The Nehru Sidhant Kender Trust on Thursday presented the Sat Paul Mittal National Awards 2026 in Ludhiana, honouring four individuals and institutions for service to humanity, with cash prizes totalling Rs 20 lakh.

The ceremony was held on the 137th birth anniversary of India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and marked 34 years of the awards. The Trust was established in 1983 by the late Sat Paul Mittal.

Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria attended as chief guest, presented the Sat Paul Mittal National Awards 2026 and distributed scholarships to students. Trust President Rakesh Bharti Mittal was also present.

The prize money was divided across the Platinum and Gold categories, and each winner also received a citation.

“The awardees we honour today embody the true spirit of Seva, demonstrating that nation-building is a shared responsibility,” Kataria said. He urged students to “dream big” and to remember that “true success lies in lifting others as you progress.”

Mittal said the true measure of a nation’s progress lay not only in economic achievement but in its ability to uplift people and create opportunities for every section of society.

“As India advances towards Viksit Bharat, education and social empowerment must remain at the heart of our national development journey,” he said.

Awardees

Shalini Khanna, director of the NAB India Centre for Blind Women and Disability Studies, received the Platinum award in the individual category. After studying the status of blind women in India, she started the Centre for Blind Women in Delhi in 2002 with one staff member. Its work has since reached more than 28,000 blind and disabled women and children through skills training, rehabilitation, counselling, residential facilities and medical support. Through Discovering Hands, visually impaired women conduct breast cancer screening. She has also set up cafés run by visually impaired people.

Nitesh Kumar Jangir, co-founder of Coeo Labs and InnAccel, received the Gold award in the individual category for affordable medical technologies for neonatal, maternal and intensive care. His innovations include Saans, a neonatal breathing support system that works without electricity; Fetal Lite, a labour-monitoring system; and VAPCare, which is designed to reduce ventilator-associated pneumonia. Over the past five years they have reached more than 1 million care seekers, including over 100,000 neonates and 900,000 mothers through Saans and Fetal Lite.

Foundation to Educate Girls Globally received the Platinum award in the institutional category. Under The Audacious Project (2019–2025), it enrolled 1.58 million girls in over 30,000 villages and achieved 90% year-on-year retention. It also provided remedial learning to more than 954,000 children and life-skills training to over 299,000 adolescent girls. It works across Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Sankara Eye Foundation, India received the Gold award in the institutional category. Its Gift of Vision programme provides free screening, transport, surgery, meals and follow-up care. Over the last five years it has screened more than 2.34 million patients and performed over 1.02 million free surgeries through 17,958 camps across 224 districts in 10 states. Since inception it has screened over 7.85 million patients and restored sight to over 3 million people.

Scholarships

Since 1991, the Trust has awarded more than 31,000 scholarships worth over Rs 19 crore, with girls accounting for 65% of beneficiaries. This year it will give scholarships worth about Rs 6 crore to roughly 2,400 students. The Satya Scholarship Programme, a merit-cum-means initiative launched in 2025, covers 100% of annual course fees for meritorious students.

The Trust also runs the Sat Paul Mittal School and, with Shri Gow Rakshni Sabha, the Horizon School of Excellence in Ludhiana, which offers free education to underprivileged children. Its Vocational Centre offers three-month courses in GST and Tally. Until October 2026, 1,412 students had passed the assessment and 1,011 had secured placements in Ludhiana, at an average monthly salary of Rs 15,000.

Past recipients of the Sat Paul Mittal National Awards include Anna Hazare, E. Sreedharan, Ela R. Bhatt, Kiran Modi, Goonj, The Akshaya Patra Foundation and Smile Train India