Individuals and institutions that silently strive to serve the downtrodden sections of the society were honoured at the 14th Bhagwan Mahaveer Awards function here on Wednesday.
Among the four winners, Voluntary Health Services (VHS) from Chennai was recognised in the field of medicine for providing subsidised healthcare to lower and middle income groups.
“VHS is undergoing many transformations in terms of development of its infrastructure, staff and providing better facilities. Many new projects are on the anvil, such as refurbishment of the ICU, complete redevelopment of the operation theatre and so on. This award is valuable at this juncture,” said E.S. Krishnamoorthy, honorary secretary, VHS.
Apart from medicine, the awards were given for work in the fields of non-violence and vegetarianism; education; and community and social service. The winners were awarded a cash prize of Rs.10 lakh each. It is remarkable that when everyone is carried away by materialism, there are some exceptional people with the lofty objective of serving the society without expecting any reward in return, said West Bengal Governor M.K. Narayanan, who presented the awards.
Chairman of selection jury for the awards and former Chief Justice of India M.N.Venkatachaliah said that during the course of selection it was evident that while there were people who had a lot of money, there was also a handful of people with meagre resources and yet reaching out to serve the society. “A doctor couple walked long distances to reach people deep inside the forest. It is humbling to witness the relentless efforts of some to bring about a change for the better,” he said. Winner of the Community and Social Service category Snehalaya Social Charitable Trust in Maharashtra is involved in identifying, rehabilitating and children from red light areas. In the non-violence and vegetarianism category, Sri Dayananda Swami was honoured for championing a movement for protection and forming ‘Cow Protection Societies' in around 1,000 villages in Karnataka. The award in the education category went to the Indian Planetary Society for its efforts at popularising science, solar physics and astrophysical science among students and public.
Agricultural scientist M.S.Swaminathan, who was member of the selection jury for the awards and N. Sugalchand Jain, Managing Trustee, Bhagwan Mahaveer Foundation were present on the occasion.
