M3M Foundation's Payal Kanodia honoured with The Mahatma Award 2022 for CSR Excellence

New Delhi, October 1, 2022: Dr. Payal Kanodia, Trustee, M3M Foundation, has been honoured with The Mahatma Award 2022 for her exemplary leadership in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and her unwavering efforts to help the unprivileged through M3M Foundation.

A grand award ceremony held at the India International Centre, New Delhi on October 1, where all the awardees were felicitated. There were over 1900 nominations for the Mahatma Award and 90 award winners in different categories.

The award was presented by the Chief Guest of the event Prof. Dr. Sankar Kumar Sanyal, President, Harijan Sevak Sangh, founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1932. The event was also attended by Padma Bhushan Rajashree Birla (Chairperson, Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiative and Rural Development); Guest of Honour Radhika Bharat Ram, who is the Jt. Vice Chairperson, Ram Schools, and Founder, KARM Fellowship); and Amit Sachdeva, Social Entrepreneur and Founder, Mahatma Award. 

As a leader in CSR initiatives, M3M Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the M3M Group, has always made a positive impact on society. Over the years, it has been working closely with the Government of India to develop, implement, and scale-up its social welfare programmes. Through its community service programmes in education, health, sports, disaster management, and environmental protection, the Foundation creates a sense of value and empowerment for people from the underprivileged communities. 

Upon receiving the prestigious award, Dr. Kanodia said, "The honour has both humbled and inspired me. My sincere thanks go out to Rajashri Birla Ji and the Aditya Birla Group for this kind gesture. This achievement will remind me of my responsibility towards society for the rest of my life."

She added, "This prestigious award is also a fitting recognition and validation of the incredible work M3M Foundation does to impact society positively. I am equally thankful to the M3M Foundation for providing me with the right platform to connect with the needy and underserved communities. I also owe this honour to my team members and their dedication to CSR. We have been acknowledged and honoured for our collective efforts."

The Mahatma Award is an initiative supported by Rajashri Birla and The Aditya Birla Group to recognise and honour individuals, organisations, and their compelling work. It cherishes impact leaders and change-makers worldwide who make a social impact and headway to a sustainable future. It also honours the most proficient sustainable, responsible social efforts and initiatives in the private, public, and development sectors.

Dr. Kiran Bedi (Social Impact Leader), Dr. Narendra Kumar Baldota (Baldota Group), Sh. Yogendra Yadav, (Social Activist), Dr. Raja Reddy and Dr. Radha Reddy (Indian Heritage and Culture promotor), Dr. Dhananjay Sarnath (Cancer Care), Dr. Purushottam Aggarwal (Famous Writer), Dr. V.K Raju (Eye Foundation of America) along with the organisations like Minda Group, Tech Mahindra, Aga Khan Foundation, AIIMS- Uttarakhand, Dabur India Limited, India Vision Foundation, Sterlite technologies, BALCO, Bharat Petroleum, Johnson and Johnson, The Moody’s Foundation, TCS and TATA Power-Delhi are some of the other recipients of Mahatma Award this year.

Since its inception, the Mahatma Award has honoured more than 325 change-making organizations and impact leaders across various categories and sectors. Some of the notable past recipients are Google Ad Grants, IBM Foundation, Twitter for Good, Microsoft Philanthropy, Piramal Foundation, ITC, L&T Technologies, Capgemini, Save the Children, Vodafone Americas Foundation, Feeding America, Hague Business Agency, Industrialist Ratan Tata - TATA Group, Rajashree Birla - Aditya Birla Group, Azim Premji - Wipro, Manish Sisodia, Deputy CM of Delhi, Shabana Azmi - Indian Actress and Social Worker, Rakhshanda Jalil - Author and Literary Historian, Bindeshwar Pathak - Sulabh International, Plan International, UNICEF, UNDP and many other Organizations and Individuals.