Adhik Kadam

Kadam was born on 23 August 1977 in Pune, Maharashtra. He took a Master of Arts in political science through Bharati Vidyapeeth and Sir Parashurambhau College, affiliated to Savitribai Phule Pune University.

Kadam first travelled to Kashmir in 1997, aged 19, on an educational tour, and visited camps housing displaced Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu. During the Kargil conflict of 1999 he worked with displaced people in the Kargil, Batalik and Drass sectors, and afterwards worked with Balraj Puri and the Institute of Jammu and Kashmir Affairs on a UNICEF-supported programme for children affected by armed conflict.

In 2002 he co-founded the Borderless World Foundation with Bharati Mamani, an activist from Pune, and Mohiuddin Mir, a local resident. In the same year the first Basera-e-Tabassum home was opened for girls who had lost their parents to the conflict. The project began with two girls and has grown to house more than two hundred across several centres in Kashmir, with a further home in Jammu. More than a hundred former residents have been reintegrated into their communities and a number have gone on to higher education.

Kadam received a Mother Teresa Award in 2010, the Spirit of Mastek Award in 2012 and the Maharashtra Times Youth Icon award in 2012. In 2024 he was named CNN-News18 Indian of the Year in the Social Change category.[2][3][4][5]