Smile Foundation’s Co-Founder & Executive Trustee Mr. Santanu Mishra has been recognized with the Odisha Living Legend Award. With his able stewardship and farsighted vision, Mr. Mishra has been the guiding force for the organisation since its inception. In the past 15 years, under his guidance, it has been built into a unique social institution based on good governance and has directly impacted the lives of more than 1.5 million children and their families across 29 states in the country, through various projects on education, healthcare, livelihood and women empowerment.
The other awardees were Padma Bhushan Shri Ramakanta Rath for literature, Padma Shri Sisir Mishra for cinema, Olympian Dutee Chand for sports and founder Akshayapatra Foundation Padma Shri Madhupandit Dasa. This civillian award instituted by Odisha diaries was presented at a ceremony in Bhubaneswar by the Hon’ble Odisha Minister of Health Family and Welfare Shri Pratap Jena.