Interview Times 
In November 2025, Dr. Achyuta Samanta was conferred his 69th honorary doctorate, awarded by SRM University, Sonepat, during its third convocation ceremony. The citation lauded him as a “flag-bearer of service without boundaries, education without discrimination, and humanity without compromise.”
This recognition is more than a mere milestone. It underscores how a journey that began in a tiny Odisha village has matured into a global movement—one that reframes education as a mechanism for justice, inclusion, and transformation. In many ways, the honour acts as a nexus: reflecting past achievements, spotlighting current capability, and signalling an expansive vision for the future.
Born on January 20, 1965, in the village of Kalarabanka in Odisha, Samanta’s early life was steeped in hardship. Raised by his widowed mother alongside seven siblings, he experienced firsthand the adversity that many marginalised children endure. Yet these very conditions forged within him a powerful conviction: that education is not merely a privilege but a right.
With determination, he pursued a Master’s degree in Chemistry from Utkal University and began his career as a lecturer. These academic credentials laid the foundation for something much bigger—the belief that from the classroom to the global stage, every child deserves the chance to thrive.
In 1992, Samanta founded the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT)—a vocational training centre that, over time, evolved into a multidisciplinary university welcoming students from around the globe. Running in parallel, he launched the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS)—a fully residential, completely free institution for tribal children, offering education, lodging, meals, and care.
Today, KISS is widely recognised as the world’s largest residential institute dedicated to tribal children—a living testament to what inclusive education can achieve. Through these twin institutions, Samanta transformed a vision into concrete social infrastructure, built on the ethos of dignity, opportunity, and service.
Dr. Samanta’s work continues to inspire many to believe in the power of education and service to society, and the difference it can make in building a better world.
