An India-based voluntary agency has conferred its Mother Teresa Memorial Award for Social Justice on the late Indian business leader Ratan Tata for ‘his role beyond business’ and 11 others. “Ratan Tata has left a lasting legacy of service and social responsibility that conti-nues to inspire and uplift commu-nities,” said Abraham Mathai, founder-chairman of Harmony Foundation.
The Mumbai-based non-gov-ernmental organization instituted the annual award in memory of Saint Mother Teresa in 2005.The posthumous award to Tata was received by Siddharth Sharma, CEO of Tata Trusts, on Nov. 10 in Mumbai at a function. Tata, former chairman of the Tata Group, died on Oct. 9 in Mum-bai, aged 86. He is credited with putting the Indian conglomerate on the global map. Under his leadership, the group’s revenue rose from US$4 billion to US$100 billion between 1991 and 2012. Tata is known as an iconic business leader and a well-known philanthropist. Tata is also known for his social commitments and philanthropy. Through Tata Trusts, he impacted countless li-ves, fostering education, health-care, and social welfare initiatives across India, Mathai said. Polish activists Lena Grochowska and W³adys³aw Grochowski jointly won the award for their humani-tarian efforts to empower Ukrai-nian refugees in Poland. Their organization – Lena Grochowska Foundation – received the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ Nansen Refugee Award last year.