The ninth V.C. Padmanabhan Memorial Awards for Excellence for 2018 were conferred on the distinguished awardees at a function held on June 19, 2018 at the Lulu International Convention Centre, Thrissur.

Prominent winners for the year included the eminent playback singer Dr. S.P. Balasubrahmanyan, and the boxing champion Smt. MC Mary Kom. Also honoured were Smt. Arundhati Bhattacharya, former Chairman of State Bank of India, and Shri V.J. Kurian, IAS (Retd.), Managing Director of Cochin International Airport Ltd.

The awards, given away by Hon’ble Justice (Retd.) Shri Cyriac Joseph, former Judge, Supreme Court of India, carried a cash prize of Rs.3 lakhs and a trophy. Mr. V.P. Nandakumar, MD & CEO, Manappuram Finance Ltd., presided over the function.

Shri. V. P. Nandakumar, MD & CEO, Manappuram Finance Ltd. inaugurated “Rising Stars”, the New Customer Acquisition Campaign for Q2 FY 2018-19, at a function held at the Sarojini Padmanabhan Memorial Auditorium at Manappuram’s Valapad HO. In order to motivate employees and to enhance customer base, it has been decided to conduct a New Customer Campaign during Q2 FY19 (Jul’18 to Sep’18) with bumper incentives like automobile, Motor Cycle and foreign trip to Bangkok for employees in the Branch/Area /Region /Zone (HO) levels.

Dr Manmohan Singh, former Prime Minister of India, received the first V.C. Padmanabhan Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award from Shri. Pranab Mukherjee, former President of India, in a function held at the Constitution Club of India here. Shri P.J. Kurian, Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and Shri V.P. Nandakumar, MD & CEO, Manappuram Finance Ltd. were present at the function.
 
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that the former prime minister had provided stability to India and successfully presided over the country’s finances during troubled times.  In his acceptance speech, Dr. Manmohan Singh spoke about India’s gold consumption and said that a large part of demand for gold is due to lack of financial literacy and gaps in spreading financial inclusion. He also mentioned how a money lending and pawn broking business by its founder V.C. Padmanabhan has now adapted to change and transformed itself into one of India’s leading NBFCs under the leadership of Shri. V.P. Nandakumar.
 
In his welcome speech, Shri V.P. Nandakumar, MD & CEO, Manappuram Finance Ltd. mentioned that while Manappuram had remained a single branch business present only in Valapad under its Founder, Shri V.C. Padmanabhan, his real legacy was the wealth of goodwill he had accumulated among the people of the area, which became the foundation for its rapid growth of later years.
 
The V C Padmanabhan Memorial Awards were instituted in 2010 to commemorate the illustrious founder of the Manappuram Group of companies. They are presented every year to eminent personalities who have made significant contributions in the categories of Arts and Literature, Civil Servant achieving Excellence in Public Administration, Public Representative achieving Excellence in Good Governance, Business Excellence leading to development of Society at large and Ecology and Environment Conservation. A new category “Excellence in Sports and Games” was added in 2018. It is also the first time since inception that an award for Lifetime Achievement was presented.
 
The nominees for the awards were selected by a six member jury, headed by Justice (Retd) M Ramachandran, former Judge, High Court of Kerala.  The other members were Shri. V.P. Nandakumar (MD & CEO, Manappuram Finance Ltd.), Shri. T. Balakrishnan, IAS (Retd.), former MD, INKEL Ltd., Shri. T.M. Manoharan, IFS (Retd.), former Chairman, Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission, Dr. P.V. Krishnan Nair (former Secretary, Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy) and Mr. P.K. Vijayakumar, IRS (Retd.), former Insurance Ombudsman for Kerala & Lakshadweep.
 
Over the years, many eminent people from all walks of life have been recipients of the award. Dr. E. Sreedharan (MD, Delhi Metro) in 2010, Shri. M. Damodaran (former Chairman, SEBI) in 2012, Shri. Vinod Rai (former CAG) in 2013, Shri Amjad Ali Khan and Shri Adoor Gopalakrishnan in 2015, Shri M.T. Vasudevan Nair (2016), Mr. Amitabh Kant IAS (CEO, Niti Aayog) and Mr. Shashi Tharoor (Member of Parliament) in 2017.

Manappuram Finance Ltd. has made a contribution of Rs 2 crore in aid of flood-hit Kerala. The Managing Director and CEO of the company, V.P. Nandakumar handed over the cheque to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at the Government Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram.
 
“As a responsible corporate citizen with deep roots in Kerala, we would like to do our best to mitigate the immense suffering of the people of the state in this hour of need,” said V.P Nandakumar.
 
Besides, through the Manappuram Foundation (the CSR arm of the company), a separate relief project is being implemented to help the coastal zone of Thrissur and Ernakulam districts. The Manappuram Foundation is extending relief and assistance to flood affected areas by providing food, medicines, and clothing.
 
Photo: V.P. Nandakumar, Managing Director and CEO of Manappuram Finance Ltd. Handing over cheque of Rs.2 crore to Pinarayi Vijayan, Chief Minister of Kerala. Sanoj Herbert, Deputy General Manager, Manappuram Foundation and K M Ashraf, Senior PRO, Manappuram Finance were also present during the occasion.

Mr. V.P. Nandakumar, MD & CEO, Manappuram Finance Ltd. inaugurated the Sarojini Padmanabhan Manappuram Villas at Karayavattom, Thrissur. The gated complex consists of eight ready-to-move villas for senior employees of the company. Mr. B.N. Raveendra Babu, Executive Director, Smt. Bindhu A.L. (EVP- F&A), Mr.  Aloke Prasad (SVP- Security & Admin), Mr. Mahesh Bommanalli, GM – Civil and Mr. K.P. Revi, GM - Electrical etc. attended the inaugural function.

IIM, Kozhikode in association with Manappuram Finance Ltd. organized a customized Programme on “Leadership” for the Senior Executives of the company. The sessions were led by Prof. Debasish Chatterjee, Director, IIM Kozhikode. The key objective of the programme was to open mind’s for generating good ideas and identify actionable strategies to improve leadership.

Mr. V.P. Nandakumar, MD & CEO, Manappuram Finance Ltd.  inaugurated a new office of the company located on the first floor of the KSEB builidng at Chandapady, Valapad. The premises extend over a total area of 3691 sq. feet area. It includes a meeting room and 86 work stations arranged in the first floor with a spacious cafeteria provided on the second floor. The company’s departments like audit, risk, a part of IT and the Manappuram Foundation is being shifted to the new office. The inaugural function was attended by senior executives of the company including Smt. Bindhu A.L. (EVP- F&A), Mr. Satheesh Kumar (SGM, Personal Finance), Mr. Pavel Podder (CEO, Manappuram Foundation), Smt. Puneet Kaur Kohli (CTO) and Shri K.P. Revi, GM - Electrical.