Final_Padma Awardees_Low res

पहल

SHRI OM BIRLA
HON’BLE SPEAKER, LOK SABHA

"Lok Sabha has taken a unique initiative of providing a platform for the Members of Parliament
where best practices from various field of social and developmental work will be shared by
Eminent Social Workers from various states of the country who have been awarded
prestigious Padma Awards for their immense contribution to their field of work," read an
official release.
Accredited persons, who are recognized by the government of India for their distinguished
contribution in social service and other related fields and are awarded by the prestigious
Padma Awards, will make a presentation on the subject of their expertise.
The objective of the presentation is to make the Members of Parliament aware of the best
practices which are available in various fields across the country which if found suitable and
adaptable, the same model may be adopted by them for the developmental work of their
respective constituencies.
"All the distinguished people of the country who have been awarded the Padma Awards are
sharing their experiences through virtual medium. They have done outstanding and
commendable work in different areas.
"Experience of their work should be provided to specific people of the society, mainly elected
public representatives. Members of Parliament can also share their experiences and views
among themselves. Because, it is the responsibility of the Members of Parliament to bring
about a comprehensive change in the society, the experiences, thoughts, important specific
work done by the people who have been awarded our Padma Awards, which has brought
about a massive change in the society. We will share our experiences and we will assimilate
their ideas on how we can bring changes in social life," he added.
The Padma Awardees will provide their guidance and support to the Members of Parliament
in carrying out such initiatives in their constituencies. The Presentations by the Padma
Awardees range over various subjects from Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Biogas,
Agro-bio diversity conservation to Rehabilitation of divyang and Micro-finance and self-help
groups.
The Platform will provide an opportunity to eminent social workers awarded with Padma
Awards to put forth their hard work and contribution to their respective fields of expertise and
share their experiences which may later be adopted all over the country. The platform will be
valuable to the Members of Parliament in enhancing their developmental work in their
respective constituencies where they can adapt from the best practices of the country for the
welfare of their constituencies.
All the Presentations made by the Padma Awardees will be recorded and made available on
the Members' Portal which can be viewed by Members of Parliament at any point in time.
Contact Details of the Padma Awardees will also be shared on the Members Portal with the
Members so that Padma Awardees can be contacted by them for their guidance and support
concerning their fields of expertise.

SHRI UTPAL KUMAR SINGH
SECRETARY GENERAL, LOK SABHA SECRETARIAT

I am honoured to welcome you all to perhaps the first of its kind presentation series by
eminent social workers organised by the Parliamentary Research And Training Institute For
Democracy (PRIDE) of the Lok Sabha Secretariat for the benefit of our Hon'ble Members of
Parliament. This was an idea conceived by Hon'ble Speaker of the Lok Sabha Shri Om Birla Ji
with the objective of providing a platform for interaction and engagement between Hon'ble
members of Parliament and some of the extraordinary individuals that are Padma awardees
who have dedicated their lives to the service of the nation and humanity at large. It is
heartening to know that this initiative of Hon'ble speaker has received an encouraging
response from our Hon'ble Members of Parliament, many of whom are connected through the
web link. It is evident that this was the latest demand of our Hon'ble members which we are
extremely pleased to fulfil. The Lok Sabha Secretariat deeply values the kind consent of our
esteemed Padma awardees to participate in this event through the virtual medium and share
their experiences of the Tapasya that they have undertaken to uplift the lives of the common
people of this country and also the best practices devised by them in diverse fields that
hopefully would be considered by the public representatives for adoption in their
constituencies. Hon'ble members are shown various successful modules of development
implemented by a Padma awardee at the grassroots level. These modules in many cases
light the pathways that have been chosen by eminent Padma Awardees to achieve
participative development, sustainable growth and people-centred governance. I have no
doubt that the innovative approaches adopted to address challenges faced by the common
people will be found enriching by all participants with these words. I once again welcome you
all. Thank you all. Jai Hind!



Coming from a small village called PADMA SHRI 2020
Komblne of Akole tribal block in
Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra CONTRIBUTION TO ORGANIC FARMING
Rahibai Soma Popere popularly known as She is a proponent of farming with
Seed Mother has set her mark in organic indigenous seeds and has worked for
farming and has been an inspiration to conserving hundreds of native varieties. She
many. Unable to attend school due to has conserved and multiplied about 48
poverty she supported her family in indigenous landraces of 17 different crops
agriculture and cow rearing since she was (Paddy, Hyacinth bean, finger millet, Pulses,
just 10 years old. It took 20 years of Oil seeds etc). Her organic farming methods
immense hardwork, practice and led her to set up perennial nutrition gardens
experience which helped her gain which ensures optimum organic crops with
knowledge about agro biodiversity, wild its complete nutritional value. Conservation
food resources and traditional culture. of forgotten crop landraces is very important
and in order to conserve such seeds,
traditional seed storage systems are set up in
well equipped community seed centre.

She has adopted improved practices like
single seeding (Paddy Cultivation) and Ridge
and Furrow method (Hycinth Bean)

SMT RAHIBAI SOMA POPERE SPREADING AWARENESS

OTHERS | MAHARASHTRA In association with BAIF Development
Research Foundation,Pune (NGO working for
SESSION - Agro - Bio Diversity Conservation sustainable livelihood and quality of life of
Tribal and rural communities) Rahibai’s voice
SEED MOTHER - Self- taught tribal woman has been able to reach many ears. Her motto
farmer from Ahmednagar, Famous Globally is also to spread awareness about organic
for her work in Agro Bio - Diversity farming, agro biodiversity, and wild food
Conservation. resources and encouraging farmers to grow
traditional crops which has been possible
RECOGNITION RECEIVED with BAIF. She has been able train, educate
Smt. Rahibai Popere received Nari Shakti and spread community awareness among
Award 2018 from President of India an 8th many farmers and their families across the
March 2019. BBC 2018 most influencing and state about the use of traditional farming and
Inspiring Women Listed Ranibai Popere. She irrigation techniques, seed selection &
was awarded with the forth highest civillian organic techniques by conducting Seed
award “Padma Shri” in 2020 for her Exhibitions/Workshops. She also has a one on
execptional contribution to agriculture. one interaction with students to educated
them about crop diversity in such exhibitions.
She has also created awareness in women
participation in Self Help movements and
other areas. One of her major contributions
has been the establishment of Kalsubai
Parisar Biyane sanvardhan Samajik Sanstha,
Akole, Ahmednagar District, Maharashtra - A
Community organization of seed savers

Shri Sundaram Verma, a progressive PADMA SHRI 2020
farmer from a village in Rajasthan, India,
who is known for his innovative approaches GROWING 50,000 TREES WITH A LITER OF WATER
in agriculture among the local farmer Growing 50,000 trees with a liter of water He
community on one side and for his holds ownership of 6- hectare farmland.
systematic working style among the Using the same technique of planting sapling
scientific community on the other side with one liter water he has planted varied
which has made many sustainable forest trees, fodder plants and fruit trees.
changes possible. He analysed every small Results are phenomenal with plant survival
aspect of growing the sapling meticulously rate close to 100%. Overall he has planted
for years, and came up with this solution of over 50,000 trees using this technique. In
using minimum water in transplanting the addition, he has set up multiple nurseries and
sapling in the farmland. distributed 1,50,000 saplings to other farmers,
and provided them training in his technique
SHRI SUNDARAM VERMA to promote afforestation in the drylands. He
also collects and preserves local varieties of
SOCIAL WORK | RAJASTHAN seeds, and has planted local varieties in his
SESSION - Agriculture farm which are drought resistant, have good
yield and are resistant to pests.
RECOGNITION RECEIVED
(IDRC) for Agro-bio-diversity Jagjivan CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY
Ram Farmer Award by ICAR, New Delhi Mr. Sundaram was actively engaged in
– 1997, Chaudhary Charan Singh conservation of biodiversity, conducting
Krishak Shiromani National Award – various on-farm experiments in agriculture
2003, National Award for conservation related to pest control, seed selection, variety
of Biodiversity – 2007, Van Pandit Award selection etc. He has till date collected and
by Government of Rajasthan, India – submitted over 400 germplasm of various
1998, Best Farmer State Award by local seed varieties in the National Bureau of
Agriculture University – 1998. Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi. He has
Sundaram Verma was awarded with preserved the herbarium of over 400 local
Padma Shri in 2020. plants out of which over 100 are medicinal
plants. He has also preserved about 500 local
varieties of 15 different crops. Sundaram
Verma has gained recognition for his work at
various forums at regional, state and National
level by various bodies. After his association
with Honey Bee Network he has linked about
1500 innovators and Traditional Knowledge
(TK) holders from various places Rajasthan
and collected over 10000 examples of
innovations and TK for NIF database out of
which over 10 has been recognized at
different levels and categories and received
Recognition by International Development
Research Centre, Canada. He is a science
graduate and has been curious about
science since his childhood. His education
was in parallel to the routine family work
which was mainly agriculture. He retained his
inclination towards science even after taking
up farming as a profession.

Shri Venkateswara Rao is an Organic PADMA SHRI 2020
Farmer, Agri Journalist & Promoter -
Organic Farming, Terrace Garden, Millets. THREE MONTHLY FARM MAGAZINES
Shri Yadlapalli Venkateswara Rao, Shri Venkateswara Rao is the Editor of
graduate in commerce from Acharya sector-focused three monthly farm
Nagarjuna University, Andhra Pradesh. He magazines in vernacular language i.e. 'Rythu
turned into Organic Farmer & Agricultural Nestham' (Farmers' Friend) (Agriculture &
Journalist & providing yeomen service to Horticulture) from 2005, 'Pasu Nestham'
the farming community. Dr.Y V Rao believes (Animals' Friend) (Dairy, Poultry & Fisheries)
that the farming community is the from 2012 and 'Prakruthi Nestham' (Nature's
backbone of India and recognized the dire Friend) (Organic & Natural Farming) from
need to alleviate their sufferings. He is 2014. He reaches 40 lakh people, covering
producing healthy and safe products for about 76% of total geographical area of
consumption without any pesticide Telugu speaking people of Andhra
residues Pradesh,Telangana and Karnataka states
every month through these publications. His
contemporary editorial columns are more
enriching and thought-provoking to the
stakeholders, including policy makers.

SHRI VENKATESHWARA RAO RYTHUNESTHAM FOUNDATION
To scale up his activities, he along with other
OTHERS | ANDHRA PRADESH like minded philanthropists, started a
foundation called 'Rythunestham Foundation'
SESSION - Agriculture in 2016. The Rythunestham Foundation has
organized cancer-screening health camps to
RECOGNITION RECEIVED farmers' families, tree plantations,
Shri Venkateswara Rao has been modernization of graveyards and Swatch
felicitated with: Bharath programmes in surrounding villages.
In 2019, Shri Venkateswara Rao was Developed RYTHU NESTHAM APP (Natural
conferred the Padma Shri award by the Farming App) and released to help the
President of India for his contributions farmers toupdate their knowledge on
towards organic farming. different crops and Livestock rearing.

AWARENESS PROGRAMS
He is also organizing awareness programs on
Kitchen Garden, Roof Garden and Terrace
Garden in Hyderabad City. For better
Environment & Healthy Life in the society he
started Rythu Nestham - Natural Products
store at Hyderabad & Guntur. Here, they
procure Organically Naturally grown
vegetables, millets and other products from
farmers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh
and supply to consumers at reasonable
prices.

They are a Gandhian father-daughter duo PADMA SHRI 2020
of farmers from Odisha – enabling the
country to take sustainable organic Apart from organic farming they have done
farming. Shri Radhamohan is the founder of phenomenal work in conservation of forests,
SAMBHAV, an issue-based organization water and soil harvesting and collection of
working on the twin issues of Environment more than 800 varieties of indigenous seeds.
and Gender along with Sabarmatee, his Sambhav has been developed as a
daughter. Ms. Sabarmatee successfully state-level resource centre for organic
experimented, demonstrated and shared farming.
the knowledge widely about how a barren
and abandoned land can be regenerated CONSERVATION OF NATURE WITH THE HELP OF
ecologically, most precious resources like PEOPLE
soil, water, biodiversity can be conserved,
indigenous varieties can be productive “Conservation of nature with the help of
organically and women and common people’s participation soon became our
people can be catalysts of this change. main objective. Around 100 villages were
soon involved with our initiative of conserving
the forests,” Shri Radhamohan said.
Under the umbrella of Sambhav, many
villagers have been mobilised to undertake
environment conservation by using organic
methods of farming. Women engaged in
agricultural activities are also being roped in
by Sambhav to promote environment
friendly farm practices.

SHRI RADHAMOHAN & CONSERVATION OF LAND AND BETTER
MS SABAMATEE MANAGEMENT

OTHERS | ODISHA Radhamohan’s land falls is an area which
does not receive much rainfall as a result of
SESSION - Agriculture ( Farming for which not many plants or vegetation grows in
Future) the area. This was one of the biggest
challenges faced by him and his
RECOGNITION RECEIVED organisation. However, through relentless
Shri Radhamohan, Ms. Sabarmatee has efforts and nature’s help, grass started
been felicitated with: growing in and around the once barren piece
Shri Radhamohan, And. Sabarmatee of land. Incorporation of new irrigation
was conferred the Padma Shri award techniques helped nurture the land and soon
by the President of India for his the vegetation increased.
contributions of a piece of land into a Cultivation of bamboo, sabai grass, and hill
vast "food forest" using only organic brooms on the land fetched positive results
techniques. and resulted in preventing soil erosion. Soon,
Radhamohan was able to grow healthy crops
on his land. Radhamohan and Sabarmati
have been successful in growing over 1,000
varieties of plants, spread across different
parts of the state. Last year Sambhav
successfully grew around 500 varieties of rice
alone and around 100 vegetable varieties. It is
also helping develop and promote many fruit
and forest species too.

DEVELOP ENVIRONMENTAL AND BIODIVERSITY
CONSERVATION

Sambhav has been successful in bringing
together hundreds of people with shared
interest in promoting environment and
biodiversity conservation.These people are
not only from Odisha but also from Andhra
Pradesh, Kerala, West Bengal, Karnataka
among other states.
Radhamohan and his daughter are currently
promoting the System of Rice Intensification
(SRI) to improve productivity of rice. Given the
outcome, the method has been adopted by
several NGOs across India. Over the last 30
years, the national award winner has also
been motivating and engaging people in the
use of liquid manure, bio-pesticides, forest
protection by communities, conservation of
indigenous rice and vegetable varieties.

Padma Shri Bharat Bhushan Tyagi after PADMA SHRI 2020
completing his B.Sc in Mathematics,
Physical and Chemistry from Delhi For many farmers, it is a big challenge to earn
University, wanted to work but his father more profit or income at a low cost. But for
disagreed so he had to return back to the Bhushan Ji, it is not a challenge but a way to
village. Further he had to face many progress further. He is not only doing organic
challenges while doing organic farming but farming successfully but also training
he did not lose hope and continued thousands of farmers at his farm. At present,
farming with full dedication and now is one farmers from India as well as abroad come to
of the renowned farmers in India. A Bhushan Ji to take the training.He provides
Progressive farmer, Bharat Bhushan Tyagi, free facilities to the trainees who come and
a resident of Bihata village of Siana Tehsil, live with him during the training period. The
Bulandshahar district, has his own way of objective is clear that farmers have to be
doing organic farming. self-reliant (Atmanirbhar)

FUTURE AGRICULTURE

“Agriculture is the foundation of rural India
and is the largest employer in the country.
Strengthening the agricultural base will have
cascading effects in ensuring food security,
generating employment, facilitating ancillary
industrial development and boosting
national income. The Indian youth should
come forward to opt for a career in
agriculture and allied fields that can play an
important role in strengthening the rural
economy” said Shri Bharat Bhushan Tyagi

SHRI BHARAT BHUSHAN TYAGI EARTH SON HONOR

OTHERS | UTTAR PRADESH Bharat Bhushan Tyagi is the same person
SESSION - Organic Farming who was honored with the Putra of the Earth
award at the World Organic Agriculture
RECOGNITION RECEIVED Kumbh held in India last year. In 2018, he was
Bharat Bhushan Tyagi’s Felicitations honored by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi
Shri Bharat Bhushan Tyagi was Adityanath on UP Divas. Bharat Bhushan
conferred the Padma Shri award in 2019 Tyagi, who has trained farmers on organic
by the President of India for his farming through natural methods, claims,
contributions towards organic farming. "One acre earns Rs 3 to 4 lakhs a year by
doing mixed and co-cropping farming." That
is, an average farmer earns more than 4. A
common farmer of the country is able to earn
hardly 50 thousand to one lakh rupees from
one acre of land in a year.

Born in a farming family he was involved in PADMA SHRI 2020
farm activities from the age of 17. However,
he wasn’t willing to practice the same This encouraged more farmers and in a few
routine cycles of routine crops and wanted years, the entire village along with a few
to grow something that required less neighboring villages started growing
intervention. Seeking an alternative, he pomegranate. “Around 70,000 farmers have
visited Agriculture University and State so far visited my farm to see how the fruit is
government's Krishi Mahotsav (2003-04). grown,” he said. Today, pomegranate is
To his delight, he gained knowledge about grown all over the district, with traders from
pomegranate cultivation and drip irrigation Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, and
there. He gained the support of his brothers Maharashtra coming during December -
and nephews. After all, where there is will, January every year to purchase the product,
there is a way! So he tried to make his he said. He has himself planted around 5500
fortune from pomegranates around 14 trees of Pomegranate. As organic fertilizers,
years back. He brought 18000 varieties of he uses Panchamrut (cow urine + cow dung
saplings from Maharashtra and planted + Jaggery + pulses flour) and vermicompost
them in his 5-acre land. Initially, the right on each tree every month. This produces red,
price wasn’t offered due to the lack of shiny, big and good quality fruits. Bird nets
market knowledge. Also, farmers of the are used to protect fruits from birds. He
district mocked him in the early phase. mentions that a harvest once a year is
However, with consistent and undeterred enough. This helps in maintaining quality and
efforts, the yield and profits both grew. helps in fetching premium prices.
He has been awarded several times by state
and central governments. Anar Dada
suggests that farmers should think beyond
traditional farming methods and explore new
opportunities, breaking barriers.

SHRI GENABAHI DARGABHAI BANASKANTHA CREATED HISTORY
PATEL
Today Banaskantha Pomegranate is being
OTHERS | GUJARAT exported to countries like Sri Lanka, Malaysia,
SESSION -Agriculture Dubai and UAE! In which Genabhai has also
contributed a lot! In the last 12 years, three
RECOGNITION RECEIVED Banaskantha districts in about 35 thousand
Shri Genabhai Dargabhai Patel was hectares are today in the forefront in terms of
conferred the Padma Shri award by the harvest of wealth! It is becoming the top in
President of India for his contributions in gardening too! Pomegranate crop is
Agriculture. improving the lives of farmers of
Banaskantha district!

FARMER’S AGE INCREASED

Their income increased by 26 tons in 2012. But
this year the yield is only 66 rupees per
kilogram. The farmer has received a revenue
of Rs 2.0 lakh as against 17.16 lakh per hectare.
This means that the farmer earning Rs 15.16
lakh per hectare has made a profit of Rs 75.80
lakh! In 2018, Genabhai’s income has gone up
to crores of rupees!

His Holiness Shri Ramesh Baba Ji Maharaj is PADMA SHRI 2020
a renounced saint who has been living at
Maangarh hill of Sacred Barsana dham in COURAGEOUS AND SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP
Braj-Vrindavan (Divine Playfield of Lord
Krishna) for last 65 years who has given up Shri Baba Maharaj’s inspiration and efforts,
his entire life in protecting & preserving Kunds were rebuilt and preserved. Sacred
divine culture of Braj, its topography, hilly terrain of Braj area measuring about
ecology, environment and spreading holy 5232 hectare have been protected and
name of the Lord all around the world. He subsequently declared as forest after a long
was also honored as a topper in Sanskrit movement which was led under His
Faculty at Varanasi University in 1967. In the courageous and spiritual leadership. In July,
past 65 years, under his noble and divine 2007, a cow shelter home (Gaushala) was
guidance, over 37 Kunds (water bodies) of started by Him in Barsana with a firm vision to
Braj have been protected and preserved. serve ‘gau mata’ (mother cow) with utmost
These Kunds were almost extinct. sincerity and devotion. The same Gaushala,
now termed to be largest single gated
SHRI RAMESH BABAJI MAHARAJ Gaushala in India, is nurturing and serving
about ever increasing cattle wealth of 55000
OTHERS | UTTAR PRADESH in a very holistic way. The number of cow
SESION - Animal Husbandry & Bio Gas wealth is increasing every day.

VISION INSPIRATION AND EFFORTS
Maan Mandir Sewa Sansthan Trust has
started Mata Ji Gaushala with a vision of After Shri Krishna Chaitanya Maha Prabhu,
bringing the glory and majesty of mother cow Shri Ramesh Baba Ji is the probably the only
back to its original form as it used to be in Saint who is instrumental in starting Bhagwan
Krishna' s time. By the grace of the Lord Naam Sankeertan in more than 32,000
Almighty, this project is becoming a heavenly villages and counting. In the past 62 years,
abode of rescued cow and enhancing by over 36 Kunds (water bodies) have been
leaps & bounds every day. The Gaushala is protected and preserved. Gaya Kund, Dohani
not only taking care of sick, abandoned cows, Kund, Vrishbhanu Kund are a few examples.
but is also serving the environment, and For the past 8 years, His Holiness Ramesh
striving to provide many resources to the Baba Ji Maharaj has been leading the
surrounding community. movement for revivification of River Yamuna
under ‘Save Yamuna Campaign’.
RECOGNITION RECEIVED
Ramesh Babaji Maharaj Was conferred the STOP ILLEGAL MINING
Padma Shri award by the President of India
for his contribution towards efforts towards For the past 60 years, Shri Baba Maharaj was
the welfare of animals. the ONLY saint in Braj who was shouting and
screaming to stop illegal mining of the divine
mountains of Braj. All the mountains in Braj
are nothing but extensions of Govardhan
Parvat. In a sense they are part of Govardhan
Parvat. Who does not know The Great Hunger
Strike Of Kaman of 2009? In 2009, he decided
to sit on hunger strike, no food and no water,
all alone at the end of the Radha Rani Braj
Yatra. With him sat all 10,000 Braj Yatries and
Brajwasis. This was the largest hunger strike
ever recorded in Indian history where around
10,000 people sat on a hunger strike at the
same time. During the strike, did Bhagwan
Naam Sankeertan and danced continuously.
Within only 12 hours, State Government of
Rajasthan succumbed to Shri Krishna’s
Araadhana and announced the protection of
all Braj mountains. They were officially
converted to forest land and Thousands of
trees have already been planted in various
villages under His noble instructions.

Smt. Trinity Saioo belongs to the Jaintia hill PADMA SHRI 2020
tribe, one of the matrilineal hill tribes of
Meghalaya that follows matrilineal descent SELF-HELP GROUPS & FARMERS
of inheritance. Saioo, who was trained as a She started her journey with 25 farmers from
school teacher, and whose mother had Mulieh and received support from the Spices
also cultivated turmeric as a cash crop, Board. Her exemplary leadership skills were
took the lead in educating the women in enough to encourage other farmers from the
her village on the process of sustainable adjoining villages to be a part of the
and organic farming of turmeric. Saioo took movement. Within four years, 800 farmers
it upon herself to visit the other women came together and cultivated this variety of
farmers, most of whom could not read or the turmeric crop in their respective villages.
write, and educate them on the relative As of now, Trinity has over 100 self-help
high yield and greater market value of groups working in her federation. Not only
Lakadong turmeric. She helped them apply this, the federation exports the Lakadong
for farm subsidies and ecologically variety to North-eastern states and in the
sustainable vermicomposting subsidies south to Kerala and Karnataka. Saioo realized
with the Spices Board in Shillong, the capital the value of this distinctive variety and
of Meghalaya. . commercialized it with the help of the other
uneducated villagers. This proved to be
extremely helpful as they could now make
ends meet by farming. She has helped the
state further Mission Lakadong by mobilizing
growers and expanding the area of Lakadong
turmeric cultivation in the country.

SMT TRINITY SAJOO WOMEN WITH ORGANIC CERTIFICATION,

OTHERS | MEGHALAYA Meghalaya with its abundant rainfall, moist
climate, and rich mountain soil has the
SESSION - Agriculture ( Problems perfect conditions to grow turmeric. With the
and Difficulties of the farmers help of the Meghalaya Spices Board, Saioo
regarding the”Lakadong Turmeric”) was able to help the women buy the relatively
more expensive Lakadong seedlings. Saioo
RECOGNITION RECEIVED taught the women how to raise seedlings,
Smt. Trinity Saioo’s Felicitations plant them, fertilize them organically, remove
Smt. Trinity Saioo was conferred the white grub pest infestation through
Padma Shri award by the President of ecologically safe alternatives to chemical
India for her contributions in Agriculture pesticides, and how to harvest the crops.
Saioo herself got trained in organic farming
methods, and in the tradition of training the
trainers, passed on that knowledge to the
women farmers she mentored. Saidoo’s SHG
collective owns two cooperatives: the Leng
Skhem Spice Producer Industrial Cooperative
Society, and the Life Spice Federation of
Self-Help Groups, both based in the Jaintia
Hills. While the men in the families and the
villages assist in the farming, the
cooperatives are run by women.

Dr. Rajani Kant is Padma Shri

Awardee-2019 for Social Service (mainly for PADMA SHRI 2020

Geographical Indication, Artisans and and Ph.D in Soil & Agriculture
Chemistry-Botany from Banaras Hindu
Weavers Development in Handicraft & University, Varanasi. Dr. Rajani Kant has
played a vital role for protection & promotion
Handloom sector) and was also awarded of traditional crafts through Geographical
Indication (GI) registration under Intellectual
“National Intellectual Property Award-2017” Property Rights and due to this initiative
Varanasi and Eastern UP region has 12 GI
& Samay Udyami Award-2012 as Best granted and 39 products of Uttar Pradesh,
Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand are under
Social Entrepreneur, and Lokmat GI registration process with his facilitation.
More than 2 million people have got legally
Samman-2018. Dr. Rajani Kant completed protected their traditional products under IPR
and it is the highest in World in one
his Graduation in Agriculture from National Geographical area where GI craft is existing
and growing in a comprehensive way for their
P.G. College, Barhalganj, Gorakhpur in 1980; uniqueness and excellent human skill in
Varanasi and Eastern UP region. Few are the
Master degree in Soil & Agriculture very important GI registered products like -
Banaras Brocade and Sarees, Handmade
Chemistry from Chandra Shekhar Azad carpet of Bhadohi, Banaras Gulabi Meenakari,
Varanasi Wooden Lacquerware & Toys,
University of Agriculture and Technology, Mirzapur Handmade Dari, Nizamabad Black
Pottery, Banaras Metal Repousse craft,
Kanpur in 1983 Banaras Glass Beads, Ghazipur Wall Hanging,
Varanasi Soft Stone Jali work and Chunar
DR RAJANI KANT Balua Patthar(Sand Stone) & Gorakhpur
Terracotta.
SOCIAL WORK } UTTAR PRADESH
SHIFT IN FOCUS
SESSION - Preservation, protection and
promotion of the traditional craft and Benaras or the city of weavers, is known for its
related products of India and linking strong ties with its roots and a home to an
Sustainable livelihood and entrepreneurship inheritance of handicraft makers and
with appropriate marketing through artisans. With globalisation and an invention
geographical indication under Intellectual of power loom ,these professions were
Property Right coming close to extinction.
After completing his graduation and post
RECOGNITION RECEIVED graduation in agriculture related field, while
Dr. Rajani Kant’s Felicitations working on a project related to Ganga water
Dr. Rajani Kant was conferred the Padma pollution during his Ph.D days in BHU, Dr. Rajni
Shri award by the President of India for his Kant came across the widespread corruption
contributions protection and promotion of and the exploitation of weavers, sculptors,
traditional craft and related products of craftsmen and handicraft makers that
India and linking with sustainable livelihood affected 4-5 lac livelihoods, sustenance
and entrepreneurship with appropriate became a big question.
marketing through geographical indication
under Intellectual Property Right

Upon seeing their plight , Dr. Rajni Kant worked HIS ROADMAP FOR THE FUTURE
with UN to evaluate the WTO agreement
stating the clause of TRIPS agreement (Trade He explains in the same interview, “Thanks to
Related aspects of Intellectual Property GI tagging, the country's GDP has boosted
Rights)which opened a new dimension by with a whopping increase of 28-32 percent in
informing them of a law in IPR ( Intellectual revenue. Resulting in a gross increase in the
Property Rights) in the field of geographical daily income ranging from 100-150 Rs for
indication.Thereby allowing to lawfully artisans, 400-500 Rs for Benarasi thread work
preserve the genre of artisans, handicraft weavers and 500-600 Rs for the wooden toy
makers, weavers and protect the consumers makers”. Henceforth calling out for a need of
who were paying an exorbitant amount for combined efforts from states and central
the “seemingly” original products. government.
His discussions shed light on the post GI
HUMAN WELFARE ASSOCIATION (HWA) initiatives concerning the crafts where the GI
tag has been implemented.For which
In 1991, Human Welfare Association was appropriate skill upgradation should be done
formed in collaboration with his colleagues to conduct requirement analysis, prototyping
after seeing some malpractices.Upon the and developing new products along with
completion of his stint with Mahamana(or improving designed products as per the CSR
BHU) in 1993, Dr. Rajni Kant took a plunge in initiatives.
the social sector with HWA. Focusing on
sustainable livelihoods with agriculture as the
prime area of this agriculture student for life.
Apart from this, he explored other areas such
as economic empowerment,child rights and
youth’s development initiatives.

EDUCATING WITH AWARENESS AND
AUTHENTICITY

The introduction of GI Tags has brought a
wave of change. Now, educated and
informed consumers are demanding original
and genuine products.Various products are
getting acquainted in the market and
developing their own consumer base. For
instance, Japan has shown a lot of interest in
Varanasi made clothes for export.
“In the last 4-5 years, the Government and
the Ministry of Textiles are making continuous
efforts to develop a large market through
various platforms such as exhibitions, Trade
fairs, displays and others for
handicrafts,handlooms, agriculture produce,
food products etc.”, Dr. Rajni Kant shared in an
interview with Good Evening India.

As a social activist, Bimal Kumar Jain has PADMA SHRI 2020
taken up the challenge to eradicate the
problem of the physically challenged from Our Viklang Kendra is a super speciality world
Bihar. He has been working in this field for class Centre for Prosthetics & Orthotics as
more than two decades. Till March 2018 well as corrective & innovative surgery for O.H.
more than 30,000 disabled get artificial Group. His establishment is fully equipped
support & more than 8,000 disabled get with P & O, Orthopedically handicapped
polio & corrective surgery which costs more surgery unit, Physiotherapy centre with state
than Rs. 10 Crores & our hospital provides of the art technique facility.He is also serving
services totally free of cost. in the field of Organ Donation since last 5
years and create awareness in the society
for voluntary donation of NETRA DAN and ANG
DAN. With their humble team efforts now the
large number of voluntary donations have
increased and a sizable number of citizens
have taken pledge for NETRA DAN and ANG DA
throughout Bihar and Jharkhand. He was also
a strong activist of J.P. Movement 1974.
During Emergency,they were publishing
‘LOKVANI’ news magazine & different
souvenirs & organizing the youth throughout
Bihar.

SHRI BIMAL KUMAR JAIN

SOCIAL WORK | BIHAR

SESSION - Eradication of physical
disability and organ donation for
suffering humanity

RECOGNITION RECEIVED
Shri Bimal Kumar Jain’s Felicitations
He is a Recipient of man of the year –
2002 by American Biographical
Institute, Inc., USA and Seva Pursakar
from noted voluntary/organization
NIRMAN. He was also conferred Man of
Year – 2001 by Chairman, Thakur Lal
Sonu Lal Charitable Trust, Patna. .

Shri S. Ramakrishnan's ambition was to PADMA SHRI 2020
serve The Indian Navy. He appeared for the
Naval Officers Selection interview at after overcoming the initial feelings of
Bangalore. While doing the Naval helplessness and self-pity, resolved to do
recruitment exercises he had to undergo something concrete and really useful to the
obstacles test for physical fitness where he under-privileged section of the society in his
fell down and suffered multiple spine area. At the age of 21 during the International
injuries resulting in complete paralysis Year for the Disabled, ‘Amar Seva Sangam’
below the neck and total amnesia below C3 his area. At the age of 21 during the
and C4 rib cage. He was treated both at International Year for the Disabled, ‘Amar
the Air Force Command Hospital, Seva Sangam’ an Institution named after his
Bangalore and then at Pune Military mentor/doctor, and he started a school,
Hospital, Kirkee. However, in spite of this namely Sivasaraswathi Vidyalaya, in his
severe setback to a budding career, Shri native village, Ayikudy in Tamilnadu. The
Ramakrishnan did not lose his courage and school which had only 5 children to start with
enthusiasm.Since then, has now grown up into a good High School
with 657 boys and girls, guided and taught by
SHRI S RAMAKRISHAN 23 dedicated teachers.

SOCIAL WORK (DIVYANG) | TAMIL NADU INSPIRATION BEHIND AMAR SEVA SANGAM
SESSION - Rehabilitation of Divyang-
through his Amar Sewa Sangam At Pune, Ramakrishnan underwent
based out of Tirunelveli. rehabilitation for 10 months under
orthopaedic physician Air Marshall Dr. Amarjit
RECOGNITION RECEIVED Singh Chahal, who motivated him. “In 1981,
He was awarded witht he IBN7 Super Idols, when I started Amar Seva Sangam in Ayikudi,
Lifetime Achievement Award, 2007, Dr. Mary Tamil Nadu, I named it after him”, says
Verghese Award for excellence in Ramakrishnan.
empowering ability, 2012, Rotary Club of Amar Seva Sangam started as a school for
Madras, Life Time Achiever Award 2015, disabled kids on a piece of land donated by
Times of India Amazing Indians award in Ramakrishnan’s parents. From the beginning,
the category 'Unstoppable Indians', 2016 the focus was on disabled people.
and was awarded with the Padma Shri in At that time, awareness was poor. Things
2020. actually started changing with the passing of
the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995. “It was
then that the government started taking note
of the issues faced by disabled people”. But
there is a long way to go. “Even today,
facilities like ramps and low platform buses
are not provided. This is the case even in
Delhi. This means wheelchair users cannot
move around independently”. When there are
such buses at airports, why can’t they be
provided to everyone? – S Ramakrishnan,
Founder-Director, Amar Seva Sangam
The Padma Shri award, he believes, is an
acknowledgement of the growing presence
of the disabled community. Ramakrishnan
hopes that the award will lead to greater
government support.

AMAR SEVA SANGAM WORKS CLOSELY WITH
TAMIL NADU GOVERNMENT

“Amar Seva Sangam has been working in
many villages and the Tamil Nadu
government has accepted our way of doing
this. They have given us ₹ 2.36 crore for
expanding activities to 23 blocks in the state”.
Ramakrishnan plans to scale the early
intervention programmes. Part of this
includes going door to door to peoples’
homes and teaching them how to look after
their disabled kids, conducting police camps,
etc”.
He credits his wife and secretary Shankar
Raman for Amar Seva Sangam’s
considerable presence today. “My wife has
helped develop the activities tremendously.
Shankar Raman is a chartered accountant
and is also affected with muscular dystrophy.
He has also helped us expand the nature of
our work.”

An educator, philanthropist but most PADMA SHRI 2020
importantly a good human from his whole
heart and soul, Javed Ahmad Tak was He was determined to fill himself with more
inspired by his grandmother, ZaibaBanoo, a humility to help the people out.
community worker who made homemade
medicine to cure the victims of their burn CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS EDUCATING THE
wounds. It was her selfless attitude and SPECIALLY ABLED IN J AND K- UPLIFTMENT,
humility that inspired Javed Ahmad Tak. He MEDICAL FACILITIES AND EDUCATION
holds a two year special B.Ed. and one year
Diploma in Human Right and Computer Post the tragedy he was put through in 1997,
Applications from Indira Gandhi National Mr. Javed established the Humanity Welfare
Open University. He lost complete activity in Organisation for upliftment of less privileged
his lower body when he was shot during women through provision of medical
unrest in Kashmir in the year 1997, but his facilities and so on. He established
perseverance never died. ZaibaAapa Institute of Inclusive Education in
Bijbehara, a town in Anantnag district of the
SHRI JAVED AHMAD TAK union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, for
providing free education to specially abled
SOCIAL WORK ( DIVYANG WELFARE) | children. He also received major backlash by
jAMMU & kASHMIR the parents when the idea of sending
specially abled children to school was
SESSION - Social Worker working for proposed by his organisation. However, He
the specially abled children of and his team were determined to overcome
Kashmir for 2 decades this challenge by actively participating in
national festivals and cultural celebrations in
association with many childcare institutions
to establish a communication with the
parents. They also sent out leaflets and
posters throughout the Kashmir valley
promoting their vision. No stone was left
unturned by Mr. Javed and his organisation to
overcome social and financial constraints.
The campaigns and the awareness
programs proved to be of assistance to the
parents and broke the shackles of a closed
mindset of the people who started sending
their children to the institute.

RECOGNITION RECEIVED
Javed Ahmad Tak was honoured with
Padm Shri in 2020

Dr. Anil Prakash Joshi also known as the PADMA BHUSHAN 2020
‘Mountain Man’ is a green activist who set
up the Himalayan Environmental Studies HIMALAYAN ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND
and Conservation Organisation (HESCO) in CONSERVATION ORGANISATION (HESCO)
1981 for the preservation of the
environment. He has initiated the Dr. Anil Prakash Joshi, till now has devoted 36
celebration of ‘Himalayan Day. years of his life for mobilization of community
He holds a PhD in environmental science and to sensitize them on Resource Based
and started his career as a lecturer. Development. He pays attention to the issues
Belonging to the hilly areas, he decided to pertaining to Urbanisation and believes in
contribute towards preservation of the inclusive growth of community by economy
Himalayas. As an Ashoka fellow, he has and ecology both. He and his team of HESCO
authored over 80 research papers and 10 have been working on bringing consistent
books dealing with sustainable development of rural Himalayan areas with
development of the Himalayas through the help of their knowledge of environmental
various means. sciences and by the usage of simple
technologies. He believes in the concept of
DR. ANIL PRAKASH JOSHI ‘Self Sustenance’ where usage of local
resources is encouraged for development of
SOCIAL WORK | UTTRAKHAND the economy. This sustainable change with
their ecological and innovative solution has
SESSION - Environment Conservation brought excellent results which also earned
- Himalayan Environmental Studies them nationwide recognition. HESCO has
& Conservation served 10,000 villages and five lakh
inhabitants across the mountain states.
RECOGNITION RECEIVED Watermills were provided to underprivileged
Few of the many awards he has been villages near the borders of Arunachal
conferred are:- JawaharLal Nehru Pradesh and Jammu Kashmir and issues
Award by the Indian Science Congress relating to soil erosion and landslides were
in 1999.; Social Science Award for 2001 solved. Around 125 water springs and many
from Shri Ram Washshran Devi Bhatia rivers/streams have been revived in three
Memorial Charitable Trust.; Declared states serving more than 300 villages
Man of the Year 2002 by the popular currently.
magazine “The Week”.; Awarded the Sat
Paul Mittal Award for 2004.; UPLIFTMENT OF COMMUNITIES
He popularised the concept “Local need meet
locally” across and established “Community
Research Centre”(Vigyan Gram) to develop
innovative technologies with community
participation in Uttarakhand. 38 villages in
Uttarakhand have been developed in “Model
villages” in different agro- climatic zones.
Along with this, an ideal village concept for
Schedule Caste Community was also
developed. A total of 32 SC villages were
developed across the country.
Another initiative was for the upgradation of
the Rural Artisans where platforms were
established in uttarakhand for around 950
artisans currently.

RECOGNITION RECEIVED
Dr. T.N. Khoshoo Memorial Award in Conservation
for his contribution to social upliftment.Jamnalal
Bajaj Award in 2006.; Honored as one of the
Silvers of the Year 2007 achievers named By
Harmony Magazine, 2007; Real Heroes Award,
CNN-IBN and Reliance, 2008; National Award for
women’s development through application of
science and technology; Heroes of hopes by
times of India; Vishwakarma award;
Biotechnology social Development award,
2016,Achievers award, 2018 by India eye
International Human rights observer etc.; Award
for excellence in public services , 2018, by Indian
Institute of public administration (IIPA);JP
INTERNATIONAL AWARD for distinguished
contribution in the field of Environment, 2020 by
Loknayak Jayaprakash International Studies
Development Centre (LNPISDC)
He was awarded with Padma Shri Award in 2006
and was honoured with Padma Bhushan in 2020.

A mechanic by profession but an PADMA SHRI 2020
environmentalist and a nature lover by
passion Himmata Ram Bhambhu, hails CONTRIBUTION TO NATURE IN TERMS OF
from Sukhwasi village out district of Nagaur AFFORESTATION AND WILDLING
in Rajasthan. A person of sheer will and Being a supporter of afforestation, using his
commitment Mr Himmataram, realised his own capital and a six acre land, he has
affinity to nature in his late teens in 1975, developed a unique integrated agro-forestry
where his source of inspiration was his plantation and biodiversity conservation
grandmother, who planted a peepal plant centre. He has planted five and half lakh
but asked him to take care of it. This saplings out of which three and half lakh are
instance of his teens increased his love for trees. This also includes a forest on the land
nature and urged him to become an owned by him. It has sincerely contributed
environmentalist regardless of the towards the rehabilitation of rare flora and
challenges posed at the grassroot levels. fauna of the region. He has also utilised salt
water for afforestation. Additionally, he
promotes nature conservation in many areas
of Rajasthan namely, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer,
Barmer, Sikar, Ajmer etc. His efforts in the field
of conservation have been widely
appreciated by the Central and state
government.

SHRI HIMMATA RAM BHAMBHU AWARDS AND RECOGNITION RECEIVED

SOCIAL WORK | RAJASTHAN He is a recipient of UNESCO award for
environment conservation in 1999.
SESSION - Environment Subsequently he was awarded with
Conservation & Plantation Rajasthan State Amrita Devi Vishnoi award in
2003 and Rajiv Gandhi Environment
RECOGNITION RECEIVED Protection Award-2014 by the State
He is a recipient of UNESCO award for government of Rajasthan. Further, he is also
environment conservation in 1999. associated with Smt. Maneka Gandhi's
Subsequently he was awarded with program on People for Animals. He has also
Rajasthan State Amrita Devi Vishnoi award played a vital role in getting Gogelao and
in 2003 and Rajiv Gandhi Environment Rotoo designated as conservation reserves.
Protection Award-2014 by the State
government of Rajasthan. Further, he is also
associated with Smt. Maneka Gandhi's
program on People for Animals. He has also
played a vital role in getting Gogelao and
Rotoo designated as conservation reserves.

Shri Kalyan Singh Rawat, educationist as PADMA SHRI 2020
well as a social activist hailing from
Uttarakhand. As a teacher of biology he has PIONEER OF MAITI MOVEMENT
spent most of his life encouraging natives A tree plantation movement, Maiti Movement,
of Uttarakhand on environmental began from the small town of Gwaldam of
conservation and tree plantation. Presently Chamoli District and in such a short span of
he is the founder secretary of the Maiti time became popular throughout the
Organisation and had pioneered the ‘Maiti country. He believes that “Trees are like our
Movement’ in 1995 for promoting daughters so we must raise them with similar
forestation. love” and therefore before a girl leaves her
maternal home, the bride and the groom
SHRI KALYAN SINGH RAWAT plant a sapling to make their wedding
memorable. The mother of the bride takes
OTHERS | UTTRAKHAND responsibility for nurturing and protecting
SESSSION - Environmental conservation & the plant.
Plantation With this ideology, he has been able to plant 5
lakh plants through weddings. The increase in
public awareness has led to tree plantation
not only in weddings but also on other special
occasions. For instance, for India's 50th year
of independence, villages in Uttarakhand
planted 1000 trees in the memory of the Kargil
Martyrs.
Today with his ideology’s popularization, this
revolution is spread across 3000 villages in
the state and has also been adopted in other
states like Jammu & Kashmir, Andhra
Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.
In addition to this, Shri Rawat also established
“Himalaya Vanya Jeev Sansthan” at
Gopeshwar, Chamoli in 1976 which aimed at
conserving very rare wild life species
belonging to the Himalaya. With the help of
numerous awareness programmes, he was
able to protect more than 5000 wild animal
species from the poachers.

RECOGNITION RECEIVED

He has been conferred with God Fre Bravery
Award, CII Green Award, Uttarakhand Ratna,
Garh Gaurav, Garh Vibhuti, Parvat Shree,
Vriksha Mitra Award, Best Science Teacher
Award by National Science Academy, Life
time achievement Award etc. He was
honoured with the fourth highest civilian
award ‘Padma Shri’ in 2020

One of India’s leading Wildlife PADMA SHRI 2020
conservationist and herpetologist Romulus
Whitaker, has contributed in preserving the CONSERVATION OF REPTILES
biodiversity majorly in Andaman & Nicobar
and Tamil Nadu. Born an American but an India’s first reptile park,The Madras Snake
Indian at heart, he moved to India at a Park was founded in 1972. It was set up by
young age of 8 with his family. His obtaining land on lease from the Tamil Nadu
fascination with reptiles and wildlife as a Forest which aims to conserve reptiles by
child led him to devote his entire life to it. captive breeding and spreading awareness
about them. The park is the nodal point of
SHRI ROMULUS WHITAKER captive breeding of endangered pythons in
the country.
OTHERS | TAMIL NADU He also founded the Madras Crocodile Bank
SESSION - Wildlife Conservation in 1976 to protect India's dwindling crocodile
population. A captive breeding program for
RECOGNITION RECEIVED freshwater turtles and tortoises in 1981 was
He released his renowned book Snakes of developed and they successfully bred the
India - the Field Guide in order to reach out to Critically Endangered gharial in 1989 for the
the public. In alliance with National first time. The Gharial Ecology Project was
Geographic, Discovery and BBC Natural initiated for conservation of gharials. An
World his films found a way to reach millions increase from 200 gharials to 3000 wild
of people across the country. A recipient of gharials were reported. Now the Croc Bank is
several eminent awards such as the Rolex home to 2000 reptiles including 15 species of
Award for Enterprise, Whitley Fund for Nature, crocodilians from all over the world, along
Emmy Award and Salim Ali Award, besides with hundreds of turtles, snakes and lizards.
the prestigious Padma Shri Award. Here they also mobilized the Irula
Snake-Catchers’ Cooperative where they
extract and freeze-dry snake venom and
then sell it to laboratories for the production
of anti-venom which helps in saving
thousands of lives. It is the largest venom
producer in India and continues to function.

ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ENVIRONMENTAL TEAM

In 1989, ANET(Andaman & Nicobar
Environmental Team) was established which
facilitates and promotes ecological and
social science research. ANET is leading
many on the ground interventions that are
focused on preservation of biodiversity,
waste management &, improving livelihood.
Agumbe Rainforest Research Station was set
up in Karnataka which includes intensive
research on their habits, range, and
conservation needs for preservation of king
cobras and rainforest habitat.

Shri Pawar Popatrao Bhaguji, a Sarpanch of PADMA SHRI 2020
Hivare Bazar of Ahmednagar district
popularly known for being a drought prone HIWARE BAZAR- A MODEL VILLAGE
area. Under his leadership, it was turned
into not only a town that is self sufficient in With the emergence of a new leadership,
every aspect but is also considered a
model for model rural and urban under Shri Popatrao Pawar set up Adarsha
governance. Prior to claiming office in 1989,
the village was experiencing numerous Gram Yojana, a new Model Village Program
issues like drought, low agricultural yield,
lack of resources, migration of the natives in Hiware Bazar. An integrated 5 year plan
to the urban areas, scarcity of water,
problems of alcohol addictions that were was set up with water conservation at its
tearing families apart and issues of crime
had also become common. After a point of core. This was completed in only 2 years
time, only one tenth of the land was
productive and 168 out of 182 families were which was a result of enhanced peoples
below the poverty line.
participation, convergence of several

departments of the government, works in

different sectors ranging from watershed

development, village infrastructure

development, agriculture, environment

conservation, to dairy development,

innovative and water budget based

agriculture production planning were

undertaken. The project was a huge success

and resulted as a miracle for the village. The

“Sapt Sutras” also known as the 7 principles of

social discipline that were adopted are

Family Planning, Ban on Alcohol, Ban on Tree

Cutting, Ban on Free Grazing, Voluntary

Donation of Labour, Ban on Open Defecation,

Ban on Borewell for Farming.

SHRI PAWAR POPATRAO BHAGUJI HOW WAS THIS ACHIEVED

SOCIAL WORK | MAHARASHTRA 40,000 contour trenches were built around
the hills to conserve rainwater, watershed
SESSION - Water conservation and conservation,and recharge groundwater. A
Transformation of village into a role water budget was introduced to
model of Gram Swaraj institutionalize water sharing. The village
introduced a practice of water budgeting.
RECOGNITION RECEIVED Lakhs of trees were planted by the villagers,
He has been awarded with 1st International reduced pastoral grazing in forestland. 1 lakh
CSR Award, Amazing Indian Award by Times litres of water was saved from Bombay and
Now, Vibrant Gujarat’s AgriGold Award. He is 25,000 litres of water from Pune daily. Now
the Executive President for Model Village there are zero families which are below the
Committee and a member of National Level poverty line, complete alcohol prohibition,
Grameen Reform Committee, he has tie-ups reverse migration, per capita income
with universities like Oxford, Stockholm, increased from Rs 830 to Rs 30,000, creation
Tokyo, and London for research on of the first defecation free village.
management of water. He was awarded the Shri Pawar Popatrao Bhaguji has transformed
Padma Shri in 2020 for his contribution in the Hiware Bazar into an ideal town model which
field of social work. is demonstrated as a successful model with
effective implementation of Government
Schemes.

A spiritual leader, social reformer and a PADMA SHRI 2020
renowned environmentalist Sant Balbir
Singh Seechwal also known to many as PRESERVATION OF KALI BIEN RIVER
Welfare Baba has devoted his life to the
field of public service. A preacher of “A In 2008, Baba launched a programme for
Noble Mission” entitled by former president cleaning of the Kali Bien river, a tributary of
Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam who also credited River Beas in Punjab. Along with him more
Baba’s work as one of the nine major than 24 villages joined the movement by
technological achievements of India. Baba intensively working and achieving renovation
has worked in several domains beginning of the river by clearing the riverbed of
Conservation of natural water resources hyacinth and silt,demarcation of the area,
including rivers, Beins, drains, wetlands, fixation of the banks with stones and the
developing underground sewerage, roads, plantation, water supply and
Development of roads in remote and electrification on the banks; restoration of
backward areas, Tree-plantation in flow of pure water in it; reclamation of 6000
wastelands. acres of land in Dasuya and Mukerian Tehsils
of District Hoshiarpur and recovery of
SANT BALBIR SINGH SEECHEWAL depleted water table in 1,35,000 hectares of
land in Kapurthala district. Baba has been
SOCIAL WORK | PUNJAB operating exactly the way he started off back
SESSION - Environment Conservation in 2000 where he spends his time carrying out
physical hard work at the river banks. He
RECOGNITION RECEIVED organized KarSewa of holy Kali Beinriver to
International Time Magazine acclaimed make it pollution-free along which huge
Sant Baba Balbir Singh Ji Seechewal mass movements were organized in order to
as“The Hero of Environment”. He was stop pollution of Kala Sanghia Drain,
awarded the Padma Shri in 2017 for his ChittiBein, Buddha Nallah, river Satluj and
exceptional work as an other rivers and streams of Punjab; An
environmentalist. interstate march was conducted, referred to
as the Chetna March in Punjab and Rajasthan
in April 2009 to make people aware of
pollution of water resources. 2009 was
celebrated as the “Year of Environment”
under his leadership. Establishment of Water
Treatment Plants and supply of treated water
for irrigation of crops, Plant Nurseries in
seechewal and Kapurthala were also set up.

SEECHEWAL MODEL

He instituted the idea of the Seechewal
formula where water for agriculture will be
derived from treated waste water of villages
and towns. The water would be treated
through a natural and economical
procedure. This model by far has been
implemented in 100 villages which lie around
the Holy Bien. This has led to preservation and
recycling of waste water. Being a spiritual
leader he has brought about harmony
among the masses by explaining and
preaching humanitarian teachings of the
great Gurus at every religious and social
function.

Responsible for transforming the lives of PADMA SHRI 2020
several hundred women in terms of
financial independence through an The loan is paid back with a marginal
innovative micro-savings and financial interest. The money pooled per head was
model, Chinna Pillai belongs to a village gradually increased and therefore the
called Pillucherri near Madurai, Tamil Nadu. continuous rotation of money came to be
Surviving on a menial income of Rs. 20 per called Kalanjiam .
day on paddy fields, she realised the need
of financial independence amongst CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS MICROCREDIT
women. She began a small group of 15 MODEL, POVERTY ALLEVIATION AND
women who pooled in a fraction of their PROJECTS
earnings to provide credit to the group
members through rotation of money. It is due to the micro-credit and saving
model formulated by Pillai that 130 Kalanjiam
federation indulging 7000 women, several
families across 12 states could be pulled out
of poverty . Pillai being an excellent negotiator
took the responsibility of bargaining with the
employers for higher wages which proved to
be fruitful for the group members. She is also
known to have battled rich landowners in
terms of local fishing contracts. She received
the support of prominent foundations such
as Dhan Foundation for availing loans. Pillai
has emerged as a champion of women
seeking empowerment and upliftment even
though she faced caste as well as financial
discrimination.

SMT MADURAI CHINNA

SOCIAL WORK | TAMIL NADU

SESSION - Micro-finance and Self
Help Group.

RECOGNITION RECEIVED

Her perseverance and countrywide
respect further shot up when she was
honoured with Stree Shakti Puraskar in
1999 by Late Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee who
showed her immense respect while
awarding her. Subsequently, she was also
awarded with the prestigious citizen award
Padma Shri in 2019.

Labelled as the Gandhi of Jhabua, district in PADMA SHRI 2020
Madhya Pradesh, he originally belonged to
Ghonsgsi village of Datia district in Madhya CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS TRIBAL
Pradesh. Having pursued his B.A from Jiwaji
University, Gwalior, he based his operations MOBILISATION AND CONSERVATION
out of Jhabua district in 1998 where he saw
the scope for tribal mobilisation and Being a proactive member of Akhil Bharatiya
cooperation for conservation related Vidyarthi Parishad, he is said to have
activities as well as reviving the tribal participated actively in several student-led
traditions for conservation techniques. movements during his initial years as a
student. He became a member of the
SHRI MAHESH SHARMA Vanvasi Kalyan Parishad in 2007 and assisted
with several public welfare and awareness
OTHERS | MADHYA PRADESH campaigns . The same year they also
SESSION - Rural Development established a framework to fulfil a long term
goal of holistic rural development of Jhabua.
RECOGNITION RECEIVED He also co-founded Shivganga Samagra
Shri Mahesh Sharma was the recipient Gramvikas Parishad and became the
of Padma Shri in 2019. president of the same. He realised the
potential in revival of tribal culture and
mobilisation of tribal youths to be the
torchbearers of growth and sustainable
development of their respective villages. He
encouraged the tribal youths to promote
prominent traditional practice of
afforestation like Matavan and Halma which
has resulted in cooperation amongst 1300
villages and planting of over a lakh trees in
the whole Jhabua-Alirajpur stretch. He is said
to have revived age old traditions like
“Parmarth ki Parampara” which means
joining hands to work for others. He visited
several villages and families to create
awareness and motivation amongst all the
villagers to join hands and mobilise to solve
their own problems. The old tradition called
Parmarth assisted with the mobilisation and
unification of the community to undertake
water and forest conservation projects. Till
date he applauded for his work by prestigious
institutions like IIT, TISS and so on.





LIST OF PADMA AWARDEES 2022
Next Padma Awardees Session is in January 2022

1. SHRI SRIDHAR VEMBU 11. DR. BIRUBALA RABHA 21. DR. NIRU KUMAR
Trade and Industry Social Work Social Work
Tamil Nadu Assam Delhi

2. SHRI NANANDRO B. MARAK 12. SHRI K. Y. VENKATESH 22. MS. PRAKASH KAUR
Agriculture Sports Social Work
Meghalaya Karnataka Punjab

3. SHRI PREM CHAND SHARMA 13. PROF. RATTAN LAL MITTAL 23. DR. (SMT.) SINDHUTAI
Agriculture Medicine SAPKAL (MAAI)
Uttarakhand Punjab
Social Work
4. DR. KAPIL TIWARI 14. DR. BELLE MONAPPA HEGDE Maharashtra
Literature and Education Medicine
Madhya Pradesh Karnataka 24. SHRI SUJIT CHATTERJEE
Literature and Education
5. SMT. DANDAMUDI SUMATHI West Bengal
RAMA MOHAN RAO
15. SHRI SHYAM SUNDAR 25. SHRI NAMDEO
Art PALIWAL CHANDRABHAN KAMBLE
Andhra Pradesh
Social Work Literature and Education
6. SHRI MARACHI SUBBURAMAN
Social Work Rajasthan Maharashtra
Tamil Nadu
16. SMT. SHANTI DEVI 26. SHRI SUDARSHAN SAHOO
7. SHRI CHANDRASHEKHAR
SINGH Social Work Art
Odisha Odisha
Agriculture
Uttar Pradesh 17. SHRI RAJNIKANT DEVIDAS 27. PROF. KRISHNA MOHAN
SHROFF PATHI

Trade and Industry Medicine

Maharashtra Odisha

8. DR. DILIP KUMAR SINGH 18. SMT. LAKHIMI BARUAH
Medicine Social Work
Bihar Assam

9. SHRI JITENDER SINGH SHUNTY 19. SHRI CHHULTIM CHHONJOR
Social Work Social Work
Delhi Ladakh

10. SHRI GIRISH YASHWANT 20. SMT. SANGKHUMI
PRABHUNE BUALCHHUAK

Social Work Social Work
Maharashtra Mizoram

RAHIBAI SOMA POPERE SHRI SUNDARAM VERMA

Others -Agriculture | Maharashtra Social Work | Rajasthan
9623931855 | [email protected] 9414901764 | [email protected]

At/Post-Kombhalne, Taluka-Akole, Dhabayali Kothi, Post-Danta, Dist. Sikar,
Distt.-Ahmednagar Rajasthan-332702

SHRI YADLAPALLI VENKATESWARA RAO RADHAMOHAN

Others -Agriculture | Andhra Pradesh Others -Agriculture | Odisha
9849005182 , 9490559999 0674-24753371 , 9438506780 , 9078981096

[email protected] [email protected]
D. No. 8-198, Near Pulladigunta Village, K-5, HIG-238, Kalinga Vihar,
Kornepadu Post, Vatticherukuru Mandal, Bhubaneswar-751019, Odisha

Guntur Distt. Andhra Pradesh-522017

SABARMATEE SHRI GENABHAI DARGHABHAI PATEL

Others -Agriculture | Maharashtra Others -Agriculture | GUJARAT
9078981096 , 9438506780 9925557177 | [email protected]
[email protected] Village: Sarkari Goliya, Post: Agathala, TA:
Sambhav, Post-Rohibanka, Lakhani, Dist. Banaskantha, Gujarat-385586

Dist. Nayagarh, Odisha-752090

RAMESH BABA MAHARAJ SMT. TRINITY SAIOO

Social Work - Animal Welfare | Uttar Pradesh Others -Agriculture | Meghalaya
7017005616, 99273386666 9383225326 , 9856994587
[email protected] [email protected]

Shri Maan Mandir Seva Sansthan, Gahvarvan, Mulieh Village, P.O. Mawkyndeng,
Barsana, Distt. Mathura-281405, UP West Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya-793150

DR. RAJANI KANT DR. BIMAL HASMUKH PATEL

Social Work | Uttar Pradesh Others-Architecture | Gujarat
9415304759 | [email protected] 9824023979 , 079-27550875
Human Welfare Association, S.15/116-2AC, [email protected] | [email protected]
Mawaiya, Behind SBI, Post-Sarnath, Distt. HCP Design, Planning and Management Pvt.
Ltd., Paritosh Building, Usmanpura,
Varanasi,Uttar Pradesh-221007 Ahmedabad, Gujarat-380013

SHRI S. RAMAKRISHNAN SHRI JAVED AHMAD TAK

Social Work | Tamil Nadu Social Work | Jammu and Kashmir
04633-249170, 04633-249180, 9994385170 9469064964 , 01932233141/127
[email protected]
[email protected]
Amar Seva Sangam, 10-2-163, S/o Habibullah Tak, Main Road, Pamposh
Mohalla, Bijbehara, Jammu &
Sulochana Gardens, Tenkasi Road, Kashmir-192124
Ayikudi-627852 Tamil Nadu.

DR. ANIL PRAKASH JOSHI SHRI HIMMATARAM BHAMBHU

Social Work | Uttarakhand Social Work | Rajasthan
9411109073 | [email protected] 9414241601 | [email protected]

1/20, Ashirwad Enclave, Paryavaran Premi, Delhi Gate Ke Bahar,
Dehradun, Uttarakhand Khatripura, Nagaur, Distt. Nagaur,
Rajasthan-341001

SHRI KALYAN SINGH RAWAT SHRI ROMULUS WHITAKER

Social Work | Uttarakhand Others-Wildlife Conservation
9412437242 | [email protected] 9444926195 | [email protected]
V.P.O. Nathuwawala, Maiti Sadan, Balawala
P.O. Box 21, Chengalpattu,
Road, Nathuwawala, Distt. Dehradun, Kanchi District,Tamil Nadu-603001
Uttarakhand-248008

SHRI PAWAR POPATRAO BHAGUJI SANT BALBIR SINGH SEECHEWAL

Social Work | Maharashtra Others-Architecture | Gujarat
9420752525, 0241-2597413 94173-19463 | [email protected]
[email protected] Nirmal Kuteya, Village Seechewal, P.O. Chak
Sarpanch Gram Panchayat, Hiware Bazaar,
Chela, Tehsil Shahkot, Jalandhar, Punjab
At/P.O. Hiware Bazaar,
Taluka-Nagar, Distt. Ahmednagar,

Maharashtra-414103.
Varanasi,Uttar Pradesh-221007

SHRI MAHESH SHARMA

Social Work-Tribal Welfare | Madhya Pradesh
9425322150 , 9340471574 ,
Indore-9425319670
[email protected]

Flat No. 409, Indrasen Apartments, Jaora
Compound, Indore-452001 Madhya Pradesh

.
Shivganga Gurukul, Village Dharampuri,
Panchayat: Charolipada, Distt. Jhabua,

Maddhya Pradesh-457661