Didi Contractor Receives India’s Highest Award
March 8, 2019
NEW DELHI: On International Women’s Day of 2019, Didi Contractor, Professor Emeritus of Earthville’s Internship in Vernacular Eco-Architecture, was presented with the Nari Shakti Puraskar, India’s highest civilian honor recognizing women who have made great contributions to India. The award was presented by the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind.
India established the Nari Shakti Puraskar award in 1999 to recognize the contributions of women and of organizations supporting women’s empowerment.
The award, which carries a cash prize of 100,000 Indian Rupees (INR), was conferred upon Didi in recognition of her extraordinary contributions to the field of ecologically sensitive architecture. The award was also given to 43 other women this year.
Didi began collaborating with Dharmalaya Institute (Earthville Institute’s sister campus in the Himalayas) in 2009, first by contributing the architectural design for the main building of the Dharmalaya Institute’s campus, and then later through a three-year partnership to develop the Internship in Vernacular Eco-Architecture.
The video of the award ceremony can be seen on the President of India’s YouTube channel (link). Didi is called to receive the award at approximately four minutes and thirty seconds into the video.
