Awardees Announced for India NGO Awards 2008

Chief Guest, Sayeeda Hameed, Member, Planning Commission (center) with the awardees and finalists.

New Delhi once again hosted the India NGO Awards ceremony instituted by the Resource Alliance and the Nand & Jeet Khemka Foundation on March 30th 2009. Launched in 2006, the award aims to promote the financial and organizational sustainability of civil society and strengthen community support for its work.

Along with board members of the host organizations, Ms. Sayeeda Hammed, Member, Planning Commission and the Chief Guest at the event awarded the National winners – Pragati, Koraput in the small category, Action for Social Advancement (ASA) from Bhopal in the Medium category and BAIF Development Research Foundation from Pune and Sankara Eye Care Institutions, India from Coimbatore were jointly awarded in the Large Category. The winners were presented a trophy and a cash prize of rupees four lakhs. 

The Centre for Rural Development from Guwahati was awarded a Special Recognition for their innovative Rickshaw Bank Project.

The 2008 Awards attracted the highest number of entries as compared to the last two years. Out of 167 entries received, from a large range of organizations cutting across sizes, causes and geographical areas, 52 organizations were short listed for due diligence by the regional assessors, which led to 15 finalists.

The jury comprising of Roland Angerer of Plan International, Kajol Menon of Childine India Foundation, Vijay Mahajan of Basix India, Raj Chengappa from India Today and Rati Forbes from the Resource Alliance, selected the final four National Awardees.

Addressing the occasion, Ms. Sayeeda Hameed said The ‘Indian NGO Awards’ is a unique and much awaited initiative. In the short period of two years, the Award has been able to attract a diverse group of stakeholders to support it. VOs / NGOs are enthusiastic to be a part of the process, which is evident from the increased number of entries last year. Objectives of the Award have synergy with the National Policy on the Voluntary Sector (2007), piloted by the Planning Commission. I am happy to have been part of the Advisory Committee for the Awards. I wish to congratulate the Nand & Jeet Khemka Foundation and the Resource Alliance for their efforts and commitment towards making the sector more sustainable and accountable.

Don Mohanlal, CEO, the Nand & Jeet Khemka Foundation, stated, “it is an honour for us to be associated with the India NGO Awards programme. Through our support to the NGO Awards in India, we want to raise the profile of such NGOs who strive to make a habit of good practices, and work as solutions-oriented responsible institutional citizens of our great nation”

In the words of Rati Misra, Regional Representative of the Resource Alliance, "we believe that sustainable social change can be brought about by bringing the civil sector into multi-sectoral partnerships which maximize impact and its accountability. This is what the Award stands for and Resource Alliance is indeed pleased to be a pioneer in recoginising the good organizations and thereby promoting excellence in the sector”.