Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Dec 8:

In a major achievement, Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), in Odisha capital has darted into the list of top 223 NGOs of the world.

KISS has also been placed among the 10 best NGOs of India in the prestigious ranking of world NGOs published annually by NGO Advisor, a Geneva-based independent media organization chaired by Jean-Christophe Nothias, former editor of The Global Journal. Currently on its 2017 edition, NGO Advisor is unique in publishing such a ranking. After a thorough observation by NGO Advisor, KISS has been placed in 223th place among thousands of NGOs worldwide - a matter of pride for both KISS and the state Odisha.

NGO Advisor had placed KISS among top 500 NGOs of the world last June. During a period of only six months, KISS has jumped 277 places in this prestigious ranking.

The ranking is determined after evaluating tens of thousands of NGOs in every country on a set of stringent criteria. KISS was selected out of thousands of NGOs for its outstanding impact, innovation and governance. NGO Advisor, which uses public data for transparency, scores organizations based on their performance in 165 criteria. These criteria relate to the three pillars of interest - impact, innovation, and governance.

KISS, founded by eminent educational and social entrepreneur Dr. Achyuta Samanta in 1993, is acclaimed all over the world as a successful model of tribal empowerment through education. At present, 25,000 poorest of the poor children are pursuing their education here from KG to PG, making it the largest free residential tribal institute in the world. In 2015, it was granted Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the highest recognition to any NGO by the United Nations. Recently, it was approved for association with the United Nations Department of Public Information (UNDPI).