Anshul won the top award, with Neelam Thakur and Ishwar Dass as runners-up
The Golden Rudraksh Awards 2025, held on Tuesday at Shoolini University, celebrated outstanding contributions across leadership, faculty, and non-teaching staff. The executive review committee, led by Chairperson Saroj Khosla and members MD Sharma, Prof Indu Rihani, and Prof MS Thakur, managed the voting process. The Learning Team, supervised by Dr Ashoo Khosla and Prof Kamal Kant Vashisth, organised the voting at the CC Lab in E Block.
The top 10 staff members included Balbir Sharma, Meenakshi Sharma, Prem Bhatti, Koshliya Devi, Hemant Sharma, Alice, Nancy Chandel, Anshul, Harsha Thakur, and Ishwar Dass. Among them, Anshul emerged as the Winner, Neelam Thakur secured the 1st Runner-up position, and Ishwar Dass was the 2nd Runner-up.
The e-Learning team (IT and SPRINT Team) won in the Best Central Support Team category. The Library team claimed the 1st Runner-up position, while the DSW team secured the 2nd Runner-up position.
In the Student’s Choice Award category, Raghav and Sanchit were honoured as the Best Teachers, while Associate Prof Vinay Negi was recognised as the Most Popular Teacher.
The Top 10 Faculty Members are: Azhar Khan, Ekta Singh, Nitika Thakur, Brij Bhushan Sharma, Nisha Kapoor, Namita Gandotra, and Chander Mohan Gupta. The top three finalists were, Indu Negi, Vinay Negi, and Sourav Gupta, with Associate Prof Vinay Negi bagging the top spot, followed by Indu Negi as the 1st Runner-up and Gaurav Gupta as the 2nd Runner-up.
In the Dean/Director Category, the Top 10 nominees featured Nandan Sharma, Dinesh Kumar, Amar Raj Singh, Narinder Verma, and Kesari, while the Top Five Finalists included Neeraj Gandotra, Purnima Bali, Pankaj Vaidya, Pooja Verma, and Somesh Sharma. Somesh Sharma was declared the winner, with Pooja Verma as the 1st Runner-up and Pankaj Vaidya as the 2nd Runner-up.
Additionally, Sunita was honoured as the Guardian of Rudraksh, while the Organising team included Nishant, Manish, Vikas, and Chandan. The Mentors of Rudraksh are, Indu Rihani, Mohan Das Sharma, MS Thakur, and Kamal Kant were also felicitated.
Chief Learning Officer and Golden Rudraksh Awards organiser Dr Ashoo Khosla said the recognition was about honouring individuals and fostering a culture of continuous growth and motivation. “Through a transparent 360-degree voting process, we ensure that every contribution is valued and appreciated,” she added.
Prof Kamal Kant Vashisth explained that the Golden Rudraksh Awards were established to share Dr APJ Abdul Kalam's blessings with deserving university employees. These blessings come in the form of Rudraksha beads from a tree Dr Kalam planted on the premises of the Yogananda Library. Initiated in 2018, the awards honour the university's unsung heroes who perform their duties quietly and diligently.
March 5