Overview
According to Ministry of Culture officers, Venkaiah Naidu has been appointed as a jury member for the Gandhi Peace Prize. The nomination letter was sent to Venkaiah Naidu by the Union Minister for Tourism and Culture, Shri G. Kishan Reddy.
The selection of the Gandhi Peace Prize awardee is determined by a distinguished jury comprising the Prime Minister of India, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, the Chief Justice of India, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, and two other eminent individuals appointed every three years.
These distinguished individuals are eligible for reappointment, and together, the jury carefully deliberates to decide the deserving recipient of the award each year.
Venkaiah Naidu will replace the late Indian sociologist and social entrepreneur Bindeshwar Pathak, the founder of Sulabh International of the Gandhi Peace Prize, on the jury.
What is the Gandhi Peace Prize?
The Gandhi Peace Prize, instituted in 1995 on the 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, honours those who contribute to social, economic, and political transformation through non-violence.
The award, a tribute to Gandhi’s ideals, is bestowed with a significant reward of ₹1 crore. This monetary award is convertible into any currency worldwide. In addition to the substantial cash prize, the recipient receives a plaque and a citation as tokens of recognition for their outstanding contributions.
The President of India confers this prestigious award at a ceremony held in Rashtrapati Bhavan.
It acknowledges individuals, associations, institutions, or organisations that have dedicated themselves to the cause of peace, non-violence, and alleviating human suffering. The jury can divide the award between two deserving recipients if they are deemed equally worthy of recognition in a given year.
Notably, the award is open to all, irrespective of nationality, race, language, caste, creed, or gender.
Only achievements within the 10 years immediately preceding the nomination are considered for the Gandhi Peace Prize. However, there is room for consideration of older work if its significance has become apparent only recently. In the case of a written work, eligibility for consideration for the award requires publishing it.
The Gandhi Peace Prize, sponsored and presented by the Indian Government, was inaugurated in 1995. Initially awarded to Julius Kambarage Nyerere, a prominent Tanzanian politician who led Tanzania, the accolade has continued to recognise substantial contributions to non-violence and humanitarian causes by Gandhian philosophy. In 2023, the honour was bestowed upon the Gita Press, marking its latest recipient.
Other prominent awardees include Nelson Mandela, the former president of South Africa, the Ramakrishna Mission, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation), Sulabh International, the Akshaya Patra Foundation, and Vivekananda Kendra.
Who is Venkaiah Naidu?
Venkaiah Naidu was born on 1st July 1949 in Chavatapalem, a secluded village in the Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh. After graduating from V.R. College, Nellore, Naidu obtained a law degree from Andhra University, Visakhapatnam.
Right from his college days, Naidu displayed a deep interest in the welfare of the commoners, particularly farmers and the downtrodden sections of society. This passion led to his active involvement in political and social activities at a relatively young age.
Elected as a Member of the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka in 1998, Naidu served as the Minister of Rural Development from September 2000 to July 2002, followed by a significant tenure as the National President of the Bharatiya Janata Party from July 2002 to October 2004.
His succeeding milestones included Minister of Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, and Parliamentary Affairs from 2014 to 2017 and Minister of Information and Broadcasting from 2016 to 2017. Re-elected to the Rajya Sabha for a third term, he then assumed the position of Vice President of India from 2017 to 2022, solidifying his impactful contributions to Indian politics over the years.
Comments 1