Rahul Gandhi Mocks PM Modi's Award, Letter from Kotler Says it Was for 'Efforts to Do Good in India'
The Presidential Award finds no mention on WMS's official website. Neither does it mention anything about the organisation bestowing such an honour on the Indian PM.
(Source: PTI/Kotler Impact)
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi was awarded the 'first ever' Philip Kotler Presidential award on Monday. But before celebrations and congratulations could die down, certain questions have surfaced and are at present doing the rounds of news and social media. What is the Philip Kotler Presidential award? Why was it given to the PM? Who were on the jury?
While the details remain unclear, Opposition chief Rahul Gandhi has taken the opportunity to mount a pointed attack on the government for bestowing the 'world famous' award on PM Modi.
Congratulating Modi on the award, Rahul went on to say that the award was so famous that it had 'no jury' and was backed by an 'unheard of Aligarh company'.
Many have outraged against Gandhi's hinted allegations on Twitter including Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani who tweeted that it was 'rich' of Gandhi to talk about such things.
The Bharat Ratna was awarded to Jawaharlal Nehru in 1955, Indira Gandhi in 1971 and Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.
However, despite the war of words, Gandhi's allegations raise serious questions.
Here are some facts that we know so far:
The Kotler award was presented by World Marketing Summit (WMS India), which comes under the global WMS Group founded by marketing guru and professor Philip Kotler in 2011. According to its website, it has been giving awards for excellence in marketing to individuals and organisations.
In 2018, it conducted the first WMS India awards called Kotler Excellence in Management Awards. The award ceremony took place in Dec 14 where GAIL India was one of the winners. The keynote speech was given by NITI Ayog CEO Amitabh Kant. The Kotler Presidential Award found no mention during the event.
However, the Presidential Award finds no mention on WMS's official website. Neither does it mention anything about the organisation bestowing such an honour on the Indian PM.
The website listed Professor Pramod Pathak of the IIT (ISM) Dhanbad along with Kotler himself as in-charge of the selection committee for the awards. It stated that nominations for awards were first sorted out by IIT (ISM) Dhanbad's Department of Management Studies who performed due diligence on all the entries.
However, speaking to News18, Pathak confirmed that he had nothing to do with this award.
"They seem to have got people from outside for this award. A separate team by Kotler was part of the selection process. I am not sure who it was," Pathak said.
When asked if he knew anything about the jury that chose PM Modi, Pathak said that he was not aware of it. He was part of the 2018 Excellence Awards and not the Presidential Awards.
A statement on Jan 14 by the PM's office stated that the award was started this year and would be given to nation heads annually based on their contributions to ‘people, profit and planet’.
Kotler himself was not part of the ceremony that awarded the PM.
However, he sent an email to Dr Jagdish Sheth of Emory University who handed the award to PM Modi.
News18 has accessed the email allegedly sent by Kotler to Sheth. He also expressed disappointment at not being able to personally make it.
A copy of the email reads thus:
Dear Jagdish,
I can't find the words to express how wonderful you have been in making it possible to give the Kotler Award to Prime Miniser Modi for his public leadership. It looks like the event went well. I am only saddened that I couldn't be there. My letter hopefully expressed with deep admiration of Prime Minister Modi and his accomplishments.
Our idea with the World Marketing Summit is to choose each year a national leader who epitomizes the best ideas for advancing their society with democratic values and ideals. I talked to a number of people from India and elsewhere who felt that Prime Minister Modi is doing his best to advance the Common Good in India. We choose a public leader who encourages companies in that country to pursue the triple bottom line of profits, people and the planet.
While the Presidential Award was not mentioned on the official WMS website, the news was, however, updated on the Kotler Impact website. Clicking on the link redirects the user to the Kotler Awards website that contains photos and information regarding the ceremony held in Jan 14.
The Awards website also listed out a number of jury members for the awards it presents including CEOs of companies such as the WMS Group, Nestle Japan and Arcature as well as academics such as Dr Anna Khan and Tauseef Zia Siddiqui himself. It was not clear from studying the website if this indeed was the jury that selected PM Modi.
News18 has reached out to Kotler Impact for further clarification but has not yet heard from the organisation.
According to the website, the WMS Group entered into an agreement with Kotler Impact, which is WMS's own marketing partner and Suslence Research International Institute Pvt Lt. to conduct the Excellence Awards in India for three years.
Suslence Research International Institute is the 'unheard of Aligarh' company that was established in 2017. According to a report in The Wire, its founder Tauseef Zia Siddiqui called the award 'highly confidential' and did not shed any light on the selection process or the jury. Siddiqui had also been part of the 2018 Excellence Awards selection committee.
The Wire report also stated that the Marketing Excellence Awards held in 2018 were co-sponsored by GAIL India, who also won an award. It was partnered by Patanjali and Republic TV.
The sponsors and partners for the Kotler Presidential Award ceremony held in January remain undisclosed. Prof Pradhan of IIT (ISM) Dhanbad confirmed that he was not aware of the sponsors for this particular award.
In 2018, Kotler allowed a selection committee comprising of IIT (ISM) Dhanbad and Kotler Impact to use his name to bestow awards. Though he himself was not present at the ceremony, certificate given to the PM was signed by Kotler and Sadia Kibria, the CEO of Kotler Impact, one of the organisers of the award.
While the details remain unclear, Opposition chief Rahul Gandhi has taken the opportunity to mount a pointed attack on the government for bestowing the 'world famous' award on PM Modi.
Congratulating Modi on the award, Rahul went on to say that the award was so famous that it had 'no jury' and was backed by an 'unheard of Aligarh company'.
I want to congratulate our PM, on winning the world famous “Kotler Presidential Award”!
In fact it's so famous it has no jury, has never been given out before & is backed by an unheard of Aligarh company.
Event Partners: Patanjali & Republic TV :)https://t.co/449Vk9Ybmz
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) January 15, 2019
Many have outraged against Gandhi's hinted allegations on Twitter including Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani who tweeted that it was 'rich' of Gandhi to talk about such things.
Rich !!! Coming from a person whose illustrious family decided to confer the ‘Bharat Ratna’ on themselves. https://t.co/ipzyRrXNiX — Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) January 15, 2019
The Bharat Ratna was awarded to Jawaharlal Nehru in 1955, Indira Gandhi in 1971 and Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.
However, despite the war of words, Gandhi's allegations raise serious questions.
Here are some facts that we know so far:
The Kotler award was presented by World Marketing Summit (WMS India), which comes under the global WMS Group founded by marketing guru and professor Philip Kotler in 2011. According to its website, it has been giving awards for excellence in marketing to individuals and organisations.
In 2018, it conducted the first WMS India awards called Kotler Excellence in Management Awards. The award ceremony took place in Dec 14 where GAIL India was one of the winners. The keynote speech was given by NITI Ayog CEO Amitabh Kant. The Kotler Presidential Award found no mention during the event.
However, the Presidential Award finds no mention on WMS's official website. Neither does it mention anything about the organisation bestowing such an honour on the Indian PM.
The website listed Professor Pramod Pathak of the IIT (ISM) Dhanbad along with Kotler himself as in-charge of the selection committee for the awards. It stated that nominations for awards were first sorted out by IIT (ISM) Dhanbad's Department of Management Studies who performed due diligence on all the entries.
However, speaking to News18, Pathak confirmed that he had nothing to do with this award.
"They seem to have got people from outside for this award. A separate team by Kotler was part of the selection process. I am not sure who it was," Pathak said.
When asked if he knew anything about the jury that chose PM Modi, Pathak said that he was not aware of it. He was part of the 2018 Excellence Awards and not the Presidential Awards.
A statement on Jan 14 by the PM's office stated that the award was started this year and would be given to nation heads annually based on their contributions to ‘people, profit and planet’.
PM @narendramodi received the first-ever Philip Kotler Presidential award.
The Award focuses on the triple bottom-line of People, Profit and Planet.
It will be offered annually to the leader of a Nation. pic.twitter.com/RPoQrB56e6
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) January 14, 2019
Kotler himself was not part of the ceremony that awarded the PM.
However, he sent an email to Dr Jagdish Sheth of Emory University who handed the award to PM Modi.
News18 has accessed the email allegedly sent by Kotler to Sheth. He also expressed disappointment at not being able to personally make it.
A copy of the email reads thus:
Dear Jagdish,
I can't find the words to express how wonderful you have been in making it possible to give the Kotler Award to Prime Miniser Modi for his public leadership. It looks like the event went well. I am only saddened that I couldn't be there. My letter hopefully expressed with deep admiration of Prime Minister Modi and his accomplishments.
Our idea with the World Marketing Summit is to choose each year a national leader who epitomizes the best ideas for advancing their society with democratic values and ideals. I talked to a number of people from India and elsewhere who felt that Prime Minister Modi is doing his best to advance the Common Good in India. We choose a public leader who encourages companies in that country to pursue the triple bottom line of profits, people and the planet.
While the Presidential Award was not mentioned on the official WMS website, the news was, however, updated on the Kotler Impact website. Clicking on the link redirects the user to the Kotler Awards website that contains photos and information regarding the ceremony held in Jan 14.
The Awards website also listed out a number of jury members for the awards it presents including CEOs of companies such as the WMS Group, Nestle Japan and Arcature as well as academics such as Dr Anna Khan and Tauseef Zia Siddiqui himself. It was not clear from studying the website if this indeed was the jury that selected PM Modi.
News18 has reached out to Kotler Impact for further clarification but has not yet heard from the organisation.
According to the website, the WMS Group entered into an agreement with Kotler Impact, which is WMS's own marketing partner and Suslence Research International Institute Pvt Lt. to conduct the Excellence Awards in India for three years.
Suslence Research International Institute is the 'unheard of Aligarh' company that was established in 2017. According to a report in The Wire, its founder Tauseef Zia Siddiqui called the award 'highly confidential' and did not shed any light on the selection process or the jury. Siddiqui had also been part of the 2018 Excellence Awards selection committee.
The Wire report also stated that the Marketing Excellence Awards held in 2018 were co-sponsored by GAIL India, who also won an award. It was partnered by Patanjali and Republic TV.
The sponsors and partners for the Kotler Presidential Award ceremony held in January remain undisclosed. Prof Pradhan of IIT (ISM) Dhanbad confirmed that he was not aware of the sponsors for this particular award.
In 2018, Kotler allowed a selection committee comprising of IIT (ISM) Dhanbad and Kotler Impact to use his name to bestow awards. Though he himself was not present at the ceremony, certificate given to the PM was signed by Kotler and Sadia Kibria, the CEO of Kotler Impact, one of the organisers of the award.