New Delhi: On the eve of International Women's Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to celebrate the courage and spirit of a woman.



He also urged others to write about the women who inspire us with the hashtag #SheInspiresMe



Then he himself wrote about a 106-year-old woman who had inspired him. Kunwar Bai, who is no more, was a resident of Chhattisgarh. She shot to fame in 2016 when the story of how she sold her goats to build a toilet at home got nationwide publicity.

Inspired by the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, she had sold off eight to ten of her goats, her only assets, to raise Rs 22,000 to build toilets at her house, in her village of Kotabharri, in Dhamtari district of Chhattisgarh.



The toilet, the first in the village, was built in 15 days. Now all 18 houses in her village Kotabharri in Dhamtari district now have toilets, earning the village Open Defecation Free status.
PM Modi had met her in 2016 when he visited Chhattisgarh to launch the ambitious Shyama Prasad Mookerjee Rurban (rural-urban) Mission. He had felicitated Kunwar Bai for her contribution towards the Swachh Bharat Mission.

The Prime Minister also addressed her as "Ma Kunwar Bai Yadav", during the rally.




She died on February 23, 2018 after a prolonged illness.