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Baba Amte: Biography, Contributions, Awards and Honours

PWOnlyIAS February 07, 2024 04:02 2490 0

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Muralidhar Devidas Amte, known popularly as Baba Amte, was a social worker and activist who contributed towards empowering and rehabilitating leprosy patients.

Baba Amte: Biography, Contributions, Awards and Honours

Context

The death anniversary of social activist Baba Amte is marked on 9th February.

Baba Amte Biography

  • About: Muralidhar Devidas Amte, known popularly as Baba Amte, was a social worker and activist who contributed towards empowering and rehabilitating leprosy patients.
  • Early Life: Baba Amte was born in a wealthy land-owning family in Maharashtra’s Hinganghat in 1914. His father worked for the colonial government.
    • Muralidhar acquired the moniker Baba in his childhood. He followed a lavish lifestyle, involving hunting and horse riding.
    • Despite his wealthy family background, Amte was always aware of the class inequality that prevailed in Indian society.
  • Education: Amte studied law and developed a successful legal practice in Wardha. 

Working With Mahatma Gandhi

  • Follower of Gandhian Philosophy: Baba Amte lived in Gandhiji’s Sevagram and adopted Gandhianism as his philosophy.
    • He adhered to the use of a charkha to spin yarn and also dressed in Khadi.
  • Fearless Approach: When Gandhiji came to know about Amte’s fearless protests against some Englishmen disrespecting women, he gave Amte the title ‘Abhaya Sadhak’.

Contributions of Baba Amte

Baba Amte

  • Indian Freedom Movement: Baba Amte took part in nearly all of the major Independence movements led by Mahatma Gandhi.
    • He was the defense lawyer for Indian leaders imprisoned for participating in the Quit India movement. 
  • Promote Gandhianism: Amte was a firm believer in Gandhian concept of a self-sufficient village industry that empowers seemingly helpless people.
    • Gandhi’s principles of Satyagraha were utilised by Amte to fight against corruption, mismanagement, and poor, shortsighted planning in the government.
  • Working with Leprosy Patients: After an encounter with a leprosy patient, Amte decided to dedicate his life for the treatment and rehabilitation of leprosy patients.
    • To understand the disease, Amte worked at a leprosy clinic, and took a course on the disease at the Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine.
    • Amte wanted to change the thinking and understanding of people that leprosy patients cannot be allowed back into society.
    • He wanted the society to be free of “Mental Leprosy“, which was the fear and wrong understanding associated with disease.
    • To change people’s belief, he once injected himself with bacilli from a patient, to prove the ailment was not highly contagious.
    • Baba Amte set up three ashrams, of which Anandvan was the first, for treatment and rehabilitation of leprosy patients, disabled people and people from marginalised sections.
  • Environment Protection: In 1990, Amte went to live along the Narmada River and joined Narmada Bachao Andolan movement, which was against construction of Sardar Sarovar Dam.
  • National Unity: Through his first Knit India Mission for Peace in 1985, Baba Amte walked more than 3000 miles from Kanyakumari to Kashmir to encourage national unity. 
    • Few years later, he organized a second march that covered more than 1800 miles from Assam to Gujarat.
  • Tribal Upliftment: Baba Amte set up the Lok Biradari Prakalp in 1973 to assist the Madia Gond tribe of the Gadchiroli District. 
    • It involved building a hospital for the tribals in the area to provide them with basic healthcare. 
    • There was also a school with a hostel facility for children to provide education and a centre to teach livelihood skills and training to the adults. 
  • Literature: Amte authored collections of Marathi poetry, namely Jwala and Phule and Ujjwal Udyashita, to highlight his struggles. 
  • Animal Welfare: Baba Amte also set up an animal orphanage, which takes in and cares for the young animals orphaned by the hunting activities of the local tribes.
  • Water Conservation: As part of his activism, Baba Amte sought the government to carry out interventions in dry farming technology, watershed management, check dams, lift irrigation, and improved efficiency and utilization of existing dams.

Honours for Baba Amte

  • Modern Gandhi: Baba Amte is referred to as India’s modern Gandhi for following and adhering to the principles of Mahatma Gandhi.

Baba Amte: Awards Received

  • Padma Shri (1971)
  • Ramon Magsaysay Award (1985)
  • Padma Vibhushan (1986)
  • United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights (1988)
  • Dr Ambedkar International Award (1999)
  • Gandhi Peace Prize (1999)
  • Templeton Prize (1990)
  • Right Livelihood Award (1991)
  • Maharashtra Bhushan (2004)

Baba Amte: Quotes

  • “I don’t want to be a great leader; I want to be a man who goes around with a little oil can and when he sees a breakdown, offers his help. To me, the man who does that is greater than any holy man in saffron-coloured robes. The mechanic with the oilcan: that is my ideal in life.”
  • “I took up leprosy work not to help anyone, but to overcome that fear in my life. That it worked out good for others was a by-product. But the fact is I did it to overcome fear.”
  • “The condition of the tribals is worse than those inflicted with leprosy. Purna swaraj can only be possible when the poorest of the poor is uplifted.”
  • “Joy is more infectious than leprosy.”

Conclusion

Baba Amte dedicated his life to serve humanity, especially for the upliftment of downtrodden and socially marginalised sections. His role in building a self-sufficient rural community, based on Gandhian principles, has served as an inspiration for many across the world.

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Frequently Asked Questions

The death anniversary of social activist Baba Amte is marked on 9th February.

Muralidhar Devidas Amte, known popularly as Baba Amte, was a social worker and activist who contributed towards empowering and rehabilitating leprosy patients.

Baba Amte took part in nearly all of the major Independence movements led by Mahatma Gandhi. Baba Amte lived in Gandhiji’s Sevagram and adopted Gandhianism as his philosophy. He adhered to the use of a charkha to spin yarn and also dressed in Khadi.

Amte’s fearless protests against some Englishmen disrespecting women resulted in Mahatma Gandhi giving him the title ‘Abhaya Sadhak’.

Baba Amte is referred to as India's modern Gandhi for following and adhering to the principles of Mahatma Gandhi.

After an encounter with a leprosy patient, Amte decided to dedicate his life for the treatment and rehabilitation of leprosy patients. Amte wanted to change the thinking and understanding of people that leprosy patients cannot be allowed back into society. He set up three ashrams, of which Anandvan was the first, for treatment and rehabilitation of leprosy patients.

Baba Amte set up the Lok Biradari Prakalp in 1973 to assist the Madia Gond tribe of the Gadchiroli District.

Amte went to live along the Narmada River and joined Narmada Bachao Andolan movement, which was against construction of Sardar Sarovar Dam. He also set up an animal orphanage, which takes in and cares for the young animals orphaned by the hunting activities.

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