20 Catalysts of Change — Educationists, Edupreneurs, and Philanthropists who are the force behind India’s education revolution. The PWI Education Icons 2021 carry Hon’ble PM Narendra Modi’s vision – of making India the Vishwa Guru – on their shoulders.
Highlights:
- The India of today is going through a transition under the great leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and this is the period where the country is shedding its coat of the past and making a big leap.
- Our new age India is now ready for a deliberation that celebrates its role models who broke the silence, broke the boundaries, broke the rules, broke the records, and have invariably revealed India’s strengths and capability as a nation. These are driven men and women of mostly ordinary means but an extraordinary vision.
- They are nation builders whose undying pursuit of excellence has brought everlasting glory to India.
The Wealth that increases by giving, that Wealth is Knowledge, and is Supreme of all Possessions.
Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India

People Who Inspire India (PWI) Education Iconic Awards 2021 | DKODING Media Inc. | Florida, USA: The torchbearers of India’s intellectual journey, the vital pillar of empowerment for millions. In their pursuit of excellence, these benevolent visionaries are helping India’s young minds realize their potential. They are revolutionizing learning, empowering education infrastructures, and ensuring that the leverage of knowledge reaches every corner of the nation. The 20 luminaries who collectively make up the league of extraordinary change-makers are the prestigious winners of the People Who Inspire India (PWI) Education Iconic Awards 2021.
There is no doubt that the knowledge of its citizens decides the wealth of a nation – be it cultural evolution or economic prosperity. The icons featured in the People Who Inspire (PWI) Education Awards 2021 have devoted their time, passion, and resources to bring out a revolution in the approach to education in India. Single-handedly and together, they are helping realize the vision of not just the founding fathers but great thinkers and the aspirations they have set for the future of the country.
India — The World’s Knowledge Powerhouse
With more than 250 million students in schools and almost 40 million pursuing higher education in universities, India has one of the largest populations of scholars in the world. India has the largest schooling system in the world and the third-largest higher education ecosystem. India’s demographic edge against the entire globe spurs from the fact that its education ecosystem is currently nurturing the workforce that is set to dominate the future.
By 2025, India will boast the largest population of scholars entering the workforce at around 120 million. By 2030, India is estimated to become the country with the largest young workforce in the world.
Watch: India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks on ‘Education in the 21st Century’ at the NEP Conclave 2020
The scope of the potential that this workforce will fulfil with be determined by the scale of quality education in the country. Therefore, the role that private institutions and individuals will play in this mission is as critical as that of the government and public institutions. The quality of education and resources that India avails to its brilliant young minds will be the deciding factor in the talent we produce in the coming decades, and the economic growth and prosperity of thought that comes with it.
The Iconism Paradigm — A Salute to the Propellers of India’s Future
Quality Education should be prioritized. We have been focusing on the outlay, now it is the time to concentrate on the outcome of our education system.
PM Narendra Modi
With a novel vision to usher in a new age of enlightenment in India, the PM Narendra Modi-led government launched a path-breaking New Education Policy that will revolutionize how we impart and attain knowledge. The aim of the new approach is to give India’s young minds the platform to recognize their talent and the resources to excel and gain skills. In fact, many of the revolutionary ideas of the NEP are already being championed and propelled by these individuals through their contributions to the field of education.
These celebrated personalities have been selected after arduous deliberation based on DKODING‘s four crucial parameters of the Iconism Paradigm:
- Imagine
- Innovate
- Influence
- Impact
While some are innovators in Online Learning and EdTech, others have redefined the ethos of Universities and Schools. Then there are those who have pushed the concept of education to the limit with experiential, experimental, and lifelong learning. Last but not least are the patrons of knowledge, benevolent citizens who haven’t just achieved the best in their fields but have shown an undying commitment to issues of grassroot education, girl education, skill development, and educational philanthropy.
Great nations are built by great people. People Who Inspire India is a revolutionary endeavour to identify, multiply, imbibe the spirit and the DNA of an exceptional India. Its a dynamic collaboration of the torchbearers who collectively lead India to its highest point of being a Global Phenomena under the great leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.
Deepak Kaistha, CEO, DKODING Media Inc.
The Winners — People Who Inspire India Education Iconic Awards 2021

Sr. No. | Name | League | |
---|---|---|---|
![]() | #1 | Nita Ambani | Icons & Idols |
![]() | #2 | Azim Premji | Icons & Idols |
![]() | #3 | Dr. Ishari K Ganesh | Icons & Idols |
![]() | #4 | Shiv Nadar | Icons & Idols |
![]() | #5 | Sachin Tendulkar | Icons & Idols |
![]() | #6 | Dr. Sanjay Gupta | Icons & Idols |
![]() | #7 | Ronnie Screwvala | Icons & Idols |
![]() | #8 | Priyanka Chopra | Icons & Idols |
![]() | #9 | Shaheen Mistri | Super Icons |
![]() | #10 | Parag Shah | Super Icons |
![]() | #11 | Manish Sisodia | Super Icons |
![]() | #12 | Ashok Kumar Thakur | Super Icons |
![]() | #13 | Lina Ashar | Super Icons |
![]() | #14 | Manit Jain | Super Icons |
![]() | #15 | Neerja Birla | Modern Icons |
![]() | #16 | Rahul Bose | Modern Icons |
![]() | #17 | Megha Vijaywargia | Modern Icons |
![]() | #18 | Bharat Gupta | Modern Icons |
![]() | #19 | Vamsi Krishna | Modern Icons |
![]() | #20 | Gaurav Munjal | Modern Icons |
Credits:
Managing Editor: Chitresh Sehgal | Executive Editors: Sourav Chatterjee, Nandini Sen | Deputy Editor: Arudhi Verma | Research & Intelligence: Smriti Bhalla, Shrishty Mishra | Product Head & Publisher: Anubhav Saxena | Web Production: Prateek Goyal | Digital & Publishing: Akshita Kirar| Graphics: Sandesh Chaudhary
