CHENNAI: Five people with disabilities were honoured for their achievements and contributions to the disabled community, at the 17th edition of the CavinKare Ability Awards function on Saturday.
The prestigious Ability Mastery Award went to para-athletic champion Venkatachalam M from Gudiyatham for his trail-blazing show in the International Para Games in Thailand in 2018. Venkatachalam was left with a severe disability after a road accident and worked in a mobile recharge shop but went on to win gold and silver at the games.
While the CavinKare Ability Special Recognition Award went to Bhargavi V Davar from Pune for her contributions to mental health and disability rights awareness, the CavinKare for Eminence went to Danish Mahajan of Shahpur Kandi, Punjab for setting up UDAN Radio which has disabled RJs.
Haryana’s Major Devender Pal Singh, who suffered injuries during the Kargil war and the country’s first blade runner and Akshay Bhatnagar, Rajasthan’s first graduate with autism also won Mastery Awards for their achievements. The members of jury this year were Mariazeena Johnson, Pro-Chancellor, Sathyabama Institute of Science & Technology; Vinod Surana, CEO & Managing Director, Surana & Surana International Attorneys; Abhaya Srisrimal Jain, Chairman, LifeCell International Pvt Ltd; Rajiv C Lochan, MD & CEO, The Hindu group; Radhamohan , film maker and Latha Krishna, Executive Director, Krishnaswamy Associates.