Urvashi Sahni wins social entrepreneur award

Urvashi Sahni has been awarded India Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2017 by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, in partnership with the Jubilant Bhartia Foundation.

The award honours her exceptional contribution towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal of education, by empowering India’s most disadvantaged girls, according to a statement. Study Hall Educational Foundation, of which Sahni is a founder, has worked with 900 schools, trained 5,000 teachers and impacted 150,000 girls directly and 270,000 girls indirectly affected by poverty and gender discrimination, it said.

Madhu Pandit Dasa of The Akshaya Patra Foundation was a finalist for his work on providing nutritious and hygienic meals to children in schools through the midday meal scheme. Safeena Husain of Educate Girls was also a finalist for her venture that addresses gender inequality in education.  

Hundreds of social entrepreneurs had gone through the 13th annual Social Entrepreneur of the Year selection process for India.