Within five days of Chief Minister Raman Singh making an announcement, the Culture Department has instituted a state-level award in the name of lord Ram’s mother ‘Mata Kaushalya’ (Mother Kaushalya).
Even on the wishes of the State-level Advisory Board, the State Government has announced to give away the first 'Mata Kaushalya' award for 2013-14 to 23-year-old differently-abled Mamta Chandravanshi of Kothitola (Navagaon) village of Naxal-affected Dongargarh Development Block in Rajnandgaon district, according to an official statement issued here on Friday.
The Culture Department has also issued necessary orders on the announcement of instituting the ‘Mata Kaushalya’ award. The award comprises cash amounting to Rs1 lakh.
It may be recalled that Chief Minister Raman Singh while addressing the ‘Sant Samagam’ (gathering of Saints) on March 3 during the Rajim Kumbh on the holy confluence of Mahanadi, Pairi and Sondur rivers had announced to institute a State-level award for Women Empowerment in the name of ‘Mata Kaushalya’.
Singh had stated that Chhattisgarh is blessed with having the pride of being the birthplace of ‘Mata Kaushalya’. The Chief Minister had stated that as per the scholars, lord Ram spent a long time at the time of his ‘Vanvas’ in Chhattisgarh.
The awardee Mamta Chandravanshi who belongs to a tribal community was born on February 4, 1990 in Kothitola village to a poor tribal family in the district bordering Maharashtra state. Mamta was stricken with polio at birth and her father died in 1998. Despite being differently-abled,
she passed the 8th Standard examination and started earning livelihood for her family. Mamta worked with Padamshri Ms Phulbasan Yadav for Women Empowerment in Rajnandgaon district and linked a large number of women ‘Self Help Groups’ (SHGs) on the road to financial progress through self-reliance.