Industrialist and the Emeritus Chairman of Tata Sons Ratan Tata has been awarded ‘Sewa Ratna’ by the RSS-affiliated Sewa Bharti for his contribution to the field of philanthropy. However, he was not able to attend the function.
Apart from Tata, Chalasani Babu Rajendra Prasad was also facilitated with the honour. Twenty-four other dignitaries and institutions were also awarded for their selfless social service at a function attended by Uttarakhand Governor Lt Gen Gurmit Singh (retired).
“The meaning of service can be learned from Sewa Bharti, it is an organisation that resembles selflessness. Someone who has no one has Sewa Bharti,” Singh said in a statement.
The distinguished personalities were awarded on the basis of “priceless contribution in social work or providing funds for social development”, Sewa Bharati said in the statement.
The 84-year-old industrialist was last month named as one of the new trustees of the Prime Ministers Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM-CARES).
Besides Ratan Tata, KT Thomas and Kariya Munda, the government has also nominated three names for the constitution of the advisory board to the PM CARES Fund. Tata along with other trustees will have the responsibilities of maintaining the accountability of the Trust, along with fulfilling the objectives with which it was set up.
Further, they have also been charged with managing the contribution process to ensure proper application of the Trust property, and preparing and submitting all filings, accounts and returns as required under applicable law.
Meanwhile, Ratan Tata is the recipient of two of the highest civilian awards of India, the Padma Vibhushan (2008) and Padma Bhushan (2000).
