Awards & Recognition

Pratham received the Chaudhary Charan Singh Seva Ratna Puraskar 2025 by the Kisan Trust. The award was presented to Rukmini Banerji, CEO, Pratham Education Foundation, at a ceremony in New Delhi, in the presence of Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Union Minister of State for Education and Skill Development Jayant Chaudhary.

The Seva Ratna award celebrates the spirit of selfless service by honouring individuals and organisations dedicated to the welfare, equality, and upliftment of society. This recognition acknowledges Pratham’s sustained efforts to strengthen children’s learning across India and supporting women and youth with educational and employment opportunities.

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Pratham was felicitated at the Education, Skilling & Employability Conference (ESEC’25), organised by The CSR Universe in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. This samman, conferred by the Global Alliance for FLN, recognises Pratham’s longstanding contribution to strengthening Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) in India.

Aligned with the theme ‘Beyond NIPUN Goals: Fast-tracking the FLN Mission for Viksit Bharat@2047’, the ESEC’ 25 conference brought together policymakers, CSR leaders, educators, and EdTech innovators to strengthen the links between education, skilling, and employability.

Pratham’s Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) approach has been selected for the HundrED Global Collection 2026 and named the Academy Choice, earning top scores for impact and scalability. Chosen from 789 innovations and based on nearly 3,360 expert reviews, TaRL stood out as one of the top 100 innovations to watch out for in 2026, based on its proven ability to help children who struggle with the basics of reading and math catch up quickly. and confidently.

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Pratham’s Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) was named a finalist solution in the prestigious 100&Change global competition. Launched by the MacArthur Foundation and managed by Lever for Change, 100&Change is a highly competitive global initiative to fund a bold solution to a critical challenge. The proposal was presented by a consortium of partners comprising Pratham Education Foundation, Pratham International, Pratham USA, and Empower Learning Africa (TaRL Africa).

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Pratham has been selected as a Laureate of the Yashraj Bharati Samman 2025 in the category of Transforming People’s Lives. Instituted by the Yashraj Research Foundation (YRF), the Yashraj Bharati Award recognises and honours social leadership working towards the holistic development of the people of this country. The Transforming People’s Lives category especially highlights efforts in the fields of education, livelihood, nutrition, and sustainable development.

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Pratham was awarded the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2021 in recognition of its work to ensure quality education to children across India, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The award was presented to Dr. Rukmini Banerji, CEO of Pratham, by former Vice President Hamid Ansari in the presence of Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson of the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust, on November 19, 2022—marking the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Watch Dr. Banerji’s acceptance speech here: https://youtu.be/sRji0sJS1ns?t=869

Pratham CEO Dr. Rukmini Banerji was awarded the 2021 Yidan Prize for Education Development —the world’s highest education accolade—for her work in improving learning outcomes. The Yidan Prize is an inclusive education award that recognizes individuals or teams who have contributed significantly to the theory and practice of education.

With the support of the Yidan Prize, Dr. Banerji plans to strengthen and expand Pratham’s work with young children so that strong foundations can be built early in a child’s life. This will contribute significantly towards our goal of seeing “every child in school and learning well,” she said.

Watch Dr. Banerji talk about Pratham’s work here: https://youtu.be/mYGSvwvgYvY

Every year, Business Today recognizes the Most Powerful Women in the fields of Business and Impact. In 2018, Dr. Rukmini Banerji, CEO of Pratham, was featured among the awardees.

Business Today noted, “She has taken a host of initiatives to make elementary education realistic for school children.”

See the full list of winners here: https://www.businesstoday.in/specials/most-powerful-women-2018/photo/the-most-powerful-women-in-business-2018-5722-2018-09-10/43

“Our own values and vision of making the world a better, more positive place are very similar to that of the Prize, and this generous honor from an international award will greatly support the work of Pratham in continuing to promote quality education to the children who are most in need.”

Dr. Rukmini Banerji, CEO of Pratham Education Foundation

“Pratham started in 1995, but even in 2017 they are very relevant in the journey. They continue to excel in what they are doing, taking it beyond what they have done in the past.”

— Deep Joshi, award jury member and co-founder of Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN) 

Teachers College, Columbia University was founded in 1887 to support immigrant children and their families. Since then, it has worked to promote education, equality, and social change. 

Each year, the College presents the Medal for Distinguished Service to individuals who have made significant contributions to education and human development.

In May 2017, at the Third Master’s Degree Convocation, Dr. Madhav Chavan, co-founder of Pratham Education Foundation, received this honour in recognition of his work and impact in the field.

On January 12, 2016, Ms. Farida Lambay, co-founder of Pratham Education Foundation, was honoured with the HT for Mumbai ‘Changemaker’ award in the Education category by the jury, as well as in the Popular Choice category.

“Pratham’s volunteers not only helped rescue child labourers, but also made efforts to reunite them with their families,” said Ravinder Singal, Inspector General of Police (Training).

The international magazine GQ hosts the annual ‘Men of the Year’ awards to recognize outstanding achievements by men across various fields, including philanthropy and social entrepreneurship.

In 2015, Pratham co-founder Dr. Madhav Chavan was honoured with the ‘Agent of Social Change’ award for his impactful work.

“Pratham has expanded the scope of education in resource constrained areas… It has done so through two significant innovations: the creation of simple, accurate and reliable tools for communities to assess learning; and a process that uses scientific evidence to develop new cost-effective programs that drastically improve learning levels.”
— Jury citation

Pratham received the 2014 Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Development Cooperation category for two decades of successfully catering to the learning needs of millions of disadvantaged children.

In 2014, Dr. Madhav Chavan, co-founder of Pratham Education Foundation, was named an Asia Game Changer for bringing the gift of literacy to millions of children across India.

Launched the same year by the Asia Society, the Asia Game Changer Awards recognize individuals who are shaping a better future for Asia in areas such as policy, business, arts, and culture.

Ms. Farida Lambay, co-founder of Pratham Education Foundation and founder of the Pratham Council for Vulnerable Children, received the prestigious Sahyadri Navratna Award from Doordarshan Kendra, Mumbai, for her outstanding contribution to social work, particularly in addressing child labour and promoting education for underprivileged children.

Dr. Madhav Chavan, co-founder of Pratham, was awarded the AIMA Public Service Excellence Award for his contributions to the education sector. He was recognized for pioneering initiatives, such as Read India and the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), and for the scale and impact of these programs.

Pratham USA was awarded the Times of India (TOI) Social Impact Award in the category International Contribution to India. Dr. Atul Varadhachary , President, Pratham USA, received the award. The President of India attended the ceremony amongst other prominent leaders.

Recognizing the vital role of NGOs as powerful agents of change worldwide, The Global Journal highlights those making a meaningful impact by featuring them on a prestigious list. Pratham was honoured to be included on this list for two consecutive years.

Dr. Madhav Chavan, co-founder of Pratham Education Foundation, was awarded the Qimpro Award for introducing world-class quality practices in an education institution. The Qimpro Awards, known as one of India’s top quality honors, recognize exceptional achievements in performance, corporate governance, and social responsibility.

“I had friends working for women’s liberation and others promoting the popularization of science. I told them—none of these goals are possible if people cannot read and write.”
— Dr. Madhav Chavan, co-founder of Pratham

In 2012, Dr. Chavan received the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) Prize for his work in providing quality education to millions of underserved children in India.

Dr. Madhav Chavan was awarded within the Social Enterprise Category (2010). This award recognizes leaders that have made a difference by carving a niche for themselves and creating an edge above their peers.

“Pratham’s approach to improving educational quality is targeted, cost-effective and sustainable. By collaborating closely with government and local communities, Pratham has shown tremendous results and improved millions of children’s lives.”

— Henry R. Kravis, founding partner, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co and alumnus and trustee, Claremont McKenna College

Pratham was selected as the 2010 winner of the Henry R. Kravis Prize, which recognizes excellence in nonprofit.

Pratham was recognized for its innovation in education through the Read India program. The EMPI Group of Institutions launched the Indian Innovation Awards in 2005 as part of the broader initiative called Mission Innovative India, which was started by former President Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.

The award was instituted in 2008 by state government to honour the person who is making effort for education in the state especially among poor children. It is the highest award in education field given by Bihar government. Dr. Rukmini Banerji is the first person to receive this award.