Two internationally famous and important peace awards are given by Government of India for works related to humanitarian steps, social service, and works related to betterment of community and hence the country at large. These two important peace awards of India are – i) Gandhi Peace Prize also called as International Gandhi Peace Prize and ii) Indira Gandhi Prize.
Gandhi Peace Prize
This award was established in year 1995 by the Government of India to commemorate the 125th birth aniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. This award is conferred to individuals as well as organisations for their distinguished role in social service and contributing for changes incurred in economy, administration, and polity of any country, culture, community or society by non violet methods and by adopting values and principles shown by Mahatma Gandhi. This award is given every year and it comes along with 1 Crore cash of Indian Rupees, a plaque and a certificate.
Selection committee for finalizing the winner of this award consists of a panel of Prime Minister of India, Leader of Opposition of Lok Sabha, Chief Justice of India and two other important persons from different categories.
Some Important Facts about Gandhi Peace Prize
- This award is of international category which means that any person or organisation from all over world irrespective of country, region, cast, creed, race, religion etc are considered to be eligible.
- This award was established in year 1995 to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
- This award is the highest cash award provided by Government of India.
- The first awardee of this award in opening year 1995 was Julius Nyerere. He was a politician from Tanzania.
- Till now (up to year 2015) there are 13 awardees so far. The awards were not provided from year 2006 to 2012.
- The recent most awardee for the year 2014 is ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation). Two more Indian institutions who received this award are – Ramkrishna Mission in year 1998, and Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan in 2002.
- Till date (year 2015) there are only two Indians who have received this award – i) Baba Amte in year 1999 and ii) Chandi Prasad Bhatt.
There are two more international level awards which sounds similar to the Gandhi Peace Prize, the only difference being they are not provided by the Government of India. These two similar awards on the name of Mahatma Gandhi are – i) Gandhi Peace Award, and ii) Gandhi International Peace Award. The Gandhi Peace Award is given by United States based NGO – Promoting Enduring Peace for contributions made towards international peace and good will. Gandhi International Peace award is provided by Gandhi Foundation, which is UK based organisation inspired by Gandhian philosophy.
List of Winners of Gandhi Peace Prize
| Year | Recepient | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Julius Nyerere | Tanzania |
| 1996 | A. T. Ariyaratne | Sr Lanka |
| 1997 | Gerhard Fischer | Germany |
| 1998 | Ramakrishna Mission | India |
| 1999 | Baba Amte | India |
| 2000 * | Nelson Mandela | South Africa |
| 2000 * | Grameen Bank | Bangladesh |
| 2001 | John Hume | Northern Ireland |
| 2002 | Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan | India |
| 2003 | Vaclav Havel | Czech Republic |
| 2004 | Coretta Scott King | United State |
| 2005 | Desmond Tutu | South Africa |
| 2013 | Chandi Prasad Bhatt | India |
| 2014 | ISRO | India |
( * This is to note that year 2000 was a joint Award between Nelson Mandela and Grameen Bank of Bangladesh.)
Who are the award winners from 2015-2017?