27 year old Kiranjit Kaur, a female teacher from Kapurthala in Punjab, India set herself on fire in protest of Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS). She was one of four Indian women who had climbed the water tower to draw the attention of the government to their demands. After her self immolation, Kiranjit Kaur originally of Faridkot district died of critical burn wounds to nearly 90% of her body in a private hospital in Ludhiana.

The EGS teachers were seeking admission to the elementary teachers training and regularisation of their services. After being ignored for the longest time, the self immolation incident landed them with written assurance from district officials on behalf of the education minister that their demands will be met.

I find the mental strength of the self-sacrificial lamb astonishing. These women were demanding something and were being ignored, so one of them took her own life by enduring unimaginable pain so others can see their demands met.