Samarthya 2020 awards to honour 9 outstanding achievers with disability

Every year the Collective Action for Basic Rights Foundation (CBRF) recognises and celebrates the achievements of nine people with disabilities from all around India. The aim is to create awareness in the larger public about the enormous potential that lies within all of us, regardless of disability.

Subhadra from Odisha was born without arms. But she can do everything on her own – get dressed, comb her hair, eat and write – all using her feet. That’s not all. She also helps out her family, cooks and cleans the house. She is also a good student and is passionate about art.

39-year-old Shashikant from Basia village, Gorakpur, is bedridden due to a tumour on his back. He helps people in surrounding villages access disability certificates, UDID and rail passes, with online booking of train tickets, application for PAN, online banking transactions, etc. He does all this from the confines of his bed.

Naveen, who sustained a spinal cord injury in a accident, is a skilled cricketer and has represent ed Tamil Nadu in a National Wheelchair Cricket Tournament in Maharashtra.

Samarthya awards given every year to disabled achievers

This is just a small sample of the disabled achievers who will be felicitated and honoured with the Samarthya Awards for 2020. The awards are given every year by the Collective action for Basic Rights Foundation (CBRF), an NGO founded in 2011 to work with people with disabilities in rural India. Today, CBRF reaches out to over 89,000 disabled people, their families and communities across 20 states.

Like Naveen, Shahsikant and Subhadra, the CBRF has enabled many disabled children and adults. The Samarthya awards are given year in celebration of their hard work and determination.

Such a metamorphosis is in process across 20 states and one Union Territory of India. This year, nine of these people with disabilities are being felicitated at Samarthya 2020. This is an an event of Collective action for Basic Rights Foundation (CBRF) to applaud the extraordinary achievements of rural PwDs in Empowerment, Education, Livelihood, Art and Sports. – Nicholas Guia Rebelo, Executive Director, Collective Action for Basic Rights Foundation

Samarthya 2020 brings to public awareness the heroism of individual persons with disabilities who go the extra mile to ensure that disabled people are included in day to day life. Winners get a cash award f PwDs, who went the extra mile to ensure that PwDs are included in our day to day life. Each of them will receive a cash award of  ₹ 10,000 and a trophy.

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