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The Ramon Magsaysay Award was established in April 1957 by the trustees of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) based in New York City. With the concurrence of the Philippine government, the prize was created to commemorate Ramon Magsaysay, the late president of the Philippines, and to perpetuate his example of integrity in government, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealism within a democratic society. The Ramon Magsaysay Award is often considered Asia's Nobel Prize.[1][2][3] Every year the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation gives away prizes to Asian individuals and organizations for achieving excellence in their respective fields. The awards are given in six categories:
Magsaysay Award for Prakash & Mandakini Amte
KUALA LUMPUR: India's philanthropist doctors Prakash and Mandakini Amte were on Thursday declared winners of the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for their contributions to improving the lives of tribals in a remote Maharashtra village through medical care and education. ( Watch )
Prakash, the son of noted social activist Baba Amte, and his wife Mandakini are among the seven individuals from different countries who have been selected for this year's Magsaysay Award, regarded as Asia's equivalent of the Nobel Prize. The medical doctor couple has been selected for the community leadership award, the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation said in the Philippines capital Manila. They are being recognised for "enhancing the capacity of the Madia Gonds (tribals) to adapt positively in today's India, through healing and teaching and other compassionate interventions," it said. The husband-wife duo runs a school and a hospital at Hemalkasa village in the underprivileged district of Gadchiroli in Maharashtra's Vidarbha region for the welfare of the Madia Gond tribals. Prakash's father Baba Amte, who died in February this year, had received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for public service in 1985. I am humbled by the honour: Prakash Amte Ramon Magsaysay award recipient for 2008 Prakash Amte said that he was humbled by the recognition bestowed upon him. "I accept the award on behalf of my entire team dedicated to the cause of social welfare and upliftment," Amte said over telephone from his Hemalkasa home in Gadchiroli district. Speaking about sharing the prestigious award with wife Mandakini, he said, "We have always shared joys and sorrows together. Without her help, my mission of upliftment of Madai Gond tribals in the region would have never been accomplished." "Baba would have been happy if I had got the award in his life time," Prakash said. |
