Government to identify India's 100 most influential women

New Delhi, July 14: The women and child development (WCD) ministry has collaborated with Facebook to identify 100 women across the country who have actually made a difference to their communities, an official release said on Tuesday.

These women would be nominated by the ministry's Facebook page. Those getting maximum recommendations will be short listed and then put up before a jury which will select these 100 women. The initiative would be launched on July 15.

"WCD Minister Maneka Gandhi has written to actor Amitabh Bachchan, Anushka Sharma, Deepika Padukone, Madhuri Dixit, cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli urging them to support this initiative and help increase the outreach by nominating someone they know, who have made a difference in other people's lives," said a senior WCD ministry official.

"Apart from that she has also requested them if they could post personalised message or tweet on their own Facebook account or twitter handle encouraging people to send in their nomination," the official said.

Speaking about the initiative, Gandhi said: "We all have had women in our lives who have made a difference, who have changed the course of our own lives, who have left a mark on entire community and changed it for the better.

"We do not thank them enough. Here is your chance to honour the women who have made a difference to your community," the minister said.

The women will be hosted by President Pranab Mukherjee on January 22, 2016, the day when Prime Minister had launched the "Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao" programme this year.

Ankhi Das, director of public policy in south and central Asia at Facebook, said: "Millions of people come on to FacebooK everyday to talk about things that matter most to them. This is a great opportunity for us to celebrate women who have made a difference in our communities."

To submit their nomination, people can visit the ministry's Facebook page between July 15 and September 30 and fill up the nomination form.

IANS