Bureaucrat and whistle-blower Sanjeev Chaturvedi, Anshu Gupta of Goonj to get Ramon Magsaysay Award

Former Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) at AIIMS Sanjiv Chaturvedi and Anshu Gupta, founder of the NGO Goonj are among the people who have been chosen for the Ramon Magsaysay Award for 2015.

The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation (RMAF) on Wednesday announced that this year five individuals from India, Laos, Myanmar, and the Philippines will receive Asia’s premier prize.

In its release, RMAF said,"Sanjeev Chaturvedi 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 honourably serves the people of India."

Sanjiv Chaturvedi served as Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) at AIIMS for the period of 2012-14.

Anshu Gupta, who founded Goonj in 1999, has being 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."

Apart from the two Indians, Kommaly Chanthavong from Laos, Ligaya Fernando-Amilbangsa from the Philippines and Kyaw Thu from Myanmar will be honoured with Ramon Magsaysay Award 

Established in 1957, the Ramon Magsaysay Award is Asia’s highest honour and is widely regarded as the region’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize.