The Gandhi Peace Prize for the year 2021 is being conferred on Gita Press, Gorakhpur.
Gandhi Peace Prize is an annual award instituted by the Government of India in 1995 on the occasion of the 125th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi as a tribute to the ideals espoused by Mahatma Gandhi. The award is open to everyone regardless of nationality, race, language, caste, creed, or gender.
The award carries an amount of Rs. 1 crore, a citation, a plaque, and an exquisite traditional handicraft/handloom item.
According to the Government statement, the past awardees include organizations such as ISRO, Ramakrishna Mission, Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari, Akshaya Patra, Bengaluru, Ekal Abhiyan Trust, India and Sulabh International, New Delhi. It has also been awarded to luminaries like the Late Dr. Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa, Dr. Julius Nyerere, Former President of Tanzania, Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne, Founder President of Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, Sri Lanka, Dr. Gerhard Fischer, Federal Republic of Germany, Baba Amte, Dr. John Hume, Ireland, Mr. Vaclav Havel, former President of Czechoslovakia, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, Shri Chandi Prasad Bhatt and Mr. Yohei Sasakawa, Japan.
Recent awardees include Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al Said, Oman (2019), and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (2020), Bangladesh.
The Jury headed by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, after due deliberations on 18th June 2023, unanimously decided to select Gita Press, Gorakhpur as the recipient of the Gandhi Peace Prize for the year 2021 in recognition of its outstanding contribution towards social and economic and political transformation through non-violent and other Gandhian methods.
Established in 1923, Gita Press is one of the world’s largest publishers, having published 41.7 crore books in 14 languages, including 16.21 crore Shrimad Bhagavad Gita. The institution has never relied on advertisement in its publications for revenue generation. Gita Press along with its affiliated organizations, strives for the betterment of life and the well-being of all.