Pratham has been
selected as the winner of the prestigious CNN-IBN
Indian of the Year award in the public service
category for its contributions in the field of
literacy and education. The CNN-IBN award honors
and recognizes Indians whose extraordinary endeavors
have built brand India. Other 2009 winners include
Rahul Gandhi (Politics), Saina Nehwal (Sports), the
Satyam revival team (Business), and AR Rahman
(Entertainment).
“We are delighted to be part of the extraordinary
achievements that are recognized by the award. For
U.S. donors, Pratham provides an extremely
cost-effective opportunity to directly combat child
illiteracy," says Pratham USA President, Atul
Varadhachary.
CNN-IBN’s recognition of Pratham stands as a strong
testimony to the scale and effectiveness of the
organization’s work and the passion and dedication
of its people. The other nominees in the public
service category were Anna Hazare, Association for
Democratic Reward,
Dr Devi Shetty, Ecosphere Spiti and Naaz Foundation.
Winners are chosen through a rigorous four-step
process.
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh spoke about
Pratham
at the awards ceremony in New Delhi on December
21st.
He remarked, “One organization that does work for
the upliftment of the silent majority is Pratham. In
honoring them today, we recognize a pioneering NGO
model that draws on the expertise and experience of
educationists, corporates, workers, activists and
professionals and unites them in the common vision
of a better life for all our children.”
Madhav Chavan, Co-Founder and CEO of Pratham
accepted the award on behalf of the organization and
commented on the significance of receiving the award
“in the year that the Parliament passed the Right to
Education Act.”
About Pratham:
Pratham is one of the world's largest non-profit
organizations in the field of primary education. Pratham,
which means "first" in Sanskrit was founded in the
slums of Mumbai in 1994 with UNICEF support. Pratham’s
direct programs, including pre-schools, community
libraries and remedial learning programs reach more
than 1 million children every year. Pratham's
Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), which is
supported by Google.org, evaluates India's status of
education through direct testing of over 700,000
children in 16,000 villages across India. To
support newly literate children across India,
Pratham Books has developed and published over 130
titles and printed over
3 million children's books in local Indian
languages.
Pratham launched the Read India program in 2007
to reach the ~100 million children in India who
cannot read. Supported by the William and Flora
Hewlett Foundation
and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, this
catalytic program works in partnership with state
governments and local communities to ensure that
primary school children can read, write and do basic
math. The program has reached over 34 million
children so far!
With an annual budget of less than
$15 million, Pratham combines large-scale impact
with an extremely efficient use of funds. Pratham
USA , a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a
four-star rating (the highest possible) from Charity
Navigator, accepts tax deductible contributions from
U.S. donors.