Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development 2021 awarded to civil society organisation Pratham

The Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for the year 2021 has been awarded to civil society organisation Pratham.

"The 2021 Prize is awarded to Pratham for its pioneering work over more than a quarter-century in seeking to ensure that every child has access to quality education, for its innovative use of digital technology to deliver education for its programs to provide skills to young adults, for its regular evaluation of the quality of education, and for its timely response in enabling children to learn during the COVID-19 related school closures," read a statement from Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust.

“In basic education, Pratham develops low-cost and replicable innovations, working with the government and engaging the community to improve learning outcomes," the Trust said.

"Pratham seeks to prevent children from dropping out of school, with special programs especially fr girls and women aimed at giving them a second chance to complete their education," it further said.

The jury was headed by former Chief Justice of India TS Thakur

Set up in 1995 in Mumbai by Dr Madhav Chavan and Farida Lambay,

Pratham is dedicated to improving the quality of education for underprivileged children in India and across the world.

The organisation started its work in Mumbai’s slums, setting up community-based pre-schools. Its outreach in India has now expanded to an average of 1 million children directly and 5 million through government partnerships annually.

Its Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), based on surveying 6 lakh rural Indian children, is now used as a model to assess educational outcomes and learning deficiencies in 14 countries.

The Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development was instituted in the memory of the former Prime Minister by a trust in her name in 1986. It consists of a monetary award of Rs 25 lakh along with a citation.

The award is given to individuals or organisations who work towards ensuring international peace and development, ensuring that scientific discoveries are used to further the scope of freedom and better humanity, and creating new international economic order.