The second edition of the Rashtriya Swayamsiddh Samman, an initiative by the JSPl Foundation to honour social innovators and change agents, was given away to 12 individuals and nine organisations from across the country at a special function held in New Delhi on Thursday.
The winners were conferred with the title of ‘Swayamsiddh Shri’ and given a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh along with a certificate.
Union Steel Minister Chaudhary Birendra Singh giving away the prizes applauded the work of JSPl Foundation and the awardees for their societal contributions. JSPl emeritus chairperson Savitri Jindal, chairman Naveen Jindal and JSPl Foundation president Shallu Jindal were present.
“The courage, commitment and confidence of awarded individuals and organisations are an inspiration for all of us to overcome the challenges of life with grit and determination. I am sure these untold stories of courage will go a long way in inspiring others to work towards the holistic development of our great nation,” Chairman Jindal said.
The award was given to MP Dr Prasanna Kumar Patasani for his contributions in the field of literature, education and spirituality. The other winners are Shalini Saraswathi, a quadruple amputee, for her writings, Uddhab Bharali, for developing more than 85 engineering devices for agriculture, Subhasini Mistry for building a hospital by selling vegetables, S Murugan for rescuing poor and homeless, Akash Chaurasia for championing multi-layer farming, Gazi Jallauddin for running two schools and an orphanage.
Awarded organisations include Maaghara Foundation Trust, Odisha Gramin Samaj Kalyan Vikas Manch, Jharkhand, Khamir Craft Resource Centre, Gujarat and Alombro Mayu Yaku Chi Amey Aroga, Arunachal Pradesh,
OP Jindal Global University was the Knowledge Partner of the second edition of the Samman.