World

Indians win 'alternative Nobel'

by Amitjha | October 4, 2008 at 02:03 am

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This is great news for all Indians who are constantly working for the upliftment of downtroden.India is a land of diversity,several languages , several casts,make it a unique cultural masterpiece.But along with these advantages come severe form of exploitation, whether based on cast or economics, any effort to stop these exploitation needs all kind of support, and in this situation an award of international repute is going to help in long way.

Sankaralingam Jagannathan and his wife Krishnammal are among the five winners of the Right Livelihood Award, widely known as the "alternative Nobel prize".

The two run an organisation called Land for the Tillers' Freedom.

The group works to improve the social status of India's Dalit people, also known as the untouchables.

The judges praised their work for empowering India's rural poor, by helping redistribute land to the landless.

The couple will share the prize money of 2m kronor ($290,000; £163,000) with a Somali women's rights activist, a German gynaecologist who helps sexually abused woman and an American independent journalist.

The award was founded by the Swedish-German philanthropist Jakob von Uexkull in 1980 to recognise work he felt was being ignored by the Nobel Prizes.

The awards will be presented in a ceremony at the Swedish Parliament on 8 December, two days before the Nobel Prizes are handed out.