Swarajya Awards 2018: Honouring Those Who Lead India Right

The fourth edition of Swarajya Awards will be presented this evening during a special session of the annual India Ideas Conclave organised by the India Foundation, this evening.

Swarajya, in collaboration with India Foundation and Indic Academy, instituted the Swarajya Awards in 2015 to recognise individuals and institutions doing stellar work in various walks of life while being largely committed to advancing values like open market, freedom of enterprise, national interest, innovation, entrepreneurship and celebrating richness of India’s vast cultural heritage.

With an attractive prize money, this award is now a prestigious annual affair. Four awards (named after illustrious individuals) encompassing economics, politics, society and cultural spheres will be presented every year.

Dr B R Shenoy Award, named in honour of a great Indian free market economist who challenged the Nehruvian dirigisme, will be presented to an individual who has consistently advocated the value of open market, stood for a reduced role for government in enterprise and thereby made a significant contribution to advance human freedom.

Dr S P Mukherjee Award, instituted in honour of a great Indian statesman – politician and an intellectual progenitor of a uniquely Indian political philosophy, will be conferred on an active politician who has consistently strived to uphold values that Dr Mukherjee epitomised – commitment to constitutional values, and thoughtful interventions to enrich the quality of public life.

Sree Narayana Guru Award, named in honour of the great Hindu social reformer from Kerala who worked for social equality, spiritual freedom and economic empowerment of underprivileged, will be bestowed on individuals or institutions engaged in fields such as transformational social work projects, inspiring grassroots activism in rural education healthcare, tribal welfare, empowerment of marginalised communities and rural entrepreneurship.

Ustad Bismillah Khan Award, instituted in honour of one of India’s greatest musicians who embodied the essence of India’s cultural syncretism and shared civilisational heritage, will be presented every year to an individual who has achieved the highest level of excellence in fields like arts, culture, literature, philosophy and folk tradition.

Each award will carry a citation, a specially designed trophy and a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh.

2017 Winners

Himanta Biswa Sarma – Winner of the Dr S P Mukherjee Award For Politics
Niranjan Rajadhyaksha – Winner of the Dr B R Shenoy Award for Economics
Laxmi Narayan Tripathi – Winner of Sree Narayana Guru Award For Social work
Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry– Winner of Ustad Bismillah Khan Award For Culture

2016 Winners

Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda – Winner of the Dr S P Mukherjee Award For Politics
T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan – Winner of the Dr B.R Shenoy Award for Economics
Temsutala Imsong – Winner of Sree Narayana Guru Award For Social work
Jaya Jaitly – Winner of Ustad Bismillah Khan Award For Culture

2015 Winners

Sajjad Lone – Winner of the Dr S P Mukherjee Award For Politics
Arvind Panagariya – Winner of the Dr B.R Shenoy Award for Economics
Robin Hood Army – Winner of Sree Narayana Guru Award For Social work
Joe D’Cruz – Winner of Ustad Bismillah Khan Award For Culture