Rangu Souriya is an Indian activist and social worker for women and children. She is the founder of Kanchanjunga Uddhar Kendra, a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

based in

Siliguri Siliguri, ) is a major tier-II city in West Bengal. It forms twin cities, "Twin Cities" with the neighboring district capital of Jalpaiguri. The city spans areas of the Darjeeling district, Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts in the Indian sta ...

, dedicated to helping victims of

sex trafficking Sex trafficking is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. It has been called a form of modern slavery because of the way victims are forced into sexual acts non-consensually, in a form of sexual slavery. Perpetrators of the ...

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal, ...

North East India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...

and

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

. She was awarded the

Godfrey Phillips National Bravery Awards The Godfrey Phillips National Bravery Awards (formerly: Red and White Bravery Awards) is a surrogate tobacco brand promotional activity of Godfrey Phillips India, instituted in 1990, as a PR campaign to promote its cigarette brand "Red and Wh ...

in 2011.

Work

In 2004, Souriya went to

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

to seek guidance from

Anuradha Koirala Anuradha Koirala (born Anuradha Gurung on 14 April 1949), Okaldhunga district, is a Nepalese social activist and the founder of Maiti Nepal – a non-profit organization in Nepal, dedicated to helping victims of sex trafficking. She was appoi ...

and team

Maiti Nepal Maiti Nepal ( ne, :ne:माइती नेपाल, माइती नेपाल) is a non-profit organization in Nepal dedicated to help the victims of Sexual slavery, human trafficking. Currently, it operates a rehabilitation home in Kath ...

. After interacting and learning from them, she came back to Darjeeling and started Kanchanjunga Uddhar Kendra. Since then she and others at the NGO have rescued more than 1100 girls from cities like

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, and

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

Recognition

Souriya received the Godfrey Phillips National Bravery Award in 2011 and was recognised with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry’s Women Achievers’ Award in 2009. In addition, she has been honoured by more than 20 regional organisations for her services. In January 2016, she was listed as part of the 100 Women Initiative of the Ministry of Women and Child Development (India) that aims to recognise and acknowledge 100 women who are making a difference in their communities across the country,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Souriya, Rangu Living people Activists from West Bengal Human trafficking in India People from Darjeeling district Social workers from West Bengal Women educators from West Bengal Educators from West Bengal 20th-century Indian educational theorists 20th-century Indian women scientists Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Indian women educators

Work

Recognition

See also

References