Godfrey Phillips Bravery

SOCIAL/CSR

Godfrey Phillips Bravery honors twelve brave hearts from states

Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala

 

Shri Prahlad Kakkar, Leading Indian Ad Film Director & Shri Anurag Kashyap, Renowned Film Director,Presided as Chief Guest and Special Guest respectively

 

2nd April, 2013: Godfrey Phillips Bravery, a corporate social responsibility initiative of Godfrey Phillips India, today honoured twelve bravehearts from Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala. The Awards were presented by Shri Prahlad Kakkar, Leading Indian Ad Film Director, and Shri Anurag Kashyap, Renowned Film Director.

 

Mr. Harmanjit Singh, General Manager, Corporate Affairs Godfrey Phillips India, stated, “I congratulate all our awardees. In our journey of over 21 years, Godfrey Phillips Bravery Awards have always stood for courage, compassion and alertness in thought and action. The winners and nominees are the true mark of this impact; we hope that these brave stories will continue to encourage the young minds and imbibe the spirit of bravery in their everyday life.”

 

He added, “With our two initiatives, Godfrey Phillips Bravery Awards and Amodini, we have been working to promote the values of courage and empowerment in society. We have till date empowered over 20,000 women directly and hope to work with the communities in near future.”

Details of the winners:

The mentioned Zone comprised entries from Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala for the Godfrey Phillips Bravery Zone Awards 2013.

 

Master Anoop M, a 15 year old student of class VII from Champakulam Bishop Kuriyalancheri Public School, Alleppey, Kochi was conferred the Physical Bravery Special Award at the 21st Godfrey Phillips India Bravery Zone Awards for saving the life of a 5-year-old girl from drowning in 15-feet deep water. He has also been awarded with National Bravery Award 2011 from the honorable Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Republic Day.

The Physical Bravery Award at the 21^st Godfrey Phillips India Bravery Zone Awards has been conferred to Late Michael D'Souza, Uliya, Mangalore for sacrificing his life to save fishermen David and Jayaram after their boat capsized on the 21st of July 2012 in Kotapura Kodi in Mangalore.

 

79-year-old Mr Mathew displayed exemplary courage by saving a two-and- a-half year old boy, who fell into 40-feet deep well. Mr. Mathew without hesitation jumped into the well and held him above the water level till he received help to rescue the kid. He was awarded Physical Bravery Award at the 21^st Godfrey Phillips India Bravery Zone Awards.

 

Another Physical Bravery Special Award was given to Mr Vasudev Naik, Panjim, Goa for saving the life of a naval officer. On July 22, 2009 he saw a man struggling for life in the strong waves. Naik without thinking twice, jumped into the river and saved the life of the officer. He has also been felicitated by the Bogmallo Beach Resort Union and Village Punchayat for his valor.

 

Mr Rajendra Kanade, Mr S V Baria, Mr G S Munj, Mr D W Adsul, Mr S J Jadhav, Mr P G Roj, Mr V P Rane & Mr Pd. Kendle from Mumbai saved the dignity of the tri-colour. On Jan 21, 2013 the Mantralaya building caught fire. Going beyond the protocols of bringing down the flag, these five gallant men from Mumbai saved the tricolor from getting burnt and have been awarded the Physical Bravery Special Award at the 21st Godfrey Phillips Bravery India Zone Awards.

 

The 21^st Godfrey Phillips India Social Bravery Awards has been conferred to Ms. Uma Preman from Thrissur, Kerala for her extraordinary service to mankind. After the sudden death of her husband due to lack of proper diagnosis and treatment, she decided to provide free medical information-cum-care centre in Guruvayur setting up the ‘Santhi Medical Information Centre’. The centre provides information and assistance to patients and helps them raise money for their treatment. Apart from donating her own kidney, her Center facilitated 500 kidney transplants and 2,000 heart surgeries and mobilized more than Rs. 8 crores in aid for poor patients. She has also set up new dialysis centre’s at Trichur, Palghat, Kunnamkulam and Puthenpalli.  To make things easier for rural people, she has introduced a mobile dialysis van to serve patients.

 

Mr T Raja from Bangalore started The New Ark Mission of India in the year 1997. The organization is solely dedicated in rescuing and rebuilding the lives of the destitute people living on the streets. The Home of Hope is a centre of the New Ark Mission of India. Raja and his team start the day moving around the city in their vehicles, reaching to the ailing people on the streets. Every month at least 10-15 people are rescued and treated. Today, the home accommodates more than 200 residents who have been rescued from the most inhumane and unhygienic living conditions. Mr T Raja is a recipient of Social Bravery Award at 21st Godfrey Phillips India Bravery Awards.

 

NGO Helpers of the Handicapped from Mumbai is run by a group of differently-abled people Miss Naseema Hurzuk, Mrs. Rajani (Karkare) Deshpande and Mr. Manohar Deshbhratar. The NGO provides medical aid (including surgeries) and assistive technology- such as wheelchairs, calipers, crutches, walkers, etc to the disabled and help in improving their quality of life. The NGO also arranges school and college education, vocational training, employment to physically challenged couples. The NGO has since generated Rs. 708.19 lakhs and developed infrastructure such as Hostels, Schools, and Rehabilitation & Training Centers etc. costing Rs. 714.16 lakhs. The tireless effort of the group has been felicitated with the Social Bravery Special Award at the 21st Godfrey Phillips India Bravery Awards.

 

 

The Social Bravery Special Award was given to Goa Animal Welfare Trust from Goa for a doing commendable job in providing service to sick stray animals. The trust has undertaken many programmes and initiatives for unwanted animals and helps them finding a loving abode. These programmes include sterilization of stray animals, treatment of injured and abandoned dogs and anti-rabies vaccination camps for pets. It also has a well equipped ‘Home and Away’ Boarding Kennels which provides security and care for pets.

 

Mr Devaji Tofa, a Class IV dropout from village Gadchiroli inspired 400 villagers to stand-up for their rights. He started his campaign in 1987, which eventually resulted in Gadchiroli becoming the only Indian village to get the right to maintain its 1,806 hectare forest land and sell its product, bamboo for their livelihood. The village has also attained community rights in 2011 to harvest bamboo under the Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006. Mr Devaji Tofa is a recipient of Social Bravery Special Award at 21st Godfrey Phillips India Bravery Awards.

 

41-year old, Mr Charudatta Vitthal Jadhav from Mumbai was honored with the Mind of Steel Award at the 21st Godfrey Phillips Bravery India Awards. The visually challenged, Jadhav represented India on various international chess championships. He is the brain behind Talk 64, first-of-its-kind chess training and gaming software for the blind to improve their gaming skills, and developed Global Chess Library, an online digital library and training portal. Combating his challenge, in March 1992, Shri Jadhav successfully scaled the 17,220 feet high peak Shitidhar. He received the National Award for Best Disabled Employee, 2006 from the erstwhile President of India, Dr A.P.J Abdul Kalam. He was also selected for IBN7 Super Idols Award in 2009 and received Positive Health Award from Dr Batra's Positive Health Clinic.

 

The Amodini Award of 21st Godfrey Phillips Bravery India Awards was given to Laila Gram Panchayat in Belthangady taluk in Karnataka’s Mangalore city. The organization has created a new benchmark for women in personal feminine hygiene which is an issue of concern in many Indian villages.  The low cost napkins manufactured by women in Laila have been well received in rural markets. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan has already earmarked Rs 1, 23,000 to purchase napkins from Laila Gram Panchayat. It has also launched another novel scheme - Laila Gold - to prepare compost from waste. Besides this they have created a special awareness programme for female students from classes VI to VIII under ‘Kishori Yojane’ to spread awareness about personal hygiene.

 

Godfrey Phillips India instituted the Godfrey Phillips Bravery Awards in 1990. These Awards bring to light the uncommon spirit of the common man, and gives recognition to extraordinary yet little known acts of physical valor, social service and humanitarian deeds. The purpose of the Godfrey Phillips Bravery Awards is to instill amongst people the culture of selfless action. With its two initiatives, Godfrey Phillips Bravery Awards and Amodini, over 1,200 bravehearts have been honored and over 20,000 women empowered directly.

Since inception in 1990, these awards have grown to encompass 20 states - Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Uttaranchal, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal, Goa, Himachal Pradesh and the recent addition of Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

 The five zone awards will be followed by the National Awards, which will take place in Delhi.