Mumbai: Arvind Kejriwal, who spearheaded the people''s movement in Delhi to help citizens get basic services from government departments without having to pay bribes, is among seven winners of this year''s Ramon Magsasay Awards, the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize.

Kejriwal was among six Asians to receive the award for emergent leadership.

Kejriwal, 38, a former tax official, who headed the Parivartan citizens'' movement against corruption, was recognised for "activating India''s right-to-information movement at the grassroots, empowering New Delhi''s poorest citizens to fight corruption by holding government answerable to the people," the award committee said.

A Philippine foundation that builds houses for the slum dwellers, a South Korean lawyer who encourages philanthropy, head of the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority, a Filipino journalist and newspaper publisher and head of the Tilganga Eye Center in Nepal, were among the seven winners of this year''s Ramon Magsaysay Award.

The Philippines'' Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation and its executive director Antonio Meloto will receive the award for community leadership in providing homes to slum dwellers while South Korean lawyer Park Won Soon will receive the award for public service through The Beautiful Foundation, which calls on everyone to donate one per cent of his/her income or time for redistribution of money among the needy.

Ek Sonn Chan, head of the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority, will receive the award for government service for "his exemplary rehabilittion of a ruined public utility, bringing safe drinking water to a million people in Cambodia''s capital city."

Filipino journalist and newspaper publisher Eugenia Duran Apostol will receive the award for journalism, literature and creative communication arts for upholding the people''s right to the truth, the awards foundation said.

Apostol was recognised for "her courageous example in placing the truth-telling press at the center of the struggle for democratic rights and better government in the Philippines," it added.

The awards are a tribute to the continuing "tradition of greatness of spirit in selfless service to the peoples of Asia," the foundation said, adding, "In a world grown increasingly complex, divided and cynical, these remarkable Asians persist in addressing longstanding, painful social issues."

The winners will be honoured at a special ceremony in Manila on August 31.