COMMUNAL HARMONY KARMAVEER PURASKAAR, 2009
Shri Idriz Nizami (2009-2010)
Sh. Idris Nizami is a well known singer, lyricist and music director. He has conducted over 600 musical programmes many of these to bring about a feeling of love and brotherhood and communal harmony at various places in Maharashtra and other states. He is responsible for organizing most of these programmes either on his own or on behalf of his organisation Bhartiya Hindu Muslim Sikh Isai Ekta Samiti. Shri Idris Nizami has been participating in the efforts of the Govt. to establish communal harmony. A number of his songs are full of appeal for establishing communal harmony, arousing patriotism among cross sections of the society. His activities and achievements have been well appreciatedby distinguished government officers and other eminent personalities. Shri Nizami was also conferred with the title of RAJYAATITHI by the Government of Uttar Pradesh in the year 1999.
CHAKRA FOR EXCELLENCE
Mahendra Pratap Singh (2009-10)
Mahendra Pratap Singh, with a dream to make India a mega nation which is free of corruption and bureaucratic set up, founded project VIJAY with Himanshu Swarnkar in 2008. An engineer by qualification, Mahendra felt the acute need of rural and urban growth to form his ideal nation. Being instilled with the values of courage and determination, he rose up from being a silent spectator to a revolutionist in uprooting the existing fraudulent practices in the civil society. His Project VIJAY believes that RTI is the most progressive Act which empowers a citizen to scrap unethical system. They used the strength of RTI by filing information regarding the assets of suspicious members of Parliament in order to measure sordid exercises at various parameters. Himanshu Swarnkar (2009-10)
Himanshu Swarnkar founded Project VIJAY in 2008 along with his friend Mahendra Pratap Singh. He is a graduate from University of Lucknow and is determined to develop rural and urban setting by youth driven activities. He aims to foster the voice of young Indians to come in forefront to fight for better governance, fundamental rights and most importantly leave their ideal footprints for others to follow. Project VIJAY thrives hard to curb the injustice and corruption prevailing in the Indian polity and culture by spreading awareness about the newly found weapon RTI and its exercising process to the community for better civic living.Navin Gulia (2009-10)
Navin Gulia got bound to a wheelchair after an accident but it did not stop him to live his life with the same dignity and passion. He attended college and did his Masters in Computer Applications from Symbiosis International University and later cleared UGC Net Lectureship exam. During this phase, he worked with many NGOs to rehabilitate the disabled soldiers and special children. An avid follower of Adventure Sports, he raised funds for many social causes through his world record adventure expeditions. Soon he got the path which would determine his course of life. In 2004-05, he mapped out the organisation for the underprivileged children called ADAA- Apni Duniya Apna Ashiana (Our World Our Home). ADAA is running successful activities for children in rural areas, setting up shelters for street children and providing them education, food packets and clothes for their basic survival. His organization reaches out more than 2000 needy children. It has a 24 hrs helpline service and tie- up with many other social bodies to help the children in need. The aim of ADAA is to spread 360 degrees support to children by conducting counseling sessions, legal and medical help. Navin Gulia has been honoured as ‘National Role Model’ by former President Dr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam. His accomplishments and determination and service to society have truly made him a role model.
Javed Ahmad Tak (2009-10)
Born in Bijbehara – the town of chinars, in Jammu and Kashmir, Javed Ahmad Tak is an exemplary example of courage and optimism, who after being hit in militancy related incident in Kashmir Valley became wheel chair bound, has been helping in empowering the disabled ones. Javed is the founder of Humanity Welfare Organisation and a school that works to improve the condition of physically and mentally challenged people; Communal Harmony and peace. The special school is first of its kind in the district and has been instrumental in giving a ray hope to differently able people. I t is due his efforts that Draft policy for Empowerment of persons with Disabilities in J&K. He is an MA (Social Work), and his approach to this cause is marked by the education and employment reservation grant provided to less blessed. Javed motivated the Kashmir University Administration to create disabled friendly Environment for inclusion of Physically Challenged students. His NGO carries out various seminars, workshops, and rallies to bring awareness regarding the rights drafted in the constitution. He has also represented India at Youth Understanding and friendship Program held in China, as an Indian Youth Delegate under the category “Leaders with Special Abilities”. He is also the recipient of National Award for persons for Welfare of persons with disabilities. Deepak Kumar Saha (2009-10)
Deepak Kumar, with an excellent academic background ,could have chosen to pursue his career in the bureaucratic field or joined the corporate sector for his individual growth. Instead he chose to work for the development of deprived sections of people in rural Bihar through Jaiprabha Mahila Vikas Kendra, an NGO founded by his mother. Jaiprabha has put in over 25 years of focused efforts towards integrated development of the marginalised sections of the society, with a focus on empowering women and children. Today, under his guidance, Jaiprabha has a target of providing Elementary education to all eligible children, safe drinking water to all house holds of the target villages and restoring dignity of women through education and skill building. Deepak has also contributed remarkably towards conservation of ecology and Natural Resource Management through promoting large scale social forestry and construction of check dams with lift irrigation facility and restoration of large number of water bodies in the villages.
Nikita Ketkar (2009-10)
Nikita Ketkar is the founder of an NGO – Masoom which was founded to carry out interventions for night schools. The vision of Masoom is to support the youth to learn while they earn and enable the night school students to achieve their full potential through educational and policy support. Masoom also organizes teacher training programs, Braille teacher sponsorship, Parents workshops, Vocational guidance for students and makes counseling facilities and nutrition available to the students in order to build capacity of all of the players. As the next step in the program, Masoom also wants to advocate with Government systems to support night schools with both monetary and infrastructural inputs. She has also been selected as a Senior Fellow by PUKAR to carry out research on the problems faced by Night School Children in Mumbai. By initiating action in an area that has been neglected for more than a century, Nikita is a pioneer in addressing a neglected issue by giving it due visibility and justice.Rashmi Ranjan(2009-10)
Rashmi Ranjan is currently spearheading his own web development agency – Cranberry Communications. He is the co-founder of the IN CARE Foundation and is actively associated withit. Through his organization, he provides digital aid to NGOs to help them in their communication strategies. Through the years he has successfully exploited the use of online mediums to help the non profit organizations to promote themselves at a highly negligible cost or at no cost at all. Last but not the least, he has also been helping NGOs develop online marketing strategies.Deepak Kumar (2009-10)
A successful chartered accountant, Mr. Deepak Kumar is the founder of the NAMAN FOUNDATION,an NGO that has been formed to work in the field of “environment” having being initiated with the vision to make the environment green, hygienic and worth living. From tree plantation drives to developing nurseries to conservation of water and creating awareness about environmental issues, he has done it all in order to ensure sustainable development. Naman Foundation has also started convening and organizing public meetings, corner meetings, seminars, in order to shift focus towards the villages of western U.P. for creating awareness.Sudesh Kumar (2009-10)
A successful chartered accountant, Mr. Sudesh Kumar is the founder of the NAMAN FOUNDATION, an NGO that has been formed to work in the field of “environment” having being initiated with the vision to make the environment green, hygienic and worth living. From tree plantation drives to developing nurseries to conservation of water and creating awareness about environmental issues, he has done it all in order to ensure sustainable development. Naman Foundation has also started convening and organizing public meetings, corner meetings, seminars, in order to shift focus towardsthe villages of western U.P. for creating awareness.
Shri Upendra Prasad (2008-09)
Shri Upendra Prasad, Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police is posted in the Sahdei Police outpost of Vaishali district in Bihar. On March 6,2008, on his way back from leave, he was at Sahdei railway station when he overheard some passengers talking about children being on the train who were being taken away for employment as labourers. Having received training in anti human trafficking, he realized that this was a case of human trafficking. He took the children along to Hajipur Railway Police Post and handed them over along with filed a written complaint. A criminal case was registered against the traffickers, and investigation was taken up in right earnest. Shri Upendra Prasad also cooperated with the Railway Police to escort the children back to their homes and hand them over to their parents / lawful guardians. In this manner, ASI Shri. Upendra Prasad put his training into practice and showed exemplary dedication to duty by taking the initiative to enquire into the case of suspected trafficking and rescuing 28 children from a dark future.Sri Md. Shakir Hussain (2008-09)
Sri Md. Shakir Hussain, Inspector of Police has been working in CID, Hyderabad since January 2, 2007. Ever since he joined the CID, he has been working on anti-human trafficking and has been in charge of the anti-human trafficking unit (AHTU). He has received training under the UNODC empowerment programme at the AP Police Academy and participated in many rescue operations within Hyderabad City and in Inter state Rescue Operations at Delhi, Bhivandi, Pune and Bangalore. Md. Hussain, with the active help of counselors, has counseled Victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation & Trafficking and ensured registration of fresh cases. Md. Hussein has also been involved in collecting data and monitoring the AHTU. He is working under the direct supervision of Sri S. Umapathi, IPS, IGP, CID, Andhra Pradesh State Anti-Trafficking Nodal Officer.NFCH-iCONGO COMMUNAL HARMONY KARMAVEER PURASKAAR, 2010
Dr. Atul Krishna
Dr. Atul Krishna is a reputed surgeon and educationist of Northern India, whose tireless efforts to bring communal harmony in the riot ridden city of Meerut, saved many lives in 1987. He is the founder and committed worker of Subharti, a well known, reputed and respected NGO, which is working relentlessly in the field of health care, education and a national integration, in Meerut and adjoining villages and out reach areas. Through this organization he is spreading the message of nationalism, respect for each other's social and religious sentiments and humanity through various programs launched by him and his organization. He has also established primary, junior high school and higher secondary schools, in remotest part of villages in U.P. In the medical sphere, five hospitals and two multi-specialty tertiary care hospitals are being run successfully by the organization in villages, and in Meerut City. The most recent step in this direction has been the establishment of Swami Vivekanand Subharti University under section 2f of UGC Act. The university has 11 faculties including a Medical, Dental, Nursing, Physiotherapy, Pharmacy, Engineering, Law, Fine Arts, Management, Hotel Management etc. where, along with academic and technical education, character building of the youth is provided to produce a national human resource for a strong and united India of tomorrow.Promod Chawla
Promod Chawla is Founder Trustee of NNFI, National Network For India Trust, started in 2001. They spearhead Citizen Group Action using Networking & Internet Communication Tools which engulfs 400 like minded Groups & an enviable data base. Coming from a Corporate Management discipline, with great belief in Lateral Thinking; the focus is on tackling the paradox India faces with majority deprived,
a crumbled Infrastructure & jobless rural Youth. NNFI's belief is: Convicted Criminals, increased to 152 in 14th Lok Sabha since May 2009, from 128 earlier, must not be Law Makers. NNFI
closely interacts with the PM Secretariat, Election Commission of India, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Law & Justice to leverage Transformational Change. Factoring 2G scam, CWG wrongs, Land grabs by Leaders in UP & Karnataka, as well as money in Tax Havens, NNFI facilitates debate & India to Tip to fundamental corrections in Governance. NNFI lends a hand in putting a halt to legislators indulging both in physical & intellectual dishonesty.
DARE- iCONGO YOUNG SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR KARMAVEER, 2010
Vijendra Shekhawat (2011-12)
Vijendra Shekhat belongs to Shekhawati region of Rajasthan. His father was a labourer, so he had to start working in a small factory at the age of 12. In 1995 he came to the capital of Rajasthan and found work @ Rs 800 per month and completed his 10Th standard education. He got job in a Handmade Paper Industry and got some experience. He and his family saved a sum of Rs 40,000 and he established his own enterprise,Traditional Paper, in 2002. He kept trying to do some new experiments with fibers and colors to survive in the market. While visiting a shrine atop a hill in Jaipur, he saw elephant dung lying around everywhere. He started thinking of ways of clearing the place and the idea of Elephant Dung Paper came to his mind. He experimented with Elephant dung and came out with his brand -Haathi Chaap. He had to make some minor changes because of the fibrous nature of the raw material. Making sure that the paper is not harmful for the papermaker as well as the user was the biggest challenge. so he started using disinfectants to make the paper as bacteria free as possible. He has come up with various products using Elephant Poo Paper- Bags, Frames, Notebooks, Stationery, cards and Tags, Funky Stuff and Knick Knacks. Today, his innovation has been telecast worldwide by many international TV channels like CNN IBN, CHANNEL NEWSASIA INTERNATIONAL and many news papers and magazines have written about it. This paper may be a ray of hope for the dumping problems of elephant dung. Now Vijendra is trying to establish a unit in rural area to provide employment for villagers at their door step.- RTINATION.COM
Rahul Gupta (2010-11)
Rahul Gupta is a 2008 graduate from IIT Kanpur and worked as an analyst in J.P. Morgan, Mumbai till March 2010. He is the co-founder full time CEO of rtination.com and is also pursuing his MBA from IIM Bangalore. He is responsible for strategy, promotion and technology for the website. rtination.com was launched on August 15th 2009 with a vision to facilitate filing of RTI applications online. It is India's first platform to enable online filing of Right to Information Act applications. The website drastically reduces the effort in filing an RTI application from hours to minutes. RTI Nation has a response rate of over 50% (based on a survey conducted in April). This is primarily due to drafting of applications in the appropriate fashion and sending them to the correct authorities. Applications that are not replied to are aided in the process of filing a first appeal. Through the past one year, rtination.com has made a significant difference in the lives of many Indians and is also enabling the creation of a community of people passionate for bringing about a change in the country. They shall act as a cohesive force and use RTIs as their means to achieve this goal. rtination.com believes in changing India, one application at a time. Rahul's vision is to help enable the Indian middle class file RTI applications and thereby promote transparency in the government.
Prateek Kumar (2010-11)
Prateek Kumar is a 2008 graduate from IIT Kanpur and currently works in J.P. Morgan, Mumbai. He is the Chief Operating Officer of rtination.com and controls various aspects of operations of the website. rtination.com was launched on August 15th 2009 with a vision to facilitate filing of RTI applications online. rtination.com is India's first platform to enable online filing of Right to Information Act applications. The website drastically reduces the effort in filing an RTI application from hours to minutes. RTINation have a response rate of over 50% (based on a survey conducted in April). This is primarily due to drafting of applications in the appropriate fashion and sending them to the correct authorities. Applications that are not replied to are aided in the process of filing a first appeal. Through the past one year, rtination.com has made a significant difference in the lives of many Indians and is also enabling the creation of a community of people passionate for bringing about a change in the country. They shall act as a cohesive force and use RTIs as their means to achieve this goal. rtination.com believes in changing India, one application at a time. Prateek's vision is to see rtination.com to grow to levels where it can bring about a substantial change in the country.
Rasaal Dwivedi(2010-11)
Rasaal Dwivedi, graduated from NIT Raipur and is currently pursuing his MBA from IIM Kozhikode. He is handling the promotion activities of the rtination.com. rtination.com was launched on August 15th 2009 with a vision to facilitate filing of RTI applications online. rtination.com is India's first platform to enable online filing of Right to Information Act applications. The website drastically reduces the effort in filing an RTI application from hours to minutes. RTINation have a response rate of over 50% (based on a survey conducted in April). This is primarily due to drafting of applications in the appropriate fashion and sending them to the correct authorities. Applications that are not replied to are aided in the process of filing a first appeal. Through the past one year, rtination.com has made a significant difference in the lives of many Indians and is also enabling the creation of a community of people passionate for bringing about a change in the country. They shall act as a cohesive force and use RTIs as their means to achieve this goal. rtination.com believes in changing India one application at a time. Rasaal is very passionate about various aspects of nation building which drives him to be a part of rtination.com.
Piyush Bhartiya(2010-11)
Piyush Bhartiya, graduated from IIT Roorkee and worked in Schlumberger for 4 years abroad. He has currently returned to India and is pursuing his MBA from IIM Bangalore. He is a co-founder of rtination.com, which was launched on August 15th 2009 with a vision to facilitate filing of RTI applications online. rtination.com is India's first platform to enable online filing of Right to Information Act applications. The website drastically reduces the effort in filing an RTI application from hours to minutes. RTINation have a response rate of over 50% (based on a survey conducted in April). This is primarily due to drafting of applications in the appropriate fashion and sending them to the correct authorities. Applications that are not replied to are aided in the process of filing a first appeal. Through the past one year, rtination.com has made a significant difference in the lives of many Indians and is also enabling the creation of a community of people passionate for bringing about a change in the country. They shall act as a cohesive force and use RTIs as their means to achieve this goal. rtination.com believes in changing India, one application at a time. Piyush is passionate about expanding the horizons of rtination.com to include various other projects adding social value to the country.
Kopal Gupta (2010-11)
Kopal Gupta, is a passout of Miranda House Delhi University and is currently pursuing her MBA in Marketing and Advertising in Symbiosis, Pune. She is a co-founder of rtination.com and is helping the team develop a coherent marketing strategy. rtination.com was launched on August 15th 2009 with a vision to facilitate filing of RTI applications online. rtination.com is India's first platform to enable online filing of Right to Information Act applications. The website drastically reduces the effort in filing an RTI application from hours to minutes. RTINation have a response rate of over 50% (based on a survey conducted in April). This is primarily due to drafting of applications in the appropriate fashion and sending them to the correct authorities. Applications that are not replied to are aided in the process of filing a first appeal. Through the past one year, rtination.com has made a significant difference in the lives of many Indians and is also enabling the creation of a community of people passionate for bringing about a change in the country. They shall act as a cohesive force and use RTIs as their means to achieve this goal. rtination.com believes in changing India, one application at a time.FASHION CITIZEN KARMAVEER PURASKAAR
- ENTREPRENEUR-2011
Geeta Puri
Geeta Puri is a post graduate, Delhi based fashion entrepreneur with a wealth of experience within the fashion and export industries. Having studied history and also worked within media relations previously she is a keen and effective communicator, who has been working very closely with children and women's issues. The Ek Tara Foundation is her dearest project and was seeded after her time spent as a volunteer with an NGO where she worked towards enhancing the quality of life of the children in the slums of Delhi. The aim of the Ek Tara Foundation is to help children living in poverty to develop the basic skills so as to stand on their own feet and ensure that they do not become victims of beggary or crime. The children are given training in various vocational subjects and are equipped with the basic knowledge and skill level so as to be able to earn their own bread and butter and in the future, do their part for the society. By enhancing the quality of life of children in need, as well as their respective families, they actively help them gain access to education and nurture in them effective communication skills along with imparting the basic knowledge of English language and Civil Etiquette. Many of the children under the Ek Tara umbrella have special latent talents, which are being harnessed and encouraged to give their passion a direction. Geeta has committed herself fully to this cause of working towards the overall development of the children and the under privileged in the slums of Delhi An honest days living now does not provide her as much satisfaction as does a smile on someone's face.- DESIGNER-2010
Sanjana Jon (2010-11)
Sanjana Jon has been a socially motivated person since her school and college days and used to provide food and clothing to the underprivileged kids and also read for the blind students. She has collected and sent clothes for Leh and consistently distribute clothes for underprivileged kids and families. She has been creating awareness about various issues such as AIDS Awareness and HIV testing and Save the Girl Child by involving celebrities like bollywood stars and Salman Khan has been a strong force & support in the charitable projects. She has also brought 4 reigning Miss Universe over the years for the same. She tied up with United Nations and held a press conference in the New York headquarters. In India, she worked with CARE International in hopes of a united front to combat the increasing pandemic of AIDS. The Sanjana Jon AIDS Awareness Tour toured most major Indian cities. She has also organized events to fight for Truth and Justice against racism with various models and celebrities and initiated several promotional campaigns in NY and LA against racism. She organized protests against racism in Bombay and Delhi and put together a show for Save the Girl Child against female infanticide with 16 celebrity siblings. Recently, she organized a Sanjana Jon show and project in Tihar with inmates- for them, by them and of them and tried to create a constructive creative training program to make the inmates a more resourceful progressive part of the community. She is also working on all human rights issues with Asian American Human Rights Watch. Currently she is working on a document feature in Broon Hatya.YT-iCONGO KARMAVEER PURASKAAR-SOCIAL TRANSFORMERS, 2011
Dr. Sonia Mackwani
'It is completely our need to serve, than saying we are serving the needy,' is the belief and foundation on which Sonia Mackwani lives and touches lives of people. At 21, she founded Touching Lives realizing that each one here is for a purpose and since then the journey has been consciously walked through its Educational, Mental Health and Community Initiatives. She is a Clinical Psychologist and a Hypnotherapist and an Integrated Healer. She is also an author of Tales from Indian Mythology Mahabharata and Ramayana for children written in 2006 with Magna Publications, selected at Frankfurt Book Fair. Through her books, she raised an amount to register Touching Lives. Touching Lives completed its successful 8 years by running afterschools and preschool programs in slums of Mumbai. They also provide Teachers Training in various parts of rural India helping schools and NGOs to build in empowering teachers as therapist. They worked in villages of Orissa, MP, UP, Delhi, Rajasthan and many more. They runs Self Help Groups in the slum communities and funding women across India to start their own enterprise. They have developed a Therapeutic Teacher Training called as Meta-Quantum Learning Model which is now adopted and practiced by many teachers, schools and ngos. Touching Lives is now associated with JP Morgan & Chase. Apart from this, Sonia is also a Trustee of Atmaviswas Vidyalaya, a residential mental rehab center for the people who are affected by psychotic disorders. She provides, therapeutic- healing ailments and helps people to become a soul of meaningful life. She has won Aga Khan Youth Awards for Excellence in Leadership and Aga Khan Role Model Recognition Award in 2009 . Sonia strives to support as many people as possible through love and compassion and to bridge the gap between the different sectors in development. She is looking forward to writing more books and touching lives through her words as well.
Anupam Mittal
Founder & CEO of the Shaadi.com, Mr Anupam Mittal has changed the way Indians looked at marriages. Shaadi.com is of the firm belief that every human being has a fundamental right to enrich their life by finding the right partner. Shaadi.com has made it possible to break barriers of caste, class and community by giving every member the freedom to search for and express interest in a life-partner of their choice. A few years ago when AIDS victims were shunned and discriminated, especially in the marriage scenario, it was Shaadi.com that enabled them to also have their fair chance of finding partners. Also Shaadi.com, along with the Delhi Foundation of Deaf Women (DFDW) started the Pranay Milan Sammelan, a matrimonial alliance to help the hearing impaired meet their better halves, and over 300 couples have come together, post the Sammelan that has entered its fifth consecutive year. Mr. Mittal believes that no human being, however disabled, should be deprived of their right to choosing their soul mate, and Pranay Milan Sammelan is a standing example of how he revolutionized that though and did their bit for social justice. Today Shaadi.com has changed the lives of 2 million people.
COURAGE OF CONVICTION KARMAVEER PURASKAAR, 2010
Neerja Bhanot (2010-11)
Born on September 7, 1963, Neerja Bhanot grew to be a person of many talents. Her striking beauty led her to become a model widely known through magazines, newspapers and television. Her intelligence, wit, grace and charm was elegantly woven together. Upon completion of her education at St. Xaviers College, Bombay in March 1985, she joined the Pan Am family in the same year. Her special leadership qualities were quickly recognized and she was elevated to the position of Purser on April 1, 1986. She easily won the love and respect of her fellow crew members and passengers alike. Neerja was the senior purser aboard Pan Am Clipper 73, which was hijacked by armed terrorists at Karachi Airport on September 5, 1986. Her gallant actions aboard the aircraft were nothing less than heroic as she, along with nearly four hundred other passengers and crew members was held at gunpoint, constantly under the threat of death, for sixteen long hours. Setting aside all concern for her personal safety and well-being, she identified herself to the terrorists as the crew member in-charge of Clipper 73. Her action to take responsibility for the situation at hand was in the highest traditions of excellence and service to her fellow man. Throughout the ordeal, Neerja stood as a symbol of leadership. She provided assistance to passengers at every juncture, giving special attention to small children and elderly passengers. In the final hour, she gave her own life while shielding three small children from the gunfire of the terrorists. Her heroic actions were clearly responsible for the saving of hundreds of lives. She is deeply mourned and sadly missed and will always be remembered in thoughts and prayers, her actions will live on as a testament to the highest ideals of human spirit.