23 November 2022, Muddenahalli, Chikkabalapur
Seven women were awarded the Sri Sathya Sai Award for Human Excellence in the presence of Sadguru Sri Madhusudan Sai who instituted these awards seven years ago to celebrate individuals who follow their innate calling to serve humanity selflessly in seven categories of social relevance such as Education, Health, Environment, Woman and Child Welfare, Unity of Religions, Music and Fine Arts, and Yoga and Sports.
This year the Award theme was Celebrating Shakti – Women of Excellence, and thus the event was made special by the presence of exemplary women such as, Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan – Governor of Telangana and Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry and Dr Neerja Birla – Philanthropist and Chairperson of Mpower, who conferred the awards to the following exemplary women coming from different parts of India.
Dr Tulasi Munda from Odisha for her contribution to educating adivasi children, Kaushilya Bai from rural Chhattisgarh for making a difference to the lives of thousands of children by addressing the problem of malnutrition, R Rangammal from a remote village in Tamil Nadu for her exemplary initiatives to promote organic and environment-friendly farming practices, Advocate Gauri Kumari for her incessant fight against Dalit atrocities and social activism to educate and empower women, Dr Biru Bala Rabha for raising her voice against witch hunting and in a way preserving the sanctity of sacred religious customs and rituals without diluting it with misinterpretations or misuse, Folk Artist Dr Tijan Bai for her immense contribution to the folk art of Pandavani, and Dr Malathi K Holla for her invaluable achievements in the field of Parasports and her work in helping several disabled children.
The annual Awards are organised by the Sri Sathya Sai University for Human Excellence, founded by Sadguru Sri Madhusudan Sai. This University offers higher education completely free of cost to needy rural children, based on the principles of Sri Sathya Sai Baba.
Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan said – “I thank Sadguru Sri Madhusudan Sai for motivating and supporting women. The free medical college that Sadguru is talking about is the dream of the entire nation. Their nutritional programme for downtrodden children (Annapoorna Breakfast Initiative), 27 educational campuses is doing great work for the nation.”
Sadguru Sri Madhusudan Sai said – “These 7 women are the wonder women of India who have done wonders for the country. It is our singular privilege as a University to recognise and all the sacrifices and efforts that they have made. We are honoured to have Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan for the event today. We are honoured by the presence of Mrs Neerja Birla for representing Aditya Birla Group, for patronising this Award.”
