Gopalkrishna Gandhi to get Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Award

Former West Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi has been selected for this year's Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Award for promoting communal harmony and peace.

A decision in this regard was taken by the Advisory Committee of the award which met on July 28.

"The Advisory Committee of the Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award in its meeting held on 28th July, 2018 decided that the 24th Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award be given to Gopalkrishna Gandhi for his outstanding contribution towards the promotion of communal harmony, peace and goodwill," member Secretary of the Committee Motilal Vora said in a statement.

The award will be presented to Gopalkrishna Gandhi at a special ceremony on August 20 at Jawahar Bhawan.

The award, which carries a citation and cash amount of Rs 10 lakh, is given on the occasion of the birthday of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. It was instituted to commemorate the lasting contribution made by him to promote peace, communal harmony and fight against violence.

Former recipients of the award include Mother Teresa, Ustad Bismillah Khan, Mohammed Yunus, Lata Mangeshkar, Sunil Dutt, Dilip Kumar, Kapila Vatsyayan, Teesta Setalvad, Swami Agnivesh, K R Narayanan, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Muzaffar Ali and Shubha Mudgal.