Meet the Devis!
Our sixth award winner to be featured in the Devi Awards Indore countdown series is Janak Palta McHilligan.
Having survived an open heart surgery at the age of 15, four breast cancer surgeries at 59 and a fatal accident at 63 when she lost her husband, McGillian continues to serve as a passionate social worker for rural India for the last 35 years. Through the various organisations that she founded, she has empowered over 6,000 tribal and rural girls from across 500 villages in Madhya Pradesh. She has also trained more than 100 women Self Help Groups sponsored by Rashtriya Mahila Kosh, the Madhya Pradesh Government and other NGOs. Since 2011, she has settled in Sanawadiya Village and is working with 50 tribal families in her own farmhouse named Jimmy McGilligan Centre for Sustainable Development. She has also provided education for at least 85,000 people free of cost.
Janak Palta McHilligan is our Devi for making sustainable living her life's work.
The Devi Awards will be held in Indore on February 28, 2020 at the Radisson Blu.