Achyuta Samanta Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More

Some Lesser Known Facts About Achyuta Samanta

• Achyuta Samanta is the founder of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology and Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences.

• His father died in a train accident in 1969, when Achyuta was four years old. After this incident, the family shifted from Jamshedpur to their native village, Kalarabanka in Cuttack.

• He grew up in severe poverty, and the family’s income was so low that it wasn’t sufficient to feed them all.

• To support his family, he started doing menial jobs at the age of five.

• When he was 20 years old, he joined a local college as a teacher and started private tuition classes simultaneously.

• In 1992-93, he set up two institutions- Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) and Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) in a rented apartment with only Rs. 5000.

• To run his institution, he took loans from friends and relatives. In 1994-95, his loan went up to Rs. 2.5 million, he was so burdened and ashamed that he decided to commit suicide.

• With his hard work and farsighted vision, he led his institutions to become one of the renowned educational institutes in India.

• Thousands of students from across the globe attend Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) every year.
  

  Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology

• Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) provides free education to poor students from Kindergarten to Post Graduation. The institute also provides a free residential and boarding facility to the students.
  

  Achyuta Samanta with His Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences Students

• Apart from KIIT and KISS, he founded other institutes including Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), KIIT School of Management (KSOM), KIIT School of Rural Management (KSRM), KIIT School of Computer Application (KSCA) and many more.

• He went on to become member of the various national and international educational bodies including the University Grants Commission (UGC), Executive Committee Member of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Academic Council Member of Central University of Orissa, 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), and University Mobility in Asia and the Pacific (UMAP) Bangkok.

• He is a motivational speaker too and gives lectures at various national and international institutes. When an interviewer asked him about the most satisfying aspect of his job, he said,

The most satisfying aspect of my journey is that I have been able to use education as the tool of personal, social, cultural development; economic empowerment; and creation of a large population of change agents for the deprived and marginalized communities. The model has been appreciated by world leaders, policy planners, Nobel Laureates, legal luminaries. KISS has become an eye-opener. It is particularly very satisfying when KISS received Special Consultative Status from the United Nations Organization.

• In 2018-19, he was elected as the Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha. He contested the 2019’s Lok Sabha elections from ‘Kandhamal’ and became the Lok Sabha member from Biju Janta Dal.
  

  Achyuta Samanta in BJD’s Rally

• With his hard work and a zeal to bring prosperity in the rural areas, he has transformed the rural village ‘Kalarabanka’ in Cuttack into a Smart Village.

• Some well- known students of his institute are Dutee Chand (Indian Athlete) and Sumitra Naik (under-19 Indian Rugby team captain).

• Since 1987, he has been working persistently with the aim of Zero Poverty, Zero Hunger, and Zero Illiteracy.

• He holds the ‘Limca Book of Records’ as the youngest chancellor of any University in India.

• He appeared in a special Karamveer episode of KBC 11 on 15 November on 2019. He was accompanied by the actress Taapsee Pannu on the hot seat.
  

  Achyuta Samanta in KBC