Veteran industrialist and former Tata Group Chairman, Ratan N. Tata on Friday was presented the ALERT Being Award for Lifetime Achievement for his philanthropy and business excellence.
Amenity Lifeline Emergency Response Team (ALERT) said by living a life of innovation, inclusion, empathy, utmost simplicity, and, above all, touching many lives through the various TATA institutions, bound by an ultimate purpose of ‘social transformation’, generations to come will look to him for leading a life full of positive impact. Mr. Tata could not be present at the event, and the award was collected on his behalf by Sarabjeet Singh, senior vice-president - Operations, Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL).
A team from Srivaikuntam (a village in the Southern part of Tamil Nadu), which was instrumental in helping thousands of people who were stranded in a train during the heavy rain in December 2023 were given the ALERT Being Icon Award. The team collected the award on behalf of the whole village. Even when their village was struggling due to the downpour, they collected rice and groceries available in their houses and cooked for the train passengers for almost two days.
The ‘Rat Hole Miners’ (Uttarakhand Tunnel Collapse) were also honoured with the ALERT Being Icon Award. The 12-member team rescued trapped workers in the Silkyara Barkot tunnel collapse in Uttarkashi.
The ALERT Being Awards under the individual category were presented to five persons for their service during emergencies.
Jeyalakshmi, a staff nurse from Thoothukudi who helped deliver a baby during the floods, was given an award under the category Going Beyond Call of Duty. Under the Organisation Category, Nizams Institute of Medical Sciences, United Way of Chennai, Dhara Sansthan, and Dharani Geotech Engineers were given awards.
R. Seshasayee, Chairman of Adyar Cancer Institute and Asian Paints, and Mohan Kameswaran, Managing Director, Madras ENT Research Foundation, gave away the awards.
Mike Muralidharan, Chairman, ALERT, said: “At times of an emergency, most people have the heart to help but do not know how to go about it. The aim is to inspire more people to come forward and handle emergency response, so that no life is lost for dearth of attention.”
