Ramon Magsaysay awards for 2 Indians

Two Indians have been chosen for this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Award – bureaucrat Sanjiv Chaturvedi, who blew the whistle on alleged scam at the premier All India Institute of Medical Sciences, and Anshu Gupta, who heads the NGO Goonj.

The award was established in 1957, the Ramon Magsaysay Award is Asia’s highest honor and is widely regarded as the region’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize.

The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation stated Gupta was being recognised for “his artistic imaginative and prescient in reworking the tradition of giving in India, his enterprising management in treating material as a sustainable improvement useful resource for the poor”.

Anshu Gupta founded Goonj in in 1999 after leaving a corporate job to start the organisation. It has converted 1,000 tonnes of used clothes, household goods and other urban discards into usable resources for the poor. Two Indians have been selected for the prize this year. “I am certainly very happy to receive this award. Our work has been recognized”.

The award citation also credited Gupta with “reminding the world that true giving always respects and preserves human dignity”. Chaturvedi initiated actions in around 200 corruption cases during his stint as AIIMS CVO; punishment was imposed in 78 cases, chargesheet was issued in 87 cases and more than 20 cases were referred to CBI for criminal investigation.

The Award honours those individuals whose lives are characterized by selfless service which impacts the lives of the greater many – the same ideals and achievement for which the Philippines third President Ramon Magsaysay is remembered. They will be formally conferred the Magsaysay Award during formal Presentation Ceremonies to be held on Monday, 31 August 2015 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, to which the public is cordially invited.

The five 2015 Magsaysay awardees join the community of 307 other Magsaysay laureates who have received the honour to date.