Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards-2017

New Delhi, January 12, 2017: 1. 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas celebrations are being held in Bangalore from January 7-9,2017. PBD conventions are being held every year since 2003 and we have been honoring our Pravasis since the first edition.

2. It was decided late last year to hold the PBD conventions after an interval of two years. Therefore, the number of awards to be conferred for PBD 2017 have been doubled to 30. The Jury cum Awards Committee can also make upto six suo-motto nominations for persons from the fields in which the awards are to be conferred. This year, the jury also considered Pravasi’s contribution for achievements on philanthropic investments and charitable work in India and for contribution towards India’s development.

3. Nominations were invited in the prescribed format from all eligible categories of Overseas Indians/Organizations. The last date for receipt of nominations at the Ministry was 29th August 2016.

4. The Jury-cum-Awards Committee, chaired by Hon’ble Vice-President, considered all the nominations for the PBSA. A list of 123 nominations that were found eligible as per the guidelines and another list of 55 nominations that were received late were presented for consideration of the Committee. The nominations were initially examined by a Screening Committee comprising of Officers from the Ministry of External Affairs.

5. The Jury-cum-Awards Committee for Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards (PBSA) comprised of following members:

i. Vice President of India-Chairman

ii. Hon’ble EAM , Vice-Chairman

iii. Shri Swapan Dasgupta, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha

iv. Principal Secretary to PM

v. Dr. S. Jaishankar, Foreign Secretary

vi. Shri Rajeev Mehrishi, Home Secretary

vii. Shri Satish Chandra, former Ambassador of India to the USA

viii. Ms. Indra Noooyi CEO Pepsico

ix. Shri Yusuf Ali M.A. Managing Director, Lulu Group of Industries, UAE

x. Shri Shyam Parande, Secretary, Antar Rashtriya Sahyog Parishad

xi. Shri Dnyaneshwar M. Mulay, Secretary (OIA & CPV) & Member Secretary

6. The Jury members considered all eligible nominations and the relevant information placed before the Committee. After detailed discussions, thirty nominees were unanimously recommended by the Jury-cum-Awards Committee for Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards, 2017 by the Committee on December 20,2016.

List of Pravasi Bharatiya Samman-2017 Awardees