Winners of the BusinessLine Changemaker Awards on Friday said recognition or not, they would have continued the good work but they were happy to have received an award from the Hindu Group, which is known for its neutrality in news coverage as well as for ethical values.
“I do what I do. But it is a great thing to be recognised by BusinessLine and the Hindu Group in general, which is not just neutral in its news coverage, but is also a news organisation that strives to bring real change. I am happy I could share this evening with other winners,” said Srikanth Bolla, who won the Young Changemaker award for founding ₹400-crore Bollant Industries, despite being visually challenged.
“We are extremely happy, even though we don’t work for getting awards,” said Rani Bang, who, together with her husband Abhay Bang, has been doing path-breaking community health work among tribals in remote Maharashtra district of Gadchiroli. The doctor couple won the BL Iconic Changemaker award for their contribution to community medicine, which has not only been adopted by the Indian government, but also by 70 other countries in the world. “It is absolutely gratifying to be recognised by a Hindu group publication,” Dr Abhay Bang said.
Subhi Quraishi, CEO of the New Delhi-based ZMQ Development, which won the award for Digital Transformation, said: “This kind of appreciation goes a long way in motivating people who are trying to bring in some transformation in the society. It helps us challenge ourselves to deliver more There aren’t many such awards for transformation,” said Quraishi who, together with his twin brother Hilmi Quraishi, developed mobile phone-based solutions to deliver public health in rural India. Apart from serving rural women in India, the company has similar operations in Afghanistan as well as African countries such as Uganda.
Other awardees were Unified Payments Interface, Bandhan Bank and Sridhar Vembu of Zoho, who won in the 'Changemaker of the Year', 'Financial Transformation' and 'Social Transformation' categories respectively.