Whistleblower government officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi and Anshu Gupta, co-founder of Goonj, a non-profit, were among five individuals who bagged the prestigious Ramon Magasaysay award for 2015. The other three who bagged the award, considered Asia’ equivalent of the Nobel Prize, are from Laos, Myanmar, and the Philippines.

Chaturvedi, an Indian Forest Service officer, has been awarded under the category of ‘Emergent Leadership’. As the Chief Vigilance Commissioner, he was in the news recently for exposing alleged irregularities in the country’s premier All India Institute of Medical Sciences, and was abruptly transferred by the Narendra Modi government in August 2014. Chaturvedi had faced 12 transfers in five years when he was with the Haryana government.

“He is being recognised 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," said a release by the Board of Trustees of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation (RMAF).

Gupta, who quit the corporate sector to float Goonj in 1999, has done noticeable work through his non-governmental organisation by using discarded material, such as clothes, to help the poor, as well as to help in disaster relief, humanitarian aid and community development. Goonj has converted 1,000 tonnes of used clothes, household goods and other urban discards into usable resources for the poor.

Gupta has been recognised for “his creative vision in transforming the culture of giving in India, his enterprising leadership in treating cloth as a sustainable development resource for the poor, and in reminding the world that true giving always respects and preserves human dignity”, said the Board of Trustees.

Established in 1957, the Ramon Magsaysay Award, instituted in the memory of the third Philippine President, is considered Asia’s highest honour.

RMAF President Carmencita Abella said the Magsaysay awardees of 2015 “are truly stoking fresh hopes for a better Asia…. 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…. All have refused to give up, despite meagre resources, daunting adversity and strong opposition.”

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