Moolathva Foundation Charitable Trust(R) organizes Moolathva Annual Day every year in the month of April/May. From 2015, our trust started giving away the Moolathva Vishwa Award to a person for his/her exceptional achievements & contribution to the society. It is our effort to put the spotlight on them, so that their actions will inspire others. It is also an effort to appreciate these extraordinary people and recognize their activities and contribution to the society.

Phoolbasan Bai Yadav is an Indian social worker and the founder of the non governmental organization, Maa Bamleshwari Janhit Kare Samiti, known for her efforts towards the development of economically and socially backward women of Chhattisgarh, India. She was honored by the Government of India, in 2012, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri. She also acts as a mentor to Vision India Foundation. She appeared in the Karmveer special episode of Kaun Banega Crorepati (season 12) along with Renuka Shahane.

Phoolbasan Bai Yadav was born in a socially backward family with meagre financial resources on 5 December 1969 at Sukuldaihan, a remote hamlet in the Rajnandgaon district of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. She got married in childhood when she was 10 and had education only up to the seventh standard.

Yadav’s social career started when she began taking part in the activities of the self-help groups in the district. Soon after, she formed groups of her own such as Pragya Mahila Samooh, Kiraya Bhandar, Bazar Theka and established ration shops for the distribution of food among the people below poverty line (BPL). Later, she consolidated the activities under one umbrella by forming the non governmental organization, Maa Bamleshwari Janhit Karya Samiti The organization has since grown to cover 12000 women self help groups with a reported total strength of over 200,000 members. By collecting ₹ 2 per person, the organization has accumulated a corpus of ₹ 150 million, equivalent to US$ 3 million. The participating groups engage in activities such as health programs, education, sanitation and social reforms.

Dr. Sunitha Krishnan is the founder of Prajwala – Asia’s largest institution combating commercial sexual exploitation. Since its inception in 1996 at Hyderabad, Dr. Sunitha Krishnan has assisted in the rescue of more than 26,500 young girls and women across 12 countries. Recipient of the fourth highest Indian Civilian Honour – Padma Shri, and recognized as 150 “Fearless Women in the World’ by Newsweek, Dr. Sunitha Krishnan envisions a world free of sex trafficking and sex crime and has galvanised her vision by confronting traffickers, supporting survivors and developing innovative models of prevention to disrupt the cycle of inter-generational exploitation.

She spearheaded the first ever survivor led campaign – Swaraksha, against Sex Trafficking which directly reached out to over 1 million people and launched the Men Against Demand campaign with the slogan “Real Men Don’t Buy Sex” which has reached 1.8 billion people worldwide. The therapeutic community through safe shelter homes established by Dr. Sunitha Krishnan for sex trafficked victims are considered as the best practice model in the world and have ensured dignity in the lives of thousands of survivors of sex trafficking.

In 2015, Dr. Sunitha Krishnan launched Shame The Rapist campaign which resulted in the Supreme Court of India to form a committee to block rape videos online and the Ministry of Home Affairs setting up the first ever cyber-crime portal to report violent sexually abusive online content. The PIL against Facebook, Google, Yahoo and other intermediaries brought about the first major regulatory reform in India to curb proliferation of sexual violence on social media. Dr. Sunitha Krishnan’s relentless fight in the Supreme Court for nearly two decades resulted in a path-breaking direction to bring a comprehensive legislation to combat human trafficking in India.

Dr. Sunitha Krishnan has played an instrumental role in drafting several victim centric policies including the first ever Anti Trafficking Policy in India, policy for Minimum Standards of Care, Sex Offenders Registry and introducing video conferencing to record evidence of a trafficked victim. She is responsible for bringing out comprehensive training manuals and handbooks for judicial officers, prosecuting officers, law enforcers and other duty bearers on human trafficking

For her herculean contribution to combat trafficking, she has been recognised by the Government of United States, France and Germany. She is also recipient of Stree Shakti Award, Tallberg Global Leadership Prize, Franco-German Prize For Human Rights, Vital Voices Leadership Prize, Living Legends Award, John Jay International Award, DVF Award, Aurora Peace Prize and CNN-IBN Real Hero Award among several others.

Sukri Bomma gowda is a prominent singer and social activist who has won the hearts of millions of people through her intrinsic knowledge of folk arts. Known fondly as ‘Sukriajji,’ she has been a voice for tribes people and their culture for over five decades. Sukriajji’s delightful singing and her music, which comprises a collection of around 4,500 traditional halakki songs.

In 1988 She received Award from the Karnataka government (for “preserving the culture of indigenous tribes”), in 1999 she received Janapada Shri Award (for contributions to the field of arts, granted by the Karnataka Government), in 2006 Nadoja Award (granted by the Kannada University) and in 2017 Padma Shri Award.

Bomma gowda was taught to sing as a child by her mother, and has worked to preserve the traditional music and songs of the Halakki Vokkaliga tribe. Following the death of her husband, she began performing traditional music of the Halakki Vokkaliga tribe in Karnataka. She teaches traditional music and songs to members of her tribe. She has been described as the “nightingale of Halakki”. Bomma gowda has been publicly recognised for her work in preserving a large corpus of tribal songs as part of an oral tradition.

RAVI KATPADI a daily wage labourer who hails from Katpadi, Udupi district helps under privileged children get medical treatment. Ravi has been dressing up in unique costumes, entertaining people and amassing money to hand it over to ailing children. Making a difference going extra mile He has so far collected around 52.5 lakhs since 2013. His attires every year are themed after aliens and monsters designed meticulously using oil paint. Ravi’s deed has earned him innumerable support and friends. Thus “Ravi friends Katpadi” is a team that accompanies him every year.

The Fith award in 2019 was conferred to Mr & Mrs. Prakash Amte from Lok Biradari Prakalp, District Gadchiroli, Maharashtra State. Dr. Prakash Amte and his wife Dr. Mandakini Amte volunteered to work among the Madias. Gradually building trust with the tribe and providing free healthcare assistance and basic education to their children, Lok Biradari Prakalp has come a long way.

Today, with a multi-speciality hospital, a hostel school which has created engineers and doctors and livelihood opportunities for the tribes, LBP has got the Madia-Gonds into the mainstream. Dr. Prakash Amte saved the wild animals from man’s cruelty by starting the ‘Animal Ark’, an animal orphanage that started with an orphaned baby monkey and has now blossomed into a home for leopards, snakes, hyenas.

The Fourth award in 2018 was conferred to Mr. Auto Raja, who dedicated his life to rescuing and rebuilding the lives of the destitute and dying people of the streets. Hid home accommodates and cares for more than 800 residents who have been rescued form the most inhumane and unhygienic circumstances. It is a place of solace and shelter for people who are suffering from AIDS, Cancer and kidney failures besides many who are mentally challenged. These residents who were once disowned by their families and doomed to fend for themselves have found a new reason to live. Its an incredible human effort on his part to be such a lovable action.

The Third award in 2017 was conferred on Smt. Sindhu Tai Sapkal of Maharashtra affectionately known as the “Mother of Orphans”. She has devoted her entire life to orphans. As a result, she is fondly called ‘Mai'(mother). She has nurtured over 1,400 orphaned children. As of today, she has a grand family of 207 sons-in-law, thirty-six daughters-in-law, and over a thousand grandchildren.

The second award in 2016 was conferred on Smt. Subhashini Mistry of Kolkata who worked as a brick-layer and domestic servant to build a hospital called Humanity Hospital which provides free treatment to the poor in her village.

The first award in 2015 was conferred on Harekala Hajabba, a street vendor, who sells oranges in bus stands. Despite being in acute poverty, he has utilized all his earnings for constructing a school in his remote village. Now nearly one thousand students study in that school. Hajabba still sells oranges for the welfare of the school.