Journalism of Courage
The Indian Council of Social Science Research ICSSR on Monday announced the inaugural Amartya Sen Awards 2012,recognising the contribution of social scientists towards advancement of knowledge in the fields of political science,sociology,law,geography,economics and education. Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen gave away the awards.
The six awardees were president of Centre for Policy Research and The Indian Express columnist Pratap Bhanu Mehta for Political Science,Associate Professor at Hyderabad Universitys School of Economics Vamsicharan Vakulbharanam for his work on agrarian distress and economy,Professor at Centre for Studies in Social Systems,JNU,Surinder Jodhka for his seminal work on bonded labour in agriculture,sociologist and legal researcher Kalpana Kannabiran,who is director of Council for Social Development,Hyderabad,for her work in the field of law,Prof Sudhanshu Bhushan of the National University of Educational Planning and Administration for his research in education,and Associate Professor at Delhi University Anu Kapur for her work in Geography.
Mehta said the award was a great recognition for the community of social scientists.
Sen delivered the inaugural lecture on the occasion and pointed out that focus on education was central to a nations development and growth,but India appeared to have missed the point. It is amazing how India seems to have missed it8230; even in 2013 half our women and a quarter of the men are illiterate, he said.
