Aajeevika founders are India's Social Entrepreneurs 2010

The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, in partnership with Jubilant Bhartia Foundation, announced Rajiv Khandelwal and Krishnavtar Sharma, co-founders of Aajeevika Bureau as the winners of India's Social Entrepreneur of 2010.

Minister of Human Resource Development, Science and Technology of India Kapil Sibal handed over the award to the winners in the national capital on Saturday.

Aajeevika Bureau is known to have introduced a unique photo-identification card for inter-state migrants, allowing them to access banking, mobile telephone and other government services and citizenship entitlements. In addition, the organisation offers skills training, job placement, legal aid and counselling.

More than 100 applicants entered the sixth competition for "India Social Entrepreneur of the Year". After several stages of rigorous assessment, four finalists were chosen.

An independent panel of pre-eminent judges met on November 12 to select the winners from among the finalists. The judges this year included: Hindustan Times Chairperson Shobhana Bhartia, ITC Chairman Y. C. Deveshwar, Arghyam Foundation Chairmperson Rohini Nilekani, Planning Commission Member Secretary Sudha Pillai and Schwab Foundation Co-Founder and Chairperson Hilde Schwab.

The award has been given out annually in the country since 2005, to individuals who have founded organisations or companies with targeted social missions benefiting underserved communities. The winners enter the global network of 200 leading social entrepreneurs of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, a sister organisation of the World Economic Forum.