Bhubaneswar : Former Vice President of Guatemala Cesar Guillermo Castillo Reyes and the Founder-Chairman of Sri Ramakrishna Export Private Limited Mr. Govindbhai Laljibhai Dholakia were on Friday bestowed with the KISS Lifetime Achievement Award, marking the 20th-anniversary celebration of KIIT DU.
Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda could not attend the celebrations due to his health but wished the students all success in life in a message.
The awards were given away by the Founder of KIIT and KISS Dr Achyuta Samanta in the presence of KISS Pro-Chancellor Prof Amareswar Galla and KISS Vice Chancellor Prof Deepak Kumar Behera.
They were given this award for their extraordinary contribution to the field of social service, leadership, and philanthropy.
In his acceptance speech, Dholakia expressed his awe at witnessing such a large gathering of students and faculty for the first time in his life. He praised the students for being blessed enough to study at KISS and commended Dr. Samanta’s efforts in making such an institution possible.
Dholakia likened his interaction with Dr Samanta to meeting with a second Mahatma in his life, emphasizing the importance of having individuals like Dr. Samanta in society to create impactful institutions like KISS, which can provide education to a large number of students.
Dr. Reyes in his speech stressed the need for personalities like Dr. Samanta in their country, suggesting that with such individuals, it would be possible to create educational institutions such as KISS, significantly contributing to the education of numerous students. He advised the students to dream big and aim for excellence in their pursuits.