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

Naik is a Member of Parliament from North Goa constituency representing BJP. He is known for his social service. He is one of the few politicians to claim that Yoga is beneficiary and it can help in curing Cancer, though he was criticized for this later. He has always worked for the social welfare and his winning margin of 105,000 votes in Lok Sabha elections 2014 in a small state like Goa shows his immense popularity in the state.

Naik’s 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 shares warm relations with PM Modi and remains among his most trusted people. Throughout his career he has held several distinguished positions.

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.