SSSAHE - Sri Sathya Sai Award for Human Excellence

Sri Sathya Sai Award for Human Excellence is being instituted by Sri Sathya Sai University for Human Excellence to honour and celebrate individuals who lead a life of service and sacrifice to serve mankind in various fields of social relevance. The awards are conferred upon individuals who traverse on a path beyond their call of duty in seven categories of social relevance such as; Education, Health, Environment, Woman and Child Welfare, Unity of Religions, Music and Fine Arts, and Sports.

A distinguished panel of jury from India deliberates and chooses the awardees every year, based on a selected theme. The Award is primarily meant to identify individuals from around the world, for their exemplary contribution in the categories mentioned, with an emphasis on individuals from the emerging world – India, South Asia, South-East Asia, Middle-East, Africa and Latin America.

The most important focus of the Award is to recognise contribution made for the advancement of human values, in which ever field of work, through:

• Nurturing values of love, compassion, generosity, empathy, integrity, respect for human dignity, and selfless service

• Promoting peace and non-violence

• Promoting respect for religion and culture

• Advancement of the marginalised and poorer sections of society

• Fostering human values in younger generation

The panel of distinguished jury are - Mr Sunil Gavaskar, Dr Ajay Mathur, Mr Ravi Singh, Prof J S Rajput, Dr Gururaj Karajagi, Dr J Shashidhara Prasad, Ms Gulshaa Begum, Dr Padma Subrahmanyam, Mr Samuel K Samuel, Swami Nikhileswarananda, Dr Sajeeda Begum, Ms Gayathri B Kalia, Dr Anitha Suxena, Ms Donna L Goodman, Swami Mitrananda, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Dr Shiv Kumar Sarin, Dr Hafeezur Rahman, Mrs Sudha Ragunathan, Mrs Tanusree Shankar and Mr Somdev Kishore Devvarman.

They deliberate and choose the awardees from around the world every year, based on a selected theme. The themes for the last four years have been: 2016 – Men and Women Achievers; 2017 – Women Achievers; 2018 – Young Achievers; 2019 – Unsung Heroes of India; 2021 – Celebrating the COVID Warriors of India; 2022 – Celebrating Shakti Women of Excellence; 2023 – Rural Upliftment (Women of Excellence). Exposure of the youth to different aspects of contributing to the society in a beneficial way, based on their passion and interest, inspiring them and creating awareness about different social concerns, and the need for youth to step up is the primary goal of organising this very important event every single year.