P. C. Vinoj Kumar, Editor, The Weekend Leader; Puranasundhari M., IRS, Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax; G. Viswanathan, Founder-Chancellor, VIT; Super Startup Award winner Ramya Devanathan, founder of Madras Sarees; and G. V. Selvam, Vice President, VIT.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
G. Viswanathan, founder-chancellor of Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), presented the Weekend Leader–VIT Person of the Year Award to Girija Madhu from Kerala. G.V. Selvam, vice-president of VIT, presented the Weekend Leader–VIT Super Startup Award to Ramya Devanathan, founder of Madras Sarees.
Ms. Girija, founder of the Cerebral Palsy Sports Association of Kerala, trained children with cerebral palsy to play football and helped them become champions. In the early days, she went from house to house, convincing parents to send their children for training. With little financial support available, she even mortgaged her gold jewellery to meet the training, food and other expenses of the children.
Ms. Ramya, who founded Madras Sarees in 2021 with an investment of ₹2 lakh after spending nearly two decades in the corporate sector, has grown the business to an annual turnover of around ₹12 crore. The company offers around 3,500 varieties of sarees, with about 70 per cent of its designs developed in-house.
Congratulating Girija Madhu for training children with cerebral palsy in football, Mr. Viswanathan said India had the potential to become a major sporting nation if governments, institutions and sporting associations worked together to identify and systematically train promising youngsters.
Speaking on the occasion, Puranasundhari M., Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, recounted how she overcame visual impairment and accessibility barriers to clear the UPSC Civil Services Examination with an All India Rank of 286 and join the Indian Revenue Service. She recalled how her parents and well-wishers helped her access study materials and achieve her dream.
Published – August 22, 2026 12:45 am IST
