Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award: Guyana President, NRI who held langar for farmers on stir among awardees

Irfaan Ali, 42, who was sworn in as the ninth President of Guyana in August 2020, belongs to an Indo-Guyanese Muslim family. He will also be the chief guest at the convention, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.

Dhaliwal, a US-based NRI, was sent back from Delhi’s IGI Airport on the night of October 23-24, 2021, over his alleged involvement in organising a langar for protesting farmers at Delhi borders against the three farm laws, now withdrawn. Dhaliwal is the younger brother of Surjit Singh Rakhra, who was a minister in the previous Akali Dal government in Punjab.

Poland-based businessman Amit Kailash Chandra Lath, who assisted Indian authorities during the evacuation of students during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has also received the award.

Among other recipients are FedEx Corporation CEO Rajesh Subramaniam; Indian-Australian economist Chennupati Jagadish; and Kannam Ambalam, associate professor in Ethiopia-based Wolega University who is credited with building water springs and small bridges in the African nation.

Reena Vinod Pushkarna, an Israel-based chef who was part of the team that prepared dishes for Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to the country in 2017 is among the recipients.

According to a statement issued by the MEA on Monday, the PSBA is conferred by the President of India as part of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention on Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) or organisations established and run by NRIs or PIOs in recognition of their outstanding achievements — both in India and abroad.

“A jury-cum-awards committee, with (the) Vice President as the chairman and External Affairs Minister as the vice-chair and other distinguished members from various walks of life considered the nominations…and unanimously selected the awardees,” the MEA stated.