ISRO

Dutee Chand

Born into a weaver’s family in Jajpur, Odisha, Dutee Chand is a national record holder in 100-metre sprint. She also won India’s first medal in 20 years, in the 100-metre race at the Jakarta Asian Games in 2018. She is pushing the boundaries on other fronts too — and is helping to shatter gender and sexuality stereotypes.

Arunachalam Muruganandam

Arunachalam Muruganantham, popularly known as Padman. (File photo)

Rashid k; Vimal Govind; Arun George and Nikhil P

These are the faces behind Bandicoot, the robot that removes accumulated sludge and plastic waste that clog manholes, and helps bring down deaths due to manual scavenging. The four are the founders of Genrobotic Innovations, a start-up that specialises in designing robots to address social issues.

Shanti Raghavan

She gave up a lucrative corporate career to focus on her NGO EnAble India. Founded in 1999, the NGO trains, mentors and, most importantly, lays the foundation for people with disabilities to find employment. Through EnAble India, Shanti Raghavan has transformed the lives of around 2.2 lakh persons with disabilities, across 28 States and 95 districts.

Pradeep Mewada

This 17-year-old, along with his group of about 10 friends, is on a mission to end open defecation. Now, almost every house in his village, Raipur Nayakheda, in Sehore district of Madhya Pradesh, has a toilet, and open defecation is virtually non-existent there. Mewada’s idea has now spread to over 20 nearby villages and is inspiring many other youngsters to take up similar issues.

Government e-Marketplace (GeM)

Public procurements are often riddled with large-scale corruption and inefficiency. To bring in transparency, efficiency and speed in public procurement, which accounts for 20 per cent of the country’s GDP, the Commerce Ministry launched the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) in 2017.