“In a gentle way, you can shake the world”. These simple yet powerful words by Mahatma Gandhi came alive on January 30th ‘2021 on his 73rd martyr day, when 78 Impact Leaders, Change Makers and Organizations, who are shaking the world gently yet making a powerful social impactwere awardedwith prestigious Mahatma Award 2020 at an award ceremony in New Delhi.
The host city was of course Delhi, the national capital of Indiaand the award were presented by Mr. Amit Sachdeva, Founder, Mahatma Award along with Mr. Manish Sisodia, HonourableDeputy Chief Minister, Delhi and Ms. Shallu Jindal, Chairperson, JSPL Foundation. The award ceremony was started with a message by Padma Bhushan, Mrs. Rajashree Birla, Chairperson, Aditya Birla Group congratulating the recipients, followed by congratulatory message by Mrs Radhika Bharatram, Jt. Vice – Chairperson of The Shri Ram schools.
The Mahatma Award is Inspired by the spirit of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, fondly called Mahatma. The Mahatma Award is founded and instituted by social entrepreneur and philanthropistAmit Sachdeva, more famously known as ‘The CSR Man of India’. Mr. Sachdeva a stout Gandhian, who echoes the principles of Mahatma Gandhi, is an expert in the subject matter of corporate sustainability and social responsibility. Sachdeva played a pivotal role in lobbying for the CSR Bill, 2013 and continues to invest in various NGO and NPOs across the world.
Mahatma Award continues to honour the most accomplished sustainable, responsible, social efforts and initiatives within the private, public, and development sector. The initiatives range from sustainability to philanthropy to shared value to social impact to corporate social responsibility.
The Mahatma Award is supported by the Aditya Birla Group to honour the winners every year. The Aditya Birla Group has a long-standing history with Mahatma Gandhi himself as well as his principles. Right from the time of Mr. Ghanshyam Das Birla, the founding father of the illustrious and massive multinational, the Birla group has had close ties with Mahatma Gandhi. To continue his legacy and recognize deserving organizations, Aditya Birla Group continues to aid the Mahatma Award.
The award ceremony is hosted annually by Liveweek Group, a social impact company in different parts of the world. Since its inception, the Mahatma Award has honoured more than 325 change making organizations and impact leaders across various categories and sectors. Some of the notable past recipients are Mr. Ratan Tata, TATA Group, Mrs. Rajashree Birla, Aditya Birla Group, Mr. Bindeshwar Pathak, Sulabh International, Google Ad Grants, IBM Foundation, Twitter for Good, Microsoft, Reliance Foundation, Piramal Foundation, ITC, L&T Technologies, Capgemini, Save the Children, Vodafone Americas Foundation, Feeding America, Hague Business Agency, Fuel, Plan Internationaland many more leading organizations and individuals.
Mahatma Award 2020 was awarded in four main and 30 sub-categories i.e., Mahatma Award for Lifetime Achievement, Mahatma Award for Social Good, Mahatma Award for CSR Excellence and Mahatma Award for Covid-19 Humanitarian Efforts.
Year 2020 awards were presented to Mr. Azim H Premji, Founder Chairman Wipro, Mr. Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Film Actress Shabana Azmi, Mr. Deepak Dwivedi, Chairman and Editor-in-chief, Dainik Bhaskar, Mr. Sitaram Gupta, Executive director, Lupin Foundation, Mr. Jitu Virwani, Chairman, Embassy Group, Mr. Rajan Samuel, Managing Director, Habitat for Humanity, Mr. Laxmi Narayan Goel, Chairman, Suncity Projects, Ms. RakhshandaJalil, India writer and Historian, Organizationsinclude Action Alliance for Recycling, Agape, Americares foundation, Bajaj Electricals, Bharat Aluminium Company, Bharat Rural Livelihood Foundation, Brahma-kumaris, Bridgestone, Caritas India, Cadence, Coromandel, Deepak Fertilizers, Godfrey Phillips, Godrej Properties, Hero MotoCorp, ICICI Foundation, IndusInd Bank, Jindal Steel & Power, JSW Foundation, Jamna Auto Industries, Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation (KSCF), Keysight Technologies, L&T Technologies, KamalnayanJamnalal Bajaj Foundation, Magic Bus, Mytrah Foundation, Oil India Limited, REC Limited, Renew Power, RMZ Foundation, Sterlite Foundation, Sudarshan Chemical Industries, Tech Mahindra Foundation, Medanta, Prayas Juvenile Aid Centre (JAC) Society, The Blind Relief Association, Ultratech Cement, United Way Delhi among many others.
