Kshetrimayum Indira Devi, known as Chirom Indira, is an Indian entrepreneur, designer, and social worker.

Life

Devi was born in the

Imphal West district Imphal West district (Meitei language, Meitei pronunciation:/ˈɪmfəl or ɪmˈfɑːl/) is one of the sixteen districts of Manipur state in northeastern India. As of 2011, it is the most populous district in the state. Geography Lamphelpat city ...

Manipur Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...

. She was the first born of six children. She is a graduate in Political Science but she also studied weaving at the Indian Institute of Hardware Technology in

Guwahati Guwahati () the largest city of the Indian state of Assam, and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the seat of the Government of Assam. Th ...

and her first job was nearby at GOENKA woollen mills ltd in 1994. In 2003 she and her husband set up an export company for handloom created products. In 2015 the

Ministry of Textiles The Ministry of Textiles is an Indian government national agency responsible for the formulation of policy, planning, development, export promotion and regulation of the textile industry in India. This includes all natural, artificial, and ce ...

recognised her work and she became the first Indian recipient of the National Award in Design Development of Handloom Products. On

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March, commemorating women's fight for equality and liberation along with the women's rights movement. International Women's Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive righ ...

Devi was awarded the

Nari Shakti Puraskar The Nari Shakti Puraskar () is an annual award given by the Ministry of Women and Child Development of the Government of India to individual women or to institutions that work towards the cause of women empowerment. It is presented by the presi ...

for her work with handloom weaving. The award was made by the

President of India The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...

Ram Nath Kovind Ram Nath Kovind ( ; born 1 October 1945) is an Indian politician and lawyer who served as the president of India from 2017 to 2022. He is the first person from Uttar Pradesh to serve as the president. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Pa ...

at the Presidential Palace ( Rastrapati Bhavan) in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

with the Prime Minister of India,

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

and the Minister for Women & Child Development, Maneka Sanjay Gandhi also attending. About 30 people and nine organisations were honoured that year, receiving the award and a prize each of $R 100,000. Another person honoured that day was Madhu Jain who was also excelling in textiles. On the same day as that award the nominations were open for fifteen women to receive the Women Transforming India Award which she was nominated for and awarded later that year. By 2018, she had become a member of the All India Handloom Board, which was formed in 1992. However, the board was dissolved in 2020, as it was judged to be not effective enough.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Indira, Chirom Indian textile designers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Manipur Nari Shakti Puraskar winners 21st-century Indian businesswomen 21st-century Indian businesspeople Indian designers Indian social workers People from Imphal West district 21st-century Indian designers Women from Manipur Indian women artists