The prestigious ‘Young EDGE Award’ for the year 2010 has been conferred on Dr. A. Samanta. He received the award at a glittering ceremony organized at India Habitat Center, New Delhi on 4th March 2010 from Shri Kapil Sibal, Hon’ble Union Minister for HRD, in the presence of distinguished academicians, education policy makers, planners and national and international jury members of the EDGE forum.

The award is in recognition to his commitment to inclusive growth in the field of education and efforts to provide education to the educationally deprived section. He not only transformed a small ITI into a world-class KIIT University, but also established Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), a residential tribal institute for 10000 students. The Selection Committee held Dr. Samanta’s experiments in education as unique and felt that, if replicated, it can address some of the core issues faced by the country in the field of education.

This year’s EDGE Personality of the Year Award 2010 was conferred on Prof. Yash Pal for his significant contribution in the field of education over many decades and the Yash Pal Committee Report to bring significant change in Indian education.

Emerging Direction in Global Education (EDGE) has been bringing policy makers, industries and educationalist from India and abroad together to address issues pertaining to excellence in global education. Every year this forum awards outstanding personalities for their contributions in the field of education.

With this award, Dr. Samanta has joined the league with the previous recipients, who include Mr. Sam Pitroda and Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia.