MUMBAI | WEDNESDAY, 20 NOVEMBER 2013 5. <

The economic downturn being

experienced by the Indian

economy is bottoming out.

The political and economic

leadership is reposing its trust in the

potential of corporate India as well as

the locked value in our state owned

enterprises (maharatnas, navratnas and

miniratnas). �India is on its way to regain

its glory of 7-8 percent GDP growth and

nothing can stop the Indian economy

from becoming the 3rd or 4th largest in

GDP terms soon,� said P Chidambaram,

Union Finance Minister, while delivering

the Special Address on the occasion

of Skoch Renaissance Awards for

Corporate Leadership and Corporate

Citizenship.

It was not merely a simple event,

but a congregation of India�s best, in

terms of corporate leadership, business

excellence, business innovation, human

resource development, economic

���������� ������ ��� ����� ��� corporate social responsibility from state-

owned enterprises, private and public

sector players from banks, insurance,

pensions, education, markets, NBFCs,

and community based organisations.

The best practices and projects led by

these revolutionaries were conferred the

Skoch Award � the highest independently

instituted civilian honour that salutes

people, projects, and institutions which

went an extra mile in making India better.

When Skoch instituted the awards

CORPORATE ROLE IN NATION BUILDING

Naina Lal Kidwai, Country Head, HSBC India receiving SKOCH Renaissance Gold Award for Corporate Social Responsibility

Anuj Agarwal, CEO & Managing Director, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurancereceiving SKOCH Renaissance Platinum Award for Insurance

C S Verma, Chairman, Steel Authority of India Limited receiving SKOCH Renaissance Gold Award for Leadership

Lalit Gupta, MD & CEO, Essar Oil receiving SKOCH Renaissance Gold Award for Environment & HRD

Uma Swaminathan, MD, SEWA Gram Mahila Haat received SKOCH Renaissance Gold Award for Livelihood

Gauranga Das, Director, Govardhan Eco Village received SKOCH Renaissance Platinum Award for Water Conservation

of �what changed� with absolute scores �

without making comparisons of any sort.

While jury marks each of these projects,

even the peer group of the nominees

is invited to evaluate each project and

mark these accordingly. The top-scoring

projects make it to the Skoch Order-of-

Merit. A shortlist of awardees is drawn

from the Order-of-Merit recipients who

are invited to receive the Skoch Award

in an exclusive awards function, which is

presided over by a distinguished dignitary.

No industry or government support

and endorsement is either accepted or

expected for the Skoch Awards and they

remain independently instituted and

conferred as a third party�s perspective.

The Skoch Award has truly become the

national benchmark in recognising the

best in serving citizens, innovations,

improving businesses, service delivery

and enhancing productivity.

While the Skoch Awards were

conferred by P Chidambaram, Hon�ble

Finance Minister; Montek Singh Ahluwalia,

Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission

gave away the citation and U K Sinha,

Chairman, SEBI handed over the plaque,

in presence of over 250 dignitaries who

gathered from across the country to cheer

the achievements.

The Roll of Honour of Skoch Awards

over the years, is a testimony to this. Skoch

Awards not only acknowledge exceptional

achievers, but also spur inspirational

guidance and motivational leadership.

Financial inclusionLok Advisory Services

Lok Advisory Services

promotes inclusive growth by

supporting the development

of social enterprises to deliver

basic services to serve the bottom

of pyramid segment in a scalable,

affordable and commercially viable

manner. It works through two funds

� Lok Fund I and Lok Fund II. The

former focuses on developing the

���������� ������ ��� � ��� ����� has a broader investment remit,

������� ������������� �� ������ inclusion, healthcare, education and in

employability solutions. It has invested

in businesses like Basix, Janalakshmi,

Rural Shores, Drishti, Suryodaya

and Spandana, which are all shining

examples in their respective sectors.

These companies have over 8 million

customers across 25 states in India,

with over 84 per cent of them being

women. These companies employ

16,000 employees - 20 per cent of

���� ����� ������ ���� ��� ������ inclusion portfolio, these companies

have disbursed `350 billion of loans

since inception serving the bottom of

the pyramid.

Rajiv B Lall, Lok Advisory Services received SKOCH Renaissance Platinum Award for Financial Inclusion

PLATINUMBajaj Allianz Life Insurance - InsuranceGovardhan Eco Village - Water ConservationGVK - EMRI - HealthIndian Oil Corporation - MobilityLok Advisory Services - Financial InclusionNational Stock Exchange - Leadership

GOLDAISECT - EducationBSE Limited - Risk ManagementCanara Bank - BankingContainer Corporation of India - ServicesEssar Oil Limited - Environment, HRDHindustan Copper Limited - TurnaroundHSBC India - CSRIDBI Bank Ltd - ICTLIC of India - CRMMahindra Rural Housing Finance - HousingNPCI - Payment SystemsSBI Pension Fund - PensionsSEWA Gram Mahila Haat - LivelihoodShriram City Union Finance - FinanceState Bank of India - ExcellenceSteel Authority of India Limited - LeadershipUCO Bank - DevelopmentUnited India Insurance - Innovation

�� ���� �� ��� ����� � �� �� ���� ���nominees. Eleven years hence, the

situation has dramatically changed

with Skoch Renaissance Awards 2013

conferring 6 platinum and 18 gold awards

in 24 diverse categories ranging from

corporate leadership, corporate citizenship

to business excellence. Out of hundreds

of such nominations received, the awards

secretariat, after initial screening and

secondary research process spanning

nearly 800 manhours, selected 100 well-

performing projects that were invited to

make a presentation to the jury consisting

of domain experts. The presentations to

��� ���� ����� ��� �� ���� �� ���� � !��manhours of effort, left 47 top projects to

be conferred the Skoch Order-of-Merit.

Each of the submissions was outstanding,

decidedly reiterating that India is on the

super-highway, speeding towards growth

and development.

Coveted for their independence and

exceptional research, Skoch Award is

distinctive for its approach in selection

of awardees. The Skoch Award is

known to follow the most rigorous

process of selection. Nominations found

to be complete in all respects are put

through secondary research by the

Awards Secretariat. These, are then

recommended to the Awards Committee

for further evaluation. Only those

approved by the Awards Committee are

invited to make a presentation to the jury,

which evaluates each project on its merits

Rajiv B Lall, Lok Advisory Services receiving SKOCH Renaissance Platinum Award for Financial Inclusion from P Chidambaram, Union Finance Minister. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission gave away the citation and U K Sinha, Chairman, SEBI gave away the plaque. Sameer Kochhar, Chairman, represented SKOCH Group

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