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C. Subramaniam Awards 2025
The C. Subramaniam Awards, presented by the National Foundation for India (NFI), honour exceptional grassroots community leaders and voluntary sector professionals whose sustained leadership has strengthened communities and advanced social justice across India. Instituted in memory of Bharat Ratna C. Subramaniam, the founder and first Chairperson of NFI, the awards recognise individuals who have demonstrated courage, innovation, and commitment in addressing complex social challenges. Since its inception, the awards have celebrated hundreds of changemakers working across areas including gender justice, education, health, disability inclusion, environmental conservation, land and forest rights, labour rights, democratic participation and community-led development. .
Explore the stories of the 2025 C. Subramaniam Awardees below, their journeys, contributions and impact in communities across India
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Akash Chouhan Madhya Pradesh
Akash Chouhan is a community leader working with Banchhada and Bedia communities in Madhya Pradesh, primarily in Neemuch, Ratlam and Mandsaur districts. His engagement began after a personal encounter at a district hospital that exposed him to the realities of sexual exploitation and trafficking of women and minor girls in these communities. Since 2016, Akash has worked closely with local police, the Child Welfare Committee and district authorities to report cases of abuse, support rescue operations and enable access to legal and protection mechanisms. Despite resistance rooted in entrenched social practices, he has continued sustained engagement at the community level, mobilising local youth and volunteers and facilitating awareness on child protection, education and legal rights. In February 2023, he formally registered Jan Shourya Social Welfare and Development Society to institutionalise this work. The organisation now undertakes prevention, rescue support, community awareness and education-linked interventions aimed at reducing the exploitation of minor girls and strengthening community accountability.
Anjali Mohanta Odisha
Anjali Mohanta is a community leader working in Sukinda block of Jajpur district, Odisha. Her engagement in grassroots work began at a young age following her marriage at seventeen and the responsibilities of raising two children. She started by working on village-level governance issues related to water supply and MGNREGS supervision. This introduced her to local administrative systems and development processes. Recognising the role of education in enabling participation and leadership, Anjali resumed her studies while managing household responsibilities, completing her higher secondary education and a postgraduate diploma in computer applications. In 2010, she trained as a government poultry vaccinator, supporting rural livelihoods and women’s nutrition through village-level outreach and service delivery. This work deepened her understanding of health, nutrition, and structural vulnerabilities within mining-affected communities. Anjali’s focus on tuberculosis care emerged from her own prolonged experience with TB diagnosis and treatment between 2012 and 2014. Since 2015, she began supporting TB patients in her Gram Panchayat for treatment, addressing stigma and barriers to care. From 2022, she has been working with Ekta Niketan leading a community-based initiative to provide, end-to-end TB care across 7 Gram Panchayats in Sukinda, involving screening, referral, treatment adherence, and follow-up in coordination with the public health system. In addition to health work, Anjali has held leadership roles as a Panchayat ward member and as president of the Gram Panchayat-level SHG Mahasangh, supporting women’s collective action, engagement with local governance, and campaigns addressing alcoholism and environmental health concerns linked to mining. Despite personal loss, including the recent death of her husband, she continues her work with sustained community trust and commitment, grounded in collective care and local leadership.
Arvind Borkar Maharashtra
Arvind Borkar is a voluntary sector worker based in Yavatmal district, Maharashtra, with over two decades of engagement in rural, tribal and Dalit communities. Growing up in a tribal area, he witnessed persistent challenges related to land alienation, social exclusion and limited access to rights and entitlements. These early experiences shaped his long-term commitment to dignity, social justice and community-led development. While still a student, Arvind began engaging with social issues and governance processes affecting marginalized communities. In 2006, he co-founded Sant Kabir Krida, Shikshan va Gramin Vikas Bahuuddeshiya Sanstha with like-minded people to work collectively on issues in rural and tribal areas. The organisation initially focused on mobilising women through self-help groups, facilitating savings, bank linkages, financial literacy and livelihood skill development to strengthen economic participation and local leadership. Over time, Arvind led sustained efforts to secure individual and collective land rights for tribal and Dalit farmers across villages in Yavatmal and adjoining talukas. Through continuous engagement with Gram Sabhas and district administration, the organisation has supported individual land claims and facilitated collective claims in multiple villages, strengthening farmers’ tenure security. He has also been actively involved in land and water regeneration initiatives, including silt-free dam programmes, pond restoration, organic farming and mixed orchard plantations, contributing to improved soil fertility, water conservation and rural livelihoods. Arvind works both as a field worker and an organiser, maintaining close engagement with communities while bridging them with government systems such as MGNREGA and land administration. He has focussed on youth leadership development by promoting Gram Sabha participation, mentoring young volunteers and encouraging democratic decision-making at the village level. His work consistently emphasises community ownership, constitutional values and leadership from within, contributing to the transformation of villages into spaces of greater self-reliance, equity, and collective dignity.
Bindu Devi Uttar Pradesh
Bindu Devi is a community leader based in the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh, with over fifteen years of grassroots engagement focused on women’s empowerment, child nutrition and awareness on rights and entitlements among marginalized communities. Growing up in conditions of poverty, social inequality and limited access to education, she developed an early commitment to addressing structural barriers faced by women, Dalit, Adivasi and minority communities. She has been associated with Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Gram Vikas Samiti, through which she has organised village-level training camps aimed at building livelihood skills for women. These interventions have enabled women to access income-generating opportunities, with enabling many with stable income through skill-based work. Her approach prioritises economic independence as a pathway to social participation and equality. Bindu has also been actively involved in addressing child malnutrition in government schools across multiple districts, including Mirzapur, Bhadohi, Jaunpur and Prayagraj of Uttar Pradesh. She has worked with families and schools to promote access to nutritious meals and improve awareness around child health. Her engagement extends to health outreach, including collaboration with hospitals and government schemes to facilitate health check-ups, vision screening and access to basic support services. Bindu’s work is characterised by direct engagement in local languages, which has helped build trust and sustained participation within communities. She has also supported and mentored emerging community leaders, encouraging collective action grounded in education, equality and constitutional values. Despite persistent challenges, she remains committed to advancing inclusive development and strengthening women’s participation in community life.
Gagandeep Punjab
Gagandeep is a community leader and legal practitioner based in Punjab, with over two decades of work at the intersection of labour rights, law and social justice. Since the early 2000s, she has worked with Volunteers for Social Justice (VSJ) to address issues around bonded labour, caste-based exploitation, and systemic exclusion of Dalit, migrant and women workers, particularly in brick kilns and agricultural sectors. Beginning her work as a young lawyer, Gagandeep combined legal intervention with sustained community mobilisation to document bonded labour practices, file petitions and pursue wage recovery, release and rehabilitation through constitutional and statutory mechanisms. Over the years, her efforts have contributed to the release and compensation of thousands of workers, with several cases establishing local precedents under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act. A long-fought case involving Dalit women brick kiln workers in Mansa marked a significant milestone, resulting in full wage recovery and strengthening women’s confidence to assert their rights. Recognising the limits of court-led remedies, Gagandeep has prioritised legal empowerment from within communities. Under her leadership, VSJ has trained community paralegals, many of them former bonded labourers, to support documentation, access welfare entitlements and monitor rights violations. This has enabled continuity of action beyond individual cases. Since 2021, her work has expanded through a collaboration with the Rights Lab at the University of Nottingham, using satellite imagery and geospatial data to identify illegal brick kilns and support targeted rescue and enforcement efforts in partnership with local authorities. Despite sustained resistance and intimidation from vested interests, Gagandeep continues to work with a focus on participatory justice, community leadership, and the realisation of constitutional guarantees in everyday life.
Heera Devi Rajasthan
Heera Devi is a community leader based in Lunkaransar block of Bikaner district, Rajasthan, with over fourteen years of grassroots experience focused on girls’ education, prevention of child marriage and women’s leadership. Married at a young age, she continued her education despite social pressure and early motherhood, completing her senior secondary education and emerging as a local advocate for girls’ rights. Heera Devi’s engagement deepened after joining Urmul Setu Sansthan, where she began working with adolescent girls, women and families affected by early marriage, gender discrimination and limited access to education. She formed adolescent girls’ collectives, women’s self-help groups and community forums to address child marriage, school dropouts and awareness of government welfare schemes. Initially facing resistance, including exclusion from some villages, she gradually built trust through sustained dialogue and community participation. Heera has supported families in accessing pensions, Palanhar benefits and other welfare entitlements and played a key role in upgrading seven schools in the Lunkaransar block, enabling hundreds of girls to continue their education. A central outcome of her work has been the mentoring of 72 adolescent girl leaders who now engage with panchayats, lead awareness initiatives and support other girls in pursuing education and public participation. Her work reflects a participatory, community-rooted approach to advancing gender equality, and education in rural Rajasthan.
Kalamuddin Ansari Jharkhand
Kalamuddin Ansari is a voluntary sector worker based in Garhwa district, Jharkhand, with over eighteen years of grassroots experience working with Adivasi and tribal communities on livelihoods, rights awareness and social justice. His engagement began in 2007 through village-level mobilisation to improve access to employment, food security and basic entitlements in a region marked by poverty and limited institutional reach. He played a key role in facilitating access to MGNREGA job cards and Public Distribution System ration cards for hundreds of families, strengthening food and income security. His work later expanded to social audits of public schemes, contributing to greater transparency and accountability at the local level.