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Award Categories
There are several award categories to felicitate individual CITIZENS in different sectors (please note these are awards for citizens in each sector and not the organisation or firm), for the work they have done to ensure social justice through citizen action. Most of these award categories are open to nomination by our members, partners and citizens at large. The selection shall be done through a detailed online process, as set in the process paper by MERCER. But certain award categories may be exclusive of the nomination process and the management of iCONGO shall reserve the right to research, find and choose the awardees for these categories

Award Categories Nominated by iCONGO

Global Indian Karmaveer Puraskaar
Instituted in 2007-08, it is given to a Citizen Noble Laureate of Indian origin settled overseas for promoting social justice.

Global Citizen Karmaveer Puraskaar
(Dedicated to the memory of Anita Roddick – Founder of Body Shop for beginning a business purely to lead social change and promote citizen action) Instituted in 2008-09, it is given to a global Citizen Noble Laureate who has dedicated her/his life to the pursuit of social justice by addressing social issues around the world.

Real Wealth Creators for the Communities
Instituted in 2006-07, it is given to Citizen Noble laureates who have demonstrated strong commitment for wealth creation not for themselves, but for the entire community, thus promoting social equity and paradigms for inspiring other wealth creators and social entrepreneurs to follow and adopt.

Government Citizen Karmaveer Puraskaar
It was instituted in 2006-07 and is given to citizen Noble Laureates from the government sector, bureaucracy or any political fraternity for going beyond the call of duty and promoting good governance and social justice within and outside the system, by doing the right.

Panchayati Raj Karmaveer Puraskaar
(Announced in 2008-09, in association with ISS) It will be given to citizen Laureates who have been instrumental in initiating and implementing good self governance policies, at the rural level to make Panchayati Raj system more efficient.

Artistes 4 Change Karmaveer Puraskaar
Instituted in 2007-08, it is given to Citizen Noble Laureates from the performing arts sector, who have been the CHANGE and inspired others to follow.

There are five subcategories in this section:

Sports People 4 Change Karmaveer Puraskaar
Instituted in 2007-08, this award is given to citizen Noble Laureates from the sports sector, who have been socially conscientious and used their status in a positive way to lend visibility to a cause/issue.

Young Creative Citizen Karmaveer Puraskaar
Instituted in 2007-08, this award is given to an individual citizen laureate who has used his creative skills to bring about awareness about various social causes among citizens, through online creative contests.

Chakra For Excellence
This award was instituted in 2008-09, in association with UNODC and is given to Law Enforcement Officers who have been vigilant and have gone beyond the call of their duty to stop injustice in the society

Karmaveer Chakra
Instituted in 2008-09, in association with the UN, Karmaveer Chakra is the national medallion for proactive voluntary action to Be the Change. It shall be given to citizens who are proactive volunteers and work selflessly for a cause dear to their heart, not just by donating money but by being involved with the cause, understanding the issues and actively advocating for the cause.The Karmaveer Chakra is also give to citizens, including students, for their selfless FIGHT FOR THE RIGHT to improve systems and encourage good governance by initiating legal action and voluntary activism to lead the change for the citizenry at large, be it in the field of education or environmental or any fundamental rights, consumer action, or for addressing issues related to judiciary or to encourage good reforms in our constitution for equal rights for all.

Award Categories Open to Nomination

Lifetime Achievement Karmaveer Puraskaar
Instituted in 2006-07, Lifetime Achievement KVP is given to a citizen Noble Laureate with strong principles and values, who has dedicated her/his life for community empowerment and welfare by making measurable and positive contributions.

Lifelong Fight for Social Justice through Citizen Action KVP
This award was instituted in 2007-08 and is given to citizen Noble Laureates who have stood up and raised their voice against the system and the judiciary for bad governance and lack of social justice and equity.

Corporate Citizen Karmaveer Puraskaar
It was instituted in 2006-07 and is given to individual citizen Laureates from the corporate sector, who have promoted holistic corporate social responsibility (CSR) to practice the triple bottom line approach where they don’t just give through cheque book philanthropy, but get involved and advocate for social change.

This award has five categories:

  • Corporate Citizens for Holistic Media Initiatives
    • It was instituted in 2008-09 and is given to individual citizen Laureates- CEO and CSR Head of a Corporate, who have promoted Holistic media initiatives, where they have used Media as a strong tool to advocate social change and inspired people to get involved with various issues.
  • Corporate Citizens for Holistic CSR Initiatives Karmaveer Puraskaar
    • Instituted in 2008-09 this award is given to individual citizen laureates- CEO & CSR Head of a Corporate, who have promoted Holistic CSR initiatives, keeping the Triple Bottom line approach in mind and have brought about a change by involvement and not just through Chequebook Philanthropy.
  • Corporate Citizen for Holistic IT Initiatives
    • This award was instituted in 2007-08 and is given to individual citizen laureates from the corporate Sector, who have promoted Holistic IT initiatives, where they have used IT as a strong tool to advocate social change and inspired people to get involved with various issues.
  • Corporate Executive Karmaveer Puraskaar
    Instituted in 2008-09 it is for a corporate citizen laureate, irrespective of rank and designation, for promoting social justice through voluntary citizen action.
  • Corporate CEO’s Foundation Karmaveer Puraskaar
    • Instituted in 2008-09, this award is given to an individual citizen laureate, who is the CEO of a company and has established a Foundation, which is a step beyond chequebook Philanthropy and is involving the employees in a holistic manner, to bring out a sustainable change in the society.

SME Citizen Karmaveer Puraskaar
Instituted in 2008-09 this award is given to an enterprise owner or an individual working in an enterprise. The sole criteria being their efforts to promote practices like fair wages for labour, preventing child labour or mistreatment of workers, etc.

Kids 4 Change Karmaveer Puraskaar
Instituted in 2007-08, it is given to children with a compassionate heart and a determination to bring about a change by contributing to various causes, in their small but unique way.

Professional Citizen Karmaveer Puraskaar
This award was instituted in 2007-08 and is given to a citizen Noble Laureate, from any professional category like lawyers, architects, CA’s etc. who have demonstrated strong commitment towards leading social change.

Media Citizen Karmaveer Puraskaar
This award was instituted in 2007-08 and is given to a Citizen Noble Laureate who maybe a media baron, senior/junior reporter who has been instrumental for creating best practices in media reporting for promoting social issues and sensitizing people to the cause.

This award has six major categories:

Student Citizen Karmaveer Puraskaar
Instituted in 2007-08, this award is given to a Citizen Noble Laureate from the citizen sector, a graduate or post graduate, who has been able to bring about some societal change through sheer student driven initiatives. He/she may have demonstrated genuine commitment towards social responsibility and may have been instrumental in motivating others for bringing about a positive change.

Young Social Entrepreneur Citizen Karmaveer Puraskaar
Instituted in 2007-08, this award is given to a young leader who is below the age of 40 years and has not only been business savvy but also been socially responsible. One who has been an effective arbiter of social justice and equality. This is for people who have done well (in business) and done good (for social causes) at the same time and have made social responsibility an integral part of the business model from inception.

Civil Society Citizen Karmaveer Puraskaar
Instituted in 2007-08, this award is given to Citizen Noble Laureates from the people sector who have put in dedicated efforts to uplift the status, empower and to mainstream the social causes of marginalized communities, animals, environment, women, by creating cutting edge impactful models for the NGO sector to replicate and adapt from.

The categories under this Puraskaar are:

Communal Harmony Karmaveer Puraskaar, 2009

Fashion Citizen Karmaveer Puraskaar
This award will be instituted in 2009-10 and will be given to citizen Noble Laureates from the fashion sector, who have been socially conscientious and have been able to use their status to lend more visibility to a cause/issue.

It will have three sub categories:

  • Fashion Entrepreneur
  • Fashion Designer
  • Model

Art Citizen Karmaveer Puraskaar
This award will be instituted in 2009-10 and will be given to citizen Noble Laureates, who have used the medium of art effectively to highlight a social cause/issue and to bring about a change in the society.

It will have two sub categories:

Disclaimer: The award categories are instituted every year, based on the feedback received from awardees and the nominations received. Awards in a particular category are not given if we don’t get nominations in that category, in a particular year.