Shanti Raghavan & Dipesh Sutariya of EnAble India win the Social Entrepreneur of the Year – India Award 2019
Hyderabad: The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, the sister organisation of the World Economic Forum and the Jubilant Bhartia Foundation of Jubilant Bhartia Group today announced Shanti Raghavan & Dipesh Sutariya of EnAble India as the winner of the Social Entrepreneur of the Year India 2019 Award. The award was presented by Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Hon’ble Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs & Ministry of Civil Aviation and Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India in presence of over 250 participants in New Delhi. The award ceremony was a part of the India Economic Summit hosted by World Economic Forum in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Government of India.
The SEOY India Award 2019 winner, has been instrumental in building an ecosystem of skilling, employment and entrepreneurship for persons with disabilities (PwDs) through the use of technology innovations, breakthroughs in skill trainings, new workplace solutions and behaviour change tools. EnAble India has positively influenced and changed the mind-set of 729 business houses and built the frameworks of inclusion in universities and government agencies for the employment of PwDs in formal and informal sectors across India.
Over the years, SEOY India award has established itself as one of the most reputed and coveted award for social entrepreneurs in India. This year the award celebrates its 10th year. In 2010, the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship and Jubilant Bhartia Foundation came together to promote social innovation in India through the Social Entrepreneur of the Year (SEOY) India Award. The award has seen over 1500 applications in the last 10 years.
The winner of SEOY India Award participates in the annual and regional meetings of the World Economic Forum (WEF) and will join the world’s largest network of social enterprises affiliated with The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. These meetings offer unprecedented opportunities to engage with global decision makers from the public, corporate, media, academic and civil society sectors. The winner will be invited to join the Schwab Foundation’s global community of over 390 social innovators.
Congratulating the winner and applauding the work of all finalists of this year’s SEOY India award, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs & Ministry of Civil Aviation and Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India said, “I would like to express my appreciation, for the hosts of this evening, the Jubilant Bhartia Foundation and the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, who have for the last one decade provided a crucial platform to recognise the effects of the social entrepreneurs. Each one of them who have been featured here have done outstanding work.” “I am very happy to see how youngsters are becoming change agents in the society.” “The announcement of a Social Stock Exchange, in the Budget this year will help social enterprises access to finance. The Finance minister recently announced that Companies can now invest in social enterprises which are aligned with government supported incubation centres.”
Appreciating the winner and the finalists, Mrs. Hilde Schwab, Chairperson and Co-Founder of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship said, “This year’s winner and finalists of the Social Entrepreneur of the Year India award all exemplify what our community is about – actors who have selflessly dedicated their lives to improving the state of the world around them. We mark the 10th year of our partnership with Jubilant Bhartia with an unprecedented number of finalists, all of whom have made significant contributions to their country by addressing a myriad of issues in innovative ways. We look forward to continuing our work with Jubilant Bhartia to identify, recognise and serve the country’s leading social entrepreneurs in the years to come.”
Congratulating the winner and the finalists, Mr. Shyam S Bhartia, Chairman and Founder and Mr. Hari S Bhartia, Chairman & Co-Founder, Jubilant Bhartia Group and Founder Directors of Jubilant Bhartia Foundation, said, “The winner and finalists of the SEOY India award are the tech-enabled social entrepreneurs who are helping bridge the gap between the marginalised and the mainstream. In the last decade of this journey, we have witnessed diversity in social innovations coming from remote corners of India. Social entrepreneurs have been harnessing the vast untapped resources and investing time and resources to understand various underlying layers to social issues and create highly customised solutions. It has been a privilege to be partners with the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship in recognising social entrepreneurs in India for the last 10 years.”
The entries for this year’s SEOY India award were in categories including enterprise development, disability, water & sanitation, labour conditions, women empowerment, micro finance, housing, fair trade, energy, sustainable farming, communication media, clean technology and nutrition among others.
This year’s jury members included Mrs. Hilde Schwab, Chairperson & Co – Founder, Schwab Foundation for Entrepreneurship; Ms. Shobhana Bhartia, Chairperson & Editorial Director,
HT Media Ltd; Ms. Sudha Pillai, Former, Member Secretary, Planning Commission Government of India; Mr. Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, Government of India; Ms. Rohini Nilekani, Chairperson, Arghyam Foundation; Mr. Vikram Kirloskar, President, Confederation of Indian Industry; Ms. Prema Gopalan, Founder, Swayam Shikshan Prayog, Winner SEOY 2018; Mr. Vikram Singh Mehta, Chairman, Brookings India and Mr. P R Ganapathy, Regional Director, Stanford Seed India.