Jamnalal Kaniram Bajaj was an Indian businessman and politician. He founded the Bajaj Group of companies in the 1920s, and the group now has 24 companies, including six that are listed on the bourses. He was also a close and beloved associate of Mahatma Gandhi, who is known to have often declared that Jamnalal was his fifth son.
Saraswathi Gora was an Indian social activist who served as leader of the Atheist Centre for many years, campaigning against untouchability and the caste system.
Janaki Devi Bajaj was an Indian independence activist who was jailed for participating in Civil Disobedience Movement in 1932.
Krishnammal Jagannathan is an Indian social activist from the state of Tamil Nadu. She and her husband, Sankaralingam Jagannathan, protested against social injustice and they are Gandhian activists. Her work includes upliftment of the landless, and the poor; she has sometimes fought against governments as well as big industries. She was earlier involved in the Indian independence movement, along with her husband, and was also a close associate of Vinoba Bhave. In 2008 she received the Right Livelihood Award, which she shared with her husband. She was given the Padma Bhushan; India's third highest civilian award; in 2020.
Tiruppur Subrahmanya Avinashilingam Chettiar was an Indian lawyer, politician, freedom fighter and Gandhian. He served as the Education Minister of Madras Presidency from 1946 to 1949 and was responsible for introducing Tamil as the medium of instruction. He is also credited with having commissioned the creation of the first Tamil encyclopedia.
Bajaj Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate founded by Jamnalal Bajaj in Mumbai in 1926. The group comprises 40 companies and its flagship company Bajaj Auto is ranked as the world's fourth largest two- and three-wheeler manufacturer. The group has involvement in various industries that include automobiles, home appliances, lighting, iron and steel, insurance, travel and finance. Bajaj immensely benefited from license Raj due to their affiliation to the then ruling Nehru–Gandhi family.
Ashoka Gupta was an Indian freedom fighter and social worker. She was the founder of Mahila Seva Samity, member of the All India Women's Conference and president of Indian Society for Sponsorship and Adoption. She took part in rescue and relief operation during the Noakhali genocide.
Thakurdas Bang was an Indian Gandhian philosopher and Gandhian economist. He was involved in the Indian independence movement. He practised Gandhism, Gandhian philosophy, Gandhian study even at the age of 95. He was also involved in Khadi and Sarvodaya movements. As an economic professor in G S College of Commerce he motivated many students like Madhukarrao Chaudhari, Justice Chandrashekhar Shankar Dharmadhikari and Ramakrushna Bajaj to participate in the freedom struggle. He is succeeded by Abhay Bang and Ashok Bang. Ashok Bang decided to work for issues related to farming and Abhay decided to work for health of villagers. Abhay and Rani Bang founded SEARCH - a non-profit organization in Gadchiroli, which is involved in rural health service and research
Sarla Behn was an English Gandhian social activist whose work in the Kumaon region of India helped create awareness about the environmental destruction in the Himalayan forests of the state. She played a key role in the evolution of the Chipko Movement and influenced a number of Gandhian environmentalists in India including Chandi Prasad Bhatt, Bimala behn and Sunderlal Bahuguna. Along with Mirabehn, she is known as one of Mahatma Gandhi's two English daughters. The two women's work in Garhwal and Kumaon, respectively, played a key role in bringing focus on issues of environmental degradation and conservation in independent India.
Mitraniketan K. Viswanathan was an Indian social reformer, philanthropist, and environmentalist in Kerala, India. He founded Mitraniketan, a non governmental organization in Vellanadu, Thiruvananthapuram, in 1956.
Biswanath Pattnaik was a well-known veteran Gandhian, Sarvodaya and Bhoodan leader. He won the Jamnalal Bajaj Award in 2008 for his social, medical, and education work in the tribe-dominated areas of Kujendri and Baliguda, Odisha state, India.
Gutta Muniratnam was an Indian social worker, a member of the National Planning Commission of India and the founder of Rashtriya Seva Samithi (RASS), a non governmental organization engaged in the social welfare activities in over 2500 socio-economically backward villages in the Rayalaseema region, spread across the present day states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. He was honored by the Government of India, in 2012, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri.
Amalprava Das, also known as Amal Prabha Das, (1911–1994) was an Indian social worker, Gandhian and the founder of Kasturba Ashram at Sarania Hills, Assam, a self help group for women and their economic upliftment and Guwahati Yubak Sevadal, a non governmental organization working for the social development of harijans. The Government of India honoured her in 1954, with the award of Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award for her contributions to the society, placing her among the first recipients of the award. A recipient of the 1981 Jamnalal Bajaj Award, Das was honoured again by the Government of India with the second highest civilian award of Padma Vibhushan which she declined to accept.
Shalini Moghe was an Indian educationist, social worker and the founder of Kasturba Kanya School for tribal children and Bal Niketan Sangh, the first Montessori school in the state of Madhya Pradesh. She was the chairperson of the Bharatiya Grameen Mahila Sangh, Indore, a national level non governmental organization working for the welfare and education of the disabled, orphans, under privileged and the economically weaker sections of the society and was involved with other Indore-based educational institutions such as Prestige Public School and Pragya Girls School. A winner of the Jamnalal Bajaj Award in 1992, she was honoured by the Government of India in 1968, with the award of Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award for her contributions to the society.
Natwar Thakkar, popularly known as Natwar Bhai, was an Indian social worker who worked in Nagaland. He came from Maharashtra but migrated to Nagaland for social work at the age of 23. He founded the Nagaland Gandhi Ashram at Chuchuyimlang village in the Mokokchung district of Nagaland. Because of his efforts to spread Gandhian philosophy in Nagaland and his social work, he was known as "Nagaland's Gandhi".
Rabindra Nath Upadhyay (1923–2010) was an Indian social worker, Gandhian and the founder of Tamulpur Anchalik Gramdan Sangha (TAGS), a non governmental organization working for the social development of the rural people in the Kumarikata village of Assam. He was a recipient of the 2003 Jamnalal Bajaj Award. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian award of the Padma Shri, in 2000, for his services to the society.
Padmanabha Pillai Gopinathan Nair was an Indian social worker, Gandhian, independence activist, and the chairman of Mahatma Gandhi National Memorial Trust.
Lia Diskin is an Argentine journalist and founder of Associação Palas Athena, a Brazilian philanthropy NGO.
Shakuntala Choudhary, also known as Shakunthala Baideo, was an Indian social worker. Born in Assam, British Raj, she was known for her commitment and devotion to the popularization of the Gandhian way of life.
Shanti Devi was an Indian social worker born in 1934 in Balasore district of Indian state of Odisha. She was awarded the Padma Shri award on 9 November 2021 by the President, Ram Nath Kovind at the Civil Investiture Ceremony-IV, at Rashtrapati Bhavan for her social works and efforts to bring peace in the Maoist-affected Rayagada region of Odisha. Devi received the Radhanath Rath Peace Award and was awarded the Jamnalal Bajaj Award in 1994.
