Anita Reddy

Anita Reddy is an Indian social worker from Karnataka and the founder of Association for Voluntary Action and Services (AVAS), known for her services for the rehabilitation and upliftment of the slum dwellers in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. She is the managing trustee of DWARAKA and DRIK Foundations, working for children's education and women's livelihoods. The Government of India honored Anita Reddy in 2011, with the fourth highest civilian award of Padma Shri.

Biography

Reddy was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu in a wealthy family of Ranjini Reddy and Dwaraknath Reddy, an industrialist and philanthropist. Her schooling was at the Rishi Valley School in Andhra Pradesh and college in WCC, after which she went to California, USA. Later she married her childhood friend, Pratap Reddy, the son of the first Chief Minister of Karnataka, K. Chengalaraya Reddy.

Reddy represented the Government of India at the Habitat II, the United Nations Human Settlements Conference in Istanbul, Turkey held from 3 to 14 June 1996 and was a member of the Karnataka Slum Clearance Board. She also holds the positions of the Managing Trustee of the Ranjini Dwaraknath Reddy Trust (RDRT)

Reddy also promotes Jeevanotsav, a cultural platform and the K. C. Reddy Swim Centre in Bengaluru which has produced national level swimmers such as Nisha Millet and Meghana Narayanan, She serves as the Organizing Secretary of Women’s Voice and as the secretary of the State Level Slum Dwellers Federation (KKNSS).

In her current role, she is steering the idea of establishing ARC - Arts, Rights and Communities, first-ever learning center that would enhance indigenous traditions and heritage knowledge in poor children in many communities including Government schools. It would enable youth to discover the inherent strengths of the area they live in and the wealth of history relevant for the regions development.

Awards and recognitions Reddy is a recipient of Mahila Sadhaki Award of the Guild of Women Achievers in 1997. and the Woman Achiever Award from the Ladies Circle India, she was declared as the Person of the Year by the Namma Bengaluru Foundation in 2010–11. The same year, in 2011, Reddy received the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri.