Humanitarian educationist and social entrepreneur, Dr Achyuta Samanta is the visionary founder-director of the Bhubaneswar-based Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology Group of 30 education institutions including the deemed KIIT University (estb. 1992), the free-of-charge KISS (Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (1993) and the Cambridge (UK) and IB(Geneva)-affiliated KIIT International School (2007).    

Born and raised in Kalarabanka, in Odisha’s Cuttack district amidst acute poverty with seven siblings and a widowed mother, Samanta braved severe hardship from age four when he lost his father, a shopfloor employee in a steel plant, in a train accident. Despite these hardships, Samanta persevered with his schooling in the village and went on to secure a scholarship to SCS College, Puri, in 1984. He supported himself through giving private tuitions while pursuing his studies. In 1987, after reportedly “self-studying 18 hours a day and subsisting on Rs.200 a month,” Samanta managed to complete his Masters in chemistry from Utkal University

He subsequently taught at D.K. College, Jaleswar (1987–1991), before joining Maharishi College in Bhubaneswar. In 1993, alongside his teaching career, Samanta founded the free-of-charge Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) for historically neglected scheduled caste and scheduled tribes children. 

Since then over the past over three decades, the K-postgraduate fully residential KISS has evolved into a transformative educational institution, enabling generations of SC and ST children to complete their school and higher education. With a built-up area of 600,000 sq. ft, KISS is the world’s largest boarding school with an aggregate enrolment of 30,000 students, equipped with a 50 kw solar power plant, an RO water filtration plant which supplies 100,000 litres of potable water daily, and a fully mechanised kitchen which serves 45,000 meals per day in a dining hall with a seating capacity of 10,000. KISS’ journey has become an important part of Odisha’s broader social and education transformation, contributing to the empowerment of SC & ST communities in Odisha.

For his dedicated service to the education of historically neglected SC & ST children, Dr. Samanta has been conferred numerous national and international awards and honorary doctorates. Among them are: ISA Award for Service to Humanity (2015), Gusi Peace Prize International (2014), National Award for Child Welfare (2017), CSI Lifetime Achievement Award (2020) and Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar (2022).

For his extraordinary contributions to development of Indian education — and upliftment of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe children  in particular — the Board of Directors and Editors of EducationWorld are proud to present Dr. Achyuta Samanta the Lifetime Achievement in Education Leadership Award 2026-27 and induct him into the EW Hall of Fame of Indian Education.