Centre announces Gandhi Peace Prize winners for 2015-2018; awardees include WHO ambassador Yoehi Sasakawa

New Delhi: The government on Wednesday announced the names of the winners of the Gandhi Peace Prize, which was last conferred to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 2014, for 2015-2018. The annual award, however, had not seen any winner since then.It is given to individuals and institutions for their contributions to social, economic and political transformation through non-violence and other Gandhian methods.Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari won the award for 2015 for rural development and education, while for 2016, the award has been jointly given to Akshaya Patra Foundation for providing mid-day meals to children across the country and Sulabh International for its work towards the emancipation of manual scavengers, a release from the ministry said.[caption id="attachment_4101321" align="alignleft" width="380"]

The Gandhi Peace Prize is given to individuals and institutions for their contributions to social, economic and political transformation through non-violence and other Gandhian methods. Getty images[/caption]For 2017, the award is given to Ekai Abhiyan Trust for their contribution to education for rural and tribal children and for last year the Gandhi Peace Prize will be given to Yohei Sasakawa, who is Goodwill Ambassador of the World Health Organisation (WHO) for leprosy elimination, for his role in leprosy eradication.The decision to confer these awards was taken at a meeting of the jury which included Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and LK Advani on Wednesday.The award was instituted in 1995 during the commemoration of 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and is to be given annually. It carries an award of Rs 1 crore, a citation, a plaque and a handicraft item.The award was jointly given in 2000 to Nelson Mandela and Grameen Bank of Bangladesh. Archbishop Desmond Tutu won the award in 2005. After a gap of eight years in 2013, Chandi Prasad Bhatt, noted environmentalist associated with Chipko Movement, received the prize.