Kalavati Devi

Kalavati Devi (born 1965) is an Indian mason who became a toilet builder in Kanpur. She transformed her own community by installing a 50-seat toilet and then moved to other communities. She has helped build 4,000 toilets improving the lot particularly for women and children. In 2019 she was awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar, an award given to the women or institutions working for women empowerment

Life Devi was born in the 1960s and her background is in Sitapur. She came to Raja purwa near j k temple Kanpur when she was 14 to marry Jairaj Singh who was 18. One of her husband's jobs was to work as a floor cutter for a non-profit group called Shramik Bharti. This was despite the open sewers, children and adults having to defaecate in the street and anecdotal talk of assaults and a rape. Seven were chosen to tweet but the awardees were Padala Bhudevi, Bina Devi, Arifa Jan, Chami Murmu, Nilza Wangmo, Rashmi Urdhwareshe, Mann Kaur, Kaushiki Chakroborty, Avani Chaturvedi, Bhawana Kanth, Mohana Singh Jitarwal, Bhageerathi Amma, Karthyayani Amma and Devi. Her work was recognised when the President Ram Nath Kovind awarded her one of twelve Nari Shakti Puraskar awards. The awards were made on International Women's Day in New Delhi.