Click to play videoNew Delhi: They've contributed to India in ways beyond measure and have proven the system, if pushed hard enough, can sometimes still be made to work. They are the unknown Indians who have contributed in making a better India. 2006 was the year when Indian civil society made its voice heard, when personal tragedies brought the nation together, and ordinary people stood up to be counted. In 2007, we salute six heroes of a different kind - men and women from bustling cities and small towns who work away from the headlines, unmindful of recognition.
Dr Sharan Shivraj Pati: He brought a smile not just to this family but to an entire anxious country, waiting and hoping that two-year-old Lakshmi Tatma would survive her surgery. The Bangalore doctor led the 36-member team that performed a landmark 27-hour operation to separate Lakshmi from her parasitic conjoined twin.
Abhayanand and Anand Kumar: Nine out of every 10 students they teach make it to the IITs. Abhayanand, an IPS officer and Anand Kumar, a mathematics teacher, make sure at least 30 underprivileged, but deserving, students get a shot every year at cracking the IIT exam. Their Super 30 course doesn't just nurture dreams, it makes them come true.
Sushma Iyengar: From salt-pan workers to craftswomen to fisherfolk, many lives in Kutch have been touched by this extraordinary woman. Sushma Iyengar of the Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan has spearheaded the rehabilitation of the victims of the 2001 Gujarat earthquake for six years.
E Sreedharan: He's was also associated with country's first metro in Kolkata, the Konkan railway, acclaimed across the world as an engineering marvel, and the country's biggest metro in Delhi. E Sreedharan, with his exemplary work culture, has revolutionised transportation in every project he's taken up.
Kousalya: Wife of a truck driver who died of HIV-AIDS . Kousalya is HIV positive but that couldn't make her spirit negative, she continues to inspire people with HIV. For more than 12 years, her network of positive women has helped HIV-affected people in South India overcome their illness, and stand up for their rights.
Oscar Rebello: His ‘Save Goa’ movement led the Goan community's protest against the government's Regional Development Plan. And when Rebello took to the streets to fight for Goa's forests and hills, thousands followed, forcing the government to scrap the controversial Plan.
From the ace surgeon to the messiah for poor students, from the champion of the Kutch to the man who changed the way India commutes, from the positive reformist to the green man of Goa we have them all in our list of Nominees for Public Service. Now it's your turn to decide, SMS us at 52622 or vote here.
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