Nehru Sidhant Kender Trust confers ‘Sat Paul Mittal National Awards’ for 2022

Ludhiana : Nehru Sidhant Kender Trust, founded in 1983 by Late Shri Sat Paul Mittal, today conferred the Sat Paul Mittal National Awards and distributed scholarships for the year 2022. These were presented by the Guest of Honor, Hon’ble Governor of Punjab Shri Banwarilal Purohit.

Also, present was Mr. Rakesh Bharti Mittal, President, Nehru Sidhant Kender Trust and Vice Chairman of Bharti Enterprises.The Sat Paul Mittal National Award winners were presented with a total cash prize of Rs. 12 lakhs and were felicitated with citations for the Sat Paul Mittal Platinum Award and the Sat Paul Gold Award for the year 2022 in Individual and Institutional categories.

Nehru Sidhant Kender Trust has sanctioned around 90 lacs for 1500 scholarship sunder – Mittal-Panday Scholarship (Meritorious), Mittal-Panday Scholarship (Graduate), Mittal-Panday Scholarship (Post Graduate), Mittal-Panday Scholarship (Vocational) and Nehru Scholarships categories to support students from socially and economically challenged backgrounds to complete their education.

While addressing the gathering, Shri Banwarilal Purohit said that education is the most critical piece of the puzzle when it comes to harnessing socio-economic progress. “No nation can claim demonstrable development if education access is not universal.

It is also my firm belief that traditional education must be supported with nurturing of values such as kindness, empathy, self belief and above all respect. It is by ensuring such value inculcation, that we can bring true, transformative change and ensure maximum effectiveness of our education,” he said.

He said that hard work and holistic education prepares us for life – not just in addressing challenge, but also teaches us to face roadblocks with calmness and confidence. He said that children should never lose their learning spirit.

“It is my fervent appeal to all the schools & colleges across the State to foster the spirit of curiosity, innovation and excellence in students,” he said.He further stated that in the technology-driven fast changing world, challenges and opportunities are abound. In this context, the best skill that educational institutions can impart a student today is that of adaptability.

Students must be trained to think quickly, be agile and innovate using cutting-edge technologies to solve 21st century problems. We have to also do away with the artificial segregation between curricular and extracurricular activities and encourage multi-disciplinarity in education.

Teachers should strive to gain more and more knowledge and distribute to their pupils. Both Teachers and Students must continually update their knowledge.The Sat Paul Mittal Platinum Award 2022 in the ‘Individual’ category was received by Dr. Radhike Khanna.

A visionary in the field of special education, she championed the cause of persons with disabilities, especially intellectual disabilities. She spearheads 3 organizations – Om Creations Trust, Shraddha Charitable Trust and Om ABODE Social Innovation Institute.

The Sat Paul Mittal Platinum Award 2022 in the ‘Institutional’ category the award was conferred to Help age India. Set up in 1978, Help Age is a leading charity in India spread across 26 states and 245 locations.

It has supported over 2 million elders across the country through our various programs. More than 1 lakh elderly have been provided security, through 8000+ Elder–Self-Help-Groups (ESHGs). It operates one of Asia’s largest mobile healthcare networks for elders, with 165 Mobile Healthcare Units operating across 2400 villages across 24 states & Union Territories.

Its National Toll Free Helpline service is the first of its kind in India and is operational in 15 States. It runs Government supported Elderline and supports action groups of Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment.

The Sat Paul Mittal Gold Award 2022 in the ‘Individual’ category was received by Sh. Jadav Payeng.Jadav “Molai” Payeng is an environmental activist and forestry worker from Majuli. Popularly known as the ‘The Forest Man’, he has spent 30 years of his life planting around 40 million trees to turn 550 hectares of barren land into a lush green forest all by himself.

In 2015, he was honored with Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India for his contribution towards society.The Sat Paul Mittal Gold Award 2022 in the ‘Institutional’ category was conferred to Sasakawa India Leprosy Foundation.

Instituted in November 2006, Sasakawa-India Leprosy Foundation (S-ILF) works towards mainstreaming persons affected by leprosy and their families through socioeconomic empowerment, thereby restoring dignity to their lives.

S-ILF has reached out to more than 2,800 beneficiaries of livelihood projects in 289 colonies across 18 states, provided opportunities for higher professional education to more than 300 scholars and has benefited around 400 children through its after school learning centres.

Through its various awareness campaigns around leprosy, S-ILF has reached out to more than two million people.Congratulating the winners, Mr. Rakesh Bharti Mittal, President, Nehru Sidhant Kender Trust, said, “Nehru Sidhant Kender Trust is committed to empowering the disadvantaged sections of society with a special focus on education.

I congratulate all the exemplars for their compassion, commitment and trailblazing efforts towards the upliftment of weaker sections of society.The transformational work done by these individuals and organisations leaves behind a legacy to get inspired and take action for the inclusive growth of the communities at large.

Under Hon’ble PM Narendra Modi’s leadership the country is now ushering an “education revolution” which will place India’s educational system on the global map ensuring inclusivity and equitability in education.”

The ‘Sat Paul Mittal Platinum Award’ and ‘Sat Paul Mittal GoldAward’ are given annually for outstanding service to humanity. Every year Nehru Sidhant Kender Trust invites nominations for honouring individuals and institutions working in areas including but not limited to health, education, environment, food, shelter, poverty alleviation, art, culture, child rights, welfare of the differently abled and women empowerment.

Prominent past recipients of the awards include Dr. E. Sreedharan, Dr. S.S. Badrinath, Ms. Ela R. Bhatt, Late Mr. Sunil Dutt, Mr. Anna Hazare, The Akshaya Patra Foundation, SOS Children’s Villages & Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement, Navjyoti Delhi Police Foundation for Correction De-addiction & Rehabilitation among others.