Jindal Prize
Sitaram Jindal Foundation, one of the leading not-for-profit organizations committed to welfare of Indian citizens, has launched India’s biggest cash prize , the Jindal Prize, wherein ₹ 5 Crore shall be awarded to individuals and institutions annually to recognize their exceptional efforts towards social upliftment of people in the country.
Launching of prize
The Sitaram Jindal Foundation launched in 2011 the “Jindal Prize”. The prize shall be awarded to individuals or organisations for contribution of exceptional nature and of current significance, for the welfare of people in the country.
The prizes are intended to encourage and inspire those engaged in serving humanity and promoting moral values, peace, harmony, health, education, patriotism, national integration and religious tolerance without motive of personal gain, social and political mileage.[1]
Prize categories
There shall be five prizes of Rs One Crore each, to be conferred annually in the following categories:-
- Rural development & Poverty Alleviation;
- Health – including drugless healing;
- Education – with emphasis on moral upliftment;
- Science, Technology and Environment
- Peace, Social Harmony & Development [1][2]
It is implied that achievements in the field of art, culture, literature, entertainment, sports etc., constituting all together a different sector shall not fall within the ambit of the Prize scheme. The Prize shall consist of a memento, a citation and the prize amount.[3]
Secretariat
To manage, regulate and implement the prize scheme, the Foundation has established a Secretariat, under the charge of Secretary General, at New Delhi. The Secretariats role is limited to performing executive functions necessary to promote and implement the Prize Scheme, as per the guidelines laid down by the Foundation, in a transparent and professional manner.[1]
Nominations
The Secretariat invites nominations, annually, to be considered for award of the Prize. Only the work or contribution nominated in writing by a nominator will be eligible for consideration. A Self-nomination shall not be taken as a valid entry.
Nominators
A nominator shall mean any reputed person or an institution of high repute. A person shall be entitled to make only one proposal every year. However, a nominator who has already been debarred shall not be entitled to make a nomination.
The nominator shall give a brief note on the nominee’s work and describe its indelible impact on people, society and the nation as a whole.[1]
Nominees
Any Individuals or group of individual/organization; having contributed towards welfare of Indian citizens shall be eligible for nomination subject to the condition that:
- The contribution is of exceptional nature
- The achievements made are transparent and open for public scrutiny He/she/they are not doing the activity for any commercial purpose or for profit motive.
- The nominee is not an employee, family member or close relative of the Jindal Group/its sister concerns/the Foundation/the Secretariat or any other persons associated with the prize scheme.
- A person shall be nominated only if the nominator is fully aware of nominee’s moral fiber and integrity and of his outstanding contribution to the cause of mankind.
- If it subsequently comes out that the person/organization either nominee or nominator has misrepresented or concealed facts they shall be blacklisted and shall also be barred from any future participation.
- A person who has been debarred on an earlier occasion shall not be entitled to participate.
- A foreign national who has contributed towards the welfare of Indian citizens shall also be eligible for the awards.
Confidentialty of nominations
All nominations shall be confidential. No one will divulge any information relating to a nomination to anyone. All information relating to nominations or reasons for arriving at a particular decision shall be confidential for 25 years.
Screening committee
With a view to assisting the Jury the Executive Committee constitute a team of three persons consisting of two eminent persons and the Secretary/Dy. Secretary to be known as Screening Committee.[1] The Secretary/Dy. Secretary shall be the member secretary of the Screening Committee. The committee will undertake scrutiny of nomination papers to segregate nominations out of the zone of consideration which are either ineligible or apparently not involving matters of significant contribution for the benefit of the people. For this purpose the Screening Committee may take the help of appraisers or eminent subject experts or institutions relevant to the subject.
The jury
Constitution of the jury
- The Foundation shall invite eminent persons of high reputation to be the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Jury. The Foundation shall also nominate two more eminent persons of repute and integrity to be the member of the jury. The Secretary General is the ex officio member secretary of the Jury, with the right to vote. These 5 members form the core committee of a Jury.
- The core committee of the Jury select the other four members of the Jury either directly or from a suggestive list of eminent persons preferably from different fields, relevant to the each prize category
- The tenure of the Jury is one year. However, the tenure of the members of the Jury may be extended by the E.C./Foundation up to a maximum of 3 terms.[1]
First jury
- Mr Justice J. S. Verma, Former Chief Justice Of India.
Chairperson, Jury[4] Justice J.S.Verma served as Chief Justice of India during 1997-98 and Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission from 1999 to 2003.
- Mr Sudarshan Agarwal, Former Hon'ble Governor of Uttarakhand and Sikkim. Vice Chairperson, Jury[4][5] He has also served as Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha from 1981 to 1993.
- Mr L.C.Gupta, Former Chief Secretary, Haryana, Member, Jury. Sh. L. C. Gupta is a retired officer of the Indian Administrative Service and served in various important capacities. He served as Chief Secretary Haryana during 1987-88.[6]
- Mr H. K.Dua, Eminent Journalist and Member Of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) Member, Jury. He was President of Editor’s Guild of India for two terms and has served as Press Advisor to two Prime Ministers of India. He is a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha.
- Prof. Dr. Srinath K Reddy Prof. Dr. Srinath K Reddy is President, Public Health Foundation of India and till recently he headed the Department of Cardiology at All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
- Mr Kiran Karnik He was the President of NASSCOM (National Association Of Software and Services Companies ). He has worked for 20 years with ISRO and has held several positions related to application of space technology. Mr Karnik is the Chairman of International Steering Committee of the Commonwealth Connects Programme.
- Dr. Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan He is known for his pioneering contribution to India’s Space Programme. He has held various senior assignments like Director N.I.A.S., Chairman International Committee on Earth Observation Satellites, Chairman, COSPAR Panel on Space Research in Developing Countries etc.
- Mr B.G.Verghese - He was Editor of The Hindustan Times & Indian Express from 1969 to 1975 and from 1982 to 1986 respectively. He served as Information Officer to the Prime Minister of India from 1966 to 1969.
- Mr. N.P.Gupta - He is the Secretary General of The Jindal Prize Secretariat and ex- officio Member Secretary of the Jury.
He is retired I.A.S. officer. he has multifarious administrative experience of 35 years in the Govt. of Tamil Nadu and Govt. of India. He was Member secretary, National Commission for Women in N. Delhi from 2005 to 2007.
Independent selection process
The Jury is endowed with complete independence in finalizing names of the awardees. The Foundation, the Trustees, the executive Committee of the Foundation has no say in the selection process. The Secretariat and the Foundation shall, at all times, respect autonomous functioning of these bodies. Jury can take any decision as it likes and its decision shall be final and binding. The awardees are expected to be responsible citizens of the society with clean track record. The screening Committee / Jury observe due diligence in shortlisting / finalizing of nomination / awardee.[1]
Prize winners
Consent of winner
The Secretary General shall inform the prospective winner and seek his consent for the proposed felicitation. In case a winner is reluctant to accept the prize, his name may be replaced by the next deserving nominee as finalised by the Jury.
The secretariat shall request the awardee to make available a detailed write-up so that due awareness is created amongst the people about his contribution towards human welfare.
Announcement of winners
- The final list of the prizewinners shall be announced by the Jury/S. G. at a press conference and through advertisements/press releases in major daily newspapers and electronic media.
- The profile of the awardees shall also be posted on “The Prize” website.
- The prize shall preferably be conferred by a high dignitary say the President or the Prime Minister of India, in presence of members of the Foundation, the Jury, the Expert’s on Panel and all other eminent invitees.[1]
Felicitation banquet
EC may decide to arrange a felicitation banquet on the eve of award ceremonyin honor of the prizewinners in the presence of eminent dignitaries. The awardees shall be required to attend the same.
Call back
If it subsequently comes out that the awardee had secured a Prize on the basis of misrepresentation of material facts, the Jury in office may, as an exceptional case, decide to withdraw the honour bestowed on an awardee.[1]
References
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]