Baba Amte’s was a one man crusade. At a time when leprosy was considered God’s wrath and the affected people thrown on the roads and shunned, Murlidhar Devidas Amte picked them up, cared for them and cured them. Slowly and steadily he had followers, helpers and worshippers. His social work extended beyond the leprosy affected to the poor and downtrodden, the weak, the physically challenged and the tribals. Baba Amte founded 27 communes in Vidarbha and Gadchiroli and won several awards and recognition for his work though he never really expected it. All he wanted was help and sympathy for his people, a recognition that they were also a part of society. Baba Amte was born with a golden spoon in his mouth. Son of a rich zamindar, his family owned a car when just a handful had the means to do so. He went about with gold coins in his pockets which he gave to beggars during Diwali, something which they just could not believe.
Yet, when he saw Tulshiram, a leprosy affected man dying with no one looking after him in the last stages, he decided to help such unfortunate ones. His family frowned, but his wife Sadhanatai supported him and they moved into an arid and dry place where while digging a well, there were more sweat drops than water. Yet, he persevered and with just one buffalo and a dog, and with two small sons Vikas and Prakash, founded Anandwan, the city of joy.
Though he got donations and managed to buy more cows and buffaloes, the extra milk could not be sold because it came from Anandwan, abode of leprosy affected people. Baba Amte persevered and brought respectability to such people and slowly and steadily the commune grew. When foreigners came and helped build houses, gave donations and medicines and looked after the leprosy affected people, locals joined in to accept them.
Hard work and consistency saw Anandwan becoming self sufficient. These people, using whatever fingers they had (some had two, some had none due to the disease) worked hard. They built their own houses, grew their own food and even supplied the excess to places around. Gardens, fruits and vegetables were plenty even though the soil of the area was not very good. Baba Amte built schools, hospitals, orphanages and educated children. Anandwan with about five thousand inhabitants was and is self-sufficient with everything including cupboards and refrigerators manufactured there. Salt and petrol are the only two things they buy.
Baba Amte’s commune Lok Biradari Prakalp at Hemalkasa (in Gadchiroli) brought the tribals who were still backward at that time, back into society. His son Dr Prakash and his wife Dr Mandakini looked after the tribals, even operating without electricity, handling animal infected wounds and in return got exotic animals like leopard and lion cubs as gifts, as the tribals believed in barter system. This gave rise to an animal open sanctuary which Dr Prakash still maintains and looks after.
In Anandwan, Baba Amte grew thornless rose plants so that the blind could feel them without the pricking of the thorns. He manufactured footwear without nails since the leprosy affected feet had no sensation and could not feel the prick. The wounds could get affected and result in gangrene. He and later, his elder son Dr Vikas, made their own bricks to build houses which remain warm in winter and cool in summer. Water harvesting was another feature which Baba Amte and his whole family believed in and no water was ever wasted in Anandwan and other communes.
When his sons took over Anandwan, Hemalkasa, Ashokvan and other communes, Baba Amte started the Knit India movement in the late eighties where his team travelled from North India to South and from East to West, preaching, advising and getting people closer to each other. When the Narmada Bachao Andolan took place, he joined activist Medha Patkar and camped on the banks of the Narmada river helping the project affected people. He spent ten years there and returned to Anandwan in 2000 and took up the reins. Plastic recycling units, summer camps for youth, and many such projects began.
The work of Baba Amte was unanimously praised by many national and international organizations. He was awarded with the United Nations Human Rights Prize, the Ramon Magsaysay award (1985), the Templeton Prize (1990), the Gandhi Peace Prize, and many other humanitarian and environmental prizes. He continued helping people throughout his life even though he could not sit (because of a back problem), could only stand or sleep, and had a pacemaker to steady his heart.
Born on December 26, 1914, Baba Amte left his mortal body on 9 February, 2008 at Anandwan where thousands of people from all over the world attended his funeral. His work continues through his sons, their wives and now his grandchildren and their children. The whole family is steeped in social work.