She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.
Not for nothing is 75-year-old Shanta still revered as ‘the dharna (protest) lady’ and as ‘Shanta toofani’ (thunderous=indefatigability), as a huge range of issues defines her work.
Shanta Devi – India
She works for the Ankur-Society for Alternatives in Education.
Shanta Devi’s work with nonformal education is driven by her conviction that education is essential to a person’s understanding of the world. She worked alone, and then with the Ankur-Society for Alternatives in Education, trying to reach out, particularly to women, children, and youth. Beside having supported human rights issues, Shanta campaigns for slum dwellers’ rights, supporting HIV+ persons, sexual minorities, and fighting for nuclear disarmament. (Read all on 1000peacewomen).
links:
SLUM CITIES: A SHIFTING WORLD;
The major industrial and financial centre;
Bombay’s billion dollar slum: Dharavi, in India’s commercial capital Bombay (Mumbai), is Asia’s largest slum;
The soul of a city, Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found by Suketu Mehta;
and
CM’s volte face on slum rehab;
State plans bill to bypass HC order on slum rehab;
Inside the slums: MUMBAI, Light in the darkness.