Baba Amte Murlidhar Devidas Amte (December 26, 1914 February 9, 2008), popularly known as Baba Amte, was

an Indian social worker and social activist known particularly fo r his work for the rehabilitation and empowerment of poor people suffering from leprosy Early life Amte was born to Devidas and Laxmibai Amte in the town of Hinganghat in Wardha D istrict of Maharashtra. The family was a wealthy jagirdar Brahmin family. His fa ther was also a British official with responsibilities for district administrati on and revenue collection. Amte had acquired his nickname Baba in his childhood. He came to be known as Baba not because "he is a saint or any such thing, but be cause his parents addressed him by that name." (as explained by his wife Sadhana tai) As the eldest son of a wealthy Brahmin landowner, Murlidhar had an idyllic child hood. By the time he was fourteen, Baba owned his own gun and hunted boar and de er. He developed a special interest in cinema, wrote reviews for the film magazi ne The Picture Goer and even corresponded with Greta Garbo and Norma Shearer. (N orma Shearer would become one of his first foreign donors when he began working with leprosy patients.) When he was old enough to drive, Baba was given a Singer sportscar with cushions covered with panther skin! But even then, Amte did not appreciate the restrictions that prevented him from playing with the 'low-caste' servants' children. "There is a certain callousness in families like mine." Baba says. "They put up strong barriers so as not to see the misery in the world outside and I rebelled against it." Dedicated work Trained in law, Amte developed a successful legal practice at Wardha. He soon go t involved in the Indian struggle for freedom from the British Raj, and started acting as a defense lawyer for leaders of the Indian freedom movement whom the B ritish authorities had imprisoned in the 1942 Quit India movement. He spent some time at Sevagram ashram of Mahatma Gandhi, and became a follower of Gandhism fo r the rest of his life. He practiced various aspects of Gandhism, including yarn spinning using a charkha and wearing khadi. Amte founded three ashrams for treatment and rehabilitation of leprosy patients, disabled people, and people from marginalized sections of the society in Mahara shtra, India. In 1973, Amte founded the Lok Biradari Prakalp to work among the Madia Gond trib al people of Gadchiroli District. Amte devoted his life to many other social causes, the most notable among which were generating public awareness of importance of ecological balance, wildlife p reservation, and the Narmada Bachao Andolan. Dedicated work of family members In 1946, Amte married with Sadhana Ghule.[4] She actively participated in her hu sband's social work with equal dedication. Their two sons, Dr. Vikas Amte (born 1947) and Dr. Prakash Amte, and two daughters-in-law, Dr. Mandakini and Dr. Bhar ati, are all doctors. All four have dedicated their lives to social work and cau ses similar to those of the senior Amte.

Son Dr. Prakash Amte and his wife Dr. Mandakini run a school and a hospital at H emalkasa village in the underprivileged district of Gadchiroli in Maharashtra wh ere people belonging to the "Madia Gond" tribe live. After marrying Prakash, Man dakini left her governmental medical job and moved to Hemalkasa to eventually st art a hospital, a school, and an orphanage for injured wild animals, including a lion and some leopards. Their two sons, Digant, a doctor, and Aniket, an engine er, have also dedicated their lives to the same causes as their parents.[8][9] I n 2008, Prakash and Mandakini were given the Magsaysay Award for Community Leade rship. Baba Amte's elder son Vikas and his wife Bharati run a hospital at Anandwan and coordinate operations between Anandwan and satellite projects. In those days, leprosy was associated with social stigma and the society disowne d people suffering from leprosy. There was also a widespread misbelief that lepr osy was contagious. Amte strove to dispel the misbelief and once allowed bacilli from a leprosy patient to be injected into him while participating in an experi mental test aimed at proving that leprosy was not contagious. Today, Anandwan and Hemalkasa village have one hospital, each. Anandwan has a un iversity, an orphanage, and schools for the blind and the deaf. Currently, the s elf-sufficient Anandwan ashram has over 5,000 residents.[5] The community develo pment project at Anandwan in Maharashtra is recognized around the world. Besides Anandwan, Amte later founded "Somnath" and "Ashokwan" ashrams for treating lepr osy patients. His philosophy: I sought my soul, my soul I could not see; I sought my God, my God eluded me; I sought my brother and found all three. Gandhism Amte followed Gandhi's way of living and taru, and led a spartan life. He wore k hadi clothes made from the looms at Anandwan. He believed in Gandhi's concept of a self-sufficient village industry that empowers seemingly helpless people, and successfully brought his ideas into practice at Anandwan. Amte also used Gandhian principles to fight against corruption, mismanagement, a nd poor, shortsighted planning in the government. Thus, he used non-violent mean s to fight the Indian government in the fight of independence. In spite of his emulation of social and political work, unlike Gandhi, Amte was an atheist. Narmada Bachao Andolan In 1990, Amte left Anandwan for a while to live along the Narmada River and join Medha Patkar's Narmada Bachao Andolan ("Save Narmada" Movement), which fought a gainst both unjust displacement of local inhabitants and damage to the environme nt on account of the construction of the Sardar Sarovar dam on the Narmada river . Death Amte was not physically well during his later years. He was confined to the bed due to a severe spondylosis condition. In 2007, he was diagnosed with leukemia. Amte died in Anandwan on February 9, 2008 aged 94. Respecting his wishes, his bo dy was buried instead of being cremated, the traditional funeral of Hindus.

Upon Amte's death, the 14th Dalai Lama, said, "Amte's demise is a great loss to all of us. I am an admirer of Baba Amte. I vividly remember my visit to his thri ving community of handicapped people at Anandwan in 1990". Awards from the Government of India Padma Shree, 1971 Padma Vibhushan, 1986 Gandhi Peace Prize, 1999 Ramon Magsaysay Award, 1985