Civilian honour

Achyuta Samanta, a social activist from India, was honoured with `Isa Award for Service to Humanity', a civilian award of the Kingdom of Bahrain. He received a certificate of appreciation, a 21-K gold medal and $1 million cash prize from King Hamad of Bahrain at a ceremony. The honour is in recognition of Samanta's humanitarian work, mentioned deputy premier and chairman of the Board of Trustees of the award, Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa.This international award is given every two years to individuals or organisations whose actions lead to longterm benefits to the general public through solutions to humanitarian and social problems and issues.
Samanta has been working for the upliftment of the poor indigenous community in Odisha for over 20 years. He established Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), a free residential institute for 25,000 tribal children. The school's model of educating indigenous people is being replicated by the governments of Delhi and Kolkata. Other states that have proposed a similar model to be followed include Jharkhand, Bihar, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharastra, Madhya Pradesh, North Eastern states, West Bengal, Delhi, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, etc.
Samanta is also the founder of KIIT, a group of professional institutes. In 2014, he was awarded the Gusi Peace Prize International.
The award is named after the Late Amir Shaik Isa Bin Salman-Al Khalifa, former ruler of Bahrain.The recipient of the award is cho sen by a panel representing each continent chaired by Swede Jan Paulsson. The board's chairman is deputy premier Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa.Samanta was nominated for the award after physical verification of his creations, home and native place.
Samanta is the first Indian to walk on the red carpet spread out for him from the airport to the palace where King Hamad greeted him personally along with his prime minister, deputy prime minister and other personalities of the Kingdom. The ceremony was attended by luminaries from Bahrain, members of diplomatic missions in Bahrain and guests from across the globe, where Samanta addressed the gathering.
Samanta also had one-on-one meeting with the King and ministers, besides delivering a one-hour address at the National University of Bahrain. Expressing gratitude to the King of Bahrain and the award's Board of Trustees for considering him worthy of the honour, Samanta said, “It is not only a matter of great pride for me, but also for Odisha and Odia people.“