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Gandhian honoured for service to Dalits
by K Venkatramani
September 15, 2008

NAGAPATTINAM: Octogenarian Gandhian leader Krishnammal Jagannathan has been chosen for the annual Opus Prize awarded by Seattle University, USA.

The prize carries a cash award of $1 million to one receipient and $100,000 each to the other two. “Opus Prize is given annually to recognise unsung heroes anywhere in the world for solving most persistent social problems. It is the world’s largest faithbased, humanitarian award for social innovation,” says a communique from the Opus Prize committee. Krishnammal, who lives at Kuthur here, has been chosen for the prize for her humanitarian service to Dalits in the district. In 1989, She was awarded the Padma Shree.

Krishnammal is the second Indian to receive the Opus Prize after S J Trevor Miranda, founder of Reach Education Action Programme, Mumbai, in 2005.

Krishnammal, along with Michael Woodard from Nicaragua and Marguerite Barankitse from Burundi, will receive the prize on November 18 in Seattle. On being selected, she said it was an opportunity to serve more people.“The biggest award is the smile that I see on the faces of the poor.”