I am an avowed reader of newspapers and such news catches my eyes which make our State proud. From November 26 to December 18, in a short span of 21 days, to my pleasant surprise I observed that Dr Achyuta Samanta, founder of KISS and KIIT and a noted social entrepreneur, has received three international awards and three prestigious national awards.
This achievement is perhaps incredible for any individual. One is the Gusi international peace prize which was presented to him on November 26 by Gusi Foundation, Philippines. He was given this award for his work on poverty alleviation through education and humanitarianism. It is worthwhile to know that this prize has also been given to Jimmy Carter, former President of America. Gusi prize is popularly known as Asia’s Nobel Award.
The second international award of two medals (one gold medal anf the other President’s medal) were presented to Samanta on December 8 by the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) comprising erstwhile Soviet Russian States from their authoritative knowledge organisation ZNANIE. This unique body has the consultative status with the UN Economic and Social council (UNESCOSOC) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO). The award was presented to him by president of ZNANIE Fim Malitikov. Samanta’s contribution in the field of education and his creation of KISS had impressed the organisation so much that member-countries unanimously selected him to get the coveted honour. On December 9, Dr Samanta was conferred with Msc (Honorary Causa) by the Moscow State Humanitarian University.
In the home front, Dr Achyuta Samanta received three national awards during this short span of time. One was on December 13 from the Computer Society of India (CSI) of Hyderabad. The organisation conferred its Honorary Fellowship to Dr Samanta. It is one of the highest national-level awards of the society, instituted in the year 1979 with an intention to honour distinguished personalities who have served the society with dedication. The earlier recipients of the award include eminent personalities like Ratan Tata, Prof Yash Pal and Chandrababu Naidu.
On December 16, the Pinnamaneni & Sitadevi Foundation of Andhra Pradesh honoured Dr Samanta with the Pinnamaneni & Sitadevi Foundation Award for his dedication to improving the status of tribals through providing education to tribal children at the KISS. Earlier, eminent persons like Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Dr Jayapraksh Narayan, Dr Varghese Kurien and Prof MS Swaminathan were conferred with this honour.
On December 18, Dr Samanta was presented with the Think India Award at the Transforming India Conclave in New Delhi. In this conclave, distinguished individuals, organisations, NGOs and corporate houses were honoured for their works in the fields of social reforms and development of the country. Dr Samanta was conferred with the award for his work in the field of educational reforms. Other recipients in the area were Kailash Satyarthi, the Nobel laureate ad Vindeswari Pathak, founder of Sulabh International. What is unique about Dr Samanta is that in response to the felicitations and awards conferred on him, he always says the award belongs to Odisha and people of Odisha. He takes pride in the fact that he belongs to the State of Odisha.
Dr Samanta is a man of high commitment and high competence. The success story of the KIIT University from a modest vocational learning centre in 1992 to its present preeminent status speaks of the commitment and competence of Dr Samanta. The KISS, which was established in the early 1990s, is at present home to 22,500 poor tribal children, and Dr Samanta has a vision of establishing its branches in 20 districts of Odisha. Dr Samanta has tremendous perseverance, tremendous willpower, which has made him a great achiever. like lord Mountbatten, he has a cool and focused mind to work. like JRD Tata, he has the trait of getting on with all types of individuals. like Dr Narayan Murthy, he is an epitome of honesty, transparency and moral integrity.He has made Odisha glorious and every Odia proud. He deserves three cheers on this New Year Day!
(Dr Mohnaty is a former Vice-Chancellor, Utkal University of Culture. Mobile No: 9238300265)