The government has named five "outstanding personalities" as the recipients of the "Bangamata Begum Fazilatun Nesa Mujib Award" 2022 – considered the highest state award for women in the "Ka" category – for their contributions to different sectors.
State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Fazilatun Nessa Indira announced the names during a press briefing in Dhaka Saturday.
The government has introduced the award to recognise five Bangladeshi women in politics, economics, education, culture and sports, social services, independence and liberation war, research, and agriculture and rural development every year.
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This year's awardees are Sylhet's Syeda Jebunnesa Haque (politics), Cumilla-2 MP Selima Ahmed (economics), former Dhaka University pro-vice chancellor Nasreen Ahmed (education), Kishoreganj's Asia Alam (social service), and Gopalganj's Ashalata Baidya (independence and liberation war).
The award will be handed over on August 8, marking the 92nd birth anniversary of Fazilatun Nesa Mujib, mother of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and wife of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
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Born in Gopalganj's Tungipara on August 8, 1930, Fazilatun Nesa was assassinated along with most of her family members on August 15.