Two Indian Entrepreneurs Among Schwab Foundation Social Innovation Awardees

The Schwab Foundation Social Innovation Awards were presented here on Tuesday, and among the winners were two Indians: Shuchin Bajaj of Ujala Cygnus Hospitals and Ajaita Shah of the social commerce platform Frontier Markets.

Shah is the CEO and founder of Frontier Markets (India), a company that works with women to provide rural households with a crucial last-mile connection.

It facilitates the connection between a rapidly expanding network of female entrepreneurs and over a million female consumers spread across thousands of villages using practical smartphone technology.

By 2030, it hopes to serve 100 million rural households. Shah has worked in rural India for more than 18 years in a variety of roles including marketing, distribution, microfinance, and creating gender-neutral business models.

In regions of India where there are no super-specialty and emergency healthcare facilities, Bajaj is the founder and director of Ujala Cygnus Hospitals (India), which runs 20 hospitals in New Delhi, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Haryana.

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By the end of 2025, it wants to grow to 25 hospitals with 2,500 beds.

Bajaj is not only a renowned doctor but also an investor in health technology. He is a member of the founding team of Medpho, a digital health start-up that offers high-quality healthcare to underserved communities. Medpho already guarantees free surgery for hundreds of patients each month.

The World Economic Forum announced the awards here at its Annual Meeting 1024, stating that the 16 organisations that the Schwab Foundation has recognized today are leading the way in advancing equitable access to healthcare, education, finance, and law, while also empowering women and young people and mitigating the effects of climate change. These organizations are from India to Morocco, and the United States to Ecuador.

In a world where trust in societal institutions is in decline due to rising geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty, violent conflicts, and mounting climate fears, these organizations are part of a global community that offers proven methods for building a more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable society.

“The Social Innovators of the Year 2024 represent a diverse group of entrepreneurs and innovators who are driving the change we need to create a more sustainable, inclusive future,” said Hilde Schwab, Co-Founder and Chairperson of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.

“The collective potential of this community offers a beacon of hope for acting with purpose and collaboration during uncertain times,” she added.

The 16 award winners become part of an already-existing network of organizations whose combined efforts, since 1998, have enhanced the lives of over 890 million people across more than 190 countries.

Over USD 900 million in economic value has been generated for the communities of the 64 organizations that have received awards from the Schwab Foundation in just the last three years.

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The organisations that are receiving awards this year include those that support the stewardship of Amazon forests by Indigenous peoples, encourage youth development through sport in Morocco, give youth in Colombia the tools to develop a culture of peace through leadership, innovation, and agency, and use technology to provide legal services to one million Ugandan citizens so they can exercise their legal rights.

Alongside public sector leaders supporting the social economy, the list of winners also includes innovative corporate initiatives that show a more impactful approach to business.

Four categories were represented among the 2024 awardees. Awards were given to Shah and Bajaj in the Social Entrepreneurs category.

The winners in the Corporate Social Innovation category were Ruchika Singhal, President of Medtronic LABS (USA), a non-profit subsidiary of the medical technology company Medtronic, and Saugata Banerjee, Global Head of Sustainable Programming (Singapore) at renowned eyewear company EssilorLuxottica.

With its headquarters in Singapore, Banerjee has been a leading advocate for advances in reasonably priced eye care, to assist in the global eradication of uncorrected low vision within a generation.

He launched the Eye Mitra program in 2012, preparing youth to work as micro-entrepreneurs in primary vision care in rural India.

Since then, the program has expanded to include nations like Kenya, Bangladesh, and Indonesia, and it is currently the biggest rural optical network in the world.

In the US, Africa, and Asia, Singhal oversees a group of over 100 technologists, designers, and specialists in field operations who work together to develop and execute healthcare delivery models for marginalized communities.

Through the best possible use of scarce resources in the healthcare system, LABS has improved clinical outcomes for over a million people by utilizing cutting-edge digital technologies.

Source: PTI