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10 social workers recognised for enhancing life of the aged
Ten men and women who have made the world a better place through their contributions will be honoured on Tuesday by Harmony for Silvers Foundation, a non-governmental organisation working to enhance the quality of life of the aged in India.
- By Pamela Raghunath, Correspondent
- Published: 00:43 October 7, 2008
Mumbai: Ten men and women who have made the world a better place through their contributions will be honoured on Tuesday by Harmony for Silvers Foundation, a non-governmental organisation working to enhance the quality of life of the aged in India.
The 10 heroes for Year 2008 have been chosen for being "intrepid fighters who have overcome every obstacle with determination and zeal", said Tina Ambani, chairperson of the NGO, whose mission is to create an environment where senior citizens can live with dignity, self-respect and self-confidence.
"Taking a cue from our winners, if we dare to step outside our comfort zones, we can experience new awakenings, craft our own destinies and touch the lives of countless others," said Ambani.
Winners
Among the winners are well-known social workers and activists like Baba Adhav, Subhasini Mistry, Lakshman Singh, Hardev Singh Sawhney and Hasnath Mansur.
Adhav, 78, is a veteran trade unionist who is determined to get the Bill for social security for the unorganised sector passed in Parliament. For the relentless fighter, who operates out of a simple office in Pune's crowded Bhavani Peth area, this Bill will be an answer to the livelihood insecurity suffered by nearly 400 million workers exploited by the urban industry and on rural farms.
Less than 25 million workers are protected by labour laws in the country and the rest are ignored - including porters, headloaders and landless labourers.
After Subhashini Mistry, a resident of Hanspukar, West Bengal, lost her husband in the 1970s, she toiled as a vegetable seller, housemaid and labourer to care for her children as well as save Rs20,000. Not only did she make a doctor out of her son Ajoy but set up a Humanity Hospital out of a hut, which is today a 5,000 square feet building to care for the poor.
Hardev Singh Sawhney, 76, from Delhi's Patel Nagar, works as an honorary special police officer who not only offers moral support to senior citizens but also spends from his pocket to help the elderly needy.
Jury member and actor Victor Banerjee remarked how the extraordinary work done by ordinary people and their resolute commitment was a blessing not just to a community but also to humanity at large.
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