Two Indians are among this year's list of Ramon Magsaysay awardees, which is famously considered an Asian version of the Nobel Prize. The list was announced on Thursday, 26 July.
Dr Bharat Vatwani, who had rescued thousands of mentally unstable street paupers by securing them treatment and reuniting them with their families, was one such awardee. The other, Sonam Wangchuk, won the award for his efforts to preserve and protect nature, culture and education, with a goal of “community progress”, The Times of India reported.
The list also includes a Filipino who led peace talks with communist insurgents, and a Vietnamese citizen, who despite suffering from polio, fought for non-discrimination against the disabled.
It also included an individual hailing from East Timor, which is wrought in civil clashes, who built care centres for the poor and a Cambodian genocide survivor who helped document the Khmer Rouge atrocities.
Dr Bharat Vatwani
Dr Bharat Vatwani and his wife established the Shraddha Rehabilitation Foundation back in 1988, where they would bring mentally-ill street persons to their private clinic for treatment and reunite them with their families, the report stated.
The Foundation had received support from a flurry of NGOs, police and individual social workers.
Sonam Wangchuk
Sonam Wangchuk founded the Students’ Education and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL) back in the 1980s, after receiving his engineering degree. He began to coach students from Ladakh, 95 percent of whom would fail the government exams, The Times of India reports.
His main contribution to society came with his, “Operation New Hope” (ONH), an initiative he began in 1994, which aimed at expanding the partnership-driven educational reform program.
According to the report, the ONH, through its course, has trained approximately 700 teachers, 1000 VEC leaders, and boasted an increase in success rate of students in matriculation exams from 5 percent in 1996 to 75 percent by 2015.
The awards are to be presented in Manila on 31 August.
(With inputs from The Times of India)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)