KARACHI: A lot is said about the plethora of problems plaguing Karachi, such as urban challenges, unplanned settlements, and paucity of basic amenities. Despite these many challenges, Karachi is still the country’s economic engine and leading cosmopolitan center, in no small part because of the tireless efforts of the non-profit organizations and their dedicated volunteers that work behind the scenes to try and plug the gaps in the city’s socio-economic and civic needs.
To acknowledge and celebrate the hard work and dedication of these organizations, K-Electric organized the inaugural KE KHI Awards, on Saturday April 3, 2021, with all COVID-19 SOPs in place.
CEO K-Electric, Moonis Alvi, spoke about the long-established association with the city of Karachi and its devoted organizations, and how the awards reflected the power utility’s core values of giving back to the community and building a better society for all. "KE is excited to bring the inaugural edition of the KHI Awards. Our relationship with the city extends over 107 years, and we are embedded in the fabric of Karachi,” he said. “It is heartening to see so many competent and passionate organizations working at the forefront to uplift the city. These awards are KE’s humble effort to acknowledge their dedication, and are proud to extend our support in their ongoing efforts. KE is also grateful to the jury members who volunteered their time and expertise, as well as our audit partners who ensured credibility and transparency in the evaluating process."
Around 140 entries were received, and there were 34 winners from 13 categories such as Education, Public Health, Uplifting Communities, Inclusion, Livelihoods & Vocational Training, Heritage & Culture, Digital Accessibility & Financial Inclusion, Sports, Safety (Road, Fire, Home, Personal), Sustainability & Environment, Empowering Women, Social Service, and New Organizations (less than 12 months old). The winning organizations were also given electricity bill rebates, ranging from PKR 250,000 to PKR 5 million.
Sindh Governor Imran Ismail sent a video message lauding the winners and commending KE for acknowledging their efforts, “The participants and winners of these awards are an integral part of the state, as they support the government in its efforts to help the people of the city across a number of different fields including education, public health, and sustainability. I appreciate KE’s step to recognize the efforts of these NGOs and I am sure that it will be a catalyst towards bigger plans. The process was conducted with utmost transparency and impartiality, and all organizations were evaluated on their performance alone.”
With four winners in this category, Education was clearly one of the key focus areas for K-Electric’s KHI Awards. Sehrish Farooq, Provincial Head at Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi talked about how they have been providing a framework for education without any discrimination against gender, age, class or religion for the past twenty years and how they have recently moved into Digital safety for children. She thanked K-Electric for creating a platform for recognizing the work they have been doing in different communities, such as Korangi, Lyari and Hijrat Colony.
Umer Mateen Allahwala, of the second-placed The Orange Tree Foundation appreciated the recognition of their efforts in managing the gap between providing quality education in the underserved communities of Karachi since 2011. Malahat Awan, Director Corporate Relations at Institute of Business Administration Karachi (IBA) congratulated K-Electric on organizing the KHI Awards and expressed the hope that others would also come forward to support and motivate volunteers and social workers. The fourth winner in the Education category, Developments in Literacy has been providing low-cost, high quality education to numerous deserving children in disadvantaged and remote areas for over 20 years.
All entries were vetted by an independent panel of jurists headed by Saad Amanullah Khan, founder of #IAMKARACHI. Speaking about this whole process and the selection of winners, Saad Amanullah Khan said, “We had an overwhelming number of entries to choose from for our first edition. The winners have been instrumental in making a tremendous impact on the city, and their total asset base stands at over PKR 54 billion, which is the welfare investment these organizations are making to drive progress in Pakistan and its largest metropolitan city. KE's decision to honor these organizations and empower them on their journey is commendable."
Most of the ones that ended up being shortlisted were those that excelled in the impact of their projects, on the quality of their execution and for sticking to allocated budgets and timelines. This process also put a lot of weightage on the adoption of best practices in urban innovation and the use of technology and mobile solutions.
The final list of winners is as follows:
doctHERs
Institute of Business Administration Karachi
Kiran Foundation
The Citizens Foundation (TCF)
Behbud Association Karachi
National Academy of Performing Arts
Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre
Family Educational Services Foundation (FESF)
Hands
The Hunar Foundation
Who is Hussain? Foundation
Karachi Vocational Training Center
New Organisations (less than 12 months old)
Pakistan Legal United Society (PLUS - Legal Aid)
Pink Pakistan Trust
Indus Hospital and Health Network (IHHN)
Layton Rahmatulla Benevolent Trust (LRBT)
ChildLife Foundation
Fatimid Foundation
Lady Dufferin Hospital
Bait ul Sukoon Cancer Hospital
Safety (Road, Fire, Home, Personal)
Pakistan Life Saving Foundation (PALS Rescue)
Citizens Police liaison committee (CPLC) Sindh
Ayesha Chundrigar Foundation
AMTF Helping Blood Disorder Program
Roshni Research & Development Welfare Organization
Panah Trust (Panah Shelter Home)
Karachi United Football Foundation Trust
INFAQ Foundation
