38 talented individuals with disabilities honoured at 5th Sabal Awards in Jamshedpur

Tata Steel Foundation and ALIMCO Sign MoU to Establish First PMDK

Jamshedpur, March 7: The 5^th edition of Sabal Awards, held at Kudy Mahanty auditorium in Jamshedpur, concluded with an award distribution ceremony on Friday. It recognised the unique talents among Persons with Disabilities and celebrated their spirit of resilience.

The grand finale witnessed the convergence of 38 talented individuals from various fields of art, who qualified as the finalists in respective categories. The finale was graced by eminent dignitaries, namely, S Govindaraj (Commissioner, PwD, Department of Empowerment, Persons with Disabilities -Divyangjan, MoSJE, Government of India, Rajiv Raturi (Strategic Advisor, Saksham), Pulkit Sharma (Podcaster and RJ), Noynok Talom (Singer, Member of Indian Blind football team), Praveen Kumar, CMD ALIMCO, Government of India, Chanakya Chaudhary, Director, Tata Steel Foundation, among others.

In its fifth edition now, Sabal awards received an overwhelming entry of 1025 registrations, highest since its inception, representing 28 states 6 union territories. The initial round of selection and shortlisting of finalists concluded in October 2024, in consultation with an eminent panel of jury members, which included Major Dr BV Ram Kumar, Director, National Institute for the Empowerment of Persons with intellectual Disabilities, Government of India, Dr Gaurav Raheja (School of Architecture, IIT Roorkee), Suvarna Raj (International Para-athlete), Dipendra Manocha (Founder Saksham), Palak Kandara, (Trainer, Shankar Mahadevan Academy) among others.

Speaking on the occasion, Sourav Roy, Chief Executive Officer, Tata Steel Foundation said: “The grand finale of the 5th edition of Sabal awards rounds up our year-long journey of identifying and recognising the invisible within the visible. We have received 1025 applications this year, which is our highest-ever and it aptly showcases Sabal’s endeavour of convergence and conversations. It is always inspiring to watch unique talent, abilities unfold on this platform year-on-year, enabling safer spaces for dialogue and providing opportunities for expressions of individuality.”

The day-long award ceremony also witnessed inspiring and captivating performances by shortlisted candidates and performance by artists with disabilities including dancers like Pawan Kumar Tudu, Prashant Rout, Rekha, singers like Jeetu Kumar, Navya and Madhulitha, Painters like Rupak Munje, Subh Pathak, Ajay Kumar Garg, Chavi and Anup Kumar Singh. In the evening, exceptional talents were recognised and felicitated at Kudy Mahanty auditorium in the presence of all dignitaries.

Here is a look into the winners of the 5^th edition of Sabal Awards

• Sabal Performer Category – Sakta Chakraborty, Subh Pathak, Rupak Rajendra Munje
• Sabal Dancer Category – Prashant Kumar Rout, Rekha Kumari Mishra, Pawan Kumar Tudu
• Sabal Artist Category – Anup Kumar Singh, Ajay Kumar Garg, Chaavi Sharma
• Sabal Musical Maestro – N Mhonchumo Shitio, Arjun Natraj
• Sabal Vocalist Category – Jeetu Kumar, Navya, Madhumita

Several changemakers and role models were felicitated at the award ceremony, including Navneet Kulkarni, Prachi Mahajan, Tahal Haziq, Aditi Sowmyanarayan, Ajit Kumar, Krishna Kamal Kishore bung, Tariq Ahmed Mir, Chaitanya Mukund, Divya Sharma, Gulfam Ahmed, Shalini Gupta, Prashant Naik, Dr Alok Kumar, Poorvi Rungta, Riya Shah, Poonam Tyagi.

Another major highlight from the 5^th edition of Sabal awards was the MoU signing ceremony with ALIMBO for the first PMDK (Pradhan Mantri Divyasha Kendra) at Sabal Centre, Jamshedpur. Tata Steel Foundation (TSF) and ALIMCO have joined hands to enhance the lives of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) and senior citizens living in Jamshedpur. This collaboration aims to provide ready-to-use assistive devices, customized prosthetics, and essential mobility training, empowering beneficiaries to lead more independent and dignified lives. Under this collaboration, assistive solutions will be delivered through the Sabal PMDK center, aligning with ADIP and RVY guidelines. ALIMCO will ensure proper guidance on device usage, while the Foundation will work to create a more empathetic and inclusive city by fostering awareness and community support. This partnership reflects a shared commitment to social equity, ensuring that no individual is left behind. By addressing accessibility needs and promoting inclusion, this initiative paves the way for Jamshedpur to become a model of empathy and care for the nation.

Sabal awards has evolved to become a steady platform for conversations on accessibility and ways to create inclusive spaces for Persons with Disabilities. It celebrates the equality of the expressions of art among Persons with Disabilities with a hope to build a world where ‘all’ are accepted, not just some of us.

And it does this focused on marginalization within the larger disability narrative by simply remembering that 3 out of 4 PwD in India are in rural context, while the bulk of solutioning, today, remains in the urban context. The platform, now reaches 10,000+ PwDs every year, works with 20,000+ people in the larger ecosystem of disability and pushes foundational impacts like Noamundi being the first block in India to have all PwDs to be registered and receiving their rightful public entitlements.