‘Stork Sister’ Purnima Devi wins businessline Changemaker of the Year award; Border Roads Organisation and M.R. Rajagopal crowned Iconic Changemakers

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Purnima Devi Barman receiving the Changemaker of the Year 2026 award from Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Finance Minister in the presence of Raghuvir Srinivasan, Editor, businessline; Nirmala Lakshman, Director and Publisher, The Hindu Group and R. Vijay Anandh, MD and CEO, City Union Bank, during the businessline Changemaker Awards 2026, in New Delhi on September 22, 2026. | Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

In an inspiring ceremony charged with emotion, gripping stories of human achievement and a mellifluous classical fusion performance, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented businessline’s Changemaker of the Year award to grassroots conservationist Purnima Devi Barman for saving the endangered greater adjutant stork and empowering village women to become feisty protectors of the bird as well as self-reliant entrepreneurs.

Border Roads Organisation (BRO), which builds and maintains critical infrastructure in India’s remote border areas, was crowned Iconic Changemaker as was ‘pain doctor’ M.R. Rajagopal, founder and chairman emeritus of Pallium India, who integrated palliative care in mainstream healthcare services.

Receiving the award, Purnima Devi said, “When women rise, magic happens and the hargila (stork) takes flight.”

The eighth edition of the event saw awards being given in six categories — Digital Transformation, Social Transformation, Financial Transformation, Young Changemaker, Iconic Changemaker, and Changemaker of the Year. The Digital Transformation winner was Aparna Hegde, founder of ARMMAN (Advancing Reduction In Mortality and Morbidity of Mother, Children and Neonates), a non-profit that uses technology to reach out to expectant mothers and guide them.

In the Social Transformation category, there were two winners – Project Sambandh, founded by Colonel Vembu Shankar (retired), which helps families of armed forces personnel who die while in service but not in combat, and Sankara Eye Foundation for scaling up free eyecare. Financial Transformation winner was awarded to Gourmet Popcornica for building a fully-integrated farm-to-consumer value chain across several States and giving a pop to the popcorn economy. The Young Changemaker award went to Ariana Agarwal, a 16-year-old girl from Jaipur for giving visibility to invisible gig workers.

Acknowledging businessline’s role in bringing to the fore the work of changemakers, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said: “India is a vast country. Despite the States and Centre doing so much, it is the changemakers who are putting their heart and soul in their endeavours who are making a difference on the ground.”

Earlier, inaugurating the event, Nirmala Lakshman, Director, THG Publishing, said, “Every year, this evening gives us a chance to recognise the power of an idea to create change...and the persistence to see this through.”

Raghuvir Srinivasan, Editor, businessline, described how 1,600 nominations were received, from which the winners were chosen — a really tough job for the jury. “It was like a samudra manthan (churning of the ocean),” he said.

The 2026 awards function was presented by Sastra Deemed University and powered by City Union Bank. Associate partners were State Bank of India, Life Insurance Corporation, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation, Citizen Watches, Government of Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir Bank, NABARD, NTPC, Indian Bank, SAIL, GAIL (India) Limited, Essar Group, ICFAI Group, NMDC, and UCO Bank. The mobility partner was Kia Sorento.

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