing her bit for tribal school children and facilitating skill training in the villages of Araku. The 63-year-old spends much of her time in residential schools where she teaches music, games and academics to children and arranges trainers to skill tribals in local handicrafts. She has ensured tribal girl children are sent to schools and grow up to be self-reliant.
Single mother and advocate Rahimunnisa Begum, state co-convener of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, has been working towards women emancipation, free legal aid to needy women and is a visiting faculty at law colleges. She has given training to girls and single women in handicrafts and self-employment initiatives.