Governor and president of the Indian Red Cross Society, A.P. State Branch, S. Abdul Nazeer presented Red Cross awards to the District Collectors of Bapatla, Krishna, Nellore, Kakinada, West Godavari, Nandyal and Srikakulam districts at the Annual General Meeting of the IRCS for 2024-25 held at Tummalapalli Kalakshetram here on Tuesday (September 1, 2026).Mr. Abdul Nazeer congratulated the District Collectors for their contribution to raising resources for the core humanitarian activities of the Red Cross. The Governor also congratulated the other awardees for raising resources and funding specific projects under CSR, which will benefit those in need.Speaking on the occasion, the Governor said he was happy to learn about the A.P. State Branch’s collaborations with the Sankalp Foundation to provide health care to thalassaemia patients, the LN4 Tangience Organization along with Rotary International to provide prosthetic hands to the needy, the LV Prasad Eye Institute for cornea collection, and the Elite Anti-Narcotics Group for Law Enforcement (EAGLE) to create awareness among the youth on the mission for a Drug-Free Andhra Pradesh.He also commended the Red Cross for adopting five lakh families under the ‘Mee Intiki Mee Doctor’ project implemented with the support of the Rural Electrification Corporation, with a budget of ₹8.50 crore over three years, covering the seven districts of Alluri Sitarama Raju, Parvathipuram Manyam, Nandyal, Palnadu, Tirupati, Ambedkar Konaseema and West Godavari.He said that as the youth constituted more than one-third of the country’s population, they had a vital role to play in building Viksit Bharat and Swarna Andhra @2047, by the time India celebrated 100 years of Independence.The Governor urged the Vice-Chancellors of the State and Central Universities in the State to set up Youth Red Cross units in all colleges and universities and integrate the Red Cross into the academic curriculum, and sought the help of District Collectors to give top priority to the Youth Red Cross programme and set an example for the country.The Governor called upon Red Cross volunteers and everyone in the State to take part actively in the A.P. Climate Action Campaign and the Campaign against Single-Use Plastic launched by the Red Cross.General Secretary and Chief Executive Officer Ashwini Kumar Parida presided over the programme. Published - September 02, 2026 05:09 pm IST