Manila: In a proud moment for the country, whistleblower bureaucrat Sanjiv Chaturvedi and Anshu Gupta, founder of NGO Goonj have been chosen for the Ramon Magsaysay award for the year 2015.
Established in 1957, the Ramon Magsaysay Award is Asia's highest honour and is widely regarded as the region's equivalent of the Nobel Prize. The award is given to five Asians for their exemplary work every year. The Magsaysay awards will be given out on August 31 in Manila.
Anshu Gupta left a corporate job to start Goonj in 1999. The NGO collects used clothes, household goods and converts them into resources for the poor. "I am certainly very happy to receive this award. Our work has been recognized," said Anshu Gupta.
The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation said Gupta was being recognized for "his creative vision in transforming the culture of giving in India, his enterprising leadership in treating cloth as a sustainable development resource for the poor".
The award citation also credited Gupta with "reminding the world that true giving always respects and preserves human dignity".
Chaturvedi initiated action in around 200 corruption cases during his stint as AIIMS CVO. He dedicated his award to Sardar Patel.
The foundation said Chaturvedi was being recognized for "his exemplary integrity, courage and tenacity in uncompromisingly exposing and painstakingly investigating corruption in public office, and his resolute crafting programmes and system improvements to ensure that government honourably serves the people of India".
The Magsaysay awards celebrate the memory and leadership example of the third Philippine president after whom the award is named.
It is given every year to individuals or organisations in Asia who manifest the same selfless service and transformative influence that ruled the life of the late Filipino leader.
The five 2015 Magsaysay awardees join the community of 307 other Magsaysay laureates who have received the honour to date.
Comments
0 comment