Thousands and thousands of people who make sure the wheels of democracy are well-oiled and -maintained — who go to every nook and corner of the country, from jungles to mountains carrying electronic voting machines so that even a single individual in the last border village can have a say in electing leaders — were honoured today with the ‘NDTV Indian of the Year Award 2024’.

They are India’s polling booth officers, the ‘Indian of the Year’. NDTV Editor-in-Chief Sanjay Pugalia presented the award.

Other notable winners in their respective fields include professor Annapurni Subramaniam, who received Science Icon of the Year Award; Namo Drone Didi Yojana, honoured with Social Impact of the Year Award, and Dr Gagandeep Kang, who received Health Leader of the Year Award.

Here’s the full list of the winners of the NDTV Indian of the Year Awards 2024:

BUSINESS LEADER OF THE YEAR

Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Chairperson, HCL Technologies

CLIMATE IMPACT OF THE YEAR

Swati Nayak, Agriculture and Rural Management Professional

ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR

Hitesh Doshi, Chairman, Waaree Energies

INDIA FIRST

S Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister

SCIENCE ICON OF THE YEAR

Professor Annapurni Subramaniam, Director, Indian Institute of Astrophysics

SOCIAL IMPACT OF THE YEAR

Namo Drone Didi Yojana

INDIA’S CENTURION

Gautam Hari Singhania, Chairman and Managing Director, Raymond Group

INDIAN OF THE YEAR – ENERGY TRANSITION

Vijay Murugesh Nirani, Founder and Managing Director, TruAlt Bioenergy

YOUTH ICON OF THE YEAR

Ananya Panday, Actor

GOLD VISIONARY – THE REAL HERO OF INDIA

Mohammed Abdul Wohab and Sabitri Pal, SHIS Foundation, for operating boat clinics and providing healthcare to remote islands of the Sundarbans. They have been doing this for decades.

BREAKOUT CELEBRITY OF THE YEAR

Shalini Passi, Philanthropist, Artist and Art Collector

HEALTH LEADER OF THE YEAR

Dr Gagandeep Kang, Biomedical Scientist

ACTOR OF THE YEAR

Rajkummar Rao

SPORTS PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR

India’s 2024 Paralympics Team

GLOBAL ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR

Kapil Sharma, Comedian and TV Host

NDTV INDIAN OF THE YEAR

Polling Booth Officers