India’s top animal activists win the first Swarnali Roy Vegan Advocacy Awards by HSI/India

April 6th, 2023

The winners of the first Swarnali Roy Vegan Advocacy Awards have been announced. Nitin Jain, bagged first place, while Aakansha Chettri took the second position followed by Varun Sharma, who was the third winner. Humane Society International/India (HSI), the animal protection organisation, declared the winners on April 5th, the birth anniversary of their former employee, the late Swarnali Roy. 

‘I have decided to donate the prize money to my favourite animal sanctuaries’

Nitin Jain, who received Rs 50,000 as the first prize winner, is the co-founder of Bengaluru Brigade for Animal Liberation and an organiser of the Vegan India Movement. With the help of an army of volunteers and other passionate animal lovers, he has organised 1000+ outreach programs in Bangalore and multiple marches across India. 

When we reached out to Nitin after the announcement, he dedicated the award to all the plant-based activists in India. He said, “It definitely makes me happy because vegan advocacy work is being recognized. But this award belongs to all the vegan advocates who are voluntarily working to educate people on animal cruelty across the country. I was just the face of it. Some are more visible being on the front line, but there are many more working in the backend.”

He further added, “I have decided to donate this award money to my favourite sanctuaries Ahimsa Farm Animal Sanctuary and Almighty Care Animal Trust. These sanctuaries not only rescue animals, but they also educate people to go vegan by sharing stories of the rescued animals.”

It’s a win-win for compassion and animal rights

Aakansha Chettri, who won Rs 30,000, has been dedicating all her efforts into creating awareness around animal cruelty through chalktivism, vigils and screenings of documentaries and short films over the last three years. She also enables cafes and restaurants to switch to a plant-based menu. Additionally, she is actively involved in fostering, adopting and feeding street animals (100+ daily) and spreading the word through her social media platforms. 

Varun Sharma, a plant-based chef and founder of the organic and vegan cafe Bodhi Greens, won Rs 20,000 as the third prize winner. Chef Varun is an active animal rights activist in Chandigarh and founded an animal rights group called Vegans In Chandigarh. He also started the Dharamshala Vegan Movement, which continues to reach the residents and travellers. Moreover, he has trained 5000+ students in top culinary schools by conducting plant-based workshops and competitions. 

About the three winners, HSI/India representatives said, “From organising marches across India to spreading awareness among thousands of young minds through plant-based culinary workshops - their tireless and impactful advocacy work spoke of their passion and determination towards strengthening the vegan movement in India.”