KOLLAM: When Bhageerathi Amma, 105, decided to resume studies after giving it up in her childhood due personal setbacks, she might not have imagined her decision would fetch her so many accolades.
The Kollam native had hit headlines when she attempted Class IV equivalency literacy examination, an effort Prime Minister Narendra Modi acknowledged in his Mann Ki Baat radio programme last month. Now she has been selected for ‘Nari Shakti Puraskar-2019’.
She, along with fellow equivalency learner Karthiyayani Amma, 97, will collect the award from President Ramnath Kovind in New Delhi on March 8, the International Women’s Day. The award instituted by the Ministry of Women and Child Development is presented annually to individuals, groups and institutions for their work towards women empowerment. It carries a purse of `1 lakh and a citation.
Bhageerathi Amma, the state’s oldest equivalency learner, had scored 75 per cent in her exams. She has 16 grandchildren and 12 great- grandchildren.
Karthiyayani Amma, who topped the Kerala State Literacy Mission examination by scoring 98 out of 100 in 2018, was selected as the Commonwealth of Learning Goodwill Ambassador.
The Haripad native was also the oldest among the 43,330 candidates who appeared for the Aksharalaksham test in 2018.