India’s health minister gives Caritas India best NGO award

New Delhi: Caritas India, the aid agency of the Catholic bishops in India, was on October 2 awarded the best NGO 2020 for healthcare services during Covid-19.

Federal Minister of Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan presented the award to Caritas executive director Father Paul Moonjeli during a virtual ceremony.

India Today media group organizes the annual Safaigiri Award on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. This year the award was reincarnated into Healthgiri Awards 2020.

The India Today Group started hosting the award since 2015 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave away the awards to a series of people who made their mark by contributing to the clean India campaign.

The award this year was given across nine categories including: Best state in combating Covid-19; Best celebrity contribution in spreading awareness; Best far-reaching corporate contribution for a wider social impact; Best testing facility; Best NGO or other entity that extended timely help to migrants; Best innovation for Covid-Related activity in times of the pandemic; Best logistics services provider; Best NGO or other entity offering healthcare services; and Best health manager.

The organizers said the Healthgiri Awards 2020 was aimed to salute the invincible spirit of corona warriors who have led the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic. The award is conferred to individuals or organizations for their contribution in fighting the pandemic in India. The contribution could be either in combating Covid-19 or reducing fatalities, bettering economy or helping people fight the crisis.

Father Moonjely said the award recognizes the aid agency’s humble efforts to mitigate the sufferings of humanity in the wake of this Covid pandemic.

“I dedicate this award to all our Covid warriors, health workers and volunteers in different parts of the country at community and institutional levels. It gives us added courage and heightened motivation to march forward with our mission of love and care even amid new challenges. We are indeed humbled by this honor,” the Caritas chief said after receiving the award.

The Catholic priest pointed out that the pandemic had created a lot of fear and hopelessness among people that was amplified with the exodus of migrants.

“But the institutional strength of the Church as a humanitarian collective helped us to team up together and reach out to the last mile with the amazing support of the Church leadership,” Father Moonjely explained.

The one to one video conferencing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi added energy to take up the massive operation, he added.

Caritas India during the Covid-19 humanitarian response went to the extra mile to show solidarity and support to the vulnerable and marginalized sections of society. Caritas India proposed a strategy of “Be Informed, Be Trained, Be Cautioned, Be Connected and Be Compassionate,” in line with Caritas Internationalis, Father Moonjely explained.

As a strong collective, Caritas India partners and congregational institutions, contributed to break the chain of spreading Covid-19 by sharing knowledge, resources and reaching out to the weak and marginalized communities, with interventions around four key areas – Food Support; Health, Hygiene and Sanitation; Psychosocial Support and Creating Awareness.

Caritas India also reached out to various sections of society in India – migrants on the move, individuals at the camps and quarantine centers, differently-abled, hostelers, tribal refugees, sex workers and their children, daily wage laborers, landless families, widows and widowers, orphans, pregnant women, homeless people, individuals and families with no PDS (public distribution System) cards, people living in remote areas, PLHIV, Cancer patients in the hospitals, old age people, the third gender, police personnel on duty, cyclist and truck drivers on the highways – the list is long and non-discriminatory.