Whistleblower Sanjiv Chaturvedi and social worker Anshu Gupta, who won the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay award, on Wednesday described their service an effort to bring back humanity and community development which they say has dwindled over the years in Indian society.
Chaturvedi was chosen for exposing corruption in public office while Gupta was selected for enterprising leadership.
They said though the award is just a recognition of their efforts, they would keep serving society regardless of what the consequences were.
Chaturdevi told IANS: "One should not think that the award is an end to my fight against corruption instead I will intensify my fight further and more aggressively may it be against whoever it is."
Speaking to IANS, Gupta said: "It feels good to be chosen for such a a prestigious award. It is a recognition for the issues I've raised over the years. My work towards community development will continue."
Established in 1957, the Ramon Magsaysay Award is Asia's highest honour and is widely regarded as the region's equivalent of the Nobel Prize.
Congratulating the two, the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation said Gupta was being recognised for "his creative vision in transforming the culture of giving in India through his enterprising leadership in treating cloth as a sustainable development resource for the poor".
Chaturvedi was recognised for "his exemplary integrity, courage and tenacity in uncompromisingly exposing and painstakingly investigating corruption in public office", the foundation said in a statement.
Chaturvedi, a 2002-batch Indian Forest Service officer, exposed corruption in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi as its chief vigilance officer.
The central government is yet to approve Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's request to appoint him an Officer on Special Duty in the Delhi government.
Gupta heads the NGO Goonj, which believes in reusing clothes and other material to turn them into a valuable resource, to create "a parallel economy which is not cash-based but trash-based".
Other winners announced on Wednesday were Kommaly Chanthavong of Laos, Ligaya Fernando-Amilbangsa of the Philippines and Kyaw Thu from Myanmar.
The award celebrates the memory and leadership of the third Philippines president Ramon Magsaysay after whom it is named.
It is given every year to individuals or organisations in Asia who manifest the same selfless service and transformative influence that ruled the life of the late Filipino leader.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal congratulated Gupta and Chaturvedi for winning the Magsaysay awards.
"Congratulations Anshu and Sanjiv for Magsaysay award. Very well deserved. God bless you," Kejriwal, who himself is a Ramon Magsaysay award winner, tweeted.
Among the other prominent Indians who have won the Ramon Magsaysay award are former police officer Kiran Bedi in 1994 and journalist P. Sainath in 2007.
