Why This Padma Shri Recipient Deserved An Abhijit Banerjee Kind Of Applause

On October 14, Indian-American Abhijit Banerjee, his wife Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer jointly won the 2019 Nobel Economics Prize for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty. While the entire nation lauds this incredible feat and with a tsunami of congratulatory messages pouring in, we were left wondering – did we as a nation erupt with similar enthusiasm when 67-year-old Chinna Pillai, popularly known as Madurai’s iron-lady, bagged the Padma Shri earlier this year for reducing poverty and debt grievances in the villages of Tamil Nadu? In this episode of Not For Women Only, let’s revisit the story of Padma Shri Chinna Pillai, who traversed through a tough path to empower women living under poverty through the Kalanjiam micro-credit movement.