The second edition of the Champions of Change Maharashtra will be organized on 30th January 2024 at Grand Hyatt Hotel, Santacruz, Mumbai with Hon’ble Governor of Maharashtra Shri Ramesh Bais as the Chief Guest and awardees include Shri Ram Naik (19th Governor of Uttar Pradesh and Former Union Minister, Government of India), Padma Bhushan Deepak Dhar (Indian Theoritical Physicist), Padma Bhushan Shri Sunil Gavaskar (Indian cricket commentator and Former Indian Cricketer), Padma Shri Chandraprakash Dwivedi (Indian Film Actor and Producer), Shreegauri Sawant (Social Activist), Padma Shri Karan Johar (Indian Film Director), Padma Shri Manoj Bajpayee (Indian Film Actor), General Manoj Mukund Naravane (Former Chief of Army Staff, PVSM AVSM SM VSM ADC), Abbas-Mustan (Indian Film Director), Smt. Shilpa Shetty (Indian Film Actress), Smt. Farah Khan (Indian Film Director & Choreographer), Shri Rajkumar Hirani (Indian Film Maker & Director), Shri Sonu Sood (Indian Film Actor), Shri Arjun Rampal (Indian Film Actor) and Shri Sandeep Singh (Indian Film Maker).
Apart from being an economic capital, Maharashtra is also a state which has a great legacy of freedom fighters, revolutionaries and social reform leaders who have played a huge role in the development of the nation. The “Champions of Change Maharashtra” award has been initiated taking inspiration from the great freedom fighter and Maratha Emperor Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, who sacrificed his life for the Maratha Empire and Swaraj. Champions of Change Maharashtra is a step towards honoring the great work done by the heroes of Maharashtra by taking inspiration from their great legacy.
The Award recognizes champions who have contributed to constructive work in the fields rural development, education, healthcare, technology, science and social welfare. The award also honours those who have made outstanding contributions to the development and welfare of women and children, as well as those who have demonstrated exceptional work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Champions of Change is an Indian award, for promoting Gandhian values, (Swachata), community service and social development (in Aspirational districts in India), selected by constitutional jury members headed by K. G. Balakrishnan Former Chief Justice of India and Former Chairman NHRC, and Justice Gyan Sudha Misra, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India.
Interactive Forum on Indian Economy (IFIE) annually organizes Champions of Change Award at National and State-level in India and is usually presented by the President, Vice-President of India, Governor of State or the constitutional persons of India. From this year onwards, this award will be organized internationally at Washington DC, USA by the name of ‘Global Champion of Change’. Advocate Nandan Jha is the founder and Chairman of Champions of Change Award.
The first edition of the national level Champions of Change Award took place on 26 December 2018 at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi with Former Hon’ble Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu as the Chief Guest and notable awardees included N Biren Singh, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Jaswant Singh Sumanbhai Bhabhor and Nishikant Dubey.
The second edition of the national level Champions of Change Award took place at 10, Rajaji Marg (Residence of Former President of India, Late Shri Pranab Mukherjee) & Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on 20 January 2020 with Former President of India Late Shri Pranab Mukherjee as the Chief Guest and notable awardees included Hemant Soren, Manish Sisodia, Anurag Thakur, Acharya Balakrishnan, Suresh Oberoi and Abhinav Singh.
The third edition of the national level Champions of Change Award took place at Taj Resort & Convention Centre, Goa on 16 April 2021 with Hon’ble Governor of Maharashtra & Goa Shri Bhagat Singh Koshyari as chief guest and notable awardees included Sh Pramod Sawant, Shripad Naik, MK Stalin, Hema Malini, Pahlaj Nihlani, Sonu Nigam among others.
The fourth edition of the national level Champions of Change Award took place at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on 26th February 2023 with Former President of India Shri Ramnath Kovind as the Chief Guest and notable awardees included Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Dr. Laxmi Sehgal (Posthumous), Ramdhari Singh Dinkar (Posthumous), Pt. Chhannulal Mishra, Sub Maj Sanjay Kumar, and Nripendra Misra among others.
The first edition of Champions of Change Maharashtra Award was organized on 30 September 2021 at Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai with Hon’ble Governor of Maharashtra Shri Bhagat Singh Koshyari as the Chief Guest and notable awardees included Devendra Fadnavis, Dilip Walse-Patil, Nana Patole, Jackie Shroff, Dia Mirza, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Himanshu Shah, Motilal Oswal, Sindhutai Sapkal, and Popatrao Pawar.
The Champions of Change Telangana Award was organized on 25th February 2022 at Hyderabad, Telangana with Hon’ble Justice K G Balakrishnan (Former Chief Justice of India & Former Chairman NHRC India) as the Chief Guest and the notable awardees included Dr. D. Nageshwara Reddy, P V Sindhu, Rameswar Rao Jupally, Jayesh Ranjan, Anjani Kumar, Allu Arjun, and Samantha Ruth Prabhu.
The first edition of Champions of Change Madhya Pradesh was organized on 12th April 2022 at Kushabhau Thakre Hall, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh with Hon’ble Governor of Madhya Pradesh Shri Mangubhai Patel as the Chief Guest and the notable awardees included Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Aziz Qureshi, Tijan Bai, Vikram Verma, Syed Zafar Islam, Malini Gaur, Dilip Suryavanshi, Girish Agarwal, Bhagirathi Prasad, Piyush Mishra, Banwari Lal Chouksey, Divyanka Tripathi and Arya Chhabra.
The second edition of Champions of Change Madhya Pradesh was organized on 19th July 2023 at Kushabhau Thakre Hall, Madhya Pradesh with Hon’ble Governor of Madhya Pradesh Shri Mangubhai Patel as the Chief Guest and the notable awardees included Spiritual Orator Pt Pradeep Mishra, Social Worker Pt Om Prakash Mehta, Padma Sri Dr MC Dawar, Krishna Gaur,Govindpura MLA Krishna Gaur, Chairman MP Building Hemant Tiwari, Indian Actress Saumya Tandon, VK Agarwal, MD Agarwal, Jai Narain Chowksey, Chairperson, LNCT, Bhopal, Indian Actor Anil Singh Chandel, Anvesh Manglam, Bhavna Tokekar, Dr Saransh Jain, Rohit Jain, Dr Ajay Rana, Astrologer Manoj Sahu, and Umashankar Singh.
The Champions of Change Karnataka Award was organized on 7th November 2023 at Bangalore with Shri Thawar Chand Gehlot (Hon’ble Governor of Karnataka) as the Chief Guest and the notable awardees included Bharat Ratna C N R Rao, Padma Vibhushan S M Krishna, Padma Vibhushan D. Veerendra Heggade, Padma Shri Tulsi Gowda, Padma Shri Manjamma Jogathi, Tejasvi Surya, Venkatesh Prasad, Vishnuvardhan, V Ravichandran, Smt. Rajeshwari Gayakwad among others.
