Five persons honoured at CavinKare Ability Awards 2026

Five persons with disabilities from across the country were honoured at the 24th CavinKare Ability Awards for transcending barriers, held here on Saturday. It was conducted by CavinKare Private Limited in collaboration with Ability Foundation. 

“It is truly inspiring to see how individuals with disabilities continue to rise above constraints and create their own milestones,” said C.K. Ranganathan, chairman and managing director of CavinKare Private Limited. Jayshree Raveendran, founder and executive director, Ability Foundation, said that each nominee represents the potential for growth and success within the disability sector beyond their individual stories.

The Special Recognition Award went to Sunil Jain, a chartered accountant and founder trustee of Astha, from Bengaluru. Mr. Jain who underwent long periods of medical treatment caused by polio now helps persons with disabilities relish the sheer joy of sports. The Award for Eminence was conferred on Jitender Aggarwal of Gurugram who lost his vision due to macular degeneration. He is the founder of Sarthak Educational Trust, where he works toward expanding education and employment for persons with disabilities.

The Mastery Awards were received by Arivuraja Thangavelu of Kattumannarkoil, Shiv Kumar Sharma of Chandigarh, and Chandra Mouli Dwarapureddy of Narsipatnam. Mr. Thangavelu lives with a locomotor disability caused by polio and builds work opportunities for people often left out of formal employment through MAPe IT Solutions. Mr. Sharma who is blind by birth works in disability rights in Chandigarh through legal awareness, theatre, and film.

An electrical accident resulted in the amputation of both arms and legs for Mr. Dwarapureddy, after which he went on to complete a law degree, clear the CAT, study at IIM Ahmedabad, and now works at a multinational company. Deepika T.C, captain of the World Cup winning blind women’s cricket team and Thanya Nathan, who is set to become Kerala’s first blind judge felicitated the recipients.