Sikkim
Indian Social Worker, Educationist, Former Civil Servant and Founder of Human Development Foundation of Sikkim
Keepu Tsering was born in 1942 in a Lepcha family from Sikkim and did her primary and secondary education in Gangtok before completing her college studies at Kolkata from where she secured a master's degree. Tsering joined Sikkim Civil Service in 1994 and rose in ranks to the position of a joint secretary. She speaks six languages, English, Hindi, Nepali, Bengali, Lepcha and Bhutia and is a spinster by choice, was one among the 1000 PeaceWomen, the global organization which was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005, which eventually went to Mohamed ElBaradei. The same year, Sikkim Intellectuals Conference on Humanism, Nationalism and Peace awarded her the title, Jewel of Sikkim. She received the Best Social Service Award of the Government of Sikkim, 2007. The Government of India awarded her the civilian honour of the Padma Shri in 2009 and she received the Real Heroes Award of the Reliance Foundation in 2012. In 2013, CNN-IBN awarded her the Senior Citizen Award for her services to the Lepcha community. She is a member of the Peace Women Across the Globe organization.