Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala state government will honour four eminent women with Vanitha Ratna award on Women’s Day at Nishagandhi auditorium in Thiruvananthapuram. The award which carries Rs 1 lakh and citation will be given to Shantha Jose, Vaikom Vijayalakshmi, Dr Sunitha Krishnan and Dr UPV Sudha by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on March 8. 

Shantha Jose who hails from Paruthipara in Thiruvananthapuram had founded ‘Ashraya’, an organisation devoted for the care of patients of Regional Cancer Centre in Thiruvananthapuram. She has been active for the past many years in the field of welfare of cancer patients. 

Popular playback singer Vaikom Vijayalakshmi will be honoured for emerging as a successful singer of many languages by fighting with the restraints of congenital blindness. 

Palakkad native Dr Sunitha Krishnan is a renowned humanitarian activist who leads a voluntary organisation ‘Prajwala’, centred in Hyderabad. 

Dr UPV Sudha is a research associate at Aeronautical Development Agency in Bengaluru functioning under the Ministry of Defence. She was a chief contributor in the development of an indigenous warplane and an Unmanned Strike Aircraft Vehicle. She is a native of Trichambaram in Kannur.