Sri Sathya Sai Award for Human Excellence honours unsung heroes heralding change in society

Inspired by the universal message of Sri Sathya Sai Baba, ‘Love all, serve all’, the Sri Sathya Sai University for Human Excellence (Gulbarga District, Karnataka) instituted the Sri Sathya Sai Award for Human Excellence.

The award, held this year on November 23 at Muddenahalli in Karnataka, recognises those who have led a life of service and sacrifice to serve mankind in various fields of social relevance such as health, education, women and child welfare, environment, music and fine arts, unity of religions and sports.

Since 2016, the award has celebrated individuals in these seven categories from around the world, with special focus on developing areas, including India, South Asia, South East Asia, Middle East, Africa and Latin America. The goal of the award is to promote the transformation of lives in the pursuit of human excellence.


Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Limited is the patron for the awards this year. Rajashree Birla, the chairperson of Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development, High Commissioner of Fiji to India, Yogesh Punja, and High Commissioner of Nigeria to India, Chris Sunday Eze, were the chief guests at the event. Jury members like Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma and Dr Padma Subrahmanyam, among others, were also present at the event.

The idea behind the fourth edition of the award is the ‘Unsung Heroes of India’. The aim is to bring into the spotlight the lesser-known yet efficacious benefactors, and give them a platform to stand tall and show the world the power of their goodness and selflessness.

The awardees of the year are:

Education: Gitanjali JB, founding member and CEO of Himalayan Institute of Alternatives Ladakh
Environment: Wilma Rodrigues, founder of Saahas Zero Waste
Health: Chethan Manchegowda, founder of Khoon
Music and fine arts: Himanshu S, founder of Dharavi Art Room
Unity of religions: Hindu Seva Pratishthana, an organisation that renders selfless service in various domains such as rural development, literacy, eradication of untouchability, children’s education, family and individual counselling and rehabilitation of physically challenged and specially-abled children
Women and child welfare: Anju Verma, founder of Buland Udaan
Sports: Mahantesh GK, founder of Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled and Cricket Association for the Blind in India