Lucknow, March 06, 2017: Mr. Abhijit Sarkar, Head - Corporate Communications,
Corporate Relations & Sports, Sahara India Pariwar, Director - Sahara Force
India and Guardian – Sahara Media, has been confered with the prestigious Chanakya
Award for National achievers for the year 2017 as a Chanakya Juries Special
Award for Crisis Communications by the Public Relations Council of India (PRCI)
in the 11th Global Communication Conclave. In a grand ceremony, Mr. H.
Anjaneya, Co-operation and Social Welfare Minister, Government of Karnataka conferred
the award to Mr. Sarkar in Bengaluru. Also,
among the annual Corporate Collateral Awards 2017, ‘Think With Me Summit’ 16’
Summit organized by Sahara News Network has been awarded with best Corporate
Event of the year.
PRCI felicitated Mr. Sarkar, who is also the most
visible face of Corporate Communications profession in India, with the ace
Chanakya Award for his effective steering of communications during Sahara-SEBI
Issue. His innovative communication solutions not only engaged more than 9
crore investors but also reinstated their faith and belief with the Sahara
Group. Timely, smooth and targeted communications, which brings out and
forwards Sahara’s side direct to stakeholders, was his and his team’s primary
objective.
Mr. Sarkar was also presented the trophy and
certificate of the best Corporate Event of the year bestowed to Think With Me
Summit. Sahara News Network’s ‘Think With Me’ - Towards Ideal Country…Greater
India, Summit – 2016 organized at Lucknow.
In December 2016 the ‘Think With Me’ Summit was created a platform for
people to think about our country, its issues and discuss how to make our
country ideal and greater. The Summit culminated with the unveiling of
Saharasri Subrata Roy Sahara’s book ‘Think With Me’, on his in-depth
observations on making country greater again. The Summit and the unveiling of
the book was attended by eminent personalities and galaxy of stars from across
the nation.
Mr.
Abhijit Sarkar has been appointed recently as Vice President of the Asian
Hockey Federation (AHF) and the Chairman of the AHF Commercial and TV
Committee. For his contribution to Corporate Communication in general and
Public Relations in specific, he had been awarded with the ‘Most Dynamic Corporate Communications
Professional of the Year’ in the Powerbrands Hall of Fame Awards, held in
London in 2011, with Indy’s Excellence Award 2008 in the field of Corporate
Communications, Crises Management & PR, ‘Communicator of the Year” Award,
2011 by IPRCCA, as well as ‘Chanakya Corporate Communications Professional of
the Year’ by Public Relations Council of India.
Under
Mr. Sarkar’s leadership department of Corporate Communications has been
conferred with many awards for its innovative and trend setting communications activities.
Some of them are ‘Public Service
Campaign Award’ (2011), ‘Corporate Event of the Year’ Gold Award (2012), ‘Best
Corporate Event’ (2011), Best ‘Corporate Publication’ (2011), ‘Most Meaningful
Event (2008), ‘Corporate Brochure of the year’ (2006), Indy’s Award ‘Best
In-House Magazine’ (2009).
About Mr. Abhijit Sarkar
Mr. Abhijit Sarkar, Head - Corporate Communications,
Corporate Relations & Sports, Sahara India Pariwar, Director - Sahara Force
India and Guardian – Sahara Media. He is also Vice President of the Asian
Hockey Federation (AHF) and the Chairman of the AHF Commercial and TV
Committee.
Mr. Sarkar started his career from print journalism.
This was followed by a successful stint as a TV news host and then he got selected
for the core team of Mr. Subrata Roy Sahara, Managing Worker & Chairman,
Sahara India Pariwar. Considering his sharp understanding of the nuances of
media, he was given the task of establishing the Corporate Communications
department for Sahara India Pariwar. With his fresh ideas and strategic
communication planning, he expanded the possibilities and scope of work of the
Corporate Communications department, beyond regular corporate communications
related solutions. He included Marcom, Brand Management, Sports Management, and
events management solutions in its portfolio, which also made a complementing
combination of these fields giving strength to each other. The mélange of
services of the Corporate Communications department are provided to wide ranging
businesses of Sahara group which includes financial services, housing finance,
mutual funds, life insurance, city development, real estate activities, print
and television media, film production, sports, information technology, health
care, tourism, hospitality and consumer products.
Mr. Sarkar’s contribution was not only
restricted to the development of his department but was also instrumental in
expanding the possibility of the corporate communications profession at large
into every aspect of business. He has re-scripted many rules of the industry,
especially in the fields of media planning, public relations, sports
management, new media, e-communications, internal communications, events
management and crisis communications. His ideation and strategic communication
of handling his vision of evolving corporate communications into a strategic planning unit
and developing it as one of the core components of the organization have
established a landmark in the field of communications.
Mr. Sarkar has been instrumental in developing and
executing various well acclaimed international and national events like Sahara
India Sports Awards, Cricket Cup series, film festivals, Music awards, etc. As
an executive producer of one of the largest musical stage shows originated from
India namely ‘Bharati’, he took pride for Sahara Group and the Nation, to take
the show to international level by conceptualizing and organizing impressive
performances in foreign countries.
For his contribution to Corporate Communication in
general and Public Relations in specific, he has been awarded with the ‘Most
Dynamic Corporate Communications Professional of the Year’ in the Powerbrands
Hall of Fame Awards, held in London in 2011. He has also been conferred with
Indy’s Excellence Award 2008 in the field of Corporate Communications, Crises
Management and PR and ‘Communicator of the Year” Award, 2011 by IPRCCA,
‘Chanakya Corporate Communications Professional of the Year’ by Public
Relations Council of India.
In his long career, various Public Relations, Issue
and Crisis Management exercises handled by him are today case studies for
Public Relations professionals. Mr. Sarkar’s astute understanding of the
nuances of the business and his experience as a core member of the Chairman’s
team provides him with an ability to look into communication with broader
perspective and giving new dimensions to it. This experience can also be seen
in the Public Affairs activities on which he has considerable influence. To
utilize his experience and understanding of media he has also been appointed an
advisor for the Media business of Sahara India Pariwar.
He has also played a pivotal role in Sahara’s association with sportsmen,
celebrities, and with other sports like Hockey, Boxing, Wrestling, Archery,
Shooting, Football, Golf, Polo, etc. He has made key contributions in cementing
Sahara’s inseparable association with Cricket, for the past fifteen years,
whether it is the Sahara Cup in Canada, Sponsorship of the Indian Cricket Team
or the Sahara IPL team.
Considering his vast experience and expertise in the area of communications and
media management, he has been appointed as a Convener – Publicity & Media
Sub Committee of the XIX Commonwealth Games, 2010. He is Co-Chairman of FICCI
Sports Committee for the past three years and also a member of the prestigious
Sports Committee of CII for last four years. He was also a Convener of
Publicity & Media Sub Committee of the XIX Commonwealth Games, 2010.
His contribution has made him an
important figure in the world of communications, making him adorn many important
forums.
