Begum Rokeya Padak, named after Begum Rokeya, is a Bangladeshi national honour conferred on individual women for their exceptional achievement. The award is given by the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs of the

Government of Bangladesh The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ সরকার — ) is the central executive government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Co ...

. The award recognises the pioneering contribution of an individual in empowering women and raising women's issues. Each awardee receives a gold medal weighing 25 grams of 18-karat gold, a certificate of honour, and a sum of cash. The amount of the cash reward was tk 2,00,000 from May 2017. Next it was increased to tk 4,00,000 from November 2019.

Award winners

As of December 2020, 61 awards had been presented: * 1995 – Shamsunnahar Mahmud * 1996 –

Sufia Kamal Begum Sufia Kamal (20 June 1911 – 20 November 1999) was a Bangladeshi poet, feminist leader, and political activist. She took part in the Bengali nationalist movement of the 1950s and civil society leader in independent Bangladesh. She led fe ...

and

Nilima Ibrahim Neelima Ibrahim (11 October 1921 – 18 June 2002) was a Bangladeshi educationist, littérateur and social worker. She is well known for her scholarship on Bengali literature but even more so for her depiction of raped and tortured women in the ...

* 1997 – Nurjahan Begum * 1999 – Angela Gomes and Setara Begum (Rahman) * 2001 –

Hena Das Hena Das (; February 12, 1924July 20, 2009) was a Bangladeshi women's right activist and leftist. She was involved in Nankar Movement in 1948 and Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. In 2001 she was awarded Begum Rokeya Padak by the Government of B ...

, Maliha Khatun and Beggzadi Mahmuda Nasir * 2002 – Akhtar Imam and

Zohra Begum Kazi Zohra Begum Kazi (15 October 19127 November 2007) was the first Bengali Muslim female physician. She was awarded Tamgha-e-Pakistan (1964), Begum Rokeya Padak (2002) and Ekushey Padak (2008). Early life and family Kazi was born in Rajnandgaon, C ...

* 2003 –

Taiyaba Majumder Taiyaba Majumder (1921 – 18 January 2008) was a Bangladeshi housewife and recipient of the Begum Rokeya Padak. She was the mother of former Prime Minister as well opposition leader of Bangladesh and B.N.P. Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia, former ...

and Maleka Ashraf * 2004 – Begum

Husna Banu Khanam Husna Banu Khanam (18 February 1922 – 30 May 2006) was a Bangladeshi educationist, writer and Nazrul singer. She was a pioneer of Bengali Muslim women journalism. In 1999, she received the Ekushey Padak Award for her contribution in music, and ...

and Dilara Chowdhury * 2005 – Rokeya Mannan * 2007 – Latifa Akand and Hosne Ara Begum * 2008 – Sultana Sarwat Ara Zaman and Nasrin Parvin Huq (posthumous) * 2009 – Razia Hossain and Mamtaz Hossen * 2010 – Meher Kabir and Ayesha Zafar * 2011 – Begum Meherunnesa Khatun and Hamida Khanam * 2012 –

Mahfuza Khanam Mahfuza Khanam is a Bangladeshi academic and social activist. She is the current president of Asiatic Society of Bangladesh since January 2018. She was awarded Begum Rokeya Padak (2012) and Anannya Top Ten Awards (2013). Career While Khanam wa ...

and Syeda Jebunnesa Haque * 2013 – Hamida Banu and Jharna Dhara Chowdhury * 2014 – Mamtaz Begum and Golap Banu * 2015 –

Bibi Russell Bibi Russell is a Bangladeshi fashion designer and former international model. Career Russell was born in 1950 in Chittagong, Bangladesh to Mokhlessur Rahman and Shamsun Nahar. She grew up in Dhaka studying in Kamrunnessa Govt Girls High School ...

and Taibun Nahar Rashid (posthumous) * 2016 – Aroma Dutta and Begum Noorjahan * 2017 – Mazeda Shawkat Ali, Baby Maudud (posthumous), Suraiya Rahman, Shobha Rani Tripura and Masuda Faruk Ratna * 2018 – Zinnatunnessa Talukdar, Zohra Anis, Shila Roy, Rama Chowdhury (posthumous) and Rokeya Begum (posthumous) * 2019 – Begum Selina Khalek, Shamsun Nahar, Papri Basu, Begum Akhtar Jahan and Nurun Nahar Faizannesa (posthumously). * 2020 –

Shireen Akhter Shireen Akhter (born 1 May 1956) is a Bangladeshi academic. She is the current and the first female vice chancellor of the University of Chittagong. Background and education Akhter was born at joarianala, Ramu in Cox's Bazar on 1 May 1956. Her ...

, Brig Gen Nazma Begum, Monjulika Chakma, Begum Mushtari Shafi, and Farida Akter * 2021 – Hasina Zakaria Bela, Archana Biswas, Shamsunnahar Rahman Paran (posthumous), Zinat Huda and Saria Sultana * 2022 – Rahima Khatun, Kamrun Nahar Begum, Farida Yasmin, Afroza Parveen, and Nasima Begum.

References

Women in Bangladesh Civil awards and decorations of Bangladesh Awards established in 1995 Awards for contributions to society Orders, decorations, and medals for women * Begum Rokeya {{Award-stub

Award winners

See also

References