Business / Achyuta Samanta: Winner Of 2014 GUSI Peace Prize

Achyuta Samanta: Winner Of 2014 GUSI Peace Prize

Business Dec 03, 2014

by Anokhi Admin

Social Entrepreneur From India Selected For The Prestigious GUSI Peace Prize

Achyuta Samanta is the entrepreneur and founder of KIIT (Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology) and KISS (Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences). He was selected by the Philippines-based awarding committee for his efforts and achievements in “poverty alleviation through education and humanitarianism.” The award ceremony was telecasted in more than 46 countries and took place in Manila on Nov 26, 2014. He is the third Indian and first person from the state of Odisha to receive the award.

Samanta’s work has focused on the indigenous community in Odisha for the last 25 years. With dreams of eradicating the epidemic of poverty in India, Samanta dreamt of KISS to house 22,500 underprivileged and neglected children in his home town of Odisha. The institute has received worldwide recognition. The site works as a successful model of empowerment of indigenous people through education. This model is now being replicated both locally in India and worldwide.

In an interview with Readers Digest, Samanta tells, “Educating just one generation of tribal children can change their communities. Odisha has 62 scheduled tribes. They’re the poorest of the poor. But give their children education and they become no different from you and me.”

Early Beginnings

Born in the Cuttack district in Odisha in 1965, Samanta’s childhood was not an easy one. According to his official website, his life is no less than a rags to riches story. After his father’s sudden death when Samanta was at the tender age of four, his mother supported him and her children in an impoverished village in India. Although his life was difficult, his passion and drive to educate himself led to him procuring a master’s degree in Chemistry, which led to his first job as a lecturer at a college in Bubaneshwar, Odisha.

Born Entrepreneur

While completing his graduate scholarship in Utkal University in Bubaneshwar, Samanta worked as a private tutor and discovered his passion for entrepreneurship at this time. With his skills and a saved Rs 5,000, the young man started in Industrial Training Institute in 1993 in a two-room rented building in Bubaneshwar in order to educate children who were unemployed and were unable to find jobs in their respective careers.

Birth Of The KIIT

His passion led to the founding of KIIT, which is the largest educational conglomerate of educational institutions in the city of Bubaneshwar. With 7.5 million square feet of land, there are 20 independent colleges with state-of-the-art facilities which are housed within this site. Recognized by the Government of India, the institution has been mentioned in the prestigious Limca Book of Records and is recognized as one of the top 15 universities in India.

Birth Of KISS

In 1993, KISS was established as a free institute that provided tribal children with free lodging and boarding facilities. Only one-of-a-kind, the institute provides opportunities for students to nurture in knowledge and education, but students are also passionate about rugby and excel in all types of sports. The students have been doing well ten years in a row with no dropout rate.

Samanta currently works as a professor at KIIT and has been a visiting professor at Open International University in Colombo. He is also the former chancellor of KIIT University.

_{All images courtesy of AchyutaSamanta.com}

COMMENTS

Gadgets That Have Changed Our Lives Forever

World's Richest Sikh: Malvinder Singh

ANOKHI App Launched!

ANOKHI's Holiday Gift Guide Issue Out NOW!

Travelling Apps For The Holidays

Business Advice From The Top 10 CEOs In The World

Judy Inc Offers Stellar Production And Studio Services

India's Female Cabbies

January's Latest Tech Gadgets