Dr. Achyuta Samanta Wiki, Age, Wife, Family, Biography & More

Achyuta Samanta is the founder of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology and Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences.

Wiki/Biography

Achyutananda Samanta was born on Wednesday, 20 January 1965 (age 58 years; as of 2023), in Kalarabanka, Cuttack, Odisha. His zodiac sign is Aquarius and his nickname is Sukuta. After completing his primary school education in a nearby school, Achyuta started going to Raghunathpur High School which was 8 km away from his village, he used to walk 8 km to reach the school. He completed his graduation from SCS Collge in Puri, Odisha and then did M.Sc. in Chemistry from Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, and later, he completed his Doctorate Degree in Social Sciences. ^[1]Medium

Family, Caste & Wife

Achyuta was born into a poor family of Kalarabanka. His father, Anadi Charan Samanta, died in a train accident when Achyuta was four years old. After this incident, the family shifted from Jamshedpur to their native village, Kalarabanka in Cuttack. His mother’s name was Nilima Rani Samanta. He has six siblings, and his youngest sister is Iti Samanta, the famous Indian writer. During his childhood, Achyuta and his family spent many days starving for food because they did not have money to buy food. He is a bachelor and devoted his life for the social cause. ^[2]YouTube

Career

After his father’s death, he faced severe financial problems. He started doing menial jobs in the village to support his family. With the regular hardships, he completed his Master’s degree. After that, he started teaching in a private college and also taking private tuition classes. In 1992-93 he started his two academic institutions Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) and Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) in a rented apartment with only Rs. 5000. He took a loan from his family and friends to run the institute, and in 1994-95, his loan went up to Rs. 2.5 million. He has worked hard to run these institutes, and it went to on to became one of the most renowned educational institutions of India.

KISS was set up with the aim to provide free education from Kindergarten to Post Graduation with a free residential and boarding facility to the poor children. Later, he founded many other Kalinga institutes including Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), KIIT School of Management (KSOM), KIIT School of Rural Management (KSRM), KIIT School of Computer Application (KSCA).

He has also been a member of various national and international educational bodies including the University Grants Commission (UGC), Executive Committee Member of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Institute of International Education (IIE) New York City, Association of University of Asia Pacific (AUAP), and University Mobility in Asia and the Pacific (UMAP) Bangkok.

Awards & Honours

2004: Humanitarian Award from Mahatma Gandhi Remembrance Organization, Johannesburg, South Africa

2014: Gusi Peace Prize International, Manila, Philippines

2015: Best Worker, Top Civilian Award of Mongolia

2015: Hall of Fame Award presented by World CSR Congress, New Delhi

2015: Successful Entrepreneur Award at Economic Times Entrepreneurship Summit, New Delhi

2019: Gandhi Mandela Awards

Note: He has been accoladed with many more awards and honours.

Facts/Trivia

• He is a motivational speaker and has delivered more than 100 lectures in various colleges and institutes.

• His name is recorded in the ‘Limca Book of Records’ as the youngest chancellor of any University in India.

• When an interviewer asked him about the most satisfying aspect of his job, he said,
  

  The most satisfying aspect of my journey is that I have been able to use education as the tool of personal, social, cultural development; economic empowerment; and creation of a large population of change agents for the deprived and marginalized communities. The model has been appreciated by world leaders, policy planners, Nobel Laureates, legal luminaries. KISS has become an eye-opener. It is particularly very satisfying when KISS received Special Consultative Status from the United Nations Organization.

• In 2018-19, he was elected as the Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, and in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he contested from the Kandhamal constituency and won on the ticket of Biju Janata Dal.
  

  Achyuta Samanta in BJD’s Rally

• He has transformed his hometown ‘Kalarabanka’ (a rural village) into a smart village.

• Some well-known students of Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) are Dutee Chand (Indian Athlete) and Sumitra Naik (Under-19 Indian Rugby team captain).

• He has been working persistently with the aim of Zero Poverty, Zero Hunger and Zero Illiteracy, since 1987.

• On 15 November 2019, he appeared in the Karamveer episode of KBC 11 along with Taapsee Pannu.