Environmentalist Chandi Prasad Bhatt won the Gandhi Peace prize 2013

Environmentalist and social activist Chandi Prasad Bhatt on 15 July 2014 was awarded with the prestigious Gandhi Peace prize for 2013. He was awarded by the President of India Pranab Mukherjee at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi.

80-year-old Bhatt is a Gandhian, an environmentalist and a social activist. He, after realizing aspirations of people, dedicated himself to improve lives of villagers. He is the person, who fought against government’s wrong policies on forests through non-violent means

About Chandi Prasad Bhatt
• In 2005, he was awarded with Padma Bhushan
• At present, he is considered as one of India’s first modern environmentalist
• He is also known for his work on subaltern social ecology
• In 1964, he founded Dasholi Gram Swarajya Sangh (DGSS) in Gopeswar.
• Later, GPSS became a mother-organisation of the Chipko Movement, for which Bhatt was awarded with the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership in 1982
• He was born on 23 June 1934 in Gopeshwar (now in Uttarakhand)

Books written by Chandi Prasad Bhatt
• Pratikar Ke Ankur (Hindi)
• Adhure Gyan Aur Kalpanik Biswas per Himalaya Se Cherkhani Ghatak (Hindi)
• Future of Large Projects in the Himalaya
• Eco-system of Central Himalaya
• Chipko Experience
• Parvat Parvat Basti Basti

About Gandhi Peace prize
Gandhi Peace prize is an annual award given by Government of India and was instituted in 1995 on the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. It carries a plaque, citation and cash prize of one crore rupees.

The award is given to individuals and institutions for their contributions towards social, economic and political transformation through non-violence and other methods of Mahatma Gandhi.

Previous recipients of the award includes
• Julius K Nyerere, former Tanzanian President (he was the first recipient of the award in 1995)
• Nelson Mandela, former South African President,
• AT Ariyaratne, founder President of Sarvodaya Shramadana movement in Sri Lanka
• Gerhard Fischer of Rama Krishna Mission in Germany and
• Baba Amte (Murlidhar Devidas Amte), a social worker of India who is known particularly for his work for the rehabilitation and empowerment of poor people suffering from leprosy
• Archbishop Desmond Tutu, cleric and activist of South Africa (received the award in 2005)