JRD Tata Awards
In 1997, PFI instituted the JRD Tata Memorial Awards in memory of the late Mr JRD Tata, its founder Chairman. The awards are presented to the states and districts, which have outstanding performance in population, reproductive health and family planning programmes. A Technical Advisory Committee, comprising experts from diverse academic backgrounds, guides PFI in selecting the awardees. The committee also draws up the indicators and appropriate methodology for the selection of the state/districts awards.
The 1st JRD Tata Memorial Award, 1997
The best performing state - Kerala
The best performing districts –
- Palakkad in Kerala (in the large population size category)
- Toothukudy in Tamil Nadu (in the medium population size category)
- Kurukshetra in Haryana (in the small population size category).
The awards were presented by the Prime Minister of India, Mr I K Gujral.
The 2nd JRD Tata Memorial Award, 2001
The best performing state - Tamil Nadu
The best performing districts –
- Chennai in Tamil Nadu (in the large population size category)
- Alappuzha in Kerala (in the medium population size category)
- Jorhat in Assam (in the small population size category).
Awards were also given to the best performing districts in the not-so-good performing states: Dehradun in Uttar Pradesh, Purbi Singhbhum in Bihar and Cuttack in Orissa were adjudged the winners.
The Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr C P Thakur, presented the awards.
The 3rd JRD Tata Memorial Award, 2003
The best performing state - Himachal Pradesh
The best performing districts –
- West Godavari in Andhra Pradesh (in the large population category)
- Churu in Rajasthan (in the medium population category)
The Vice President of India, Mr Bhairon Singh Shekhawat presented the awards.
The 4th JRD Tata Memorial Award, 2009
The Awards Committee decided to give two state-level awards - one from the bigger states (population of 10 million and above) and another from the smaller states (population less than 10 million). The winners -
- Chhattisgarh (among the 19 bigger states)
- Sikkim (among the 10 smaller states)
The Vice President of India, Mr M Hamid Ansari, presented the awards, which were received by the Chief Minister Sikkim, Mr P K Chamling, and the Health Minister of Chhatisgarh, Mr Amar Agrawal. While Chhattisgarh received the rolling trophy and cash prize of Rs.15 lakhs Sikkim received a rolling shield and cash prize of Rs. 10 lakhs.
The Awards Committee was chaired by the former Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh, Leila Seth, and comprised experts and eminent personalities Dr M S Swaminathan, Mr B G Deshmukh, Dr Abid Hussain and Ms Nirmala Buch.
