NEW DELHI: It was a rare occasion when women who have excelled in diverse fields found themselves on the same platform with a farmer-emtrpreneur called the ‘Mushroom lady of Bihar‘ sharing space with a renowned chess grandmaster as they took over PM Modi’s social media handles to mark Women’s Day.
The two along with an advocate for universal accessiblity who is herself a wheelchair user, two scientists and a CEO transforming rural entrepreneurship used the popular handles to share their journeys, achievements, and challenges. Before handling over his social media properties to the women, the PM said, “We bow to our Nari Shakti on Women’s day! Our govt has always worked for empowering women, reflecting in our schemes and programmes.”
“These women belong to different parts of India and have excelled in different areas, but there’s one underlying theme – the prowess of India’s Nari Shakti,” he later said.
The first to post on the handle was chess prodigy Vaishali Rameshbabu, who became a Grandmaster in 2023. She said she has been playing chess since the age of six and urged families to “support girls”. “Trust their abilities and they’ll do wonders.”.
Elina Mishra and Shilpi Soni – two scientists came together to share their journey. Hailing from Bhubaneswar, Elina Mishra is a nuclear scientist at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. Shilpi Soni from MP is an ISRO scientist.
Overcoming barriers of poverty, Anita Devi from Nalanda, popular as “Mushroom Lady of Bihar”, recalled how she took a bold step by establishing Madhopur Farmers Producers Company in 2016.
Founder-CEO of Frontier Markets, Ajaita Shah from Rajasthan, is working to empower over 35,000 digitally enabled women entrepreneurs.
Delhi-based Anjlee Agarwal, founder of Samarthyam Centre for Universal Accessibility, said, “Let’s ensure every woman, every individual, can navigate their life with dignity and independence.”