From personal struggle to public leadership, Santoshi Deo of Keonjhar district has emerged as a powerful symbol of courage and empowerment in Odisha.
Her journey demonstrates how resilience, determination, and timely institutional support can transform adversity into inspiration.
Journey of Courage
Married at 16 in Haryana, Santoshi endured dowry harassment and domestic violence before being abandoned by her husband. Returning to Keonjhar as a single mother and school dropout, she chose not to surrender but to rewrite her future.
Inspired by a woman auto-rickshaw driver in Chennai, she became Keonjhar’s first woman auto-rickshaw driver in 2015. In 2021, she created history again as Odisha’s first woman Mo Bus driver in Bhubaneswar, motivating women to pursue non-traditional livelihoods.
Breaking Gender Barriers
Santoshi trained to operate heavy machinery and drove a 40-metric-tonne Volvo truck at the Guali site in Keonjhar, proving that competence and courage know no gender. She also undertook extraordinary journeys—driving her auto-rickshaw 1,600 km to New Delhi to seek justice and later to Ayodhya for the Ram Mandir inauguration.
Recognition and Support
Her inspiring story was celebrated during National Road Safety Month in January 2026, where Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi hailed her as the “Daughter of Keonjhar” and a symbol of Odia pride.
Santoshi is also a beneficiary of AMA SuVahak, a flagship scheme of the Commerce & Transport Department, Government of Odisha. The program provides interest-free loans up to ₹10 lakh, subsidies for electric vehicles, and institutional support to empower women entrepreneurs in the transport sector.
With this support, Santoshi now owns a four-wheeler and is building her career as a woman entrepreneur, embodying the transformative impact of policy-driven empowerment.
