"Gandhi Seva Medal Conferred on Dr. Samanta"

Gandhi Seva Medal, a prestigious award has been conferred on Dr. A. Samanta, Founder, KIIT & KISS. The award was presented to Dr. Samanta in the presence of Shri Tara Chand, Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister of J & K, Smt. Meira Kumari, Hon’ble Speaker of Lok Sabha and many believers of Gandhian principle on the 19th June 2010.

The organization confers this medal not only on the Indian, but also foreign national. Previous recipients of Gandhi Seva Medal include, Mr. Bill Clinton, Hon’ble President of the United States, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi and late Sunil Dutt, former Member of Parliament.

Dr. Samanta was deemed worthy of the medal in recognition of his philanthropic and charitable work for the downtrodden through Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS). The institute is the largest residential tribal institute in Asia and offers free education, vocational training, residence, food and all other basic amenities of life to 10,000 tribal children, the award committee observed.

Felicitation of Dr. Samanta with the prestigious award is a matter of great pride for the state of Odisha, intellectuals opined. Dr. Samanta expressed his humility to the head of the organization for conferring the award on him and said that it could only be possible due to blessings of God and the love of the people of Odisha. He will continue philanthropic work for downtrodden sections of the society, he said.