Noted educationist and social worker Dr Achyuta Samanta, founder of KIIT & KISS, has been selected to receive a number of notable national and international recognitions in the coming months. These include a prestigious international award from a Middle East country. The humanitarian award carrying a citation, golden plaque and cash prize of over a million USD will be conferred on Samanta by the King of the country in the first week of June in presence of a galaxy of luminaries, international jury and hundreds of invited guests from across the world.
It is indeed a unique honour for Odisha that one of its worthy sons has been nominated to receive the award. A confirmation letter to this effect under the seal and signature of the Prime Minister of that country reached here much to the astonishment of Samanta himself, whose nomination had to face a fierce global competition. The award is given every two years. Dr Samanta has also been selected to receive the highest civilian award Best Worker from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of labour of the Government of Republic of Mongolia.
Other notable recognitions to come Samanta’s way are five Honoris Causa degrees, three from national universities of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, one each from a Korean and a Tajikistan university. He will also receive the Best Educationist Award from the Delhi-based CSR group, which publishes the highest-circulated career magazine, on April 19 and a award Shere i-Bangla in Kolkata on April 29. Expressing gratitude to the awarding bodies, Dr Samanta said, “These will provide visibility to Odisha in different parts of the world.”