At 37, Sandeep Pandey feels the Magsaysay
recognition for him has come early in a country where there are
scores of more deserving people involved in selfless social
work. the backward areas, Pandey quit a lucrative career
overseas and a promising profession at IIT Kanpur to found an
NGO 'Asha' or hope for educating the children of 'have-nots'.
"It took over two days for the family and volunteers at Asha to
convince me that this award would not just be a ceremonial thing
but would give credence to my work as well," said a modest
Pandey here. Pandey said he was not even aware that the
work he started with two other fellow NRI students from
California 11 years ago would earn him international
recognition. "At that time it was primarily the concern of
contributing something for the children back home that had led
us to establish the orgnaisation," he says of 'Asha' founded in
1991 for educating and running livelihood projects for children
in Uttar Pradesh. Today, Asha has spread its wings all over
the globe with at least 35 chapters in the United States besides
separate chapters in Hong Kong, Australia and a few more
countries. In India, it funds as many as 120 projects in
places like Guwahati, Chennai, Kanpur and Mumbai, besides
running schools in Quake-hit Kutch, riot-hit Gujarat and
Insurgency infested areas of Assam. A brilliant student since
childhood, Pandey did his Mechanical engineering from Banaras
Hindu University and completed a doctorate from University of
California-Berkley. Quitting a permanent to get involved in
spreading education among Dalit children found little favour with his
father. But his mother, Uma provided support as she saw shades of her
own father, a prominent social worker in Sandeep. But his social
work is not just confined to bread butter issues or livelihood
projects. A man of strong political views, he took up the fight
against communalism in the aftermath of the Babri demolition in
1992. He is now planning a 'padayatra' (walk) from Delhi to
Pakistan's port city of Karachi through Punjab and Kashmir sometime in
2004 or 2005. A strong votary of peace, Pandey is critical of the
country's nuclear policy and hold the "wrong policies" of the
governments of India and Pakistan for deteriorated ties among the two
nations. He said by making A P J Abdul Kalam, the country's
President, Government has tried to justify its nuclear policies. Asha
was committed for working towards nuclear disarmament and spreading
the message of peace, he added. As he rushed to Lalpur, in Hardoi
where Asha runs an ashram in a dalit village for providing education
and health care, Pandey expressed gratitude for his friends who have
stood by him throughout and his wife Arundhati for standing by
him.
Pandey, who gets the
award in emergent leadership category, significantly accepts
contributions only from NRIs.
[This is a local copy of an article originally posted in Outlook India]
Indian activist Sandeep Pandey and six others
won this year's Ramon Magsaysay awards, the Asian equivalent of
the Nobel Prize, for his work towards the upliftment of the poor
and underprivileged in India, it was announced here today.
Pandey won the award in the emergent leadership category for
helping found Asha (Hope), a group which supports education and
livelihood projects for poor children in India, particularly the
dalits. Other winners of the prestigious awards include a
Supreme Court chief justice, a nun in Pakistan, a doctor from
Myanmar, a Nepalese journalist and a South Korean Buddhist monk,
the award committee said. Philipppine Supreme Court justice
Hilario Davide won the prize for government service for his
decisions and actions in promotion of democracy in the
Philippines. Ruth Pfau, a Catholic nun, born in Germany,
was given the award for public service for improving the
treatment of lepers at the Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre in
Pakistan and for fighting the stigma attached to the disease.
Cynthia Maung, born to an ethnic Karen family in Myanmar, was
named a recipient for community leadership for founding a clinic
in Mae Sot, Thailand, which treats thousands of refugees on the
Myanmar-Thai border. Bharat Koirala, founder of the Nepal
Press Institute, won the award for journalism, literature and
communications for developing professional journalism in his
country while promoting the use of mass media for
development. Buddhist monk Sukho Choi, also known as
Venerable Pomnyun Snim, won the award for peace and
international understanding for his efforts to rally assistance
for the afflicted people of North Korea, regardless of the
political division.