Prakash Baba Amte is a social worker from

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

, India. Amte and his wife,

Mandakini Amte Mandakini Amte popularly known as Manda Amte is a medical doctor and social worker from Maharashtra, India. She along with her husband, Prakash Amte were awarded the Magsaysay Award for 'Community Leadership' in 2008 for their philanthropic wor ...

, were awarded the

Magsaysay Award The Ramon Magsaysay Award (Filipino: ''Gawad Ramon Magsaysay'') is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealis ...

for 'Community Leadership'Citation
from th
website of Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation
in 2008 for their

philanthropic Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

work in the form of the

Lok Biradari Prakalp Lok Biradari Prakalp (LBP) (Marathi; Brotherhood of People project) is a social project of the ''Maharogi Sewa Samiti'', Warora involving a hospital, a school and an animal orphanage. It was started on 23 December 1973, by the social worker Bab ...

amongst the

Madia Gond Madia Gonds or Madia or Maria are one of the endogamous Gond tribes living in Chandrapur District and Gadchiroli District of Maharashtra State, and Bastar division of Chhattisgad State India. They have been granted the status of a Primitiv ...

s in the

Gadchiroli Gadchiroli ( �əɖt͡ʃiɾoliː is a city and a municipal council in Gadchiroli district in the state of Maharashtra, central India. It is located on eastern side of Maharashtra, and is the administrative headquarters of the district. Gadchi ...

district of

and the neighbouring states of

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...

and

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

. In November 2019 he was awarded with ICMR Lifetime Achievement Award by

Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...

Early life

Prakash Amte is the second son of Magsaysay awardee

Baba Amte Murlidhar Devidas Amte, popularly known as Baba Amte, (26 December 1914 – 9 February 2008) was an Indian social worker and social activist known particularly for his work for the rehabilitation and empowerment of people suffering from leprosy ...

. He obtained a medical degree from Government Medical College (GMC), Nagpur, and he met his wife Mandakini during their post graduation studies at Government Medical College (GMC), Nagpur. Prakash and Mandakini joined Baba Amte and helped her father and others overcome the taboo and fear of leprosy.

Lok Biradari Prakalp

In 1973, Amte moved to

Hemalkasa Hemalkasa is a village in the Bhamragad taluka of Gadchiroli district in Maharashtra State, India. It belongs to the Madia Gond community. Hemalkasa is where the famous Magsaysay Award-winner couple Dr. Prakash Baba Amte and Dr. Mandakini ...

to start the Lok Biradari Prakalp, a project for the development of tribal people, most of whom were the Madia Gond in the forests of

district. He lived and worked there for almost twenty years performing emergency surgical procedures without electricity. The project transformed into a hospital,

Davakhana, a residential school,

Ashram An ashram ( sa, आश्रम, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or a ...

Shala, and an orphanage for injured wild animals, the Amte's Animal Park. The project provides health care to about 40,000 individuals annually. The

School has over 600 students, residents and day scholars. Work of Amte's for Gond tribals and their philanthropic work in the form of the Lok Biradari Prakalp amongst the Madia Gonds in

district of Maharashtra and the neighbouring states of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

and

also won them recognition. Dr Prakash and his family also run a large animal conservation facility in Hemalkasa in

district of

where rare, protected, and endangered animals are cared and have freedom to roam. The family's legacy in philanthropy and animal conservation is now carried over by their sons Digant and Aniket and their respective families who are helping their parents now.

Bibliography

Amte has published two autobiographies, ''Prakashvata'' (Pathways to Light), originally written in Marathi and now translated into English, Gujarati and Kannada, Sanskrit, Hindi and ''Raanmitra'' (Jungle Friends).

Awards

Amte has received many national and international awards, which include: * 2019 - Lifetime Achievement Award from ICMR presented by Bill Gates. * 2014 -

Mother Teresa Awards The Mother Teresa Awards, officially called the Mother Teresa Memorial Awards for Social Justice, are international and national awards presented annually to honour individuals and organizations that promote peace, equality and social justice, and a ...

for Social Justice. * 2012 - Lokmanya Tilak Award - Jointly with his brother Vikas Amte * 2009 - Godfrey Philips Lifetime Achievement Award * 2008 -

Ramon Magsaysay Award The Ramon Magsaysay Award (Filipino: ''Gawad Ramon Magsaysay'') is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealis ...

for Community Leadership - jointly with his wife Mandakini Amte :: Citation: ''"In electing Prakash Amte and Mandakini Amte to receive the 2008 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership, the board of trustees recognizes their enhancing the capacity of the Madia Gonds to adapt positively in today's India, through healing and teaching and other compassionate interventions."'' * 2002 -

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

* 1995 - The

Principality of Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Liguria ...

issued a postal stamp to honour Prakash and Mandakini Amte. * 1984 - Adivasi Sevak Award, from

Government of Maharashtra The Government of Maharashtra is the state governing authority for the state of Maharashtra, India. It is a democratically elected government with 288 MLAs elected to the Vidhan Sabha for a five-year term. Maharashtra has a Maharashtra Legisla ...

, India

In popular culture

The biographical film '' Dr Prakash Baba Amte : The Real Hero'' starring

Nana Patekar Vishwanath Patekar (born 1 January 1951), better known as Nana Patekar, is an Indian actor, screenwriter, film maker, and a former Indian Territorial Army officer, mainly working in Hindi and Marathi cinema. He is regarded as one of the finest a ...

as Prakash Amte and

Sonali Kulkarni Sonali Kulkarni (born 3 November 1974) is an Indian actress, producer, and writer who primarily appears in Marathi and Hindi films. She has also appeared in Kannada, Tamil, Gujarati and English films. She has worked in over 70 films, both com ...

as Mandakini Amte was released on 10 October 2014. The film has been released in three languages, Hindi, Marathi and English.

References

External links

Report on Lok Biradari Prakalp, Hemalkasa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amte, Prakash Social workers from Maharashtra Living people Ramon Magsaysay Award winners People from Chandrapur district People from Gadchiroli district 1948 births Recipients of the Padma Shri in social work 20th-century Indian educators