Achyuta Samanta
Constituency: Kandhamal

Born/Date of BIrthday: 20 January 1965
Place of Birth: Kalarabanka, Jagatsinghpur, Odisha, India
Political party: Biju Janata Dal
Educational Qualifications: M.Sc. (Chemistry), Ph.D.
Educated at: Utkal University, KIIT University, Odisha
Profession: Social Worker, Educationist, Politician
Marital Status: Unmarried
Parents: Late Shri Anadicharan Samanta, Late Smt. Nilima Rani Samanta
Permanent Address: N3/92, IRC Village, P.O./P.S. Nayapalli Khurda, Bhubaneswar, Odisha- 751015
Tel: 09437000928, 09937020928 (M)
Known for: Founder of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences
Official Website: www.achyutasamanta.com

Achyuta Samanta (born 20 January 1965) is an Indian educationist and philanthropist. He is the founder of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) and Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS),. KIIT is an Institution of Eminence for professional education having more than 30,000 students from all over India and 55 other countries across the globe. KISS is a home for 70,000 indigenous children who get free education, home and board, vocational and sports empowerment from Kindergarten to Post Graduation and Doctorate levels, free of cost.

Besides education and tribal upliftment, healthcare and rural development, Achyuta Samanta has contributed to art, culture, literature, film, media, society and national integration. He has also founded Kadambini Magazine and Kuni Katha exclusively for children. Besides, he is also the founder of Kalinga TV and K News Odisha.

He has been conferred with more than 50 International and National awards and over 200 state awards besides two highest Civilian Awards from Royal Kingdom of Bahrain and Mongolia called ISA Award for Service to Humanity and Best Worker Award respectively. He has been conferred with 49 Honorary Doctorate awards from universities in India and abroad. He is the first Odia to be a member of both UGC and AICTE. He is currently the Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) from Kandhamal, Odisha and also the President of Volleyball Federation of India. He is the designated President (India) of Democracy without Borders and founder of Parliamentarians for Indigenous People।

Early life
Samanta was born to Anadi Charan Samanta and Nilima Rani Samanta in the village of Kalarabanka in Cuttack District of Odisha in 1965. His father died when Samanta was four, and he grew up in abject poverty with his widowed mother and seven siblings.

Samanta received an M.Sc. in Chemistry from Utkal University. He had a decade-long experience in teaching in colleges, mostly at Maharshi College under Utkal University, in Bhubaneswar as a chemistry lecturer.

Educationist
Achyuta Samanta is the founder, ex chancellor, and secretary of KIIT University; and the founder of Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences, KISS Deemed to be University, KIIT International School, Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), KIIT School of Management (KSOM), KIIT School of Rural Management (KSRM), KIIT School of Computer Application (KSCA), KIIT School of Biotechnology (KSBT), KIIT Law School (KLS), KIIT School of Languages (KSOL), Kalinga Institute of Dental Sciences (KIDS) and KIIT Polytechnic.

Member of national and International bodies
He is a member of University Grants Commission (UGC), Executive Committee Member of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), President of Volleyball Federation of India, Member of Indian Olympic Association, President, 39th World Congress of Poets (WAAC), General President (2017-18) of 105th Indian Science Congress, Advisor of Ministry of Education (Government of Manipur), Academic Council Member of Central University of Orissa, Serving Member of National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), Coir Board of India, National Executive Council Member of Indian Society for Technical Education, and Executive Committee Member of Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA).

He was also a serving member of international bodies including the International Association of University Presidents (IAUP), United States of America; Institute of International Education (IIE), New York City; Association of University of Asia Pacific (AUAP); University Mobility in Asia and the Pacific (UMAP), Bangkok, Thailand; Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health (APACPH); United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI), and Asia Economic Forum (AEF), CIFEJ (Centre International Du Films Pour L'enfance Et La Jeunesse, Dubai).

Honoris Causa awards

• Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha – Central University, Tirupati, India − 2011
• Hanseo University, South Korea, 2010
• National University, Cambodia – 2009
• University of Cambodia, Cambodia, 2009
• OIU, Colombo – 2002 and 2005 (D.Sc)
• National Formosa University, Taiwan – 2012
• Gandhi Mandela Awards 2019

Awards and records
Samanta received a number of awards, and created new records in the field of social entrepreneurship. He was mentioned among the Top 15 Social Entrepreneurs of the World by the American Edge Foundation. Samanta appears in The Limca Book of Records as the youngest chancellor of any University in India.

• Outstanding Green Activist Award by India Green Energy Awards organised by Indian Federation of Green Energy (IFGE) – 2019
• Jeevan Gaurav Puraskar (Lifetime Achievement Award) at 4th National Teachers’ Congress by MIT World Peace University, Pune - 2020
• Personality of the Year Award by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) – 2019
• Golden Gabel Award by World Academy of Arts And Culture – 2019
• BusinessLine Changemaker Awards 2019 instituted by The Hindu BusinessLine daily – 2019
• Conferred the UC Distinguished Professorship in Humanities by The University of Cambodia – 2018
• Hall of Fame Award presented by World CSR Congress, New Delhi – 2015
• Successful Entrepreneur Award at Economic Times Entrepreneurship Summit 2015, New Delhi – 2015
• Civilian Award by Jan Mládek, Industry & Trade Minister of Czech Republic, Vladimír Bärtl, Deputy Minister of Industry & Trade Minister of Czech Republic and M. Stašek, Ambassador of Czech Republic to India at Czech Embassy, New Delhi – 2015
• Think India Award by Think Media at Transforming India Conclave 2014, New Delhi – 2014
• Honorary Fellowship Award by Computer Society of India (CSI), Hyderabad, India – 2014
• Visista Puraskar from 24th Annual Awards – 2014
• Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Award, Moscow, Russia – 2014
• Gusi Peace Prize International, Manila, Philippines – 2014
• ‘2013 World of Difference Awards’ by US-based International Alliance for Women (TIAW) – 2014
• Jawaharlal Nehru Award, 2012–2012
• Godfrey Phillips Bravery Award (Social Bravery Award) in recognition of an exceptional Act of Courage – 2011
• Priya Odiya Samman 2007 (Most Endeared Personality in Odisha), through a survey by a National TV Channel – 2007
• Humanitarian Award from Mahatma Gandhi Remembrance Organization, Johannesburg, South Africa – 2004
• First Oriya to receive International Award for Outstanding Social Work by the Indian Embassy, Muscat, Oman
• Received ‘Certificate of Excellence’ in the field of Social Work from the Minister of International Affairs, Government of Cambodia