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	==Death==		==Death==
	Devi died 30 December 2007 in [[Chandigarh, India]] aged 82~~.<ref name=iht/> She is survived by a son and 12 grandchildren~~.<ref name=iht/>		Devi died 30 December 2007 in [[Chandigarh, India]] aged 82.<ref name=iht/>

	==Awards==		==Awards==

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{{Use Indian English|date=August 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}}

'''Kinkri Devi''' (1925 – 30 December 2007) was an Indian activist and environmentalist, best known for waging a war on [[illegal mining in India|illegal mining]] and quarrying in her native state of [[Himachal Pradesh]]. She never knew how to read or write and learned how to sign her name a few years before her death.<ref name=iht>{{cite news |first=Haresh|last=Pandya|title=Kinkri Devi, 82, battled illegal mining in India|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/06/asia/obits.php |work= [[International Herald Tribune]] |date=2008-01-06 |access-date=2008-02-21}}</ref>

She became well known for her poverty, which was eventually eased by a US-based charity organisation of Himachal Pradesh later in life after reading a Punjabi newspaper account of her living conditions.<ref name=tim>{{cite news |title=Kinkri Devi: Impoverished Dalit woman who became an unlikely celebrity after campaigning against mining in her home region|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article3122886.ece |work= [[The Times]] |date=2008-01-03 |access-date=2008-02-22}}</ref>

==Early childhood==
Devi was born in the village of [[Ghaton]] in the [[Sirmaur district]] in 1925.<ref name=iht/><ref name=tim/> Her father was a substinance farmer of the [[Dalit]], or untouchable [[caste]].<ref name=iht/> She began working as a servant during her early childhood and married bonded laborer Shamu Ram at age 14.<ref name=iht/> Ram died of [[typhoid fever]] when she was 22.<ref name=iht/>

While working at her new job as a sweeper, Devi noticed the massive quarrying in some parts of Himachal Pradesh's hills, harming the water supply and destroying paddy fields.<ref name=iht/> At this point Devi decided to take on the mining herself.<ref name=iht/>

==Activism==
A local volunteering group, the People's Action for People in Need, backed Devi as she filed a public interest lawsuit in the High Court of [[Shimla]] against 48 mine owners.<ref name=iht/> She accused that the quarriers were being reckless in their mining of limestone, though the group denied all allegations against them, claiming she was simply blackmailing them.<ref name=iht/>

Her suit got virtually no response, so Devi went on a 19-day hunger strike outside the court.<ref name=iht/> When the court decided to take up the issue, Devi had become a national celebrity.<ref name=iht/> The court ordered in 1987 a stay on mining and imposed a blanket ban on blasting in her beloved hills.<ref name=iht/> The mine owners appealed to the [[Supreme Court of India]], who rejected their appeal in July 1995.<ref name=iht/>

Interest was taken upon her by then first lady [[Hillary Clinton]], and that same year Devi was invited to attend the International Women's Conference in Beijing.<ref name=iht/> She was asked to light the lamp in the beginning of the ceremonies, and spoke of the cause she was fighting against and how ordinary people can make an impact.<ref name=iht/>

Despite the Supreme Court's ruling, illegal mining still continued in the hills and forest preserves, though on a decreased scale.<ref name=iht/> Besides her environmentalism, one of Devi's other endeavors was campaigning for the creation of a degree-granting college in [[Sangrah]].<ref name=iht/> She claimed that while it wasn't right for her to study, she didn't want "others to suffer the way I did for want of education."<ref name=iht/><ref name="better-india">{{cite web|title=She Was Not Literate. Yet the Brave Kinkri Devi Educated the World about the Environment.|url=http://www.thebetterindia.com/40364/kinkri-devi-himachal-pradesh/|access-date=7 February 2016}}</ref>

==Death==
Devi died 30 December 2007 in [[Chandigarh, India]] aged 82.<ref name=iht/> She is survived by a son and 12 grandchildren.<ref name=iht/>

==Awards==
*In 1999, Devi was awarded the [[Stree Shakti]].<ref name=tim/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devi, Kinkri}}
[[Category:1925 births]]
[[Category:2007 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian environmentalists]]
[[Category:People from Sirmaur district]]
[[Category:Indian women environmentalists]]
[[Category:Activists from Himachal Pradesh]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian people]]
[[Category:Nari Shakti Puraskar winners]]

Kinkri Devi - Revision history

>UrielAcosta: /* Death */deleted "is survived by..." per MOS:BIO's "Out-of-date material" section

>Scorpions13256: Copying from Category:20th-century Indian women to Category:20th-century Indian people non-diffusing subcategory using Cat-a-lot