Bhubaneswar: Smile Foundation co-founder & executive trustee Santanu Mishra has been conferred with Bharatiya ManavataVikas Puraskar 2019 for Smile Foundation’s committed and extensive contribution towards human welfare.
Mishra received the award from former President of India Pranab Mukherjee at t function held at Delhi, recenlty.
An alumnus of IIMA, Mishra, who hails from Sambalpur in Odisha, has left his corporate job to serve the people through Smile Foudation.
Nine individuals have been given the award for “building a brand of faith and hope through their conviction and actions while remaining committed to bringing about a change in the society and championing the cause of equality, humanity, social justice, and human welfare.”
The other awardees are Padma Shri Arunachalam Muruganantham; Padma Shri Anu Aga; Ramon Magsaysay Award winner Sandeep Pandey; Animal Rights Activist Menaka Gandhi; Rani Laskhmibai; Stree Shakti Puraskar awardee Mansi Pradhan; Actress and social activist Nafisa Ali; acid attack survivor and activist Lakshmi Agarwal; Ramon Magsaysay Award winner Prakash Baba Amte; conservationist and wildlife photographer Belinda Wright.
Receiving the award, Mishra, said, “If an organization created by a few ordinary people, without any experience of the social sector, could mobilize over 400 global corporate and 200,000 individuals to impact the lives of more than 1.5 million children and families in just over 15 years, it gives us hope that a positive change is happening and this may be the beginning of a new world.”
