UK Queen recognises Indian with Commonwealth Points of Light award

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II today recognised Srishti Bakshi of India as the 26th Commonwealth Point of Light, in honour of her exceptional service to empowering women in India.

In the lead up to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London on April 19 and 20, the Queen,as head of the Commonwealth, was thanking inspirational volunteers across the 53 Commonwealth nations for the difference they are making in their communities and beyond, a British High Commission statement released in New Delhi said.

By sharing these stories of service, Heads of Government will celebrate inspirational acts of volunteering across the Commonwealth family and help inspire others to make their own contribution to tackling some of the greatest social challenges of our time.

Srishti Bakshi is the founder of the CrossBow Miles movement. After seeing that India's National Crime Records Bureau recorded 327,394 cases of violence against women in 2015, Srishti decided to make a statement and spread her message of gender equality across the country.

She is leading a team of hundreds of female volunteers on a 3,800-km walk through India across 260 days.

During the walk, she leads workshops for women in rural communities on digital and financial literacy, leadership, and health.

She has overseen the creation of an innovative mobile app where people from across the world can upload steps collected from their phone pedometers and join the campaign's 'Billion Steps For Women'.

Each Commonwealth Point of Light will receive a personalised certificate signed by Her Majesty The Queen as Head of the Commonwealth.

Srishti was presented her award by the High Commissioner, Sir Dominic Asquith, at an International Women's Day reception held in New Delhi.

Sir Dominic said, "In achieving one billion steps, her CrossBow Steps movement has spread the message of women's empowerment and safety across India. I hope the Points of Light award helps Shrishti spread her message globally and I congratulate her for her tremendous creativity and determination."

Srishti Bakshi said, Receiving the Commonwealth Points of Light Award on International Women's Day 2018 has been an honour and a very pleasant surprise. It is overwhelming and humbling to be recognised for our efforts to build a safer and better India for women, by empowering them. At CrossBow Miles, we have always believed in doing our duty without expectation of a reward, but a recognition like this reaffirms our belief in the work we am doing. Our heartfelt thanks to Her Majesty the Queen, the selection committee and the British High Commission in New Delhi.