After great success and appreciation in 2019 and 2022, the much-coveted Devi Awards instituted by The New Indian Express is back in Kolkata for the third time, to honour the truly accomplished women of the city.
The city that has held aloft the flag of women's emancipation over the past two centuries, has never stopped producing women of great ability and talent. This year too, Devi Awards has chosen such outstanding and talented women across professions.
To be held at ITC Sonar on October 5, the prestigious awards ceremony will see 10 women from very diverse fields of professions being felicitated. This year Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture of India, Meenakshi Lekhi, will be the chief guest of honour who will be giving away the awards.
“We are delighted to bring the most credible Devi awards back to the city of the goddess. We have an extraordinary list of women achievers this time who span the spectrum from music, fashion and cinema, to social work and food. This is our 24th edition and Kolkata's Devis will be a great addition to an already remarkable group of over 275 Devis,” says Prabhu Chawla, editorial director, The New Indian Express and The Sunday Standard.
The Devi Awards ceremony was held in Kolkata for the first time on August 31, 2019. Nine women from diverse fields of entrepreneurship, film, fashion, dance, culture and fitness were felicitated by Smriti Irani, union minister for Women and Child Development and Minority Affairs. The awardees included social entrepreneur Madhu Neotia, filmmaker Pritha Chakraborty, fashion designers Laldinsangi, Lalsangzeli, Lalrinpuii, educator Parmita Sarma, danseuse Alokananda Roy, designer Sujata Chatterjee, fitness entrepreneur Ritu Agarwal, Green crusader Temsutula Imsong and ONganic Foods founder Ekta Jaju.
The 21st edition of Devi Awards held last year, on July 29, felicitated an even more diverse collection of 15 women achievers from Kolkata including medicine, science, sports, history, literature, dance, fashion, social work, environment, and cinema. They included cricketer Jhulan Goswami, pulmonoligist Dr Sushmita Roychowdhury, historian Tapati Guha-Thakurta, social activist Priyadarshini Hakim, danseuse Vandana Alase Hazra, industrialist Alka Bangur, scientist Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay, entrepreneur Sanaya Mehta Vyas, actor Swastika Mukherjee, filmmaker Nandita Roy, educator Seema Sapru, entrepreneur Richa Agarwal, president of Patton Group Preeyam Budhia, couturier Paromita Banerjee and author Debarati Mukhopadhyay.
This time too, the event on October 5, will see the felicitation of 10 women achievers from Kolkata.
This year, Adani is the Presenting Partner of the glittering event and the associate partners include Senco Gold and Diamonds, National Jute Board, Life Insurance Corporation Of India, KGA Electronics, LNB Group and Diageo India.