GUWAHATI, Feb 23 - Vivekananda Kendra Kanyakumari has been selected for the prestigious Gandhi Peace Prize for the year 2015. The awards for four years, 2015-2018, were announced only recently.
The honour recognises the institution for its work in rural development, education and natural resource management. The award will be presented at Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi, on February 26.
From 2016 the winners are the Akshyaya Patra Foundation, Ekal Abhiyan Trust (2017) and Yohei Sasakawa (2018). Each winner will receive Rs 1 crore, a citation, a plaque and a traditional handmade item. The jury comprised Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the chairman, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, leader of the single largest opposition party Mallikarjun Kharge, and Lok Sabha MP LK Advani.
�In Guwahati, apart from its other activities like yoga, the Kendra has been committed to protect and promote indigenous culture of the North-east through its Vivekananda Kendra Institute of Culture (VKIC) since 1996. In Arunachal Pradesh, and some other places, Vivekananda Kendra Vidyalayas are synonymous with quality education. It is playing a proactive role in skill-building and organic farming in several places in Assam,� a statement from the Kendra said.
Vivekananda Kendra Kanyakumari, with its headquarters at Kanyakumari is a spiritually-oriented service mission that works in some of the most remote and backward areas of India. It manages projects which promotes quality education, skill building, intellectual institutions, medical services and sustainable development of natural resources.
It facilitates strategic high-level policy studies through the New Delhi-based Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF). The Kendra�s publications cater to a diverse range of studies, while yoga activities promote holistic development of individuals and societies.
Established by Mananeeya Eknath Ramkrishna Ranade, an ardent follower of Swami Vivekananda, Vivekananda Kendra Kanyakumari followed the establishment of the Vivekananda Rock Memorial. He started the Kendra in 1972 and its backbone is a group of Jeevan-Vratis, Seva-Vratis and Vanaprasthi workers.
One of the core beliefs of the Kendra is - Service with spiritual orientation results in man-making which is invariably and inseparably connected with nation building.