Address by Governor at the presentation of the Impact Person of the Year Award to Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev in Mumbai

Address by Shri Ch Vidyasagar Rao, Governor of Maharashtra at the presentation of the Impact Person of the Year Award to Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev at ITC Grand Central, Parel, Mumbai at 7 pm on Friday, 11th December 2017

Shri Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, Hon’ble Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and National Vice President of BJP, Shri Raj Nayak, COO, Viacom, Shri Annurag Batra, Chairman & Editor in Chief, Exchange4media Group and Chairman, Business World, Shri Nawal Ahuja, Co-Founder, Exchange4Media Group, the star of today’s evening Yoga Guru, Baba Ramdev, other Impact Award nominees, ladies and gentlemen,

I am indeed happy to be in the midst of this august gathering of India’s best-known media and advertising industry professionals at the IMPACT Person of the Year 2017 award presentation ceremony.

I had presented the IMPACT awards in the year 2014, and I am glad to be here in your midst once again.

I congratulate the recipient of the IMPACT Person of the Year 2017 award, Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev.

Every nominee for IMPACT Person of the Year award is a leader in his chosen field and is therefore a Winner. I especially applaud and acknowledge the work of Shri Bhavish Aggarwal, founder of Ola Cabs. Within 7 years, Ola has become a respectable brand among transportation network companies.

Another nominee – poet and advertising professional Shri Prasoon Joshi, now also the Chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification, has done India proud at the prestigious Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity this year. He is also a strong emissary of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, that aims to build a better India.

I also acknowledge the work of other eminent nominees shortlisted for the IMPACT award this year. All of the IMPACT nominees together make up the ecosystem of media, advertising and marketing, which carries on its shoulders a great responsibility towards the people of India.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Even though, people in the business and Corporate world have began to identify and acknowledge Baba Ramdev with the Global Brand ‘Patanjali’ that he has built so successfully, I am not inclined to link Baba Ramdev with Patanjali alone.

Ramdeo Baba is India’s foremost Yoga Guru in the Digital era, who according to me, has ‘democratised’ Yoga. Ramdev Baba has made Yoga accessible to all, and achieved the goal of universal social inclusion through his efforts, within a short period.

Before he arrived on the national scene, I should say, national screen, India had produced several great men and women Yoga Gurus who preached and practiced Yoga.

There have been many organisations involved in the research in Yoga existing and serving in India for more than a century. However, the reach of these individual Yoga Gurus and Yoga organisations was limited.

Ramdev Baba brought, what can be described as a revolution in the way, Yoga is taught at the mass level.

Gifted with unlimited and boundless energy, and a sincere urge for the welfare of ordinary people of India, Ramdeo Baba took Yoga to the masses in a simple and easy-to-understand manner. He has connected to Yoga, the young as well as the old generation.

Four centuries ago, Maharashtra had produced a great Saint, writer and social reformer Samarth Ramdas, popularly known as Ramdas Swami. Ramdas Swami who is regarded by many as Guru to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had stressed the need for creating healthy individuals to build a strong nation.

Baba Ramdeo is carrying forward the message of Samarth Ramdas through his work for the propagation of Yoga.

The second important contribution of Baba Ramdeo is his emphasis on Swadeshi products. Ramdeo Baba launched the Patanjali Brand in 2006. According to Economic Times, Patanjali is all set to become the World’s largest Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) Brand overtaking Unilever and others by 2020-21. To his credit, Ramdeo Baba is investing the profit to achieve larger social goals. I wish and hope that Corporate houses will take inspiration from the success story of Patanjali. I will call upon Baba Ramdevji to make Patanjali the best global brand by laying utmost thrust on quality.

Top leaders of the advertising industry are present here. There are many people in the unorganised sector, who do not know the importance of advertising, branding and marketing. Every year, I inaugurate an Exhibition of village products and artefacts manufactured by women self help groups and rural artisans. The Exhibition is organised by the Rural Development Department of Government of Maharashtra. In absence of branding, advertising and marketing, our genuinenly good products are unable to reach national and international market. I believe that advertising, branding and marketing can help empower and enrich our rural communities and artisans and make a positive change in their lives. I will urge the professionals to lend their helping hand to our rural entrepreneurs, artisans and women’s self help groups.

Today, increased Internet penetration and popularity of social media have taken advertising into the digital domain. Most importantly, it has made communication two-way, and now people can easily communicate their opinion about a company, product or brand.

I call upon the stakeholders of the advertising industry – the creative agencies, media agencies and the media carrying the advertisements – to be even more responsible and remain vigilant to ensure ethical standards in advertising. Those indulging in false and misleading advertisements must be punished.

I have a special word of appreciation for the Exchange4media Group, for instituting the IMPACT Person of the Year and IMPACT Person of the Decade awards. I wish and hope that the Award will bring quality consciousness among all stakeholders. You all have the ability and power to build Brand India. I see a bright future for the Indian media and advertising industry. I want to see the Indian industry becoming a global leader in the years to come. You have all my best wishes in your future endeavours. I congratulate Baba Ramdev once again and wish him the best in the service of the people of India.

Thank you

Jai Hind ! Jai Maharashtra !!