As the nation celebrated the 149th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on Tuesday, the ‘International Gandhi Peace Prize’ has not been awarded for the past four years.
During the past four years, nominations were made for the coveted award, but an approval has been awaited, said an official of the Ministry of Culture, the nodal department which receives suggestions for conferring the award.
The Government of India launched the annual International Gandhi Peace Prize, named after Father of the Nation, in 1995 on the occasion of his 125th birth anniversary.
2014 was the last time when the award was conferred to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
The award is given to institutions and individuals for their contribution towards economic, social and political alteration through Gandhian methods such as non-violence.
Rs 1 crore (10 million) in cash, convertible in any legal tender in the world, a plaque and a citation are also held in the award.
The first receiver of the award was a former President of Tanzania, Julius K Nyerere, in 1995.
In the next year, A T Ariyaratne, Founder President of Sarvodaya Sharamadana Movement in Sri Lanka was presented with the award.
Gerhard Fischer of Germany, in 1997, received the award.
In 2000, the award was jointly given to Grameen Bank of Bangladesh and Nelson Mandela.
Further, Archbishop Desmond Tutu received the award in 2005.
After a gap of eight years in 2013, a noted environmentalist associated with Chipko Movement, Chandi Prasad Bhatt won the award.
