Bhubaneswar: Plan India, a not for profit organisation striving to advance children’s rights and equality for girls, today announced the winners of the third edition of Plan India Impact Awards. The Awards, nationally, acknowledge and celebrate outstanding contributions of the grassroots workers who are at the forefront of helping local communities to bring positive and sustainable change. Ms Padmabati Naik, ANM from Mayubhanj, Odisha felicitated for her work in reducing IMR and MMR along with spearheading successful childcare initiatives in her area.
Under her care, the region has achieved zero Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) and she has been able to carry out 852 immunizations and thus complete 100% immunization. She along with the Anganwadi worker (AWW) organize collaborative meetings at the Anganwadi centers (AWC) to educate the lactating mothers about breastfeeding, child nutrition, etc. She has spearheaded promotion of breast feeding which has now reached to 95% from 60% in her area. She plays a key role in dissuading parents and adolescents from child marriage; educating adolescent boys and girls on sexual health, menstrual hygiene, etc. Her timely interference could stop 15 child marriages with help of Child Protection Committee, who were counselled by her as well.
Building on the success of previous two editions, the Plan India Impact Awards 2019 reinforced some of the key learnings and saw active, meaningful participation from more than 190+ NGOs partners, enlisting nominations across 21 states. They were shortlisted through a process oriented third party nominations, stringent review and selection which included Regional Jury deliberations and finally the National Jury selection, leading to the winners in eight categories: Anganwadi Worker, Accredited Social Health Activist/Auxiliary Nurse Midwife, Community Volunteer, Outreach Worker, Youth Champion for Girls’ Rights – Male & Female and Best Child Welfare Committee (Urban & Rural).
Anuja Bansal, Executive Director, Plan India said, “Since inception i.e. 2017, the Plan India Impact Awards have recognised exceptional functionaries who have gone beyond their call of duty while ensuring last mile delivery of critical services and long lasting change in their community. This year, the scale and scope of the Awards has been further widened to encourage nominations from across the country and recognise the exemplary contributions of frontline workers and volunteers.”
Shabana Azmi, National Award-winning Actress and Philanthropist, who was also the guest of honour for the event, gave away the awards to the winners. Commenting on the occasion, she said, “My third year with Plan India Impact Awards has been very enlightening and a heart-warming experience. The awards were instituted to nationally acknowledge and celebrate outstanding contributions of grassroots workers who are at the forefront of helping local communities to bring positive and sustainable change. This recognition has not only gone a long way in providing these last mile champions, with an impetus to continue in their efforts but also inspire many others, to follow, join hands, strengthen communities and bring about real, measurable, change.”
Other delegates who were present at the event included Rathi Vinay Jha, Chairperson, Plan India Board, Mr Kamal Singh, Executive Director, United Nations Global Compact; Ravi Bhatnagar, Director, External Affairs and Partnerships Africa, Middle East , South Asia at Reckitt Benckiser and Shailendra Singh, Vice President, EXL Services. The event also hosted a panel discussion on Youth Action for Achievement of SDGs by 2030 that saw some of the renowned names in the industry exchange opinions.
Amongst other categories, from Odisha, Ms. Padmabati Naik was awarded for her contribution as an Accredited Social Health Activist/Auxiliary Nurse Midwife. Amruth Rao and Committee Members were awarded in the Best Child Welfare Committee (Rural). Volunteers from Maharashtra bagged the maximum awards across categories: Vijay Diapode and Committee Members, from Mumbai for The Best Child Welfare Committee (Urban), Alka Gujnal from Pune was awarded for her contribution as Community Volunteer. Additionally, Mohammed Taher from Telangana won for his contribution in the Outreach Worker category; Yogendra Pathak as the Field Officer from Agra and Sarathi was awarded for her contributions in the Youth Champion for Girls’ Rights – Female category.
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