Prashant Tewari: Igniting Flames of Valor for India’s Veernaris

Prashant Tewari started VeerNari Shakti Resettlement Foundation with one simple belief: the families of India's martyred soldiers must never be left to walk alone.

He grew up watching his father — Late Major B.S. Tewari, a decorated veteran of the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars — serve the nation with complete dedication. That experience gave him a lifelong respect for the armed forces and a deep understanding of what military families go through — not just during service, but long after.

When the Kargil War ended in 1999, Prashant saw something that stayed with him. The tributes faded. The cameras left. But the widows, the children, and the disabled soldiers remained — navigating grief, paperwork, legal battles, and financial uncertainty, often with no one to guide them.

He could not look away. And so he built something.

Over the past 25 years, he has built VNSF into a foundation that operates across 24 states, serves families from all three Armed Forces and eight Paramilitary Forces, and has pioneered programmes that are first in India — including the Government-approved Drone Pilot Licence training for VeerNaaris in 2023.

His vision has always been the same: not charity, but dignity. Not sympathy, but strength. Not a one-time gesture, but a four-year commitment that walks with every family until they can walk on their own.

Varsha Tewari brings to VNSF something that no qualification alone can provide — a genuine, personal commitment to the women the foundation serves.

As President, she oversees the day-to-day work of the foundation, ensuring that every programme reaches the families it is designed for, and that every VeerNari who comes to VNSF is met with warmth, professionalism, and real support.

Her focus is on building systems that last. Under her leadership, VNSF has developed structured processes for counselling, legal support, skill training, and family follow-up — so that the foundation's work is consistent, accountable, and always centred on the needs of the VeerNaari.

She believes that the strength of any organisation is in the quiet, daily work — the phone calls answered, the documents filed, the hand held at the right moment. That is the standard she holds VNSF to, every single day.

Our esteemed advisory board consists of experienced professionals who provide invaluable guidance and strategic direction to the company. Their expertise in various industries helps shape business decisions and ensures long-term success.

With a wealth of knowledge and a commitment to innovation, the advisory team plays a crucial role in overseeing and enhancing the company’s operations, fostering growth, and maintaining excellence.

VeerNaari Himakshi brings something rare and irreplaceable to the VNSF team: she has lived the journey that VNSF exists to support.

As a VeerNari herself, she understands — from the inside — what it means to receive the news, to face the paperwork, to carry the grief, and to slowly, steadily rebuild. That experience is not a credential. It is a calling.

In her role as Operations Lead, she works directly with VeerNari families across the foundation's programmes — coordinating support, building trust, and making sure that no family feels like a case number. She is often the first person a newly bereaved VeerNari speaks to, and she approaches every conversation with the care and understanding that only lived experience can bring.

Her presence in the VNSF team is a reminder of what the foundation is truly about: not experts looking in from the outside, but a community standing together — strong, connected, and moving forward.