Untold Stories of Courage

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Untold Stories of Courage

Women Empowerment Health ENTREPRENEURSHIP Livelihood Innovation

Education Agriculture public Service Rural Development Environment

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JSPL Foundation Untold stories of Courage
www.jsplfoundation.co.in
Foreword
Our Founder, Shri O.P. Jindal
believed that without the upliftment
of the weaker and backward sections
of the society, our dream of being
a leading nation of the world shall
remain unfulfilled.
JSPL Foundation is committed to
create a difference and will coherently
Naveen Jindal and rationally focus on thrust areas
Chairman - Jindal Steel & to impact in the areas of Health,
Power Limited Education, Infrastructure, Skill
Development and Environment apart
from others. The Foundation has
already started putting its efforts into
action, reaching out and conducting
programs at the state level through
the Swayamsiddh Samman in which
we felicitate community leaders
contributing to nation building and
also communicating the overall
objective of the JSPL Foundation to
the Nation.
Keeping his belief in mind, I am
pleased that JSPL Foundation
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under the initiative of Smt. Shallu
Jindal our Director has launched the
Rashtriya Swayamsiddh Samman to
felicitate and bring to light the great
work done by people at the grassroots
level onto the national platform.
Knowing about the work of some of
the Swayamsiddh Shri’s was a great
learning experience. Their Courage,
Commitment and Confidence is an
inspiration for all of us to overcome
the challenges of life with grit and
determination.
I am sure these untold stories of
courage will go a long way in inspiring
others to do great work and work
towards the development of our great
nation.
I commend them for their work and
wish them all the success in life!
 Untold Stories of Courage
President Speak
Shallu Jindal
President - JSPL Foundation
People from the grassroots level rarely
ever receive recognition for the good
work done by them. It is this vacuum
that JSPL Foundation strives to fill by
initiating a legacy from this year by
the name of Rashtriya Swayamsiddh
Samman to recognise and nurture
talent from the grassroots level who
have done inspirational & selfless
service across India.
It was heartening to see that Rashtriya
Swayamsiddh Samman elicited 358
entries since it was announced in
September 2015. And while judging
the entries it was difficult for the
National Jury to figure out which
is the better one. They were all so
deserving and unique in their own
way.
Whether it was Bhapkar Guruji from
Maharashtra who built 40 kms of
path cutting across seven hills, the
Glacier Man of Ladakh, the Gujarat
farmer who brought Pomegranate
farming to Banaskantha or the Indore
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couple who successfully convinced the
government to open a model deaf and
dumb friendly police station, a first in
India. The entries are truly inspiring
and humbling to say the least!
These Swayamsiddh Shri’s - as they
will be called, whether individual or
self-help groups - will now pan out in
other parts of the country to work for
the upliftment of the underprivileged
and through their experience and
hardship guide others to achieve their
dreams.
I congratulate all the winners and
am confident that the Rashtriya
Swayamsiddh Samman will form a
human chain that will go a long way in
recognising talent and work towards
the development of the Nation.
Let us all felicitate these real heroes
and take inspiration from their work.
And together join hands to Take India
Ahead!
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JSPL Foundation
About JSPL Foundation
JSPL Foundation is the executing
arm of Jindal Steel & Power Limited
(JSPL) group CSR activities which
works with the community near
business operations of the JSPL
group as well as other parts of the
country. It aligns its programmes with
Government and other developmental
agencies with an objective of bringing
a radical transformation in the lives
of communities and integrating them
into the mainstream development
process of the country.
JSPL Foundation has recently gone
beyond its boundaries by committing
full support to construct a school in
earthquake hit Nepal and rebuild 20
homes in Kashmir ravaged by floods
last year. It executes its key projects/
programmes in the areas of Health,
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Untold stories of Courage
www.jsplfoundation.co.in
Water and Sanitation, Education,
Sports and Community Infrastructure
although not limited to them.
The Foundation has also launched a
set of regional and national awards
to recognize and nurture talent at the
grassroots level, titled Swayamsiddh
Samman. Apart from this, the
Foundation has instituted a unique
initiative called SwayamShilp,
wherein a series of workshops will
be conducted across India thereby
providing artists from the tribal
hinterland of the country with a
national platform.
JSPL Foundation also strives to focus
on building friendly relations with
neighbouring countries and promoting
the use of science and technology
for the overall development of the
Nation. Its main objectives are to
work sincerely for the mankind and
humanity; to eradicate social evils
and help handicapped, orphan &
disabled people; to provide education
and training; to promote R & D and
to develop and promote sports.
The vision of the Foundation
is reflected in the operations of
JSPL group as well that strives to
enhance the quality of life of all the
stakeholders through sustained
industrial and business development.
JSPL achieves business excellence
through optimum utilisation
of resources and sustainable
environment friendly procedures and
practices.
 Untold Stories of Courage
Rashtriya Swyamsiddh Samman
Process and Methodology
Rashtriya Swayamsiddh Samman,
instituted by JSPL Foundation, are
national level Awards aimed at
recognising and rewarding grassroots
action leaders both at individual and
organisational levels. The Awards
will honour inspiring individuals
and organisations leading social
change on ground, in the broad
areas covering Rural Development,
Agriculture Development, Health,
Education, Women Empowerment,
Public/ Social Service, Environment,
Entrepreneurship, Innovation &
Technology and Livelihood/Vocational
Skills. United Nations Global Compact
Network India (UN-GCNI), the
Indian arm of United Nations Global
Compact (UN-GC), the worlds’
largest CSR and Sustainability
initiative with 103 Local networks and
more than 12,000 signatories in 170
countries, is the knowledge and process
partner for the Awards to undertake
process consultation to finalise the
Awardees with the help of regional and
national Jury members.
Development of Parameters
A set of parameters were identified
after brainstorming and consultations
among experts from businesses, civil
societies and academia, basis which
three sets of questionnaires were
firmed in the categories- Individuals,
Organisations and Nominators.
Launch of Awards and Invitation of
Applications
A press conference was organised on
22nd Sep, 2015 at New Delhi, to
launch the microsite of the awards
and invite entries via offline and
online submissions. This was followed
by multi-city press briefings and
meetings with key stakeholders across
the country, to invite applications for
the Awards.
Shortlisting of Applicants and
Regional Jury Evaluation
A total of 358 entries were received
and only 203 applicants were
advanced to the regional Jury after
applying robust parameters. General
summaries of 203 applicants along
with hard copies of the applications
were prepared for the regional Jury
meetings which were respectively
held in Bengaluru (17th Nov,
2015), Kolkata (19th Nov, 2015),
Mumbai (21st Nov, 2015) and
Gurgaon (23rd Nov, 2015) to
further shortlist the applicants for the
consideration by the national Jury.
The regional Jury members evaluated
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the work of applicants’ based on
6 critical parameters and marked
them on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being
lowest and 5 being highest). The
scores given by regional Jury members
were collated (1 corresponding to
10 and 5 corresponding to 50) for
each applicant and average scores
were calculated. Applicants with top
average scores were then shortlisted
for consideration at national level.
National Jury Meeting
A total of 51 applicants shortlisted
by the regional Juries were placed
before the eminent national Jury
members that met in New Delhi on
27th Nov, 2015. The national Jury
members discussed each application
and finally selected 19 applicants
(9 from individual category and 10
from organisational category) as
winners. In addition, the national
Jury members also decided to choose 6
consolation prizes and 4 inspirational
achievements.
Award Ceremony
The award ceremony will be held
on 14th Jan, 2016, at Kamani
Auditorium, New Delhi.
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JSPL Foundation Untold stories of Courage
www.jsplfoundation.co.in

Winners-Individual Category
Ankur Singh
Environment, Rajasthan
Ankur Singh works for environment institutions are showing keen
and energy conservation through his interest in greening their campus
cartooning and paper presentations and the surroundings, enhancing
in national and international the capabilities of teachers in
conferences/seminars/workshops. He environmental teaching helping
has been doing many innovations in them update themselves with better
environment and energy conservation education.
awareness in Rajasthan, undertaking
As a result of his efforts, his name
special efforts in collecting
is included in the Limca Book of
information on clean technologies
(National) Records for year 1998
appropriate for rural areas and
for exceptional contribution to
has communicated them to villages
environment cartooning. He also
through exhibitions, demonstrations,
received the National Child Award
education and trainings.
in 1999.
He has made untiring efforts
through his national environment
awareness campaigns, in 16 states
Through his cartooning,
of India and is involved in regularly
conferences, seminars and
organising exhibitions/seminars/ paper presentations across
training programmes. He is also 16 states of India, Ankur
motivating institutions to become Singh has dedicated his life to
environmentally more aware to generate awareness
save the future of students and the about environmental issues.
community at large. As a result,

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Untold Stories of Courage
Chewang Norphel
Innovation & Technology, Jammu and Kashmir
Popularly known as the “Ice Man”,
Chewang Norphel, a 79-year-
old civil engineer from Ladakh has
created several artificial glaciers to
help people deal with water scarcity in
this cold mountainous region.
The Artificial Glaciers- simple, cost
effective and potential means of water
harvesting at higher altitude in regions
having cold climate, is an intricate
network of water channels and small
dams along the slope of mountains
at a high altitude of 13,000 feet
and above. The water from the
mountains’ streams is directed to these
mountain slopes through channels
and stores it in the form of ice during
the long winter period. With the onset
of summers, when farmers need water
for sowing their crops, the Artificial
Glacier, by virtue of being at a lower
altitude than natural glaciers, melts
early and provides the much needed
,d igy cnyko dh vksj
The Artificial Glacier
created by Chewang
Norphle is a simple, cost
effective and potential
means of water harvesting
at higher altitude in regions
having cold climate.
water to farmers during their sowing
period. Apart from providing water
to farmers during this crucial period,
it also helps in recharging the ground
water.
Efforts and innovation by the Ice Man
has enabled villagers to grow four
main crops such as wheat, barley,
potatoes and peas, increasing the
revenue five times, something that
was not possible earlier with Ladakh
being a cold region with a very short
agricultural season.
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JSPL Foundation Untold stories of Courage
www.jsplfoundation.co.in

Winners-Individual Category
Dr. Sunil Shroff
Health, Tamil Nadu
Based in Chennai, Dr. Sunil Shroff,
a renowned urologist and transplant
surgeon started the deceased organ
donation program in 1996. He
founded MOHAN Foundation (a
not-for-profit) in 1997 with the
objective of increasing deceased organ
donation rate using possible tool,
technology, methodology and process
to actively engage community, civil
society, religious leaders, policy makers
and the government at large to bring
about the much needed change, thus,
Owing to Dr. Sunil Shroff’s efforts, deceased organ
donation rate doubled to 0.34 per million population in
2014 from 0.16 in 2012 in a country that had
almost no donations taking place 17 years back.
paving the way for deceased organ
donation in India. He is called the
“Father of Deceased Organ Donation
in India” for actively promoting it as
founder and managing trustee of the
Foundation
Dr. Sunil Shroff has worked actively
with central and state governments to
augment organ donation by creating
a unique “Indian Model”. Through
his transplant coordinators’ training
programs, in South East Asia he has
trained more than 930 transplant
coordinators in India as well as in
Bangladesh contributing to more than
70% of the deceased organ donations
taking place in India and saving more
than 3,500 lives.

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Untold Stories of Courage

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Patel Genabhai Darghabhai

Agriculture Development, Gujarat
Born in a farming family in Gujarat,
Patel Genabhai Darghabhai, has
made several leaps in his lifetime,
despite obstacles. After passing his
secondary education, he got engaged
in his own farming business. But, what
is remarkable about this simple man is
that despite being differently-abled, he
achieved notable feats.
a horticultural crop in all his
landholdings.
His family members differed as none of
the farmers in his own area had ever
done this sort of a thing, but none of
this deterred his resolve. While other
farmers grew moderately, his unique
initiative of growing pomegranate in

Patel Genabhai Darghabhai’s unique initiative

of growing pomegranate in 5 hectare land produced
53902 kg of pomegranate with the net profit
of Rs. 3,14,21,100/- against the
expenditure of Rs. 61,32,400/-.
Due to his disability, he wasn’t in 5 hectare land produced 53902 kg
a position to perform traditional of pomegranate with the net profit of
agricultural operations; in effect Rs. 3,14,21,100/-
his farm income from traditional
farming was around Rs 10,000 per Genabhai has travelled to many
annum which was insufficient for even districts and several states to spread his
routine expenditure. After surveying tale, inspiring everyone by his resolve
and consulting agricultural scientists, and strength to achieve what had
he decided to grow pomegranate, seemed impossible.

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JSPL Foundation Untold stories of Courage
www.jsplfoundation.co.in

Winners-Individual Category
Gyanendra Monica Purohit
Public/Social Service, Madhya Pradesh
A couple Gyanendra & Monica
Purohit based in Madhya Pradesh
has changed the lives of many hearing
impaired people. They teach deaf-
dumb kids, instill confidence in them
to go out and face the ‘normal’ world,
and leave no stone unturned to make
their voice heard.
Along with imparting knowledge, the
couple also submitted a proposal to
the state government for the rights
of the deaf and dumb to create a
special police station that could pay
attention to people with hearing
impairment, as there was no deaf
friendly police station in India
earlier to lodge a complaint in sign
language. After getting an approval
from the government an existing police
station, Thana Tukoganj, Indore was
transformed to address the complaints
The first deaf and dumb
friendly police station in India,
an initiative by Gyanendra and
Monica Purohit, has attended
more than 1,000 cases
in the last 13 years in
Madhya Pradesh.
of these specially challenged with the
help of trained volunteers and the
Purohit couple.
The initiative made this community
aware that they can also lodge a
complaint like a normal person and
if a complaint is lodged in any police
station/court, it will be felicitated with
the help of sign language experts. After
the opening of the police station, many
victims got justice and culprits were
sentenced by court.

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Untold Stories of Courage

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Niengkhohoi Haolai Sitlhou (AHOI)

Livelihood/Vocational Skills, Assam
“Give a man a fish and you feed him
for a day. Teach a man how to fish and
you feed him for a lifetime.”
Niengkhohoi Haolai Sitlhou
(AHOI), who hails from Assam and
is currently based in Gurgaon, works
towards the livelihood and vocational
skill training of individuals from the
North-East region of India so that
they can become spa operators in
premium hotels/resorts.
AHOI started a venture called
Oriental Senses, way back in 2008
with the sole purpose of providing
training on spa therapies and generate
employment for people from the
North-East where employment
options are limited. Oriental Senses is
an end to end business model of hire-
train-groom-employ all under the
same umbrella.
At Oriental senses, AHOI assures
good quality of work to be delivered
with the help of strong and rigorous
in-house training and also makes sure
that there is high sense of trust and
security for the employees. To start this
venture, AHOI even sold her house.
Most of the staff/trainees working
with Oriental Senses are educated
with the maximum qualification of
higher secondary. Hence, the program
is designed in a way to benefit those
who did not have the privilege to
finish school or college due to financial
constraints.

In the last three years, AHOI has personally

trained and provided employment opportunities to
more than 100 youth from the North-East at her
own expense in the spa and wellness industry.

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JSPL Foundation Untold stories of Courage
www.jsplfoundation.co.in
Winners-Individual Category
Rahul Vasantrao Deshmukh
Education, Maharashtra
Rahul Deshmukh, visually challenged
since birth, is working continuously
for the development of visually &
physically challenged students through
the setting up of the “Snehankit
Association for Non Seeing Friends” in
the year 1999 in Pune. Other than a
hostel for the blind that he has set up,
Rahul has also started new projects and
activities which were unavailable to the
visually challenged in a city like Pune.
He migrated to Pune in 1997 from his
village Panchrukhiya in Ahmednagar
district and completed his graduation,
post graduation, B.Ed., M.S.W.,
M.Phil in the open merit list of Pune
University facing several difficulties due
to his visual impairment.
A meritorious student at school and
college and a social worker, he makes
life easier for blind students who come
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to Pune for higher education. He also
established a computer training (MS-
Office and MS-CIT) centre for the
physically handicapped believing in the
power of technology in the lives of the
visually impaired.
The facilities he installed in the hostel
are the result of his hard work. A
digital library set up by him gives access
to books and the hostel is well equipped
with all guidance and support system
including scholarship.
Apart from the hostel for
the blind in Pune, Rahul
Vasantrao Deshmukh guides
visually impaired students in
choosing the right place to get
remedial help for
academics through his
organisation Snehankit.
Untold Stories of Courage
Renu D. Singh
Women Empowerment, Uttarakhand
Renu D. Singh launched North
India’s first ever Mobile Legal Clinic
- ‘JUSTICE ON WHEEL’ which
uses Mobile Transport infrastructure
equipped with Computer and an
Audio-Video system to conduct
awareness camps and counseling
programs by reaching out to the poor
and needy rural population in remote
villages and hilly regions. It is a
helpline being operated and managed
by all women survivors of violence, as
Para Legal Volunteers (PLVs). Later
they are groomed as law students and
are giving voluntary legal services
at Dehradun District Court’s Legal
Services Authority Office.
The project has made a visible
difference to the community by creating
an ideal example to be followed.
Rape victim survivours are now fully
mainstreamed. They are empowered
and economically independent to
participate in political leadership
without being labeled as rape victims.
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This project gives poor and vulnerable
women a strong platform to empower
themselves by direct participation and
access to the criminal justice system at
panchayat and tehsil levels.
The project has groomed 1700 women
as mainstream legal professionals. The
women survivors involved in this project
The Mobile Clinic deployed
by Renu Sarkar has
been reaching out to 13
districts and 122 tehsils
of Uttarakhand round the
year.
have even been awarded nationally as
Best Para Legal Volunteers.
In the past year, ‘JUSTICE ON
WHEEL’ has conducted 125 legal
awareness camps & counseling
programs for the rural population and
women in the country.
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JSPL Foundation Untold stories of Courage
www.jsplfoundation.co.in

Winners-Individual Category
Bhapkar Rajaram Anandrao
Rural Development, Maharashtra
82-year-old Rajaram Anandrao his village crossing three other villages
Bhabkar, popularly known as to reach the school.
‘Bhapkar Guruji’, is a man of few
Bhapkar Guruji then initiated
worldly possessions. A former teacher
the project to make roads in the
living in the Gundegaon village of
mountainous rural areas (40 kms till
Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra,
date) where the government had no
Bhapkar has cut through seven hills
schemes and help was limited, using all
in the last 57 years to make a 40-km
his own earnings.
road.
After his initiative, the route to
At the time of Independence, there was
Kolegaon via Deulgaon which was 29
not even a ‘paywat’ (walking trail)
km long has shrunk to just 10 km after
connecting Gundegaon to the adjoining
making a kuccha road cutting through
village. Bhapkar, who worked in the
the hill. He also paid wages from his
Zilla Parishad School at Kolegaon
pocket to those who helped him with
from 1957 to 1991 found people from
the work.
Bhapkar spent his entire post-
The road, built by Bhapkar Guruji and completed retirement earning and pension to fund
in 1997 has since benefitted over 1, 75,000 the road work. Besides working with
people from 19 villages. spades and shovels, he also hired heavy
duty excavator machines for expediting
the road work.

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 Untold Stories of Courage
Winners-Organisation Category
Action for Protection
of Wild Animals
(APOWA)
Environment, Action for Protection of Wild Animals
(APOWA) was founded in the year
Odisha 1999 with a mission of partnering with
local communities to conserve nature in
the Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Puri,
Ganjam districts of Odisha.
The organisation focusses on direct
action on the ground to protect
endangered species and their habitats;
restores and conserves degraded
mangroves forests; strengthens
and helps vulnerable communities
become more resilient to the impacts
of natural disasters and climate
change. The organisation has also
been at the forefront of implementing
environmental restoration and
sensitising the community on mangrove
eco-systems and its effect on their
livelihoods.
APOWA has undertaken a unique
project on ‘Community Stewardship
in Conservation, Restoration
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and Sustainable Management of
Mangroves in the coast of Odisha. The
project adopted a model approach for
community participation in mangrove
resource management and restoration.
This well-considered model directly
engages local community and has
proven extremely successful.
Initially started with 10 villages,
the interest in community mangrove
forests has rapidly increased to more
than 48 villages after APOWA’s
efforts. APOWA has also received
many awards for their outstanding
work in protection of environment &
conservation of natural resources.
APOWA’s mangrove
conservation project has
directly benefitted some
24,000 people from
42 villages in Odisha.
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JSPL Foundation Untold stories of Courage
www.jsplfoundation.co.in
Winners-Organisation Category
Action in Rural
Technology and
Services (ARTS)
Agriculture
Development, Action in Rural Technology and
Andhra Pradesh Services (ARTS) registered as a society
under Societies Act 1860, works to
promote and strengthen livelihood
systems in a sustainable manner by
natural resource management through
people’s participation in Srikakulam
district of Andhra Pradesh.
The organisation also ensures
livelihood, education and health
rights through strategic objectives
including pro-poor governance,
addressing poverty needs of deprived
and marginalised communities,
enforcing rights of women and girls in
the district.
ARTS has initiated a unique project-
Maathota in 1,000 acres of land
in Srikakulam district aimed at the
holistic development of the area
by enhancing the environmental
economy and livelihoods of tribal
communities through major
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The Maathota project by
ARTS has been instrumental
in transforming the lives
of 1,032 farmers in 41
habitations of Srikakulam
district in Andhra
Pradesh.
activities including Horticulture
and Agriculture development, soil
and moisture conservation, water
resource development, women and
child development etc.
The project has reduced the drudgery
of 540 women by providing safe
drinking water in the area through
gravity flow of water in 22 villages.
The project is further expanding in
4,975 hectares under the Integrated
Water Management Programme
(IWMP) with the support from the
Government of India.
 Untold Stories of Courage
Indian Society of
Agribusiness
Professionals (ISAP)
Innovation &
Technology, ISAP was established in 2001 in
New Delhi New Delhi by a group of agriculture
and management professionals with
the belief that capacity building of
small and marginal farmers would
help enhance their livelihoods and
income resulting in better quality of
life for rural communities. Based on
extensive learnings from the field, over
the years, ISAP’s work has evolved to
include integrated farming, farmer
aggregation and market linkages into
a comprehensive sustainable rural
livelihoods approach at the National
level.
The organisation has developed an
applet- ‘Decision Support System’
ISAP’s applet ‘Decision Support System’ (DSS) named
e-KrishakSahyogi (e-KS) enables extension agents
help farmers in diagnosing problems of pests or disease
infestation in the fields.
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(DSS) for trainers. This DSS is
named e-KrishakSahyogi (e-KS),
an ‘electronic companion of the
farmers’. Trainers carry tablets
with installed e-KS applet to help
diagnosing problems of pests or
disease infestation in the field. The
app also comprises of animation
videos to educate farmers on proven
cropping techniques and advance
farm technologies.
ISAP has also implemented OCPF-
Integrated Farming System (OCPF-
IFS) project in the state of Rajasthan.
Under this project, ISAP is working
with 9,600 farmers. These farmers
are being provided agriculture
extension support including farm
advisory, field demonstrations
and exposure visits, value addition
at the farm gate, and market
integration through Farmer Producer
Organisations (FPOs).
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JSPL Foundation Untold stories of Courage
www.jsplfoundation.co.in

Winners-Organisation Category
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Janaseva development by teaching them good

manners, hygiene, cleanliness and thus
Foundation giving them a good future.
Public/Social The Foundation provides vaccination
to street children essential for their
Service, good health. Its initiatives have helped
Maharashtra children to stop begging as they have
JANASEVA their basic needs of education fulfilled.
FOUNDATION The Foundation is also involving
senior citizens, young volunteers
The Janaseva Foundation was founded from colleges/IT Camps to teach the
on 15th January, 1988 in Maharshtra children.
by Dr. Vinod Shah, M.D. and a
renowned gastroenterologist. Janaseva
works with the motto of helping the
Under the organisation’s
helpless, elderly, disabled, disaster project ‘Smart Cities’,
stricken and the destitute at the State Janaseva is giving medical
level. care and school education
Under the organisation’s project to street children in
‘Smart Cities’, Janaseva is giving Maharashtra and is working
medical care and school education towards building the future
to street children. It is also working of these neglected children
towards building the future for these thereby creating an all-
neglected children and creating an inclusive, healthy beggar
all-inclusive healthy beggar free
society. It works for their personality
free society.

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 Untold Stories of Courage
Rescue
Foundation
Women
Empowerment,
Maharashtra
Rescue Foundation is a registered, non-
profit NGO based in Maharashtra
involved in rescue, rehabilitation
and repatriation of victims of human
trafficking from India, Bangladesh
and Nepal. The Foundation ensures
that the victims regain all their human
rights by rescuing and rehabilitating
them from their inhuman situation.
In 1995, Mrs. Triveni Acharya, a
journalist, who since childhood was
revolutionary and always attempted to
struggle against unjust and anti-social
situations, co-founded the NGO to
ensure that the victims of trafficking
regain all their human rights.
The process of rehabilitation at Rescue
Foundation starts with investigation
to verify the identity and location of
a particular missing complaint or
,d igy cnyko dh vksj
Till now, over 300 girls
have been rescued and
700 girls rehabilitated
and repatriated by Rescue
Foundation.
reports of existence of minor girls in
a particular brothel. Rescue raids
are then conducted based on the
information. After producing the
rescued girls in the court, healthcare is
provided by the Foundation to identify
and treat them for any disease and
illness, including HIV.
The Foundation provides legal
aid to these victims by prosecuting
perpetrators. It also imparts vocational
training to teach them money earning
skills helping them to sustain themselves
after repatriation.
Rescue Foundation has also
commenced expansion plan of Delhi
Protective & Rehabilitation Homes
in the surrounding cities like Agra,
Mathura, Meerut and these will
become operational by October 2016.
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JSPL Foundation Untold stories of Courage
www.jsplfoundation.co.in

Winners-Organisation Category
Rural Health Care
Foundation
Rural Development,
West Bengal
Rural Health Care Foundation
(RHCF) was set up with its head office
in West Bengal to provide affordable
primary healthcare services in remote
rural areas of the country, where
healthcare delivery by the state is either
sparse or completely non-existent. The
Foundation runs a chain of 10 primary
healthcare centers providing low cost
primary healthcare equipped with four
departments, namely general medicine,
eye, dental and homeopathy services to
low income groups at Rs 60 as against
market rate of Rs. 300.
The presence of the RHCF clinics within
the village premises and availability
of medicines at an affordable cost has
enabled people to avail healthcare
in the early stages of illness instead of
spending large sums of money at a later
stage. The services particularly benefit
Since the inception of
RHCF, over 11 lakh people
have benefitted from their
services across four districts
and 50 villages of West
Bengal and 12 Municipal
Wards in Kolkata.
women, and daily wage labourers
whose health is largely ignored.
Apart from benefitting patients, the
clinics also generate direct employment
for doctors and support staff,
particularly women facing dearth of
employment option in villages. The
generation of employment indirectly
benefits the families of those who have
gained employment at the RHCF
Clinics.

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 Untold Stories of Courage
Sarthak
Educational Trust
Livelihood/
Vocational Skills,
New Delhi Sarthak Educational Trust, established
in 2008 with its head office in New
Delhi works for the betterment of lives
of people with disabilities. It works for
all types of disabilities through all stages
of rehabilitation – Early intervention,
Inclusive & Special Education, Skill
Development and Employment.
Sarthak has also initiated providing
employment opportunities for the
disabled. It undertakes three major
activities to generate employment for
Persons with Disability (PWD) –
i. Training programs
ii. In House Placement Openings, and
iii. Job Fairs
Under the training programs for
Persons with Disability (PWD),
it conducts several trainings like
Computer training, Language
skills training, Profession related
training (Industry linked training),
Employability training - Tech
Mahindra SMART Centre.
,d igy cnyko dh vksj
For In House Placement Openings, the
employment team at Sarthak from its
data base aligns the candidates as per
the requirement of the companies. The
candidates are interviewed and placed
through in-house placement outfits.
It also organises Job Fairs for the
disabled wherein job seekers (people
with disability) and the job providers
(companies which hire PWD) come on
the same platform for hiring.
They also have a Job Mapping
service where experts from Sarthak
visit the organisation to analyse and
map opportunities for people with
disability.
Sarthak has so far organised
300+ in house placements
and supported 20+
organisation in identifying
jobs for people with
disability.
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JSPL Foundation Untold stories of Courage
www.jsplfoundation.co.in
Winners-Organisation Category
Sports Coaching
Foundation
(SCF)
Health,
Telangana
Sports Coaching Foundation (SCF),
the brainchild of Mr. K. Sai Baba
based in Telangana (Former Ranji
Trophy Cricketer) backed by 35 years
of experience in Sports, aims to identify
young talent (especially among the
less-privileged children) to groom
them into promising sports stars of the
future.
Started in 1991 as a Non-Profit &
Non-Commercial Organisation, SCF
promotes sports and builds the health
and character of the youth by providing
free scientific coaching to more than
70 percent of its 600 trainees with
a majority of them being from the
underprivileged section of the society.
Over the last 5 years, as part of its
ongoing efforts, SCF has launched an
ingenious project ‘Build India Through
22
Sports’ (BITS) to spread awareness
about Sports in Government Schools
covering underprivileged street
children, orphanages and slum areas
supporting infrastructure for continued
sports activity.
Through BITS, SCF has adopted
many Government Girls High Schools
in Hyderabad and have trained over
4,000 girls in various sports so far
by transforming them through various
awareness programs.
It is the only Sports Organisation in
the country having IT exemption under
80G and FCRA approved by the
Government of India.
As part of its BITS project,
SCF has reached out to more
than 50 Government schools in
Hyderabad covering 25,000
children where a substantial
percentage of students
have had no exposure to
sports activities before.
 Untold Stories of Courage

,d igy cnyko dh vksj

Swayam Shikshan livelihood generation, finance and

Prayog
Entrepreneurship,
Maharashtra
Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP)
was formally launched in 1998
as a learning and development
organisation with a mission to
empower women at the grassroots.
SSP’s work in partnership with the
Government of Maharashtra initially
began in two districts, Latur and
Osmanabad to turn the earthquake
crisis into a process of rebuilding
homes and communities.
health-enhancing opportunities to
rural women, youth and communities
at large.
All these initiatives have been
supported by its robust social
enterprise ecosystem –Sakhi Unique
Rural Enterprises (SURE) in rural
marketing and distribution, Sakhi
Social Enterprise Network (SSEN)
in skills and entrepreneurship, Sakhi
Samudaya Kosh (SSK) in innovative
finance and Sakhi Arogya Samudaya
Trust (SAST) in preventive health
services. Combined, they offer a
formidable range of initiatives in clean
energy, safe water and sanitation,

SSP’s continuous growth has resulted in the formation

of federated network of 5,000 SHGs with over 1 lakh
women from rural communities spread across 14 climate-
threatened rural districts in 4 States (Maharashtra,
Bihar, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu).

SSP also works to promote climate resilient agriculture, food

empowerment of women as leaders
and entrepreneurs through self-
help groups, social enterprises and
community led initiatives. It offers
a wide range of skill-building,
security and nutrition by partnering
with Sakhi women networks
impacting over a million in low-
income communities.

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JSPL Foundation Untold stories of Courage
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Winners-Organisation Category
Women’s
Organisation for
Socio-Cultural
Awareness Women’s Organisation for Socio- supply side of service delivery.
(WOSCA) Cultural Awareness (WOSCA) is a
WOSCA’s village volunteers monitor
voluntary non-profit organisation
Education, founded in Keonjhar district, Odisha in
entitlements under three major social
protection schemes- Targeted Public
Odisha 1993. The organisation is committed
Distribution System, Pension and
to the upliftment and empowerment
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
of the rural population – especially of
Employment Guarantee Schemes on
Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes,
real time basis at service delivery points
Primitive Tribes and Other Backward
sending delivery acknowledgment to
Classes in the District.
central server through mobile. Uptake
WOSCA has developed a mobile Reports on these entitlements are
phone based information management generated monthly and shared with the
and monitoring system called ‘Tracking community and the Government for
livelihood Entitlement for Rural action and remedy to strengthen the
Communities’ (TERcoms) to track the service delivery mechanism at district
efficacy of entitlement delivery under level to cover left out beneficiaries gain
social protection schemes to rural poor access to PDS and Pension schemes.
in order to strengthen the demand and

Since 1993, WOSCA has continuously been expanding

its reach, covering Banspal, Keonjhar, Saharpada,
Patna, Joda, Hatadihi, Harichandanpur and
Ghatagoan, Jhumpura and Champua block of
Keonjhar District with a total population
of 25,589 households in 219 villages.

24
 Untold Stories of Courage
Winners-Inspirational Model
CanSupport
Health, Delhi
CanSupport, is engaged in providing
home palliative care to patients who
are diagnosed with advanced cancer
in New Delhi and areas around it.
The organisation is run by a group
of palliative care experts committed
to enabling a caring and supportive
society around cancer management.
It supports cancer patients (>65%
belong to the socio-economically
Isha
Outreach
Health,
Tamil Nadu Isha Outreach registered as an
independent trust in the state of
Tamil Nadu is engaged in core and
large scale welfare activities, since
1992. It implements public-service
initiatives called ‘Action for Rural
Rejuvenation’ in health, ‘Isha Vidhya’
in education and ‘Project Green
In the last five years, Isha’s programmes have reached
more than 4,600 villages and benefitted 7 million
people in 33 districts of Tamil Nadu and parts of
Karnataka, Pondicherry and Kerala.
,d igy cnyko dh vksj
CanSupport’s palliative
care programme for cancer
patients has benefitted nearly
70,000 cancer patients and
their families in the Delhi
NCR since 1997.
backward sections) by providing them
informed and compassionate medical,
nursing and emotional care.
Starting with only 6 patients in 1997,
the program has now expanded and
is looking after 1700 patients and
families at any given time.
Hands’ in environment, which serve
as outstanding models for human
empowerment and community
revitalisation.
Isha outreach has also identified the
fundamental gaps in healthcare and
prepared an innovative project by
rejuvenating ‘AYUSH’ (Ayurveda,
Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani,
Siddha and Homeopathy) practices
in India. It seeks to improve the
health of the rural populace of the
Kolli Hills Block in the district of
Namakkal of Tamil Nadu state
through a holistic approach involving
a unique combination of Ayurveda,
Siddha and Naturopathy.
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JSPL Foundation Untold stories of Courage
www.jsplfoundation.co.in

Winners-Inspirational Model
Ritinjali
Education,
Ritinjali works with marginalised
New Delhi groups – slum dwellers, jail inmates,
below poverty line individuals, victims
of war and natural disasters – through
educational and development-related
endeavors helping them become
responsible citizens.
The organisation also runs a Life
Skills Programme- “Drishti” in three
districts of Rajasthan- Kota, Baran
and Jhalawar since 2005 to build the
capacity of young adolescents (12-14
years); helping them make informed
Drishti programme has covered
1,526 government schools
offering schooling to children
of Classes VII & VIII, training
2,087 teachers with the
help of 236 Master Trainers
and reaching approximately
4,85,000 students.
choices about their health and
behaviour through a comprehensive
Life Skills Programme. It also
facilitates teacher’s education on issues
relevant to adolescence to ensure their
continuous development.

Tamana The organisation offers Individual

Educational Program to students
Innovation & with special needs, aimed at their
social and economic independence.
Technology, Tamana, a non-profit voluntary
The programme incorporates special
organisation, based in New Delhi has
New Delhi been working in the field of intellectual
education, regular academic program
through the National Institute of
disabilities for over 31 years, catering
Open Schooling (NIOS), therapeutic
to more than 300 children with autism
interventions and vocational trainings.
and cognitive impairment.

Tamana has developed a Microsoft Kinect based

application under its HOPE (Have Only Positive
Expectations) programme for enhancing the cognitive
and (fine/gross) motor functions of children
with autism.

26
 Untold Stories of Courage

Winners-Special Recognition ,d igy cnyko dh vksj

Ghoghardiha poverty and backwardness among the

marginalised women by providing
Prakhand Swarajya them with farm and non- farm
Vikas Sangh based vocational trainings and to
facilitate their involvement in income
Health, Bihar generation activities.
Ghoghardiha Prakhand Swarajya
Vikas Sangh (GPSVS) works with
women of marginalised communities
in Madhubani and Supaul districts
GPSVS has directly
of Bihar. Its’ initiatives are designed impacted 10,000 poor
to achieve holistic empowerment of families and 64,000
women by addressing issues such as people from 60 villages
education, health, livelihood and of Madhubani and
interest in social and political activities. Supaul in Bihar.
It also aims to break the culture of

Amar Seva activities like education and skill

development in Tirunelveli, Tamil
Sangam Nadu.
Public/Social The organisation has also launched
a mobile based Village Based
Service, Rehabilitation Initiative (mVBRI)
Tamil Nadu Amar Seva Sangam works towards for providing early intervention
empowering disabled citizens by therapies to differently abled children.
establishing rehabilitation and Under this program, with the help
development centre through its of tablet based user friendly apps,
rehabilitation experts train parents of
Amar Seva Sangam’s Early Intervention initiative has physically challenged children in the
benefitted 46 children in the last two years with overall rural communities. The apps focus
on topics such as gross and fine motor
beneficiaries of the organisation reaching 9072 development, speech and language
persons in Tamil Nadu as on March 2015. skills, and feeding techniques.

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JSPL Foundation Untold stories of Courage
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Winners-Special Recognition
A.G. Padmanaban
Public/Social Service, Tamil Nadu
A. G. Padmanaban, based out of
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, initiated
a unique venture- ‘Food Waste’ to
reduce food waste and address the issue
of hunger among the underprivileged.
‘Under the project- ‘Food Waste’,
This successful model of
‘Food Waste’ for Coimbatore
city and the programme now
feeds 3,000 people
every month.
a hotline number and a well-
equipped food collection Mini Van
-‘FOODIVA’ operates in the City.
Upon a call received from the donor,
volunteers reach the collection points
to pick up the excess food. The collected
food is then distributed amongst the
food deprived communities.
The Organisation has also reached
out to around 50,000 students
teaching them food waste auditing
and managing food waste in their
campuses.

R.V. Ramamohan
Rural Development, Telangana
R. V. Ramamohan, based out of
Secunderabad, works for the cause
of Rural Development in Warangal
and Anantapur districts of Telangana
and Andhra Pradesh through his
innovative project - ‘Sustainable
Ground Water Management through
Social Regulations and Local
Governance’.
His programme addresses the
problems of recurring droughts and
depletion of ground water resources
in Warangal and Anantapur districts
by implementing simple and cost-
effective techniques for ‘recharging
dry borewells’. The project also finds
technological solutions to ‘rejuvenate
dried up wells’ and to save crops,
within the affordability of a small
farmer.

Around 3,317 families are direct beneficiaries of R. V. Ramamohan’s unique

project which assures, improved access to potable drinking water as well as water for
sanitation. A total of 178 farmers have also befitted from augmented recharge
to ground water.
28
 Untold Stories of Courage
Sangeeta Doloi
Women Empowerment, Assam
Sangeeta Doloi, mother of a deaf
adolescent boy, based out of Guwahati,
is working towards the cause of
education and skill development
of parents of children with hearing
disability.
Based on her own struggles with
her disabled child and interactions
with other parents, she set up an
organisation - Dikshruti - a resource
centre for parents in June 2012. The
organisation provides services like
parent counselling, motivation, early
Shahid Shadab Hassan
Education, Jharkhand
Shahid Shadab Hassan, based out
of Jharkhand has established the ‘H.
H. High School’ in Brambe village
with his own money that provides
free quality education to orphan and
underprivileged children.
The school is engaged in creating
awareness among the village children
Working for the cause of education of orphan and underprivileged students,
Shahid Shadab Hassan through his school at Brambe provides quality
education to more than 500 children in Ranchi.
,d igy cnyko dh vksj
Sangeeta Doloi has successfully
has reached out to parents
of 40 deaf children in the
last three years.
intervention including stimulation
support, remedial educational support
and skill building of parents free of cost.
She has also been working with the
local government to issue disability
certificates, simplify procedures of
accessing hearing aids and scholarships
for deaf children.
and their parents about the importance
of education through a number of
awareness programmes and unique
initiatives. Shahid is also running a
programme called ‘REACH2teach’,
identifying kids who are unable to
continue school due to monetary issues
helping them continue their education.
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JSPL Foundation Untold stories of Courage
www.jsplfoundation.co.in

Prominent people from academia, businesses and NGOs active in the development sector from the four regions
were duly identified to be part of the regional Jury to select most deserving applicants at the regional level based on
pre-identified parameters provided to them. Similarly, people with long standing professional track records were
identified to be a part of the national Jury.

National Jury

Ms. Shallu Jindal Dr. Swaroop Rawal Mr. Amod Mr. Ashok Mr. Anurag Agrawal Mr. Abhishek
President - Educationist and Social K. Kanth Sajjanhar MBBS PhD FCCP Humbad
JSPL Foundation Activist and former General Secretary, Former Ambassador of Co-Founder of
actress Prayas Juvenile Aid India to Kazakhstan, NextGen
Centre (JAC) Society Sweden and Latvia
Regional Jury
Eastern Region

Dr. Sunil Giri, Dr. Vinod Singh Mr. Anil Kariwala Mr. Bikash Ranjan Mr. Pradeep Prof. (Dr.) S. Peppin
Chairperson, Vice Chairman Managing Director Rautray Mohapatra Professor& Dean,
PGPM, Management CCLP Worldwide Kariwala Industries MA, LLM Secretary & Team Xavier School of
Development Institute, India Ltd. Advocate-Cum- Leader Sustainability,
Murshidabad Social-Activist UDYAMA Xavier University
Bhubaneswar

Northern Region

Dr. Amit Jain Dr. Pramila Mr. Nipun Kumar Mr. Vinod Pandey Ms. Jane Ms. Poonam Madan
Professor Sanjaya Malhotra Head Government& Schukoske Founder & Managing
TAPMI School of Hon’ble Advisor Joint Managing External Affairs, Chief Executive Director
Business Society for Integrated Trustee Sustainability Officer Inesa Advisory
Manipal University, Developmental Nipman Foundation Communications, CSR S M Sehgal Services Pvt Ltd.
Jaipur Activities Research & BMW Group India Foundation
Training (SIDART)
30
 Untold Stories of Courage

,d igy cnyko dh vksj

Southern Region

Dr. Anil Rao Paila Dr. Catherine Mr. Pranjal Jyoti Mr. Sandeep Roy Ms. Neelam Prof. J. Philip
Dean& Director Bernard Goswami Choudhury Makhijani President
Prin. L.N. Welingkar Founder Director Head Sustainability Managing Partner National Director Xavier Institute of
Institute of Management Service and Research Novozymes South Asia Value Network Venture Child Fund India Management and
Development & Institute on Family & Private Ltd Advisory Services LLP Entrepreneurship
Research, Bangalore Children (SERFAC)

Western Region

Mr. Ashwini Saxena Mr. Mohan Surve Mr. Pratyush Mr. Rajesh Tiwari Mr. Saharsh David Ms. Gaynor Pais
Director Programs CEO Kumar Panda Director General & Head CSR CEO
Essar Group Vikas Sahyog Head - CSR CEO Sandvik Asia Pvt Ltd International
Foundation Pratishthan ACC Limited Indian Centre for CSR Resources for Fairer
(ICCSR) Trade (IRFT)

Disclaimer

This booklet has been published for information and illustrative purposes only and is not intended to serve as an advice
of any nature, whatsoever. The information contained in the publication has been provided by the applicants. 19 winners,
6 consolation prizes and 4 inspirational achievements of the Rashtriya Swayamsiddh Samman have been selected based
on the information provided by applicants and collective judgement of Jury members at regional and national levels.
Neither JSPL Foundation nor any of its employees nor knowledge and process partner give any warranty of accuracy, nor
accept any liability as a result of reliance upon the content by any direct or indirect parties. The publication also contains
some information available in the public domain, created and maintained by the applicants and their organisations. The
photographs and logos of winning awardees, consolation prize winners and inspirational models used in the publication
are also provided by the applicants themselves and are inter alia property of applicants. JSPL Foundation does not
warrant or solicit any kind of act or omission based on this publication and fully owns the copyright of this publication. In
event, any part of the publication is to be used or produced by a third party in any manner whatsoever; they would need
to provide proper attribution.

31
JSPL Foundation Untold stories of Courage
www.jsplfoundation.co.in

Jindal Centre, Plot No.2, Sector 32, Gurgaon - 122001 (Haryana)

32 T +91 124 661 2000 F +91 124 661 2125 W www.jsplfoundation.co.in