| | DECEMBER 20219now in its 23rd year, is hosted every year by Eastern Eye, Britain's biggest selling English language Asian newspaper. The award is known for celebrating Asian entrepreneurship and business success, wherein the winners are honoured at the annual gathering of the UK's wealthiest and most successful businessmen and women. This year's esteemed assemblage, held on November 19 in London, recognised Anil for his exceptional contribution towards empowering un-derprivileged communities. His universal mission of giving back to society has made him a living inspira-tion for many across the globe.Sharing his thoughts concerning his recent acco-lade, Anil said, "I am extremely humbled to receive this award. It has further energised me to uphold my commitment towards sustainably strengthening the rural communities of the country. I take pride in liv-ing up to my 'Giving Pledge' as this year Vedan-ta, under its social initiatives, has spent Rs. 331 crore and has vowed to spend Rs. 5000 crore more. Philanthropy has given more meaning to my life, and I draw immense satisfaction in giving back to society". Anil Agarwal Foundation CEO, Bhaskar Chatterjee, ex-pressed great joy over interna-tional acknowledgement of Anil's efforts and the honour-able distinction. Bhaskar said, "We are extremely humbled and honoured to receive this award. We have always been committed to uplifting society and creating a more egalitarian social structure where basic ne-cessities of life are accessible to all. The Anil Agarwal Foundation was set up to facilitate sustainable and inclusive growth to protect and provide for our communities. Such a prestigious award has boosted our spirit to continue our efforts towards serving society and motivates us to do more and better".It is not the first time his philanthropic vision gained traction, as he was also featured in the Edel-Give Hurun India Philanthropy List 2020. The list ranked him among the top five philanthropists in the country. In the pandemic-marred year of 2020, Anil's contribution towards humanitarian initiatives rose by 90 percent compared to the previous year. In order to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 con-tagion, the foundation launched a Rs. 5,000 crore social impact program called 'Covid Mukt Villages' to help the rural communities build a robust health-care infrastructure. Last year alone, Vedanta con-tributed more than the government-mandated two percent towards corporate social responsibility. The group outdoes itself every year with its transforma-tion work at the grassroots level.One of Vedanta's flagship initiatives, `Swasth Gaon Abhiyaan', provides end-to-end healthcare services across 1,000 villages in 12 states, improving the lives of over 2 million people. Besides, the foundation also continues to significantly scale up its state-of-art Anganwadi project called `Nand Ghar'. With the key focus on women empowerment and child development, the foundation is operating 2400+ Nand Ghars across the nation. These aim to recreate anganwadis, powered with technology, especially to surpass the pandemic-induced challeng-es, by establishing e-learning for children along with providing nutritional meals and health-care at their doorsteps. Vaccina-tion being the most important shield against the virus, Vedan-ta rolled out a mega vaccination drive covering 1.2 lakh employ-ees, their families and business partners. Under the guiding light of Anil, the foundation continues to work towards creating a better world by elevat-ing the quality of life of various communities.Anil, staying true to his philanthropic commitment, took the 'Giving Plege', in March this year and vowed to give 75 percent of his wealth towards the socio-eco-nomic welfare of the rural communities. The Giving Pledge is a movement comprising global philanthro-pists wherein the world's big-hearts commit to donat-ing the majority of their wealth towards philanthropic programs and charitable causes. PHILANTHROPY HAS GIVEN MORE MEANING TO MY LIFE, AND I DRAW IMMENSE SATISFACTION IN GIVING BACK TO SOCIETY
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