YBS for Transforming People’s Lives
“I don’t want India to be an economic superpower. I want India to be a happy country. – J. R. D. Tata
About the Samman
The Yashraj Bharati Samman for Transforming People’s Lives has been instituted to show our gratitude and respect towards the efforts of social leadership working towards the holistic development of the people of this country. The primary focus under this category would be to assess development and transformation in the field of education, livelihood, nutrition and sustainable development. Prospective awardees in this category should have worked in the following broad field of social welfare:
Preference would be given to given to nominees whose work exhibits the following transformative qualities in the 4 broad fields:
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For Education -
- Promoting/providing access to education for all (Right to Education)
- Improving quality
- Girl child education and protection
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For Livelihood -
- Skill development or improvement
- Capacity Building
- Social Enterprising
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For Nutrition -
- Hunger
- Mother and child nutrition
- Promotes Right to Food
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For Sustainable Development -
- Particularly in rural areas and low income urban area
- Inclusion of multiple sectors like literacy, skills, social, political (in terms of citizenship and rights), environment, etc
- Cost effectiveness, scalability, replicability and measurable impact would be the focus factors in this category.
WHY DID WE CHOOSE TO FELICITATE INDIVIDUALS/ORGANIZATIONS IN THIS CATEGORY?
The Contemporary Reality
India is a developing country and like every other such country she has her limitations in various sectors affecting overall growth. Areas such as employment, education, girl-child education, forestry, and promotion of health and nutrition have seen major growth over the years. But a lot still needs to be done if India has to be catapulted to the ranks of a developed country.
Our country’s population can be viewed as a major asset; an enormous work force that can drive the nation towards a better future. Yet, India’s urban and rural unemployment hovers around the 8% mark and the Labour Force Participation Rate continues to float around the 40% mark. A tenth of the female population continues to be unemployed. The National Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) of 2021, developed by NITI Aayog in consultation with 12 ministries and state governments as well as index publishing agencies like Oxford University’s Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, and United Nations Development Programme, shows that about 25%of our population is multi-dimensionally poor. The index is based on the National Health Family Survey for 2015-16 (NFHS-4) data and is based on indicators such as child and adolescent mortality and access to nutrition, maternal health, education and schooling, cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing and other assets. The COVID 19 pandemic has only aggravated the situation.
Literacy in India has shown a positive trend and has improved from 73% in 2011 to 77.7% in 2022. But it still falls short of the global literacy rate of 86%. Female literacy rate in India at 70.3% is unacceptably low compared to the global female literacy rate of 83%. The girl child drop-out rate in schools remains alarmingly high. The forest cover in India stands at 21.71% of the total geographical area of the country. But it is still less than the envisioned 33% by a fair margin.
According to WHO, India contributes a third of the global burden of undernutrition.
The Silver Lining
Despite all the dismal facts and figures, various organisations and individuals have come together to rid our nation of the maladies that afflict us. Concerted efforts to generate employment, up-skill labour force, provide nourishment to children, and promote literacy among all, particularly girls, are under way all across the nation and millions have benefited from these efforts already. Several States and Union Territories have also witnessed a marked increase in green cover, with conservation and sustainable development initiatives promoted by change-makers.
The Yashraj Research Foundation seeks to honour all these people involved in bringing about holistic social transformation by creating job opportunities for the unemployed, carrying the light of education to the farthest corners of this nation and bringing food to the mouths of the hungry. We salute the green warriors, who strive to keep our country on the path to progress and sustainable development.