Indira Gandhi award to be given to doctors and nurses for their role in battling pandemic

The Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development 2022 has been awarded to the country's medical fraternity for their actions during the Covid pandemic in the years 2020 and 2021. As there is no national body representing all the doctors and nurses in the country, the award is to be conferred upon two national organisations: The Indian Medical Association and The Trained Nurses Organisation of India.

The Jury, chaired by former Chief Justice of India T.S Thakur have said that this award was in recognition of the heroic endeavours of the covid warriors during the global pandemic.

In its announcement statement, the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust says, "Statistics are hard to come by and are not always reliable, but there is little doubt that the women and men of the medical fraternity soldiered on beyond the call of duty. Their contribution, their sacrifices, their commitment, their compassion, their courage, their skill and their steadfastness deserve recognition regardless of who they were and where they fought the pandemic and cared for the afflicted."For

The Indira Gandhi Prize is awarded to individuals or organisations in recognition of efforts toward promoting international peace, freedom and development as well as scientific discoveries that make contributions towards the betterment of humanity.

Previous winners have included international organisations such as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHRC) in 2015, personalities such as Former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh who won in 2017, natural historian Sir David Attenborrough, who was awarded in 2019, and former Chancelor of Germay, Angela Merkel in 2013, as well as Indian organisations such as the ISRO (2014) and the Centre for Science and Environment (2018).

Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina was given the award in 2009. Former winners have also included President Jimmy Carter in 1997, Former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachew in the year 1987 as well as Former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.

Last year, the award was given to Pratham, a not-for-profit learning organisation created to improve the quality of education in India.