BL Changemaker Award Winners

Unified Payments Interface (UPI): Today, if people can make payments or transfer money at a click of a button, it is because of UPI. The interface is at the forefront of the government’s effort to expand the formal economy by reducing cash transactions.

‘If one is determined, change will happen’ “Old habits are hard to break and new habits are hard to form. But if one is determined, then change is bound to happen,” says Dilip Asbe, MD and CEO of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). Asbe, like his predecessor AP Hota, has been working to change the way India makes payments.

Dr Abhay Bang (68) spent much of his childhood in Mahatma Gandhi’s Sevagram Ashram. He entered a medical college when he was 17 and met Rani Chari, his future wife. He completed his MD in Internal Medicine and she in Obstetrics & Gynaecology.

‘We deliberately chose to go where the problems are’ Born in 1950, Dr Abhay Bang (68) spent much of his childhood in Mahatma Gandhi’s Sevagram Ashram in Wardha, Maharashtra. His father was a Gandhian and the Mahatma’s teachings left a strong impression on him. He entered a medical college when he was 17 and met Rani Chari, his future wife. He completed his MD in Internal Medicine and she in Obstetrics & Gynaecology.

Srikanth Bolla: Born blind into a family of agriculturists in Seetharamapuram in Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh, his entire life is testimony to the manner in which he has defied considerable odds and driven change – in his own life and in the lives of others. Today, he runs Bollant Industries Limited, with five factories and 650 people, nearly half of whom are disabled men and women.

‘I always had the urge to do something differently’ Srikanth Bolla was born blind into a family of agriculturists in Seetharamapuram in Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Bolla persisted and triumphed against adversity, fighting every step of the way, from getting an education to venturing into an entrepreneurial career.

‘We know our borrowers; data is not everything’ Chandra Shekhar Ghosh didn’t quite set out to set up a bank. After clearing his MSc in Statistics from Dhaka University in 1985, he took up a job at BRAC in Bangladesh, before moving to West Bengal, where he had a short stint at a Howrah-based microfinance institution (MFI).

‘We know our borrowers; data is not everything’ Chandra Shekhar Ghosh didn’t quite set out to set up a bank. After clearing his MSc in Statistics from Dhaka University in 1985, he took up a job at BRAC in Bangladesh, before moving to West Bengal, where he had a short stint at a Howrah-based microfinance institution (MFI).

‘It’s better to touch a billion lives than have a billion dollars’ Working out of an unpretentious office in a Delhi suburb, social entrepreneurs twins Hilmi and Subhi Quraishi, founders of ZMQ, have been quietly transforming the lives of many using their coding skills.

‘It’s better to touch a billion lives than have a billion dollars’ Working out of an unpretentious office in a Delhi suburb, social entrepreneurs twins Hilmi and Subhi Quraishi, founders of ZMQ, have been quietly transforming the lives of many using their coding skills.

His company, Zoho, competes with the likes of Microsoft, Google and Salesforce with its SaaS products, which are used by over 30 million customers. Zoho’s products are made not just by top engineers but by people from economically poor backgrounds

‘Remaining private allows us to reinvent ourselves’ Zoho, founded by Sridhar Vembu, is a highly successful ‘Made in India' software product company, with its software as a service products being used by over 30 million customers worldwide. The Zoho suite has emerged as a leader in the cloud and on devices. It today competes with global giants, including Microsoft, Google and Salesforce.

Unified Payments Interface (UPI): Today, if people can make payments or transfer money at a click of a button, it is because of UPI. The interface is at the forefront of the government’s effort to expand the formal economy by reducing cash transactions.
Dr Abhay Bang (68) spent much of his childhood in Mahatma Gandhi’s Sevagram Ashram. He entered a medical college when he was 17 and met Rani Chari, his future wife. He completed his MD in Internal Medicine and she in Obstetrics & Gynaecology.
Srikanth Bolla: Born blind into a family of agriculturists in Seetharamapuram in Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh, his entire life is testimony to the manner in which he has defied considerable odds and driven change – in his own life and in the lives of others. Today, he runs Bollant Industries Limited, with five factories and 650 people, nearly half of whom are disabled men and women.
‘We know our borrowers; data is not everything’ Chandra Shekhar Ghosh didn’t quite set out to set up a bank. After clearing his MSc in Statistics from Dhaka University in 1985, he took up a job at BRAC in Bangladesh, before moving to West Bengal, where he had a short stint at a Howrah-based microfinance institution (MFI).
‘It’s better to touch a billion lives than have a billion dollars’ Working out of an unpretentious office in a Delhi suburb, social entrepreneurs twins Hilmi and Subhi Quraishi, founders of ZMQ, have been quietly transforming the lives of many using their coding skills.
His company, Zoho, competes with the likes of Microsoft, Google and Salesforce with its SaaS products, which are used by over 30 million customers. Zoho’s products are made not just by top engineers but by people from economically poor backgrounds
Published on March 16, 2018
TOPICS
Unified Payments Interface (UPI): Today, if people can make payments or transfer money at a click of a button, it is because of UPI. The interface is at the forefront of the government’s effort to expand the formal economy by reducing cash transactions.

BL Changemaker Award Winners

Reliance Jio: If there is one reason why India leapfrogged from 155th position in mobile broadband penetration to becoming the world’s largest mobile data consumer in a year’s time, it is Reliance Jio. Its launch has seen data prices crash and data usage rise thereby changing the lives of people both in cities and rural India.

Changemaker of the Year

An autonomous, secular, rights-based organisation that fights for the rights of Muslim women.

Social Transformation

She began to see herself as a problem solver when she was barely 13. That is when she initiated the #saynotocrackers campaign. Two years later she started Why Waste?, an initiative that hopes to save millions of litres of water from being wasted in restaurant glasses.

Young Changemakers

‘We know our borrowers; data is not everything’ Chandra Shekhar Ghosh didn’t quite set out to set up a bank. After clearing his MSc in Statistics from Dhaka University in 1985, he took up a job at BRAC in Bangladesh, before moving to West Bengal, where he had a short stint at a Howrah-based microfinance institution (MFI).

Financial Transformation

Digital Transformation

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