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Gone But Never Forgotten: Social Worker Baba Amte Who Helped Countless Leprosy Patients, Honoured By Google
Social Worker Baba Amte (Sharad Saxena/The India Today Group/Getty Images)
On his 104th birthday, Google Doodle honoured the Indian social worker and activist Murlidhar Devidas Amte, popularly known as Baba Amte. A selfless humanitarian, he was renowned for his work on the rehabilitation and empowerment of leprosy patients.
Google Doodle honoured Amte's life and legacy by creating a slideshow. “The most frightening disease is not losing one's limbs, but losing one's strength to feel kindness and compassion,” he had said.
Amte was born in a well to-do family and his father handled the district administration and revenue collection for the British government. Once a practising lawyer, he left his flourishing practice for the upliftment of the poor.
Once, in an effort to remove the social stigma against leprosy leprosy patients, and to prove that the disease was not highly contagious, he injected himself with bacilli, a disease causing bacteria.
To further facilitate his work for the betterment of leprosy patients and other specially abled people, Amte founded Anandwan (Forest of Happiness) which is located in Maharashtra’s Chandrapur district.
He also devoted his life to various causes like Knit India Movement, generating public awareness towards the importance of ecological balance, wildlife preservation, and the Narmada Bachao Andolan, he was awarded Padma Shri by the Government of India in the year 1971.
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