Caritas India, the social development wing of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India has received Healthgiri Award 2020 for best NGO for Healthcare Services during Covid-19.

The award was presented by Hon’ble Minister, Shri Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Health and Family Welfare to Fr. Paul Moonjely, the Executive Director of Caritas India in a virtual ceremony organised by India Today.

“Caritas India is happy to receive this award as this is a recognition of our humble efforts to mitigate the sufferings of humanity in the wake of this COVID Pandemic,” shared Fr. Paul after receiving the award.

He also shared that “There was a lot of fear of pandemic and hopelessness amplified with the exodus of migrants. But the institutional strength of the Church as a humanitarian collective helped us together to team up and reach out to the last mile with the amazing support of the Church leadership.  I dedicate this award to all our COVID warriors, health workers and volunteers in different parts of the country at community and institutional levels. It gives us added courage and heightened motivation to march forward with our mission of love and care even amid new challenges. We are indeed humbled by this honour.”

This award became more meaningful for Caritas India as it was given on the Foundation Day of the organisation. It was a joyous moment for all the members, collaborators, donors and well-wishers of Caritas India for being recognised as the best NGO for serving the impoverished and less privileged people of the country.

Every Year India Today organise Safaigiri Award on Gandhi Jayanti. This year the Safaigiri Award was reincarnated into Healthgiri Awards 2020 to salute the invincible spirit of corona warriors who have led the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Caritas India during the COVID-19 Humanitarian Response went to the extra mile to show solidarity and support to the vulnerable and marginalised sections of the society. Caritas India adopted a strategy of “Be Informed, Be Trained, Be Cautioned, Be Connected and Be Compassionate”, in line with Caritas Internationalis.

As a strong collective, Caritas India partners and congregational institutions contribute in breaking the chain of spreading COVID-19 by sharing knowledge, resources and reaching out to the weak and marginalised communities, with interventions around four key areas – Food Support; Health, Hygiene and Sanitation; Psychosocial Support and Creating Awareness.

Caritas India left no stone unturned to reach out to varied sections of the society across the country – migrants on the move, individuals at the camps and quarantine centres, differently-abled, hostellers, tribal refugees, sex workers and their children, daily wage labourers, landless families, widows/widowers, orphans, pregnant women, homeless people, individuals and families with no PDS cards, people living in remote areas, PLHIV, Cancer patients in the hospitals, old age people, the third gender, police personnel on duty, cyclist and truck drivers on the highways – the list is long and non-discriminatory.