CHENNAI: The Rajasthani Association of Tamil Nadu honoured six of their members with the Rajasthan Ratna, Rajasthan Shree and Rajasthan Vishisht SevaSamman for social service and community empowerment, in a glittering ceremony at the Music Academy recently.
The chief guest was P P Chaudhary, Union Minister of State for Law and Justice, Electronics and Information Technology, and Devji M Patel, MP was the guest of honour.
The Rajasthan Ratna was conferred on N Sugalchand Jain and Agarchand M Chordia, for their service in the field of education, medicine, industry or social service, for 25 years.
The Rajasthan Shree, which is given to members who have worked in the same field for at least 10 years, was conferred on S Shantilal Jain, Ramesh Gupt Neerad, and M Goutamchand Bohra. The Rajasthan Vishisht Seva Samman was presented to Shobakant Das.
Chaudhary acknowledged the tireless effort of the community and urged them to form a bridge between their roots, industrial nature and contributions in Tamil Nadu, while assuring them of all possible support from the government.
He further said that the Goods and Services Tax, which will come into effect soon, will be a ‘game changer’ and urged the members of the community to understand the intricacies of the bill to better equip themselves.
“We should aim at financial inclusion for all — the grievances of the economically poor needs to be addressed if we are to best utilise manpower. This can only happen through uplifting the dalits, farmers, and the villages,” added Chaudhary.
The function also marked the 49th anniversary of the formation of the association, which was formed to promote cordiality, goodwill, and understanding among all sections of the society by bringing together the Rajasthani community to help the poor.
This year, the association has presented nearly Rs 40 lakh worth of scholarship to students irrespective of caste, creed and religion.