The 11th KISS Humanitarian Award 2018 was presented to Prof. Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Laureate (2006) and Founder, Grameen Bank, Bangladesh here on Friday by Ms Saswati Bal, president, KIIT & KISS and Dr. Achyuta Samanta, founder.
The award citation recognizes his unwavering commitment to eradicate global poverty and foster economic and social development. “Like a true humanitarian, you felt the suffering and helplessness of the poor and dreamt of a poverty-free world; and have been tirelessly working to create the world of your dreams. Your recent work focuses on achieving zero illiteracy, poverty and hunger, which are very similar to the goals Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) has been espousing for the last 26 years”, it mentions.
Prof. Yunus called for imagining a system that creates wealth for everybody in the world. “A vast majority of 99 percent population owns only 1 percent of the world’s wealth. In India, the privileged 1 percent is holding 73 percent of wealth. You should imagine the wildest imagination because only imagination brings change. When Dr. Samanta started KISS in early 1990s, he didn’t have anything, but only imagination and dream. KISS is a dream Dr. Samanta turned into reality”.
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“It is an amazing experience to visit this great institution. I went around different campuses of KIIT & KISS and it is like a dreamland. Dr Samanta has taken very brave action to provide quality education to thousands of socially isolated and underprivileged children through KISS.
In fact, Dr Samanta is the most deserving person to get the humanitarian award” said Prof Yunus. Dr Samanta informed that Yunus Centre will sign an MoU with KISS for promoting social business.
KISS Humanitarian Award is a prestigious international award given to someone who has made exceptional contribution to the society in various fields relating to social issues and who has distinguished himself or herself as a true humanitarian.
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