TOI Social Impact Awards 2015: Thank goodness, these men & women make a difference

A doctor couple who have revolutionized the delivery of healthcare to tribals in Naxal-hit Gadchiroli district, a civil hospital in Ahmedabad which defies stereotypes about state-run institutions, a government programme to take science to children who live in the forgotten interiors of the country, and a corporate’s effort to bring the girl child into the warm, nurturing embrace of education were among the path-breaking initiatives and inspiring human endeavours and that got the nod from the high-powered Jury that met to choose the 2014-15 winners of the Times of India Social Impact Awards.
In its third edition, the SIA has become the gold standard for socially empowering work as evidenced by its 1,100 entries.
The Jury, chaired by Naresh Chandra, ex-Cabinet secretary, governor and ambassador to the US, had the unenviable task of choosing the most deserving from among the 40 finalists shortlisted for their consideration, after multiple rounds of elimination. The Jury rose to the occasion, spending the next three hours in intense discussions and even resorting to a vote a couple of times.
The eight-member Jury, which bonded over a light vegetarian lunch before starting discussions, looked for impactful, scalable work, especially in remote corners of the country or aimed at vulnerable social groups like the girl child, manual scavengers and leprosy patients.
The tone for the afternoon was set by Times Group CEO Raj Jain. Welcoming the distinguished Jury, he said, "We believe the Social Impact Awards is the most significant professional work we do at The Times of India."
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The first category that came up for discussion was Health. Justice AP Shah, chairman of the Law Commission, set the ball rolling by making the case for Piramal Swasthya in the Corporate segment. He commended its work in the northeast, adding, "Many in India don’t even consider that region part of the country." He was supported by social activist Aruna Roy who said the organization works "in a very difficult part of India, in difficult terrain and is doing great work."
Special: TOI Social Impact Awards 2015

In the Government segment, Ahmedabad’s Civil Hospital emerged a clear winner given the scale and diversity of its operations. While jury members were unanimous about its great work, K V Kamath, chairman of ICICI Bank and Infosys, revealed that many years ago he had been treated as an outpatient and got a small surgery done at the very same hospital. Environmentalist Sunita Narain felt that it was very important to recognize the hospital’s work at this particular juncture when healthcare is increasingly being privatized.
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In the NGO segment, the Jury felt that all three finalists deserved to win but ended up giving the award to HelpAge India and The Leprosy Mission Trust India. The Jury was particular that instead of describing the award as shared, both should be named winners. They felt this was critical to turn the spotlight on the Leprosy Mission’s work. With leprosy cases again rising in India – and given the stigma associated with the disease – the Jury felt "strong signalling" was necessary. As Justice Shah said, "Leprosy has fallen off the radar. We need to put it back into the limelight."
When Education came up for consideration – Piramal Foundation was again a contender – the discussion veered towards the merits of rewarding one organization multiple times as against recognizing multiple entities. The country’s most socially conscious megastar, Aamir Khan, was all for multiple recognition for the same person/entity. "Multiple awards will challenge others to do better, pull up their socks," he argued. Arvind Panagariya, vice-chairman of Niti Aayog, was of the same opinion, and argued for "merit over equality". The opposing point of view was that spreading the awards would incentivize more people to do good.

Finally, distribution won over concentration with the Jury choosing K C Mahindra Education Trust as the winner in the Corporate segment for doing stellar work in getting girls into schools.
While choosing the private sector winner proved to be contentious, the National Council of Science Museums was the unanimous winner in the Government section for its work in popularizing science in rural areas.
In the NGO sector, Barefoot College was the choice of seven of the judges – the eighth, Aruna Roy, recused herself as Barefoot is run by her husband, Bunker Roy. She had recused herself earlier too, when HelpAge was being considered, as she’s closely associated with the organization.

The Environment category generated much debate. ONergy’s solar solutions led to an animated discussion on whether solar energy is scalable in the Indian context, whether it can actually be a ‘mass’ solution and how cost-effective it is. Aamir, in fact, wanted to know from other jury members whether the "cost of the things that go into generating solar power is higher than the price of it." Sunita Narain, a big believer in solar’s ability "to upscale energy access to the poorest," told him that while "initial costs are high, long term it is low." She argued that "energy poverty is a critical part of human deprivation", and that it was a better option because "the community has control over solar which it doesn’t have over the grid." Roy used this opportunity to ask Panagariya to hold a debate on India’s energy problem, to which he promptly agreed. Throughout the three-hour meeting, Panagariya – till recently a renowned professor of economics at Columbia University – mostly voted for candidates who were "self-financing and hence scalable", staying true to his calling.
The Aga Khan Rural Support Programme India, which works to provide safe water in rural areas, and Jal Bhagirathi Foundation, which is involved in water rejuvenation through community interventions, were the joint winners in the NGO segment. However, the Jury decided to not give an award in the Corporate segment as the entries were deemed "too small and lacking scale". In the Government category, the Indian Farm Forestry Development Corporation (IFFDC) was chosen for its community-run forestry programmes on barren lands.
No Corporate entry managed to make the final cut for the Award in the Advocacy and Empowerment sector. Madhya Pradesh’s Directorate of Women Empowerment’s efforts to curb violence against women was the unanimous choice in the Government segment, as was Jan Sahas Social Development Society in the NGO category for its work to end manual scavenging in villages.
In the Livelihoods category too, none of the Corporate entries made the cut. Jharcraft, which is run by the Jharkhand government and works to improve tribal incomes, and Pradan, which works to uplift poor women’s incomes, emerged winners in the Government and NGO sectors, respectively.
The award for Lifetime Achievement saw an interesting discussion, with the Jury considering many names – ranging from civil rights activist Irom Sharmila to Gandhian activist Rajagopal PV to Sister Cyril, an Irish nun known for her decades-long work in educating underprivileged children – before settling on Abhay and Rani Bang. While Roy made a passionate plea for Sharmila, Sister Cyril found a strong backer in Justice Shah. However, the Bangs received overwhelming support for their transformative work in healthcare, especially in reducing infant mortality in the violence-prone Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra.
The discussion on ‘International Contribution to India’ saw Khan making a spirited case for Magic Bus. He narrated the story of how founder Matthew Spacie started on this magical journey by first getting poor children to play rugby against the Bombay Gymkhana team before starting Magic Bus. Just when everyone thought that Spacie had won the day, the contribution of Asha was mentioned and the jury swung around en masse.
Once the serious business was out of the way, it was time for some photo-ops. Unsurprisingly, Aamir Khan was the man most wanted in the frame; the PK star graciously obliged before he was hustled away by his manager to catch a flight back to Mumbai.
JURY MEMBERS:
NARESH CHANDRA: I am always impressed by the quality of research that goes into vetting the candidates and the selection. This year was no exception. We had a good backand-forth on the nominations which I found to be very useful.
AAMIR KHAN: This was very well-organized. TOI’s efforts are very positive with great spadework by experts and reporters. Their research was very helpful and I could read up cases weeks before the jury began to deliberate. It’s important to acknowledge social contributions that could go unnoticed. Not only does this laud committed people but it makes others feel motivated too.
ARVIND PANAGARIYA: It is a very good initiative. I am impressed by the rigour that is followed to select the winners and the intense discussion by the jury.
K V KAMATH: It was very interesting. The discussion brought about diverse thoughts on various issues. It was stimulating.
A P SHAH: I am really impressed with the rigour with which the selections have been made — from the detailed evaluation of the candidates by experts and reporters to the animated discussions by a distinguished jury.
ARUNA ROY: Such a meeting brings out a very varied, different kind of India. It is an important place for understanding, of dialoguing… This is a moment when one looks at achievements of people who have given their energy and time to something bigger than themselves.
SURESH PRABHU: It is an excellent initiative. There is recognition of the work being done by unsung heroes and it is going to motivate others. There is much hard work that goes into selecting the winners.