In her tweet, Dr. Malvika Iyer, the second woman to handle Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s social media account, wrote: “Say hello to Dr Malvika Iyer Heart suit. PS: To everyone who's been curious as to how I type, do you see that bone protruding from my right hand? That's my one and only 'extraordinary finger'. I even typed my PhD thesis with it.”
To inspire women leaders the Prime Minister had on International Women's Day 2020 handed over his social media accounts to seven women achievers. When she was 13 years old, Iyer had survived a powerful bomb blast in Bikaner, Rajasthan in 2002, which made her an amputee.
Using Prime Minister’s official twitter handle, Dr. Iyer wrote: I survived a gruesome bomb blast at the age of 13 that blew off my hands and severely damaged my legs. Yet, I worked and went on to get my PhD. Giving up is never an option. Forget your limitations and take on the world with confidence and hope -#SheInspiresUs."
Iyer highlighted the role of education in bringing about a change in society, she stressed upon the need to sensitize young minds about discriminatory attitudes and the need to uplift people with disabilities as role models than being weak and dependent.
Dr Malvika Iyer is an Award-winning Disability rights activist with a Doctorate in Social Work. She is the recipient of the "Nari Shakti Puraskar", the highest civilian honour for women from the President of India. Iyer is an International Motivational Speaker, a TEDX Speaker, and a Model for Accessible Fashion and a Global Shaper at the Global Shapers Community (an initiative of the World Economic Forum). She is an Advocate for Inclusion and Gender. Her work has been recognized widely, including an honour from the President of India Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, a standing ovation for her motivational speech at the United Nations, and the 'Women In The World' Emerging Leaders Award in New York.
She co-chaired the World Economic Forum India Economic Summit 2017. She is featured in UN Women editorial series 'From where I stand', 'YES, WE CAN!' of 100 Inspiring Stories of Differently Abled Entrepreneurs by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. She lost both her hands and severely damaged both her legs with nerve paralysis and hypoesthesia.
Dr. Iyer graduated in Economics from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University and obtained a Master’s in Social Work from Delhi School of Social Work and later obtained M.Phil. and Ph.D. from Madras School of Social Work.
