Hanumappa Sudarshan Named India Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2014
Hanumappa Sudarshan Named India Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2014
Hanumappa Sudarshan was named as the winner of the India Social Entrepereur of the Year award 2014. This award was announced by Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, a sister foundation of the World Economic Forum in collaboration with Jubilant Bhartia Foundation. Hanumappa Sudarshan of the Karuna Trust has been awarded as winner this year at a ceremony attended by 45 nations and 700 delegates.
Karuma trust works in the field of last mile healthcare service delivery through a public private partnership model and the government and it aims at upgrading infrastructure and the efficiency of primary health care centres. Karuna Trust also brings healthcare management systems and disruptive health innovations together. it also works with village health councils to hold PHCs accountable for reporting higher health outcomes and functioning as a corruption free zone. This trust has served more than 1 million patients so far. Sudarshan won in a selection process that was rigorous and there were a total of 180 applicants.
Two other finalists for this award included Yogendra Bhushan from the Bodh Shiksha Samiti and Matthew Spacie from Magic Bus. Eminent judges gathered to select the final winner from worthy contenders. The judges included the following:
• Shobhana Bhartia, Chairperson and Editorial Director, HT Media,India, and a Co-Chair of the 2014 India Economic Summit;
• Neelam Chhiber, Managing Director, Indus Tree Crafts Foundation (ICF), India;
• Harish Hande, Managing Director, SELCO Solar Light, India;
• Sunil K. Munjal, Joint Managing Director, Hero MotoCorp, India; Rohini Nilekani, Chairperson, Arghyam Foundation, India;
• Sudha Pillai, Member Secretary, Planning Commission, India;
• Hilde Schwab, Chairperson and Co-Founder, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship;
• Ronnie Screwvala, Chief Executive Officer, UTV Software Communications, India; and
• Chetna Vijay Sinha, Founder, Mann Deshi Foundation, India, and winner of the India Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2013.
Hilde Schwab, Chairperson and Co-Founder of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship was quoted as saying: “We are inspired by the three finalists of the India Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2014 award – all three entrepreneurs are leading initiatives that seek fundamental changes in delivery systems and demonstrate a strong commitment to collaboration and co-creation with the community and other stakeholders. We hope these entrepreneurs and their work will serve as an inspiration to many more social innovators, especially among the country’s youth.”
The other two finalists for this award were Yogendra Bhushan and Matthew Spacie. Bhushan is from the Bodh Shiksha Samiti in India and Matthew Spacie is from Magic Bus in India. Bodhi works with poor communities for transformation of villages and slums into centres of educational excellence. It has also pioneered the movement for common schools called bodhshalas. It has created an impact on over 2 million students and 80,000 teachers in Rajasthan. This NPO has also worked in Himachal Pradesh and Jharkhand and it is expanding to 13 more states shortly. Magic Bus is concerned with harnessing the transformative aspect of sport to enable children from rural backgrounds to tap into the potential and reflect on their life choices as well as health, livelihood and leadership.
