Remembering the Life of Baba Amte on his Birth Anniversary

Baba Amte at Anandwan

• Baba Amte was the social reformer and activist who devoted his life to serving leprosy patients and removing the stigma around the ailment.
• He was the winner of the Padma Vibhushan (1986) and the Ramon Magsaysay Award (1985).
• He established Anandwan, a leprosy care centre, in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra in 1949 where patients were offered care and a self-reliant way of life. 

About His Life :

• Baba Amte, Murlidhar Devidas Amte was born on December 26, 1914, in Hinganghat, Wardha.
• He was born in luxury — his father was a landowner and British government official.
• He trained as a lawyer and for a while, enjoyed the life of a rich young man, horse-riding, hunting, playing bridge and tennis.
• However, he was soon involved in the freedom struggle, and began working with Mahatma Gandhi. 
• He was very much influenced by the lifestyle of the Gandhiji.
• The website of Anandwan describes how an encounter with a leprosy patient changed Baba Amte’s life — the sight of Tulshiram filled him with fear.

His work: 

• Baba Amte was convinced that leprosy patients could be truly helped only when the society found a cure for what he called ‘Mental Leprosy’ — the stigma and fear associated with the disease.
• Thus was founded Maharogi Sewa Samiti, Warora — or Anandwan — where leprosy patients were provided with medical care and a life of dignity, engaged in agriculte and various small and medium industries.
• Baba Amte’s wife, Sadhanatai Amte, played a crucial role in setting up and running the village.
• To fight the stigma associated with leprosy, Baba Amte injected himself with bacilli from a pateint, to prove the ailment was not highly contagious.
• Baba Amte also involved in other social causes. In 1985, he launched the first Knit India mission for peace — at the age of 72, he walked from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, a distance of more than 3,000 miles, to inspire unity in India.
• He organised a second such march three years later, travelling over 1800 miles from Assam to Gujarat.
• In 1990, he left Anandwan to take part in the Narmada Bachao Andolan, and lived on the banks of the Narmada for seven years.
• He passed away on February 9, 2008. He was buried and not cremated, as he wanted his body to be of use even after death.