Classical singer Thodur Madabusi Krishna and National Convenor of Safai Karmachari Andolan Bezwada Wilson featured in this year's list of winners of the coveted Ramon Magsaysay Award, announced on Wednesday.

Krishna, who also writes a column for Scroll.in called The Thin Edge, will receive the award for social inclusiveness in culture. Wilson, on the other hand, has been selected for "asserting the inalienable right to a life of human dignity", reported The Hindu.

In the citation, the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation described the musician as one who identified the domination of caste in Carnatic music. “He questioned the politics of art. widened his knowledge about the arts of the dalits and non-Brahmin communities. He devoted himself to democratising the arts as an independent artist, writer, speaker, and activist," it said.

According to the organisation, the social activist is a crusader with remarkable skills in mass organising. His Safai Karmachari Andolan has grown into a network of 7,000 members in 500 districts across the country. "Of the estimated 600,000 scavengers in India, SKA has liberated around 300,000," the description read.