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Tag: Amit Sachdeva

  • Yes and Centum win big for powering youth dreams

    Yes and Centum win big for powering youth dreams

    MUMBAI: Talk about making a skill-ful impact! Yes Foundation and Centum Foundation have bagged the prestigious Mahatma Award for Partnership & Impact 2025 for their joint initiative, the Youth Empowerment for Security (YES) Programme, which is changing the lives of young Indians one skill at a time.

    The initiative, focused on skilling and employability, has trained over 1,800 underserved youth across Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Telangana, and Assam, with more than 30 per cent women participants. Over 1,250 of them have already found jobs in fast-growing sectors such as retail, BFSI, healthcare, and logistics.

    The programme’s success comes at a time when women’s workforce participation in India is on the rise. Government data shows the female worker population ratio jumped from 30.2 per cent in June to 32 per cent in August 2025, signalling a strong push towards inclusion.

    “This partnership is helping young people gain skills, confidence, and opportunities,” said Yes Bank president, CSR and CEO of Yes Foundation  Garima Dutt. “It’s not just transforming lives but building a future of economic self-reliance and inclusive growth.”

    Upgrad Enterprise CEO Srikanth Iyengar, which supports Centum Foundation through scalable skilling models, added, “Social impact doesn’t happen overnight. Together, we’re bridging the gap between aspiration and opportunity, especially for women and rural youth.”

    Instituted by philanthropist Amit Sachdeva and supported by the Aditya Birla Group, the Mahatma Award celebrates organisations that embody Gandhian values of truth, inclusion, and social justice. Previous winners include icons such as Ratan Tata, Sudha Murthy, and Microsoft Philanthropy.

    The recognition adds to Centum Foundation’s growing list of honours, including a recent Brandon Hall Gold Award for the same initiative, proving that when partnerships work with purpose, the impact speaks louder than words.

  • IDCA honours with the 2023 Mahatma Award for advancing sports inclusivity

    IDCA honours with the 2023 Mahatma Award for advancing sports inclusivity

    Mumbai: The Indian Deaf Cricket Association (IDCA) has been conferred with the prestigious “Mahatma Award 2023” for their exemplary contribution to promoting inclusivity for differently-abled sportspersons in traditional sports.

    The award was presented to Roma Balwani CEO of IDCA and Ms Reena Jain Malhotra, Patron of IDCA, on the eve of the 154 birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi in New Delhi. Team members from the IDCA women’s league were also present at the ceremony.

    Mahatma Awards founder Amit Sachdeva said, “This is indeed a phenomenal initiative for promoting ability in sports. By bringing specially-abled into mainstream sports, such as cricket, we are actually making equality in sports. We all must come together to invest in this to take it forward. Excellent work by the Indian Deaf Cricket Association.”

    IDCA has been breaking down barriers for differently-abled sportspersons by providing a platform for hearing-impaired individuals to showcase their talent in cricket. Formed in 2020, closely works with the ICC to promote cricket amongst deaf cricketers globally. It is engaged in organising matches at the national and international level.

    IDCA CEO Roma Balwani said, “We believe that sports have the power to bring a positive change in the society and unite the people. Our motive is to empower the 26.8 million differently-abled people of the country and instil the belief that nothing is impossible.”

    “We are honoured to be presented with this esteemed award on the occasion of the 154th Birth Anniversary of the Father of the Nation. The recognition will motivate us to continue with our efforts to promote inclusivity in mainstream sports,” she said.

    The Mahatma Award is conferred to organisations for accomplished and influential social and community initiatives. It acknowledges remarkable contributions in diverse fields such as sustainability, philanthropy, shared value, and corporate social responsibility. Moreover, it recognizes those who use their literary and creative genius to bring social consciousness to the forefront. Founded and instituted by Philanthropist Amit Sachdeva, also known as ‘The CSR Man of India’, the annual award is supported by the Aditya Birla Group and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).