Patiala NGO bags award

Patiala, August 5

The 8th mBillionth South Asian Awards were held in New Delhi on August 4. This year, a total of 294 entries across 10 categories had applied and project iSEWA of the Patiala Foundation was one of the finalists and won in the category of Smart Settlements & Urbanisation.

Ravee S Ahluwalia, chief functionary of the Patiala Foundation, received the award for iSEWA initiative for providing better access of essential services to the residents of cities and to support livelihood of essential service providers. The initiative was widely appreciated by the jury.

The mobile phone has emerged as a revolutionary new way to access information, knowledge and services. In a short span of time, mobile phones have moved from being a luxury to a necessity and have become an indispensable part of everyday life. The scope of mobile technology and its solutions are practically endless. It has transformed the way we work - be it large, for-profit corporations or a not-for profit entity.

“It is humbling to see the solutions that mobile technology can offer for social good and create a sustainable impact on millions of people in India. This is more so in South Asia, Asia Pacific and other parts of the developing world,” said Rave Ahluwalia. The Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) in 2010 has created the mBillionth Award South Asia to identify and recognise mobile innovations for development.

“The Patiala Foundation has been a fulfilling journey of personal growth for me. With my growing passion for various projects of doing more the foundation has grown stronger with each passing year touching lives of people previously unknown to me. I intend to keep moving forward with this in different ways,” said Ahluwalia, who runs his NGO in Patiala. — TNS