(Picture courtesy: http://www.rmaf.org.ph)
The Board of Trustees of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation (RMAF) has announced that this year five individuals from India, Laos, Myanmar, and the Philippines will receive Asia's premier prize, the Ramon Magsaysay Award. Mr Sanjiv Chaturvedi, former chief vigilance officer (CVO) at AIIMS is among the winners of this prestigious award.
According to the foundation, Mr Chaturvedi is being recognized for "his exemplary integrity, courage and tenacity in uncompromisingly exposing and painstakingly investigating corruption in public office, and his resolute crafting of program and system improvements to ensure that government honorably serves the people of India."
Established in 1957, the Ramon Magsaysay Award is Asia's highest honor and is widely regarded as the region's equivalent of the Nobel Prize. It celebrates the memory and leadership example of the third Philippine president after whom the award is named, and is given every year to individuals or organizations in Asia who manifest the same selfless service and transformative influence that ruled the life of the late and beloved Filipino leader.
"The Magsaysay awardees of 2015, are truly stoking fresh hopes for a better Asia. Clearly, they are creating bold solutions to deeply-rooted social problems in their respective societies, problems which are most damaging to the lives of those trapped in poverty, ignorance, prejudice, and unjust systems. It is also clear that through their solutions each of these inspiring leaders is building more hopeful lives among their people one smart, impassioned, and persistent step at a time," said RMAF president Ms Carmencita Abella.
This year's Magsaysay Award winners will each receive a certificate, a medallion bearing the likeness of the late President, and a cash prize. They will be formally conferred the Magsaysay Award during formal Presentation Ceremonies to be held on Monday, 31 August 2015 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines,to which the public is cordially invited.
