Covid-19 service: Abu Dhabi association wins Mahatma Award

Abu Dhabi - Since the pandemic hit, the India Social and Cultural Centre supported the needy by distributing more than 50,000 free food kits.

(Supplied photo)

Ashwani Kumar

Published: Sun 31 Jan 2021, 1:49 PM

Last updated: Sun 31 Jan 2021, 1:55 PM

The India Social and Cultural Centre (ISC) Abu Dhabi has won the Mahatma Award 2020 for its Covid-19 humanitarian efforts.

ISC president Yogish Prabhu received the award from Shallu Jindal, chairperson, JSPL Foundation, at an in-person event held in New Delhi, India, to mark the 73rd death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Established in 2017 by social entrepreneur and philanthropist Amit Sachdeva, the award honours individuals and organisations making a positive impact on society. Past recipients include industrialist Ratan Tata, philanthropist Rajashree Birla, Twitter for Good, Reliance Foundation, and Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation, among others.

Since the start of the pandemic, the ISC supported the needy by distributing more than 50,000 free food kits, over 2,000 personal protective equipment and 1,000 sanitisers and masks.

The centre held awareness drives and offered free medical consultations to more than 1,000 people. It temporarily served as Air India Express ticketing counter for Vande Bharat Mission flights. Free air tickets were provided to more than 100 stranded Indians.

At a Press conference, ISC general secretary Jojo J. Ambooken noted the centre is the first community association outside India to bag the award.

Acting president George Varghese pointed out that there were three rounds in the selection process, including a phone interview.

ISC is the 2017 Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awardee.