Dr. Nandini Azad, President of the Working Women’s Forum (India) (WWF-I) and the Indian Cooperative Network for Women (ICNW), was conferred the Bharat Samman 2026 on June 21 in Dehradun for her lifelong contribution to women’s empowerment and social development. The award was presented by the International Institute of Education and Management in association with the Economic Growth Foundation, New Delhi. The honour recognises her pioneering efforts in empowering economically disadvantaged women through grassroots institutions that have become globally recognised models of inclusive development.
About the Bharat Samman 2026
The Bharat Samman is a national honour that recognises individuals for their exceptional contributions to nation-building, social service, women’s empowerment, education, and community development. The 2026 edition of the award was presented at Hotel M J Grand Inn in Dehradun by the International Institute of Education and Management (IIEM) in association with the Economic Growth Foundation, both based in New Delhi.
The award acknowledges work across fields such as social welfare, gender equality, economic development, and public service. Dr. Azad was selected for the 2026 honour in recognition of her decades-long commitment to advancing gender equality, social justice, and sustainable community development through grassroots institutions.
The organisers described her as a visionary leader whose work has transformed the lives of hundreds of thousands of women while demonstrating how community-based organisations can become powerful instruments of economic and social change.
Who Is Dr. Nandini Azad?
Dr. Nandini Azad is a senior women leader in the cooperative movement at the international, regional, and national levels. She holds a Ph.D. from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Policy, USA, where her research focused on women’s credit groups and the creation of women’s power in cooperatives in Tamil Nadu.
She has worked extensively with Indian government bodies including the Planning Commission (now NITI Aayog) and the Ministries of Women, Youth, and Finance. In 2005, her pioneering report ‘Outlays and Outcomes of 65 Ministries in Government of India’ was commended by the Prime Minister during her tenure as head of the Outcome Monitoring Division in the Planning Commission. She has also served on assignments with multilateral agencies including IFAD, ADB, UNDP, ILO, and FAO.
Dr. Azad holds several distinguished leadership positions. She is the elected Chairperson of the International Cooperative Alliance - Asia Pacific (ICA-AP) Women’s Committee. She is also the first woman board member in 50 years to be elected to the board of the International Raiffeisen Union (IRU), the oldest cooperative union in the world, headquartered in Germany. She serves as a Governing Board Member of the Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK) under the Ministry of Women and Child Development, and as a Member of the Governing Board of the National Council for Cooperative Training (NCCT) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
Working Women’s Forum and ICNW: A Grassroots Movement
The Working Women’s Forum (India) was founded in 1978 by the late Jaya Arunachalam in Chennai (then Madras) to empower poor women working in the informal sector. The Indian Cooperative Network for Women (ICNW) was initiated in 1981 as the credit arm of WWF-I and is the first women’s cooperative in South India run for, by, and of poor women. Both organisations are headquartered in Chennai.
Under Dr. Azad’s leadership, the two organisations have grown into one of India’s most influential women-led grassroots movements, with a combined membership of more than 615,000 women across four southern states: Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana. The network has disbursed over 1.7 million loans across 14 locations in India, providing low-interest credit to micro-entrepreneurs in 276 occupations including street vending, weaving, fishing, beedi rolling, and agarbatti making. The repayment rate stands at an impressive 90 percent.
The Gender and Equity Model
A defining feature of WWF-I and ICNW’s work is the Gender and Equity Model, a pioneering framework that addresses structural barriers arising from caste, class, and gender discrimination. The model integrates cooperative principles with financial services, entrepreneurship promotion, and community participation to create sustainable pathways for women’s social and economic empowerment.
| Component | Description |
|---|---|
| Financial Inclusion | Provides micro-credit, savings facilities, and micro-insurance to women in the informal sector |
| Entrepreneurship Promotion | Offers skill development, training, and market linkages for women micro-entrepreneurs |
| Collective Action | Unionises women workers for collective bargaining and advocacy of workers’ rights |
| Social Support | Addresses reproductive healthcare, child labour rehabilitation, and gender-based violence |
| Leadership Training | Builds grassroots women leaders through financial literacy and governance training |
The model has earned widespread recognition from development practitioners, policymakers, and international organisations as an effective approach for inclusive growth. Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited WWF-I during her India visit in July 2011, and the organisation was referenced in former US President Bill Clinton’s book Giving published in 2007.
Significance of the Award
The Bharat Samman 2026 recognises not just Dr. Azad’s personal achievements but the transformative power of women-led grassroots institutions in addressing poverty and inequality. India’s informal sector employs a vast majority of its female workforce, and organisations like WWF-I and ICNW provide these women with access to credit, collective bargaining power, and social security that formal institutions often fail to deliver.
The award also highlights the growing importance of the cooperative movement in India’s development landscape. Cooperatives, which are democratic organisations owned and managed by their members, have proven effective in reaching marginalised communities that mainstream banking and development programmes struggle to serve. With over 6 lakh women members, the ICNW stands as a testament to how cooperatives can drive financial inclusion and entrepreneurship at scale.
Dr. Azad’s recognition at the national level brings attention to the need for continued policy support for women’s cooperatives, including easier access to institutional credit, capacity building, and market linkages. Her work demonstrates that when poor women are organised and given access to financial tools, they become powerful agents of economic change within their families and communities.
Key Takeaways
- Dr. Nandini Azad, President of WWF-I and ICNW, was conferred the Bharat Samman 2026 on June 21, 2026, in Dehradun.
- The award was presented by the International Institute of Education and Management and the Economic Growth Foundation, New Delhi.
- The Working Women’s Forum (India) was founded in 1978 by Jaya Arunachalam, while the Indian Cooperative Network for Women (ICNW) was initiated in 1981 as the first women’s cooperative in South India.
- Under Dr. Azad’s leadership, the two organisations have grown to over 615,000 women members across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana, disbursing over 1.7 million loans.
- Dr. Azad holds a Ph.D. from Syracuse University, is the Chairperson of the ICA-AP Women’s Committee, and is the first woman board member in 50 years of the International Raiffeisen Union (IRU).
- The organisations’ Gender and Equity Model integrates cooperative principles with financial services, entrepreneurship promotion, and community participation to overcome caste, class, and gender barriers.
