President Ram Nath Kovind, Narendra Modi Present Gandhi Peace Prize Awards from 2015 to 2018 at Rashtrapati Bhawan

New Delhi, February 26: President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday presented the Gandhi Peace Prize for the years 2015 to 2018 at Darbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhawan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also present on the occasion. The centre, last month, announced the name of the recipients of the International Gandhi Peace Prize after a gap of four years.

Instituted in 1995 on the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the annual award is given to those who contribute to bringing about social, economic, and political transformation of society through Gandhian methods. Congratulating the awardees, President Ram Nath Kovind said, “I wish that people from across the world will learn from the good work done by the organisations listed for the peace prize.”

Speaking at the ceremony, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed on the need to follow the Gandhian principles.“The prize is being conferred at a time when India marks the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. I extend my heartiest congratulation to the organizations who have received the award for their contribution to the social, political and economic development of the country,” said Prime Minister Modi.

While, for 2015 the award was presented to Kanyakumari's Vivekananda Kendra for their work in tribal areas, for the year 2016 it was jointly given to Sulabh International and Akshaya Patra Foundation for the emancipation of manual scavengers. Ekal Abhiyan Trust received the prize for the year 2017 for their work towards the eradication of illiteracy from rural and tribal India and Nepal.For the year 2018, the prize went to Yohei Sasakawa, the goodwill ambassador of WHO, for his global fight against leprosy.