Founder of Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) Achyuta Samanta has been conferred with yet another international award ‘2013 World of Difference Awards’ by US-based The International Alliance for Women (TIAW).
TIAW president lisa Kaiser Hickey presented the award to Dr Samanta at a ceremony in Washington on March 27 for his work in the field of women’s empowerment. The citation recognises him as a “Champion of Women’s Economic Empowerment”. Three Indians, including Dr Samanta, and four persons of Indian origin are among the 100 recipients in different categories.
Dr Samanta established a small school for indigenous tribal people in Odisha in 1993. It has now grown into the largest residential institute in the world, the KISS, for more than 20,000 tribal children providing education, food, accommodation, clothing and health facilities absolutely free. About 50 per cent of the students are girls. Not only this, Dr Samanta is also promoting women empowerment through education, vocational training and employment opportunities.
A simple equation, ‘Poverty creates illiteracy and literacy eradicates poverty’, has inspired his vision. It motivated him to work relentlessly to create an equitable society without poverty and ignorance by educating girls. He believes that women need to be the fundamental actors of the society, which motivated him to focus on ensuring that girls are educated, who in turn would educate the next generation.
The KISS has introduced various programmes like life Skill Education in collaboration with the UNFPA, vocational training, English Access Microscholarship Programme in collaboration with the US Embassy and personality development so that girls can pursue successful careers. Girls from remote tribal districts are pursuing rewarding careers in medicine, sports, economics, etc since they have passed out from the KISS.
The TIAW is a global community of economically empowered women across six continents aiming to leverage its reach and resources, creating a global community of economically empowered women.