TANKER Foundation celebrated its 33rd Annual Charity and Awards Nite on Sunday, January 25, 2026, at Hotel Savera, R.K. Salai, Chennai.

The programme began with The Mr. Venkatesan & Mrs. Malathi Venkatesan TANKER Foundation Memorial Lecture, delivered by Ms. Jayashree Lakshminarayanan, a champion with CKD who has fought with fortitude and resilience.

Ms. Jayashree Lakshminarayanan shared her experience of having chronic kidney disease from the age of seven. She was too young to understand her disease and it was her mother and Dr Georgi Abraham who gave her all the help to cope and manage it.

Over the years she realised that though people made her feel different, she said that was her normal. She said though one has problems it was important to show up and that was what she always did.

She achieved her dream of becoming a creative producer and is now working across India and the US. Though after 22 years she is reaching the 5th stage of kidney disease, she is not going to let it deter her from her goals.

She has just completed a Producing Certificate course in California. Some of her works
Arts directed – Charlie, Jacobinte Swargarajyam, Vanamagan, Double Barrel and Diya
Productions designed – Kushi, Oh! Baby, Pisasu, Vanamagan and Diya
TANKER Foundation Founder Trustee, Dr. Georgi Abraham, welcomed the gathering and thanked everyone and said along with doing dialysis, TANKER was stepping up awareness and screening for early detection of kidney disease.

He said the number of nephrologists, especially in the underserved states of India, were very few as compared to the incidence of kidney disease in the population.

He urged everyone to do regular blood tests and blood pressure checks as BP and diabetes and taking unprescribed painkillers were the main causes of the disease.

TANKER Foundation Managing Trustee, Mrs. Latha A. Kumaraswami, said the need for dialysis was on the increase and that TANKER’s work was a drop in the ocean and more had to be done.

TANKER, founded by Dr. Georgi Abraham and like-minded people, had small beginnings in 1993 and that with help from the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme (CMCHIS), the Central government (PMJAY), Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), family, friends, Rotary, Lions, Round Table, Freemasons, Ladies Circle, Inner Wheel, corporates, individuals and CSR donations TANKER now runs 15 dialysis units – 10 in Chennai, one each in Madurai, Vellore, Tiruppur, Dindigul and Coimbatore.

She thanked the valuable staff of TANKER for being Angels on Earth, for their commitment and dedication. The Awards Nite was a function to recognise research in nephrology and service to the public, she said.
Chief guest, Mr. Antony Lobo, Consul of Spain and Head of Consulate in Chennai, said he admired and appreciated the dedicated work that TANKER Foundation has done for 33 years and that everyone involved were totally committed to TANKER and their mission in helping people with kidney disease.

He also talked about CKD being a major public health challenge and that it was the need of the hour for more resources to be made available from the public and private sectors for addressing awareness, organ donation and all related problems. He said he would help TANKER by getting some CSR donations from the Spanish companies in India.

He presented the following awards:
The K. V. George Kottukulam Memorial TANKER & Kerala Kidney Research Foundation Young Investigator Award for outstanding research done in the field of nephrology in India was awarded to Dr. Jigar Shrimali, for his research into ‘Multicentre Prospective Analytical Study on Protein – Energy Wasting and Quality of Life in Dialysis Patients: Role of Nutritional Monitoring in Indian CKD Stage 5D Population’. The award carried a cash prize of Rs. 2 lakh, a citation and a gold medallion.

The Renny Abraham TANKER Foundation Love for Service Award for a medical doctor who has gone beyond the call of duty in serving the underprivileged was awarded to Dr. Mullasari Ajit S for his selfless service to thousands of children with heart disease. The award carried a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh, a citation and a gold medallion.

The K. Venkatanarayana TANKER Foundation Awareness Award, given to an individual for creating awareness of any disease, mental, physical and social, was awarded to Mr. Sankar Mahadevan for his exceptional efforts in raising awareness about education, women’s empowerment, disaster relief and cancer prevention through his NGO, Udhavum Ullangal. The award carried a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh, a citation and a gold medallion.

The La Renon TANKER Foundation For the Sake of Honour Award, given to an individual who has done exemplary work in his or her field, was awarded to Ms. Jayashree Lakshminarayanan, a champion with CKD who has fought with fortitude and resilience. The award carried a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh, a citation and a gold medallion.

The La Renon TANKER Foundation Lifetime Achievement Awards, given to two individuals who have done exemplary work in the field of nephrology, were awarded to Prof. Hemant Kumar, Gorakhpur, and Prof. Amod Chandra Mahakur, Bhubaneshwar, who have served tirelessly in the field of kidney disease. The awards carried a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh, a citation and a gold medallion each.

The Ashok Sankaralingam TANKER Foundation Patient Endowment – one-year dialysis support was given to four underprivileged patients with kidney failure – Rs. 2 lakh.

TANKER Staff Awards were given for service, dedication, commitment, punctuality and awareness initiative to several TANKER staff members.