The 'Hum Mahilayen Uttarakhand' Conclave was held in Dehradun's Pacific Hotel on 18th June 2023, to celebrate the achievements of women & pay tribute to India's 'Nari Shakti.' Women achievers from all walks of life were honoured with The Shakti Awards for their exemplary courage and strength.
The Shakti Awards is an initiative by the iTV Foundation under the aegis of 'Hum Mahilayen' and ‘We Women Want’, to showcase the indomitable spirit of women through their stories of grit and resilience.
The conclave was graced by the august presence of the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Shri Pushkar Singh Dhami, Former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Shri Harish Rawat, speaker of Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly, Smt. Ritu Khanduri Bhushan, DGP Uttarakhand Shri Ashok Kumar, Actress Smt. Himani Shivpuri, Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswati Ji and Entrepreneurs, politicians, environmentalists, doctors, actors, spiritual gurus and digital content creators.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami spoke about his government's work for women empowerment. 'We have introduced 30% reservation for Women in Government jobs, we have also taken a pledge to make 1.25 lakh women lakhpatis on the 25th anniversary of our state.
We have worked on PM Modi's Ujjwala Yojana and are giving 3 refills to LPG cylinders for every family', said the CM as he listed the schemes introduced for the future of women. Speaker of the assembly, Ritu Khanduri Bhushan, addressed the challenges faced by women assembly in the state assemblies.
She accepted that respect given to a male speaker is much more than what a woman speaker gets, but one should ensure that the dignity of the post is maintained. 'If I want to run the Vidhan Sabha, it will be my way, not in any other person's way', she added.
Legendary Bollywood Actor Himani Shivpuri detailed her journey to stardom. 'I was self-reliant like my father, who used to study at NSD for only 250 rupees. The state of Hindi theatre was very poor and you couldn't make a living out of it.
After joining NSD, I used to get 600 rupees a day', she said while getting emotional about her struggle. Rajya Sabha MP Kartikeya Sharma spoke about the initiative and how it is a campaign to showcase inspirational journeys. 'Fantastic effort to see so many woman achievers from Uttarakhand getting a platform like this to be recognised, rewarded and appreciated. Inspirational speech by the Hon'ble Uttarakhand CM.
Glad to see Ham Mahilayein & We Women Want going from state to state to provide a compelling and honest platform for Nari Shakti in keeping with PM Modi's vision of women-led development', he said.
The day-long conclave was telecast live on India News and India News Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand channels throughout the day with repeat telecasts scheduled over the week.