SEEDS (Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society), a national humanitarian organisation working in disaster management for the past 27 years, has been awarded the prestigious annual Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar 2021 by the Government of India, on 23rd January, 2021.
SEEDS Co-founders, Dr Manu Gupta and Dr Anshu Sharma said, “We are humbled and honoured to receive the Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar 2021 from the Government of India. This award on the eve of our 27th anniversary only strengthens our resolve to continue our work with communities in strengthening disaster resilience. The recognition of SEEDS efforts has underscored the importance of bottom-up approaches ensuring agency of affected communities and ensuring no one gets left behind. Our sincere gratitude goes to all the members of the SEEDS family, our co-workers, donors, and friends with whom we share this honour.”
SEEDS has worked on the frontlines towards making vulnerable communities disaster ready and has pioneered approaches to effective response, and rehabilitation after disasters, strengthening local capacities and agency of affected communities across different States of India. Recognising the importance of local leaders in building resilience to disasters, the organisation has actively engaged with local leaders in ensuring lasting change towards reducing vulnerabilities on communities. In improving disaster readiness, SEEDS has worked on safety and security of children helping teachers and students in identifying, assessing and managing risks in their own local environments.
Post the occurrence of earthquakes in India (2001, 2005, 2015), SEEDS trained a group of building masons in disaster resistant construction techniques. These masons became ambassadors across several emergencies in multiple States and in Nepal helping in reconstruction efforts. SEEDS is also leveraging technologies like AI based modeling for early warning to significantly improve preparedness and decision making ability of affected communities to mitigate risk reduction.
The award was instituted by Government of India to recognise and honour the invaluable contribution and selfless service rendered by individuals and organisations in India in the field of Disaster Management. It is announced every year on 23rd January celebrating the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 51 lakh and a certificate in case of an institution and Rs. 5 lakh and a certificate in case of an individual. The third edition of Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar’ received an overwhelming response as there were 371 valid nominations from institutions and individuals.
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