NEW DELHI: The life of a warrior for change can be tough and the road lonely. Small victories mean the world to the dispossessed people they work for, but to the rest these daily crusaders are invisible. This Sunday, Gandhiji's birthday, The Times of India will seek, in its own small way, to show India's unsung heroes that they are not alone - that the nation is with them.
And Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be with us to applaud and inspire the winners of the first Times of India Social Impact Awards at a simple ceremony in the capital on Sunday. Joining the PM and the Who's Who of India, will be beneficiaries of the organizations selected for the Awards, most of whom have never travelled beyond the boundaries of their district.
Director, writer and actor Farhan Akhtar will host the evening. "To receive recognition from such a respected institution as the Times Group in the presence of the PM himself is a big achievement for the winners, and this will definitely encourage other organisations too," Akhtar said.
Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JP Morgan, often described as the world's most powerful private banker, is traveling across the globe for a cause that is deserving of everyone's precious time.
It is only fitting that the children, women and men whose lives have been transformed by the work done by the Awardees should be an integral part of the ceremony. Maya Nishad, the gram pradhan of Ahata village in Uttar Pradesh, who has never before been on a bus or crossed the boundaries of Bahraich, says she will make the journey because the district administration's efforts to improve drinking water and sanitation has transformed her life.
Arvind Patel is also a beneficiary. He is today managing director of a Gandhinagar-based company with a Rs 100-crore turnover and exports to 22 countries. But in 1974, Arvind was a demoralised 14-year-old boy who had just failed his Class 8 exams. But one summer at the Vikram A Sarabhai Community Science Centre, Ahmedabad, set his mind alight. His academic performance turned around, he went on to become an electronics engineer and most importantly, he became an innovator.
It's also fitting that mandolin maestro U Srinivas will perform Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram, Gandhi's most beloved bhajan, at the ceremony.
The hunt for the men and women making real change began six months ago. Soon thereafter, TOI invited applications from NGOs, government organisations and the social responsibility wings of corporates in five categories: livelihoods, advocacy and empowerment, education, health and the environment.
Online applications were accepted between June 7 and July 17 this year through a dedicated website (socialimpactawards.com). The seven key parameters under consideration were scale, replicability, sustainability, finances, people's participation, innovativeness and promotion of equity. Every claim would need to be backed up with documents and financial details had to be transparent.
The response to this brand new initiative was startling; TOI received 1,500 applications from all over the country, from a remote tribal village in Madhya Pradesh to a posh south Delhi housing colony. To sort through these entries, a specialist group from Dasra, GiveIndia and GuideStar was formed. They screened the entries and made a long-list of 109 entries. This list was then split up and sent out across the country to 25 sector experts who used their decades of field experience to shortlist potential winners by ranking each entry on the seven parameters. Hundreds of emails were exchanged, and many passionate online debates later, a final shortlist of 38 organizations emerged. The short list was put up on the website and 1.2 lakh readers voted for their organization of choice.
An eminent jury comprising Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, Magsaysay awardee and National Advisory Council member Aruna Roy, Union minister for rural development Jairam Ramesh, Unique Identification Authority of India chairperson Nandan Nilekani, HDFC chairperson Deepak Parekh and Centre for Science and Education director-general Sunita Narain spent an afternoon debating and discussing, before selecting the winners. The jury also nominated a Global Contribution to India award winner and a Lifetime Contribution award winner.
And Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be with us to applaud and inspire the winners of the first Times of India Social Impact Awards at a simple ceremony in the capital on Sunday. Joining the PM and the Who's Who of India, will be beneficiaries of the organizations selected for the Awards, most of whom have never travelled beyond the boundaries of their district.
Director, writer and actor Farhan Akhtar will host the evening. "To receive recognition from such a respected institution as the Times Group in the presence of the PM himself is a big achievement for the winners, and this will definitely encourage other organisations too," Akhtar said.
Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JP Morgan, often described as the world's most powerful private banker, is traveling across the globe for a cause that is deserving of everyone's precious time.
It is only fitting that the children, women and men whose lives have been transformed by the work done by the Awardees should be an integral part of the ceremony. Maya Nishad, the gram pradhan of Ahata village in Uttar Pradesh, who has never before been on a bus or crossed the boundaries of Bahraich, says she will make the journey because the district administration's efforts to improve drinking water and sanitation has transformed her life.
Arvind Patel is also a beneficiary. He is today managing director of a Gandhinagar-based company with a Rs 100-crore turnover and exports to 22 countries. But in 1974, Arvind was a demoralised 14-year-old boy who had just failed his Class 8 exams. But one summer at the Vikram A Sarabhai Community Science Centre, Ahmedabad, set his mind alight. His academic performance turned around, he went on to become an electronics engineer and most importantly, he became an innovator.
It's also fitting that mandolin maestro U Srinivas will perform Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram, Gandhi's most beloved bhajan, at the ceremony.
The hunt for the men and women making real change began six months ago. Soon thereafter, TOI invited applications from NGOs, government organisations and the social responsibility wings of corporates in five categories: livelihoods, advocacy and empowerment, education, health and the environment.
Online applications were accepted between June 7 and July 17 this year through a dedicated website (socialimpactawards.com). The seven key parameters under consideration were scale, replicability, sustainability, finances, people's participation, innovativeness and promotion of equity. Every claim would need to be backed up with documents and financial details had to be transparent.
The response to this brand new initiative was startling; TOI received 1,500 applications from all over the country, from a remote tribal village in Madhya Pradesh to a posh south Delhi housing colony. To sort through these entries, a specialist group from Dasra, GiveIndia and GuideStar was formed. They screened the entries and made a long-list of 109 entries. This list was then split up and sent out across the country to 25 sector experts who used their decades of field experience to shortlist potential winners by ranking each entry on the seven parameters. Hundreds of emails were exchanged, and many passionate online debates later, a final shortlist of 38 organizations emerged. The short list was put up on the website and 1.2 lakh readers voted for their organization of choice.
An eminent jury comprising Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, Magsaysay awardee and National Advisory Council member Aruna Roy, Union minister for rural development Jairam Ramesh, Unique Identification Authority of India chairperson Nandan Nilekani, HDFC chairperson Deepak Parekh and Centre for Science and Education director-general Sunita Narain spent an afternoon debating and discussing, before selecting the winners. The jury also nominated a Global Contribution to India award winner and a Lifetime Contribution award winner.
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