REMEMBERING A PIONEER



M. D. AMTE
(26 Dec 1914 - 9 Feb 2008)

Murlidhar Devidas Amte, popularly known as 'Baba Amte', was a social activist who pioneered the cause of care and rehabilitation of people suffering from leprosy - Hansen's Disease...

Born in Hinganghat, in Wardha District of Maharashtra, Baba Amte grew up in affluence to become a successful legal expert, mainly as a defense counsel for the freedom activists, became an ardent follower of Mahatma Gandhi, and subsequently got involved with the freedom struggle. He was deeply influenced by greats like Tagore and Sane Guruji as well...

Amte, who thought himself to be totally fearless and daring, was dumbstruck to see a terribly mutilated advanced leprosy patient by name Tulshiram, so much so that his self-image got shattered. Leprosy carrying a terrible social stigma those days, he decided to do all that he could in service of the afflicted patients...

Amte studied leprosy, worked at a leprosy clinic, and took a course on the disease at the Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine. Subsequently in 1949, with Rs.14, 6 leprosy patients and a lame cow, he established the Maharogi Sewa Samiti, Warora (Leprosy Service Society) for those suffering from leprosy and it's sequelae, naming it "Anandwan", meaning 'Forest of Bliss'. Amte also ensured that the stigmatized were economically rehabilitated into self-sufficient productive groups...

Amte’s contributions for the cause of the downtrodden found global acclaim, going by the several awards conferred upon him. The Padma Shri in 1971, the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1985, the Padma Vibhushan in 1986, the 1988 UN Human Rights Prize, the 1990 Templeton Prize, and the 1999 Gandhi Peace Prize among others...

Amte passed away this day, 15 years ago. He shines amongst the stars, and a noble soul like his is without doubt a rare gem to have walked this way for the benefit of the entire humankind...

Link:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_Amte

🙏🙏🌹💐    🇮🇳

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