Pratham to honour Amartya Sen

Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen has been selected as the recipient of the second annual Pratham USA Award for Outstanding Service in education, the non-profit organisation announced recently.

The award recognises 'the remarkable ability of an individual' to effect change and 'dramatically impact' the delivery of education to the underprivileged.

"We are proud to present this Award to a visionary whose life's work embodies and helped inspire Pratham's mission," said Atul Varadhachary, president, Pratham USA.

"Amartya Sen is an influential voice in the field of welfare economics. He has argued for decades about the critical importance of education and of public-private partnerships in the field of education. He has advocated that the government needs to invest more resources and partner with social groups in making educational reforms."

"Much of Pratham's impact has been driven by our understanding that ensuring that every child in India is in school and learning well can only be achieved as a societal mission driven by partnership between key stakeholders including NGOs such as Pratham, the government at all levels, corporations and the people. Amartya served on the selection committee of the Kravis Leadership Prize (of which Pratham was the 2010 recipient) so we knew he was familiar with and supportive of what we have been able to achieve."

In 2009, the Pratham award was presented jointly to Nandan Nilekani, former chairman of Indian information technology giant Infosys Technologies, and his wife Rohini Nilekani, chairperson, Pratham Books, and chairperson, Arghyam Trust.

Sen, the Thomas W. Lamont university professor and professor of economics and philosophy at Harvard University, and until recently the Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, will receive the Pratham award October 21 in New York City.

'Since I greatly admire the work that Pratham does, it is very nice for me to become associated with Pratham in this wonderful way,' Sen said in a statement.

Among the numerous awards he has won is India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna.