Bhageerathi Amma
Bhageerathi Amma (1914 – 22 July 2021) was an Indian woman who lived in the Kollam district of Kerala. She came to national attention when she returned to education at the age of 105. She was honoured with the Nari Shakti Puraskar the highest civilian award for women by Govt of India from the President of India and prime minister Narendra Modi singled her out for praise.
Life
Bhageerathi Amma was born in 1914 in British India and lived in Prakkulam in the Kollam district of Kerala.[1][2] Her mother died in childbirth and Amma took on caring for her younger siblings. After she married, her husband died in the 1930s and she was left to bring up her children alone.[3] Amma was reported to have five or six children, 13 or 16 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.[4][2] She enjoyed watching cricket and soap operas on television.[2]
At the age of 105, Amma decided to continue her education and took examinations in Mathematics, the Malayalam language and Environmental Science. Because of her age, the Kerala Literacy Mission permitted her to take the exams at home over three days.[2] She scored 205 out of 275 points and was acknowledged as the oldest person to take the equivalency exams.[5]
Awards and recognition
Amma was announced as a winner of the 2019 Nari Shakti Puraskar. Prime Minister Narendra Modi singled her out for special praise, saying "if we wish to progress in life, we should develop ourselves, if we wish to achieve something in life, the first pre-condition for that is the student within us must never die".[6] Another winner was fellow Keralan 98-year-old Karthyayani Amma.[7]
Amma was unable to attend the award ceremony due to ill health, but soon afterwards she received a retrospective pension of Rs 1,500 per month. She had previously been unable to give her biometric information to get an Aadhaar in order to receive it but a nationalised bank helped her meet the requirements.[6][8]
Death
On 22 July 2021, Amma died at the age of 107 due to age-related ailments.[9][10]
References
- ^ "Kerala's oldest student Bhageerathiyamma, 107, passes away". Mathrubhumi. 23 July 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
- ^ a b c d Varma, Vishnu (20 November 2019). "Kerala's literacy history gets new ambassador: 105-year-old Bhageerathi Amma". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 17 June 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
- ^ "105-year-old Bhageerathi Amma Sits for Fourth Standard Exams at Kerala's Kollam". News18. 20 November 2019. Archived from the original on 21 November 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
- ^ Adhikari, Somak (5 March 2020). "Meet Karthiyani & Bhageerathi Amma, They'll Get Nari Shakti Puraskar For Academic Excellence". India Times. Archived from the original on 11 March 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
- ^ Staff Reporter (6 February 2020). "105-year-old student from Kerala clears all Class 4 papers". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
- ^ a b "After PM's praise, oldest learner Bhageerathi Amma set to get Aadhaar". The Times of India. PTI. 27 February 2020. Archived from the original on 1 February 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
- ^ Staff (7 March 2020). "98 yrs old from Kerala to be presented Nari Shakti Puraskar, Here's Why?". The Dispatch. Archived from the original on 1 February 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
- ^ "Old-age pension for 'grandmother of learning' Bhageerathi Amma". Mathrubhumi. 12 March 2020. Archived from the original on 1 February 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
- ^ "Bhageerathi Amma passes away". The Week. 23 July 2021. Archived from the original on 23 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ "Kerala's 'oldest learner' Bhageerathi Amma no more - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- v
- t
- e
- K. V. Rabiya
- Chinna Pillai
- Kinkri Devi
- Manasi Pradhan
- M. Venkaiah
- Bina Sheth Lashkari
- T. Radha K. Prashanti
- Vartika Nanda
- Seema Sakhare
- Lucy Kurien
- Saurabh Suman
- Basanti Devi
- Suparna Baksi Ganguly
- Meena Sharma
- Priti Patkar
- Uttara Padwar
- Polumati Vijaya Nirmala
- Vasu Primlani
- Sujata Sahu
- Jyoti Mhapsekar
- Sumita Ghosh
- Anjali Sharma
- Krishna Yadav
- Shakuntala Majumdar
- State of Rajasthan
- Chhanv Foundation
- Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm Pawl (MHIP)
- Sadhana Mahila Sangha
- Shikshit Rojgar Kendra Prabandhak Samiti
- Tripunithura Kathakali Kendram Ladies Troupe
- Amruta Patil
- Amala Akkineni
- Anatta Sonney
- Anoyara Khatun
- B. Codanayaguy
- Bano Haralu
- Deepa Mathur
- Divya Rawat
- Ilse Köhler Rollefson
- Janki Vasant
- Kalpana Shankar
- Kalyani Pramod Balakrishnan
- Mumtaz M. Kazi
- Nandita Shah
- Pallavi Fauzdar
- Pamela Malhotra
- Qamar Dagar
- Reema Sathe
- Ringyuichon Vashum
- Sangita Iyer
- Smita Tandi
- Sumitra Hazarika
- Sunita Singh Choken
- Subha Varier
- Tiasa Adhya
- V. Nanammal
- Zuboni Hümtsoe
- Gargi Gupta
- Sindhutai Sapkal
- Gauri Maulekhi
- Navika Sagar Parikrama
- Malvika Iyer
- R Umadevi Nagaraj
- Thinlas Chorol
- S. Siva Sathya
- Bharti Kashyap
- Beti Zindabad Bakery
- Mittal Patel
- Sabarmatee Tiki
- Jayamma Bandari
- K. Syamalakumari
- Vanastree
- Lizymol Philipose Pamadykandathil
- Chirom Indira
- Urmila Balawant Apte
- Deepika Kundaji
- Purnima Devi Barman
- Anita Bharadwaj
- Ambica Beri
- Pushpa Girimaji
- Avani (organization)
- Shrujan
- C. K. Durga
- Rekha Mishra
- Mehvish Mushtaq
- Karuna Society for Animals and Nature
- One Stop Centre, Raipur
- Millet Network of India
- State of Punjab
- Madhu Jain
- Jetsun Pema
- M.S. Sunil
- Sheela Balaji
- Anuradha Krishnamoorthy and Namrata Sundaresan
- Gita Mittal
- A. Seema
- Anshu Khanna
- Anu Malhotra
- Anuradha N. Naik
- Chetna Gala Sinha
- Darshana Gupta
- Devaki Amma
- Didi Contractor
- Gowri Kamakashi
- Hekani Jakhalu
- Ipsita Biswas
- Iti Tyagi
- Kagganapalli Radha Devi
- Kalpana Saroj
- Lalita Vakil
- Madhuri Barthwal
- Manju Manikuttan
- Meenakshi Pahuja
- Mini Vasudevan
- Munuswamy Shanthi
- Neelum Sharma
- Nomita Kamdar
- Pamela Chatterjee
- Pragya Prasun
- Priyamvada Singh
- Pushpa N. M.
- Rahibai Soma Popere
- Rajani Rajak
- Reshma Nilofer Naha
- Rhea Mazumdar Singhal
- Ruma Devi
- Seema Mehta
- Seema Rao
- Sister Shivani
- Smriti Morarka
- Snehlata Nath
- Sonia Jabbar
- Sujatha Mohan
- Sunita Devi
- Twinkle Kalia
- Urmi Basu
- One Stop Centre, Lucknow
- Millet Network of India
- Qasab-Kutch Craftswomen Producer Co. Ltd.
- Social Welfare & Nutritional Meal Programme Dept, Tamil Nadu
- Anita Gupta
- Ushaben Dineshbhai Vasava
- Nasira Akhter
- Sandhya Dhar
- Nivruti Rai
- Tiffany Brar
- Padma Yangchan
- Jodhaiya Bai Baiga
- Saylee Nandkishor Agavane
- Vanita Jagdeo Borade
- Meera Thakur
- Jaya Muthu, Tejamma (joint)
- Ela Lodh
- Arti Rana
- Sathupati Prasanna Sree
- Tage Rita Takhe
- Madhulika Ramteke
- Niranjanaben Mukulbhai Kalarthi
- Pooja Sharma
- Anshul Malhotra
- Shobha Gasti
- Radhika Menon
- Kamal Kumbhar
- Sruti Mohapatra
- Batool Begam
- Thara Rangaswamy
- Neerja Madhav
- Neena Gupta