Invisible India' in Spotlight at TOI Awards

Baba Adhav,who was honoured for lifetime achievement at The Times of India Social Impact Awards on Sunday,drew the governments attention to a different kind of GDP growth during his speech that of Gareeb,dalit aur peedit (poor,dalits and the suffering ).The award winners on Sunday evening were all distinguished by their concern,action and focus on this kind of GDP,even as successive governments obsess about,and vaunt,the strides in that limited indicator,the gross domestic product.A BPO training centre for tribal youth,a large farm cooperative that helps improve farming methods and irrigation,an NGO that works in Indias most illiterate district to help tribals secure their rights,a trust that organises women into self-help groups,a district administration that ensured supply of clean water to a routinely flood-ravaged village in Uttar Pradesh,an army battalion that has undertaken a massive afforestation drive,and several other inspirational winners enriched the evening,as a galaxy of luminaries in the audience looked on and applauded.At The Times of India,we believe that this is Indias time, said Times Group MD Vineet Jain.The horizon of possibilities has opened up for many of us in a way that our parents could not have dreamt of.Helping Invisible India emerge from the shadows and join Emerging India is perhaps the single most important challenge we face.This is where we seek to play a small,but significant role, he added.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh applauded the winners and personally interacted with each of them,breaking the longstanding tradition that the PM of India does not attend social events on October 2,celebrated as the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi.As to not entirely part with tradition,the PM did not make a speech or hand out any awards.Senior BJP leader L K Advani,Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni,JP Morgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon,US Ambassador Albert Peter Burleigh,ambassadors and envoys from many countries,chief of the army staff General V K Singh,Delhi Lieutenant Governor Tejinder Khanna,Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla,and many eminent people were present.In a move that touched a chord with the audience,all award winners were presented the award by a beneficiary of their work.So,when TVS Motors Chairman and MD Venu Srinivasan walked up to the stage to collect the award for advocacy and empowerment in the corporate category for the Srinivasan Services Trust,he was greeted with a wide smile by Lakshmi Ammal.