Author(s)
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Sminu Jindal
Entrepreneur and Accessibility Crusader
“Being a person with reduced mobility is not a limitation; being inaccessible is. Accessibility is pre-requisite for creating an equal and livable world for all.”
A visionary and thought leader, Ms Sminu Jindal is the first woman in India to break the glass ceiling and lead in the Steel, Oil and Gas Industry as the Managing Director of Jindal SAW Limited. The organization is constantly marching ahead globally under her robust leadership. Alongside her feats in the manufacturing industry, Ms Jindal has championed the cause of ‘Accessibility for All’ through her organization, Svayam.
She is the first and the only women to work extensively towards access improvements based on universal design in the public infrastructure and transport systems to make them accessible and friendly to people with reduced mobility, which includes; elderly, children, pregnant women, women with babies, people with physical injuries, and persons with disabilities. Under her leadership and guidance, Svayam was conferred with the National Tourism Award for not just making Qutub Minar, the first UNESCO World Heritage Site accessible for all, but subsequently the Red Fort and Fatehpur Sikri as-well.
Apart from numerous honors and recognition for her persistent work and leadership, Ms Jindal was conferred with Young Global Leaders 2009 by World Economic Forum, L’Oreal Femina Women Award 2014 in the ‘Favourite Face of a Cause’ category, and GAATES Award of Recognition 2016.