Real-life Heroes Honoured At The 6th Edition Of Alert Being Award

Chennai, March 16th, 2023: The Sixth Edition of “ALERT Being” Awards was held today at Chennai to honour Good Samaritans who have contributed greatly to society by saving human lives. ALERT, a voluntary non-profit organization working to ensure Right to Life a reality in India, organized the award ceremony and presented awards - ranging across different award categories, namely, individuals, organizations, and people going beyond the call of duty – to 13 real-life heroes. The chief guest, Honourable Health Minister Thiru Ma Subramanian, gave away the awards to real-life heroes and Launched the ALERT Awareness Cell Phone Radio that brings First-Aid awareness to rural Tamilnadu. Prof. Dr. S. Gowri, Vice Chancellor, University of Madras, graced the ceremony with his presence as the distinguished Guest of Honour.

Chosen by the distinguished members of the jury from nominations received from across India, the ALERT Being Awards under Individual category was presented to six real-life heroes who have set great examples of saving and preserving lives to humanity. The Category of Going Beyond Call of Duty was presented to Tamil Nadu Commando Force Instructor, A. Suvikkan Raj. Under the Organisation Category, Karunai Ulangal Trust, NETHRODAYA – An Institution for Differently Abled, and Samarthanam Trust for Disabled received the awards. 

The Board of Trustees of ALERT conferred the awards under the Category of Organization Icon to Ananda Vikatan Group and Srinivasan Services Trust for the yeoman social impact created by them at scale. Also, Bugworks Research was conferred the ALERT Being Award in Social Venture – Special Category for using science to save humanity. 

In every edition, ALERT organizes a platform to bestow awards and appreciation to ordinary people who have gone, over and beyond, to express extraordinary compassion towards humanity. The Awardees’ astonishing, nerve-wrecking, real-life stories accentuate the need for everyone to help fellow human beings, and thereby, become the celebration’s icing on the cake. 

The distinguished members of the ABA Jury were Ms. Veena Kumaravel, Founder, Natural Group of Salons; Thiru. Md. Shakeel Akhtar IPS, Director General of Police (Retd.), Mr. Nawabzada Mohammed Asif Ali, Heir Apparent & Dewan to the Prince of Arcot; Dr. J.S. Rajkumar, Chairman and Chief Surgeon, Lifeline Hospitals; and Mr. Sujith Kumar, Founder, Maatram Foundation. Our event advisors were Dr. Renuka David, Managing Director, Radiant Medical Services and Mr. C. K. Kumaravel, CEO and Co-Founder, Natural Group of Salons.

We are grateful for enjoying the proud privilege of our associate sponsors, namely Pon Pure Chemical India Private Limited, Bahwan CyberTek, Mark Metro, Chaitanya, and TNKG Foundation. We thank our College Institution Partners – namely, Prince Dr. K. Vasudevan College of Engineering and Technology, Prince Shri Balaji Arts and Science College, Prince Shri Venkateshwara Padmavathy Engineering College, Asan Memorial College of Arts and Science, Ethiraj College for Women (Autonomous), Shri Sairam Engineering College, SRM Institute of Science & Technology,  Avichi College of Arts and Science, Maatram Foundation - for being the powerhouse of support in fueling our noble cause. Also, we extend our immense gratitude to our Industry Outreach Partners, namely, National Institute of Personnel Management (NIIPM), and National Human Resource Development (NHRD), Chennai.

Mr. V. M. Muralidharan, Chairman, ALERT NGO said, “Along with a significant improvement in awareness creation about the need for emergency ‘life saving’ support for helpless accident victims, there is an increase in skilled volunteerism. In this pursuit, the ALERT Golden Army, launched at various educational institutions, has helped us train enthusiastic youngsters at schools & colleges in emergency response. In addition, with an experience of 16 years in the ‘life saving’ mission, ALERT NGO extends support to and effectively collaborates with the state government in the implementation of the “Nammai Kaakkum 48” scheme.”

Speaking about the awardees, Ms. Kala Balasundaram, Founder Trustee said, “Today’s celebration is dedicated to all the selfless real-life heroes and sheroes out there, who have put others’ lives, over and above, their own. We hope that by bringing these powerful stories of courage and bravery to limelight, we could motivate and inspire many more such good Samaritans amongst us and to reiterate the truth, that goodness prevails.”

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Rajesh Trivedi, Co-Founder & Managing Trustee, ALERT said, “ The real heroes, honoured by respective awards, truly stand as the ambassadors of the mission of ALERT to save human lives. The next generation, comprising of the students of ALERT Golden Army Chapters from across various colleges, is inspired to take the mission forward. Also, we thank our Health Minister for launching ALERT Awareness Cell Phone Radio, a two-way communication IVRS (Interactive Voice Response System) that penetrates into those rural parts, where even smartphones and social media could not reach, to eradicate misinformation and disinformation about first aid and emergency response management in India. This propels the next decade of action in saving lives by ALERT.””

ALERT, a Chennai based NGO is a voluntary non-profit organization working to ensure ‘Right to Life’ becomes a reality in India marching towards the Goal set by legendary former President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam - “Train one in every family on Emergency Care”. On one hand, ALERT trains the common man on emergency response while on the other it collaborates with other stakeholders of the emergency response ecosystem such as ambulance services, hospitals, legal & enforcements, government bodies, research Institutes, etc. to better the emergency response ecosystem. Alert VoICE, launched by ALERT in the previous edition of ABA is India’s first community driven mobile based first responders’ network. Know more www.alert.ngo

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