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The “KarmaVeer Puraskaar (KVP)” is the National Awards for Social Justice and Citizen Action instituted by the people sector with various partner organisations, citizens at large and media supporters. The awards are a platform for people to come together to share discuss their views on socio-political issues, be it about poverty alleviation, marginalization, communal issues, HIV, Disability, climate change, electoral reforms or humane capitalism.

The awards are given every year on the 26th day of November, the day India adopted its constitutional pledge as a REPUBLIC in 1949. These awards are given to recognize, to encourage, celebrate and inspire citizen’s action for social justice. We need to recognize real life unsung heroes who believe ‘It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness’ and have walked that extra mile to “Be the change they want to see in this world”. Various of our past awardees have been featured in documentaries and articles on Discovery Channel, National Geographic, BBC, TIME and gone on to win global fellowships, awards and become ambassadors of international and UN organisations.

The idea is to nominate and select citizens from all sectors. These awards are given to Individuals, and not to any organisation or company. Our KVP Awardees practice true democracy by fighting for social justice and value the Power of ONE to light the candle and dispel the darkness. They are caring and concerned citizens who have gone beyond business as usual, to be and lead the change with an “I CAN” attitude, by taking stands and speaking out against social wrongs.

Our past Awardees include Dr. Verghese Kurien, Dr. M.S. Swaminathan and Late Major General. R.S. Pannu for the Lifetime Achievement KarmaVeer Puraskaar and various other eminent and little known common citizens (refer awardees list on website), who have performed extraordinary and exemplary tasks to promote social justice through citizen action.

The KarmaVeer Puraskaar Awards were established in 2004 by independent social work practitioner Jeroninio (Jerry) Almeida, founder of ICONGO who felt, that there should be an awards ceremony to recognise the hard work and positive impact that social workers have on the lives of vulnerable children, families and adults.The aim of the KVP Awards is to recognize and inspire individual citizen social responsibility, justice' and action initiatives.

In a country of almost 1 billion Indians, we have many awards for movie stars and other achievers launched by tobacco, FMCG, media, and beverage brands as marketing campaigns but we are yet to recognise the real-life unsung heroes who believe that it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness by leading a change. KarmaVeer Puraskaar is given to change dreamers and doers who practise philanthropy for social justice - Jeroninio Almeida, founder and chief volunteer, iCONGO. For the first time, these awards are for individual citizens from various sectors, for excellence and best practices in promoting social justice & action in their sector. Citizens are nominated and selected in the corporate, government, media, SME, students & other sectors, who have contributed to social justice & action. The award is given to citizens individually for their contribution in leading change and is not for any organization.

History of Awards

Over the years the awardee list has grown and touched many parts and sectors. The list includes from all walks of like. Stories like these are common. Mogalamma, a 22 year old woman who built community based organisations despite being affected by Polio. Saddam Basha, an auto rickshaw driver, who gave up his livelihood to go to the Gujarat camps after the 2002 riots to work on peace building initiatives. Mahadev Rajmane, who was working for the legal rights of poor prisoners after having been denied his rights and completed a prison term that was much longer than expected. Mangala Khillo, a bonded laborer, who after freeing himself was working for the release and rehabilitation of others in similar plight. We feel very passionate about such brave deeds and want to honour these unsung heroes through the KVP awards.