Union Minister of State in the Ministry of AYUSH and Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik has been awarded the prestigious Champions of Change Award 2020. He has been chosen for the award by a constitutional jury headed by K.G. Balakrishnan, Former CJI and Former Chairman, NHRC.

Mr. Naik is a Member of Parliament from North Goa constituency representing BJP. His social service and contribution towards working on health related issues earned him the Samaraj Ratna Award in 2016. He also sat on several Parliament Committees, such as Urban Development, Energy, as well as Transport and Tourism. He is one of the few politicians to claim that Yoga is beneficiary and it can help in curing Cancer.

During his speech Mr. Naik said, "Today we are here to celebrate the goodness which is going to become inspiration for people of India. The goodness in the work of our heroes present here today have been an epitome of excellence which is going to be seen today in the form of the award of this event - Champions of Change."

Champions of Change is an Indian award, for promoting Gandhian values, (Swachata), community service and social development (in Aspirational district in india), selected by constitutional jury members headed by K.G. Balakrishnan, Former Chief Justice of India and Former Chairman NHRC. It is given annually in four categories, and usually presented by the President, Vice-President, Prime Minister of India or a leading figure. Mr. Nandan Jha is the founder and head of Champions of Change Award.

The inaugural Champions of Change Award was held in 2018 and it was distributed by the Vice-President of India M.Venkaiah Naidu at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

The second edition was held in 2019 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi and awards were given by the then President of India, Sh. Pranab Mukherjee. Jharkhand CM Sh. Hemant Soren and Deputy CM of Delhi Manish Sisodia were among the recipients of awards. 

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