Venkaiah lauds Karimnagar-based social activist Mohammad Azam

Azam received the ‘National Youth Award’ for 2017-18 at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi on Thursday.

Warangal: Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday appreciated social activist Mohammad Azam for his outstanding service activities in erstwhile Karimnagar and Warangal districts.

Azam received the ‘National Youth Award’ for 2017-18 at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi on the occasion of International Youth Day from the Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur on Thursday. The award is given to youth aged between 18 and 29 years by the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs for rendering outstanding services to society.

“I was privileged to meet the Vice-President at his official residence in New Delhi. I feel it is an honour and special privilege for me to spend a couple of minutes with him. I explained to him about my social service activities,” Azam told ‘Telangana Today’ over the phone. “The Vice-President applauded my services and urged the youth to actively participate in nation-building through selfless service,” Azam said.

Mohammad Azam, who hails from Mankammatota in Karimnagar, is presently working for his doctorate in the Department of English, Kakatiya University (KU), Warangal. He has been actively engaged in social service activities for the past eight years, conducting awareness programmes on the need for blood donation, organ donation, plantation programme under Haritha Haram, water conservation, construction of soak pits, Swachh Bharat mission in addition to government welfare schemes for the benefit of the people in various villages. He set up a non-governmental organisation (NGO) named ‘Dharthi Bachao.’

He also conducted motivational sessions for social and tribal welfare residential schools and college students in life skills, soft skills, youth leadership training, personality development, and spoken English language.

Azam, who is now working as an Assistant Professor, secured top rank in intermediate in 2008 and was awarded Pratibha Puraskar by the then government in undivided Andhra Pradesh. He also won the Ambedkar National Award 2019, Maulana Azad National Award, Rashtriya Gourav Samman Award, State Best NSS volunteer award and Indira Gandhi NSS National Award.