Former Karnataka Chief Secretary Ratna Prabha Honoured With Tun Dr. Mahathir Global Leadership Award in Malaysia

New Delhi/Bengaluru: K. Ratna Prabha, IAS (Retd), former Chief Secretary of Karnataka and Founder-President of the Ubuntu Consortium, has been conferred the Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad Good Global Exemplary Leadership Award by the BRICS-ASEAN Chamber of Commerce (BACC) in Malaysia. The award, presented by BRICS-ASEAN Council President Thayalan Nathan and the Nigerian Ambassador, recognises her longstanding contributions to governance, women-centric policies, and institutional development in India.

Expressing gratitude, Mrs. Ratna Prabha said the honour reinforces Ubuntu’s mission. “This award is a shot in the arm for Ubuntu, but it doesn’t change our goals. We will continue reaching out to 10,000 women entrepreneurs, offer digital marketing training, expand to 100 associations, facilitate exports and build partnerships in India and abroad,” she said. Ubuntu Joint Secretary Jyothi Balakrishna was also present during the ceremony.

Mrs. Ratna Prabha’s policy influence began well before she founded Ubuntu. As Additional Chief Secretary, Industries and Commerce (2014–16), she played a central role in designing Karnataka’s Industrial Policy 2014–19, which for the first time incorporated dedicated incentives and support mechanisms for women entrepreneurs. The policy led to the establishment of four women-focused industrial parks in Gulbarga, Harohalli, Mysuru and Dharwad.

She also spearheaded landmark initiatives, including the Think Big Women Entrepreneurs Summit in 2016—Asia’s largest women-entrepreneurship gathering—and later led women-focused sessions at Invest Karnataka, highlighting the economic potential of women-led enterprises.

Following her retirement from the civil service, she formally registered the Ubuntu Consortium on March 8, 2019. What began as a small WhatsApp network of eight associations in Karnataka has grown into a 60-association, 12-state consortium representing nearly 30,000 women from tier-2 and tier-3 cities across India. Ubuntu now enables interstate networking, mentoring, and business linkages for women entrepreneurs.

During the pandemic, Ubuntu delivered digital-marketing training to more than 4,000 women in partnership with UNESCAP, besides helping entrepreneurs access ONDC and GeM platforms. Mrs. Ratna Prabha emphasised that government collaboration, particularly from Karnataka, and greater private-sector CSR participation remain key to scaling women-entrepreneurship initiatives.

“Ubuntu has grown because of the support of founders and association leaders across India,” she added.