V.C. PADMANABHAN MEMORIAL AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE 2019 ANNOUNCED
Thrissur: The V.C. Padmanabhan Memorial Awards for Excellence for the year 2019 were announced today. Prominent winners for the year include Cine actor Shri Jagathy Sreekumar and environmentalist Smt. Saalumarada Thimmakka. The other winners include Prof. P.J. Kurien, former Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha, Mr. T.K.A. Nair (IAS Retd.), former Adviser to the Prime Minister and Mr. Romesh Sobti, MD & CEO, IndusInd Bank.
The awards will be presented to the winners at a function on June 11, 2019 at the Lulu International Convention Centre, Thrissur. Hon. Justice (Retd.) Antony Dominic, Chairman, Kerala State Human Rights Commission & former chief Justice, High Court of Kerala, will be the Chief Guest.
The V.C. Padmanabhan Memorial Awards were instituted in the year 2010 to commemorate the illustrious founder of the Manappuram Group.
The following is the full list of Awardees for the year 2019:
| Category | Awardees |
| Arts and Literature | Shri Jagathy Sreekumar, Film Actor |
| Ecology and Environment Conservation | Smt. Saalumarada Thimmakka, Environmentalist |
| Business Excellence Leading to Development of Society at Large | Shri Romesh Sobti, MD & CEO, IndusInd Bank |
| Civil Servant Achieving Excellence in Public Administration | Shri. T.K.A. Nair, Former Advisor to the Prime Minister of India |
| Public Representative with Excellence in Good Governance | Prof. P.J. Kurien, Former Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha |
Distinguished awardees in earlier years have included Dr. E. Sreedharan (MD, Delhi Metro) in 2010, Shri. M. Damodaran (former Chairman, SEBI) in 2012, Shri. Vinod Rai (former CAG) in 2013, Shri Amjad Ali Khan and Shri Adoor Gopalakrishnan in 2015, Shri M.T. Vasudevan Nair (2016), Mr. Amitabh Kant IAS (CEO, Niti Aayog), Mr. Shashi Tharoor (Member of Parliament) in 2017 and former Prime Minister Dr. Manamohan Singh in 2018.
The six -member jury that selected the winners for the year 2019 was headed by Hon. Justice (Retd.) Cyriac Joseph, former Judge, Supreme Court of India. The other jury members were Justice (Retd.) M. Ramachandran, former Judge, High Court of Kerala, Shri. T. Balakrishnan, IAS (Retd.), former MD, INKEL Ltd., Shri. T.M. Manoharan, IFS (Retd.), former Chairman, Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission, Dr. P.V. Krishnan Nair (former Secretary, Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy) and Shri. V.P. Nandakumar (MD & CEO, Manappuram Finance Ltd.).
The Awards function will be followed in the post-lunch session by the V.C. Padmanabhan Memorial Annual Lecture to be delivered by Shri. T.K.A. Nair, Former Advisor to the Prime Minister of India, on the topic, “Civil Services in Governance”.
