Recognize GOOD #SABERA19
4th December 2019, Teen Murti, Nehru Memorial Museum Library was the hot seat for deliberations on development towards moving the nation forward by think-tanks and enablers across sectors, at the Grant Thornton SABERA Summit & Awards on December 4th. ‘Development Positive’ was the 2019 theme at सबेरा SABERA – recognizing good, a Simply Suparnaa Media Network initiative.
Javed Abidi (posthumous) inspiration behind NCEPD was recognized amidst other unsung heroes for their efforts to empower the lesser fortunate to build a more progressive and equal India.
The guest of honor was Dr. Bibek Debroy, Chairman PM Advisory Council, and said ‘Its always inspiring to be on the SABERA stage’
The event was anchored by 2 young girls, 21-year-old Chandini and 19-year-old Jayashree, who are an inspiration in themselves. Chandini was a rag picker who also sold flowers on the roads but is now educating other children to rise above their circumstances and has touched over 10,000 children’s life to date. Jayashree is a beneficiary of the NGO Kranti, that works to rehabilitate daughters of sex workers from kamathipura, the infamous red-light area of MUMBAI. After completing her school she now volunteers in an NGO herself.
Partners in good were, Dainikbhaskar.com, ON PURPOSE, JOSHTALKS, Navya Everything Beautiful and NDTV
Speaking on SABERA, Vishesh C Chandiok, CEO, Grant Thornton India LLP, said, “India will become a $5tn economy soon- whether in 2025 or a bit later- however, will we also improve on diversity, pollution, justice and innovation, so that it’s an India we are even more proud of? Shaping a more #VibrantBharat is our purpose at GT & SABERA provides us a platform to keep asking this question,”
Dr. Rajender Singh popularly known as Waterman of India shared his insights and experiences on river pollution, water harvesting and reviving dried water bodies with notable cases to create flourishing ecosystems.
The industry panel discussed ‘The Responsibility of Business beyond CSR’. Moderated by Siddharth Nigam, Managing Partner, Grant Thornton Advisory Pvt. Ltd.; the topic was debated in depth by Kamal Singh, Executive Director, UNGCI; Siraj Chaudhry, CEO & MD, NCML; Rajagopal Balasubramanyam, President, DSM, and Geeta Goel, Country Director, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. Creating value for the business and the society at large, Examples of companies performing much better that aligned with SDG’s and high ESG values were shared.
Vinita Bali, Global Business leader, Former MD Britannia, spoke of the high quality of work emboldened with passion by all the award entrants and transparent judging parameters. In her Jury Chair address, she said, “I really thank SABERA for a lot of the work they did on the ground in getting us the entries that were so good that it was difficult to choose. We’ve selected the best from the best. We hope this recognition will inspire others to come forth and share their stories.”
The Jury Board comprised of noted personalities from the corporate, development and CSR world, all Good-Doers themselves.
The awards are based on Social Development Goals (SDGs). A lot of the awardees had the passion to sustain their work being afflicted by life’s uncertainties themselves, and have dedicated their lives to improve the world for others facing similar challenges.
In the ‘INDIVIDUAL’ category, Lifetime Achievement was awarded to Mr. GK Swamy Purkal, Youth Development Society for his work in providing a world-class education to the remote rural youth otherwise working as maids or daily wage laborers.
The Lifetime award this year was also conferred posthumously on Javed Abidi, the inspiration behind NCPEDP, Disability Rights Group, for his immense work with PWDs. Monica Vohra, of Leukemia Crusaders, who has a child who fought leukemia was CSR Leader of the year. The Change Makers this year included Amitabh Shah of Yuva Unstoppable who started the initiative after learning of the abuse of his 82year nanny by her son’s family; Dr. Jitender Aggarwal of Sarthak Educational Trust, who lost his own vision and has diligently worked towards livelihood of PWD’s; Dev Pratap Singh, from Voice of Slum, a slum dweller himself working to emancipate children in the slums through education and cancer survivor Ruby Ahluwalia, of Sanjeevani Life Beyond Cancer.
Under ‘ORGANIZATION/ENTITY OF THE YEAR’, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. won Responsible Business for their consistent and diligent CSR work along with ethical good governance & ethical stakeholder engagements. Stonesoup.in who has been working on waste segregation and sustainable menstrual solutions was conferred with Social Enterprise award. And the Not for Profit trophy went jointly to MOHAN Foundation who has promoted the cause of organ donation and Keshav Sita Memorial Foundation Trust working diligently in recycling plastic waste, helping build roads, etc., Along with this Saarthi Education got a Special Mention here, for improving education in low-income communities.
