Nari Shakti Puraskar 2017 presented to members of the INSV Tarini team

New Delhi: Minister for Women and Child Development, Maneka Sanjay Gandhi presented the prestigious Nari Shakti Puraskar 2017 to the members of the INSV Tarini team here on Thursday.

The six-member all-women team comprising of Lt Commander Vartika Joshi, Lt Commander Pratibha Jamwal, Lt Commander Swathi Patarpalli ,Lt Aishwarya Bodapatti, Lt SH Vijaya Devi and Lt Payal Gupta have received the Puraskar from the Minister.

Speaking on the occasion,the Minister congratulated the team and said INSV Tarini team is an inspiration for the future generation to excel in a sector that has historically not seen the participation of many women. She also added that Nari Shakti Puraskar is one step towards acknowledging the team for their exemplary courage and team spirit.

President Ram Nath Kovind had earlier conferred the Nari Shakti Puraskars on International Women's Day on 8th March 2018 in Rashtrapati Bhavan. As the INSV Tarini team was sailing then, the award could not be presented to the team.

The crew of the Indian Navy Sailing Vessel 'Tarini' is a part of the Indian Navy's uniqueproject 'Navika Sagar Parikrama', an all-women team circumnavigating the globe,promoting ocean sailing activities in the Navy and depicting Government of India's commitment towards women empowerment.

Each crew member has minimum of 20,000 nautical miles sailing experience.

The project aims to demonstrate the thrust of Nari Shakti on the world platform. The voyage also showcased the 'Make in India' initiative by sailing on-board the indigenously built INSV Tarini.

The six-member all-women team, led by Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi circumnavigated and managed the whole operation in this first ever global journey. The voyage which lasted for 254 days, with 199 days at sea covered 21,600 nautical miles, had 5 port calls in Fremantle, Australia; Lyttelton, New Zealand; Port Stanley, Falklands; Cape Town, South Africa and finally at Mauritius before returning home to Goa. All six members of the crew were trained for over three years under Captain Dilip Donde, who is also the first Indian to successfully carry out solo-circumnavigation of the globe between 2009 and 2010.