HL Agro Founder among Padma Shri Awardees 2021

Mr. Ashok Sahu, the founder of Vipassana Meditation Centre & HL Agro Products has made Kanpur proud by winning India’s fourth largest civilian honour Padma Shri for nurturing and promoting the indigenous Art of Living meditation & contributing to the community welfare. As per the notification issued by the Union Home Ministry, he was adjudged for his exceptional & distinguished services in the field of medicine and meditation. He is the chief trustee of International Dhamma Kalyana Meditation Centre situated on the outskirts of Kanpur city.

The recipients for the Padma Awards were announced on January 25, ahead of the Republic Day 2021. A proponent of Vipassana meditation, Mr. Ashok Sahu, an Economics post-graduate from PPN Degree College, has been active in social work ever since he joined his family business. His passion bore fruit with the creation of Vipassana Meditation Centre in the year 2010. The charitable meditation centre imparts meditation and self-discipline techniques in 47 different languages and helps people to come across stress & violent tendencies.

Mr. Ashok Sahu has been making people understand the value of living and empowering them to combat the universal ills of anger, stress, depression & addiction. He has transformed the centre into an international transcendental meditation institution continuously upgrading it with the best-in-class facilities & latest technology to facilitate the induction and sessions of Vipassana seekers from different countries. Over 16,000 people from countries like USA, Japan, China, Austria, Denmark, Iran, Russia etc have drawn distinct psychological benefits from these therapies so far.

Explaining the scale & inclusivity of this practice, he said, "Buddha never taught a sectarian religion, he taught dhamma- the way to liberation – which is universal and presented his teachings open to people of all faiths or no faith. Liberation in this context means freedom from impurities of mind and, as a result freedom from suffering."

International Dhamma Kalyan Meditation Centre has earned special accolades from the President Shree Ram Nath Kovind & UP Chief Minister Yogi Aditya Nath. Mr. Sahu was lauded for his noble vision and yeoman services during their visit to the Centre last year.

Mr. Sahu, feels honored to have been chosen for the Padma Shri. Speaking on the occasion, he said, "Awards like these encourage and give responsibility to us to do even better. I am happy that years of my work in this oldest Buddhist meditation has been recognized. I see it as an achievement for the growth of Vipassana and hope this would mean more thrust would be placed on the promotion of this unique science for mental peace, dynamism and personal wellness." "I have always felt that such an honour though awarded to an individual is a recognition of teamwork. In my case, this is an honour for the great work done by the entire team at the Dhamma Kalyana Centre, Kanpur," he added.

The Padma Awards are the highest civilian awards in the country and comprise of three categories based on the scale of the awardee’s achievement – the highest being Padma Vibhushan, followed by Padma Bhushan, and lastly, Padma Shri. The Padma Vibhushan awards were conferred to 7 awardees, the Padam Bhushan to 10 and the Padma Shri awards were conferred to 102 awardees this year.

Mr. Ashok Sahu hails from a joint business family of Kanpur. In addition to the Dhamma Kalyana Meditation Centre, he is also the co-founder of HL Agro Products Pvt. Ltd, the food processing company for sesame seeds, starch & corn products.

For more information on the International Dhamma Kalyana Meditation Centre, Kanpur, please visit: http://www.dhammakalyana.org/