Baba Amte
- In full:
- Murlidhar Devidas Amte
- Born:
- December 26, 1914, Hinganghat, Wardha district, Maharashtra, British India
- Died:
- February 9, 2008, Anandwan, Maharashtra, India (aged 93)
- Founder:
- Anandwan
- Awards And Honors:
- Templeton Prize (1990)
- Subjects Of Study:
- leprosy
Baba Amte (born December 26, 1914, Hinganghat, Wardha district, Maharashtra, British India—died February 9, 2008, Anandwan, Maharashtra, India) was an Indian lawyer and social activist chiefly known for his rehabilitative initiatives for underprivileged leprosy patients and his involvement in the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA; “Save Narmada Movement”). He was a recipient of the Padma Shri (1971) and the Padma Vibhushan (1986), two of the highest civilian honors in India. His selfless service and social activism were also internationally acclaimed and recognized with accolades such as the 1985 Ramon Magsaysay Award, the 1988 UN Human Rights Prize, and a share of the 1990 Templeton Prize.
Early life, family, and education
Baba Amte, whose birth name was Murlidhar Devidas Amte, was born into an affluent Brahmin family and was the eldest of eight children. His father, Devidas Haribaji Amte, was a high-ranking official in the British government.
“Baba” was Amte’s childhood nickname, and he stuck to it throughout his life. He was always better known and popularly addressed by his moniker.
Growing up, Baba Amte had a life of privilege, a stark juxtaposition to the reality of the people he eventually dedicated his life to. But, in spite of his family’s social standing and the abundance of resources at his disposal, he was sensitive and empathetic toward the plight of the underprivileged even as a young child. Various accounts of his childhood mention that he would often disregard the bounds of class and play with the children of the servants, much to the chagrin of his father.
Amte earned a degree in law from Hislop College, Nagpur, in 1936 and set up a flourishing practice. Now a young man who had established himself professionally and socially, Amte became all the more aware of the struggles of the needy:
I, who never had planted a single seed in the estate, was expected to enjoy the comfort of a beautiful farm house, while those who had toiled there all their lives had only the meanest hovels.…I was charging fifty rupees for arguing for fifteen minutes, while a laborer was getting only three-quarters of a rupee for twelve hours of toil. That was what was eating into me.
—Baba Amte: A Vision of New India (2000), Hans Staffner S.J.
By the mid-1940s two major events had taken place in Amte’s life: he got married to Indu Guleshastri (later known as Sadhana Amte or Sadhanatai; tai in Marathi means “elder sister”), who would become his lifelong companion and an able partner in all his endeavors; and he found his life’s purpose. He decided to give up his legal practice and wealth to dedicate himself to social service.
Activism and social work
Quit India Movement and Bharat Jodo Abhiyan
In 1942 Amte joined the Quit India Movement, which was led by Mahatma Gandhi in protest against the British occupation of India. Amte mobilized lawyers to defend imprisoned leaders of the movement and was himself incarcerated. He was deeply influenced by the way of life and ideologies of Gandhi, who gave Amte the title of abhay sadhak (Hindi: “fearless seeker of truth”) after the latter came to the rescue of an Indian woman being harassed by British soldiers. Besides Gandhi, poet Rabindranath Tagore, social reformer Vinoba Bhave, and author and freedom fighter Sane Guruji (Pandurang Sadashiv Sane) also had a profound impact on Amte.
In 1985 Amte launched the Bharat Jodo Abhiyan (also known as the Knit India movement) and traveled, along with other participants, from Kanniyakumari to Kashmir on a bicycle. In 1988 he launched the movement again, this time cycling from Arunachal Pradesh to Gujarat with other participants. Amte aimed to rekindle the spirit of nationalism and unity through the movements during a particularly challenging period, politically and communally, for India.
Advocacy for leprosy patients
Baba Amte is perhaps best known for his decades-long involvement with and service toward leprosy patients. This significant chapter of his life began when he happened to come across Tulshiram, a man afflicted by leprosy, lying alone on the road. This was during a time when there was still a huge stigma concerning the disease. Amte was fearful of contracting the infection and left the scene. However, plagued by an urge to overcome his fear, he returned and made arrangements to give some comfort to the man. He looked after Tulshiram till the latter passed away.
This single incident was a watershed moment in his life. In 1949 he founded Anandwan (Hindi: “Forest of Joy”) in Chandrapur, Maharashtra, a safe haven and rehabilitative center dedicated to empowering and providing care for leprosy patients. To expand his knowledge about the disease, he took a course at the Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine.
Amte started another similar project, Ashokawan, in Nagpur, Maharashta, in 1957. A decade later he established a third, Somnath. Set up on land allocated in the Tadoba buffer zone by the Maharashtra government, Somnath gave patients of leprosy a chance at rehabilitation and a means of subsistence by offering agricultural and other opportunities. Throughout these decades, as Amte continued with his work for leprosy patients and navigated the prejudices against the disease, he had the unwavering support and assistance of his wife.
Involvement in the Narmada Bachao Andolan
In the late 1980s Baba Amte became an active part of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, one of the most prominent social and environmental movements in India. Helmed by social activist Medha Patkar, the NBA was formed in 1989 to protest against the construction of hydroelectric projects on the Narmada River in Madhya Pradesh and the rampant displacement and environmental damage the dams had already triggered and would continue to bring about in the coming years.
Baba Amte joined hands with Patkar and the other protesters. Contemporary newspaper reports and journals closely followed Amte’s contributions to the movement. In 1989 Madhya Pradesh’s Harsud, a town that was dealing with the risk of inundation because of the projects, became the site of a massive rally headed by Baba Amte. That same year, he published Cry, the Beloved Narmada, a booklet that outlined his viewpoints on the environmental consequences and financial implications of the project and the pertinent issue of rehabilitation.
Amte left Anandwan and moved closer to the Narmada River in 1990. Toward the end of December 1990 Jan Vikas Sangharsh Yatra (“Struggle March for Public Development”) was launched, and Amte participated in it along with other protesters; the Sangharsh Yatra continued till the end of January 1991. During this time, he also went on a hunger strike. He proposed alternative and more sustainable ways of developing the Narmada basin and continued to fight for the cause for the next several years. It was only toward the end of his life that he moved back to Anandwan because of his failing health.
Legacy and awards
- Damien-Dutton Award (1983)
- G.D. Birla International Award (1988)
- Gandhi Peace Prize (1999)
- Dr. Ambedkar International Award (1999)
- Maharashtra Bhushan Award (2004)
- Honorary D.Litt from Tata Institute for Social Sciences (TISS; 2006)
Baba Amte died in 2008 due to age-related illness at Anandwan, but the projects he had set up during his lifetime have continued and expanded in the years after his demise. Much of the work has been shouldered by Amte’s two sons and daughters-in-law—elder son Vikas Amte, who is married to Mandakini Amte, and younger son Prakash Amte, who is married to Bharti Amte. The couples, all doctors, are deeply involved with the organizations established by Amte.
Today Anandwan continues to empower those in need, including former patients of leprosy, people with disabilities, orphans, and the underprivileged. It encompasses a variety of initiatives in sectors such as health care, education, and agriculture. Somnath still champions Amte’s vision with its focus on agrarian development and environmental sustainability.
Lok Biradari Prakalp (LBP; “People’s Development Project”) at Hemalkasa, Maharashtra, was set up by Baba Amte in 1973 in an effort to drive progress in the Madia-Gond tribe of Maharashtra. At present LBP has widened its reach and caters to multiple villages, providing services such as health care and educational programs. Maharogi Sewa Samiti, Warora (MSS; “Leprosy Service Society”), an organization Amte had set up in 1949, oversees and supports the projects at Anandwan, Somnath, and LBP and various other initiatives aimed at uplifting the marginalized.