Monday 6 March 2017

Abhijit Sarkar bestowed with prestigious Chanakya Juries Special Award for ‘Crisis and Corporate Communications Professional’ during the 11th PRCI Global Communication Conclave

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 eefective 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.

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