By IANS
Chennai : As many as 13 Ramon Magsaysay Award winners and the board of directors of the foundation behind the honour are in Chennai to discuss its impact in Asian countries at a three-day meet that began Thursday.
The awardees’ meet is an annual event, supported by a grant from the Rockfeller Brothers Fund for the Programme for Asian Projects (PAP). It comes to India after the last one held in 1991, hosted this time by the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation here.
The theme of the meet is “Ripples of Reform: Asia and the Ramon Magsaysay Award”.
The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation (RMAF) celebrates the 50th anniversary of the award in 2008, and “for the gathering of Magsaysay laureates, this meet is an opportune time to come together as a community of moral leaders in Asia”, the organisers said.
“The former winners are this year assessing the impact of the award from the perspective of the awardees, and discussing what has been the impact of the work of Magsaysay laureates in their respective fields,” said RMAF president Carmencita T. Abella.
Agro scientist M.S. Swaminathan, also an award winner, pointed out: “It is no longer just poverty alleviation, it is asset building, technical literacy, not just literacy. There must be a mindset change from patronage to partnership, no longer is the term beneficiary popular.
“Reform needed to benefit the poorest of the poor,” he said.
Participants in the meet include A.T. Ariyaratne, Arjun Krishnaratne, Mahesh C. Mehta, Syed Adibul Rizvi, Anton Soedjarwo, Benjamin Abadiano, Zafrullah Chowdhury, Prateep Hata, L.C. Jain, Devaki, Ibn Abdur Rehman, Zacarias Sarian and V. Shanta.
Rights activist Asma Jahangir of Pakistan, scheduled to participate, could not be present as she is under house arrest.