New Delhi, Sep 1 (IANS): The Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat Education has bagged the Mother Teresa Excellence Award for exceptional work in the field of educating the girl child.

Instituted by the non-profit Economic Growth Society of India, the award honours both individuals and organizations for their contributions to India's economic and social growth.

The award, consisting of a momento and citation of excellence, was presented here this weekend to Vishakha Tripathi, president of the Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat Education that imparts free education to over 5,000 girls from the pre-primary to post-graduation level through its institutions at Pratapgarh in Uttar Pradesh.

The students also receive free transportation, including free distribution of bicycles to those who travel long distances, along with free uniforms, school bags, and other school-related requirements.

The institution's aim is to remove any obstacle to girls' education.

The efforts of the institution have been well recognised. In the past year, it received the Rajiv Gandhi Global Excellence Award and the Nari Shakti Award instituted by the Jagran group.

Others recognised with the institution included Sunil Kumar of Astha Speech and Hearing Care, Aditya Mukherjee of Solace Group, Vandita Singh of Certified International Image Consultant, Tushar Mehta of Mangalam Alloys and Anup Talwar of Mindcare Counselling.

"We have instituted the awards to honour individuals and organizations who have made selfless contribution towards growth of India," said G.S. Sachdeva, general secretary of the Economic Growth Society of India.

Those present at the event included V.N. Sehgal, a former director of the Central Forensic Science Laboritory; Acharya Yeshi Phunthosk, member of the Tibetan parliament- in-exile; Surinder Khanna, former cricketer; Mahant Surendra Nath, president of Shri Kaalika Peeth Trust, and Seema Chakraborty of the National Women Council.