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S-ILF Celebrates Anti Leprosy Day, 2011 |
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To mark Anti Leprosy Day, the Foundation organized an event at Mr.
Salman Khurshid’s (Hon’ble Minister for Water Resources & Minority
Affairs) residence at 4, Kushak Road, New Delhi on 30th January 2011. Gandhiji’s Martyrdom Day 30th January has been marked as Anti Leprosy
Day in India in remembrance of his selfless care for people affected by
leprosy and for the need to fight the stigma against leprosy. Mr. Khurshid, the Guest of Honour at the Event had been very supportive of
leprosy affected people and very kindly consented to host the event at
his residence which sent out a very strong and positive signal to the
people affected by leprosy and the society at large.
S-ILF organized a short one hour programme which was attended by
approximately 175 people. Apart from people from colonies of Delhi and
Faridabad, there were school children, local politicians, senior
bureaucrats, artists and social activists.
The highlight of the event was distribution of the first ever
Rising to
Dignity Annual Awards 2011 instituted by the Foundation (S-ILF). Mr.
Khurshid gave away the Awards, constituting of a Trophy and a cash prize
of Rs. 100,000, to the members of 3 Livelihood groups amidst great
excitement.
The sunny Sunday morning at the Cabinet Minister’s residence commenced
with
Gandhiji’s favourite Bhajan "Vaishnava Jan to", sung by children from
leprosy colonies accompanied by senior school children from The Shri Ram
School, Moulsari, Gurgaon.
The children of The Indian School, New Delhi presented another of
Gandhiji’s favourite Bhajan "Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram…"
Well known Kathak dancer Asavari Pawar presented a Kathak dance recital
and the audience loved her rendition of the classical dance form on the
Mahatma’s most loved Bhajan "Vaishnava Jan to…"
Dr. Noordeen, Chairman, S-ILF’s Board of Trustees introduced the
audience the livelihood initiatives of S-ILF and the objectives behind
instituting the Rising to Dignity Award from this year.
Mr. Khurshid unveiled the S-ILF souvenir, a coffee mug with S-ILF’s logo
and the message "Let’s fight the stigma against leprosy together!"
printed on it.
Shri Khurshid appreciated the hard work and success achieved by the
three award winning groups. He lamented that there was no special scheme
of the Government of India for economic rehabilitation of the leprosy
affected people, on the lines of self help groups. He added that the
stigma faced by the affected community needs to be addressed and
mentioned that anyone whose pain is not understood is a minority.
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