Arti Rana

Arti Rana was born around 1976. She is Tharu and lives in the Terai, near the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve and the border with Nepal.^[1] Under the National Rural Livelihood Mission, she set up Gautam self-employment to make items such as carpets, baskets and bags.^[1] The group worked with materials like moonj grass and jute.^[2][3]

By 2016, Rana had trained around 800 Tharu women.^[4] The business expanded, and by 2022 she was employing hundreds of women to make handicrafts.^[1] Rana was the president of the self-help group Tharu Hath KargaGharelu Udyog, which received assistance from the World Wide Fund for Nature to make its looms more efficient.^[5] In 2019, it was announced that a visitors centre would be built at the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve to inform tourists about Tharu heritage and sell local products; Rana was one of the co-ordinators for the project.^[6]

Rana's entrepreneurship was recognized with a Rani Laxmibai Bravery award in 2016 and a Gram Swaraj award.^[1][4]

On International Women's Day in 2022, Rana received the Nari Shakti Puraskar,^[1] the highest award for women in India,^[7] for the year 2020 in recognition of her social entrepreneurship. The ceremony had been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India.^[7]