Bunker Roy
Encyclopedia
Sanjit 'Bunker' Roy is an Indian social activist and educator. In 1972 he founded the Barefoot college
in Tilonia
, Rajasthan
. The Indian non-governmental organization
was registered as the Social Work and Research Centre. He was selected as one of Time 100
, the 100 most influential personalities in the world by TIME
Magazine in 2010.
In 2002 he was selected for Geneva-based Schwab Foundation's award
.
, present-day West Bengal
. His father was a mechanical engineer and his mother retired as India's trade commissioner to Russia.
He went to the Doon School from 1956 to 1962 and attended St. Stephen's College, Delhi
from 1962 to 1967. He earned his master's degree in English. He then decided to devote himself to social service, to the shock of his parents.
Barefoot College has trained more than 3 million people for jobs in the modern world, in buildings so rudimentary they have dirt floors and no chairs. The rural youth selected by the community have to be impoverished, subsisting on barely one meal a day to receive training at Barefoot college.
of Mao Zedong
, and modeled his organization after Mao's Barefoot Doctors
.
. Quoting The Hindu on the controversy,
, then an officer in the Indian Administrative Service
. Aruna was later to achieve fame as a political and social activist. Later Aruna became a prominent leader of the Right to Information movement, and in 2000 received the Ramon Magsaysay Award
for Community Leadership.
Barefoot College
Barefoot college known as Social Work and Research Centre is an Non-governmental organization founded by Bunker Roy in 1972. It is a solar-powered school that teaches illiterate women from impoverished villages to become doctors, solar engineers, architects, and other such professions. The school...
in Tilonia
Tilonia
Tilonia is a village in Ajmer district in Rajasthan, India.It is home of the NGO, Barefoot College founded by renowned social worker Bunker Roy. Since it was founded, this village has become a model for all remote villages for economic and social development....
, Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
. The Indian non-governmental organization
Indian NGOs
Indian Non-governmental organizations can be set up under various Indian laws, and the different legal entities under which civil society organizations can register themselves are: -Registered Societies:...
was registered as the Social Work and Research Centre. He was selected as one of Time 100
Time 100
Time 100 is an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, as assembled by Time. First published in 1999 as a result of a debate among several academics, the list has become an annual event.-History and format:...
, the 100 most influential personalities in the world by TIME
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
Magazine in 2010.
In 2002 he was selected for Geneva-based Schwab Foundation's award
Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship
The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship provides platforms at the country, regional and global levels to promote social entrepreneurship.- History :...
.
Early life
Bunker Roy was born in Burnpur BengalBurnpur
Burnpur is an important industrial city in Asansol sub-division in the state of West Bengal, India . It is located in Bardhaman District, in the heart of the mining-industrial belt in the western periphery of the state....
, present-day West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
. His father was a mechanical engineer and his mother retired as India's trade commissioner to Russia.
He went to the Doon School from 1956 to 1962 and attended St. Stephen's College, Delhi
St. Stephen's College, Delhi
St. Stephen's College is a constituent college of the University of Delhi located in Delhi, India. The college admits both undergraduates and post-graduates, and awards degrees under the purview of the University. Famous for its rich history and many traditions, St...
from 1962 to 1967. He earned his master's degree in English. He then decided to devote himself to social service, to the shock of his parents.
Career
Bunker Roy, after his education, decided to work in the villages much to the chagrin of his parents. His dream of using traditional expertise rather than "bookish knowledge" for the uplift of neglected communities. He has worked all his life with the Barefoot College, an NGO that he founded.Barefoot College has trained more than 3 million people for jobs in the modern world, in buildings so rudimentary they have dirt floors and no chairs. The rural youth selected by the community have to be impoverished, subsisting on barely one meal a day to receive training at Barefoot college.
Philosophy
Roy was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi belief essential for the development of India and his thoughts have been adapted to the work-style of his college. The philosophyPhilosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
of Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
, and modeled his organization after Mao's Barefoot Doctors
Barefoot doctors
Barefoot doctors are farmers who received minimal basic medical and paramedical training and worked in rural villages in the People's Republic of China. Their purpose was to bring health care to rural areas where urban-trained doctors would not settle...
.
Controversy
He was in the thick of a controversy when the Aga Khan FoundationAga Khan Foundation
The Aga Khan Foundation is a private, not-for-profit international development agency, which was founded in 1967 by . AKF seeks to provide long-term solutions to problems of poverty, hunger, illiteracy and ill health in the poorest parts of South and Central Asia, Eastern and Western Africa, and...
. Quoting The Hindu on the controversy,
This is perhaps the first time in the history of the prestigious Aga Khan Awards that anyone has returned the award. The Barefoot College was one of the nine recipients of the architectural awards in 2001. The Tilonia project was found exemplary by the master jury of the Award Foundation as it "augmented traditions and knowledge of a rural community, enabling untutored residents to design and build for themselves".
Bunker Roy now wants a debate on the barefoot concept, which is based on the traditional wisdom of the villages and on the capacity and resourcefulness of their common residents. "Who is a barefoot architect? The return of the award should provoke a debate. In this case the ideology of the Barefoot College has been misunderstood and misrepresented," he lamented.
"It had been an agonising decision but we have to keep our honour," Bunker Roy told Frontline. "There was no question of accepting Raina as the architect since he was a beginner and was still learning from the elders in the village. When Romi Khosla and Raina came down to Tilonia to discuss the issue with the men and women here in April this year we had agreed to acknowledge Raina as a designer but of course not as an architect," he observes.
Personal life
In 1970, Roy married his classmate Aruna RoyAruna Roy
Aruna Roy is an Indian political and social activist who founded and heads the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathana . She is best known as a prominent leader of the Right to Information movement, which led to the enactment of the Right to Information Act in 2005...
, then an officer in the Indian Administrative Service
Indian Administrative Service
The Indian Administrative Service is the administrative civil service of the Government of India. It is one of the three All India Services....
. Aruna was later to achieve fame as a political and social activist. Later Aruna became a prominent leader of the Right to Information movement, and in 2000 received the Ramon Magsaysay Award
Ramon Magsaysay Award
The Ramon Magsaysay Award is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in government, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealism within a democratic society. The Ramon Magsaysay Award is often considered Asia's Nobel...
for Community Leadership.
Awards
Bunker Roy has won many awards like- The Arab Gulf Fund for the United Nations (AGFUND) Award for promoting Volunteerism
- The World Technology AwardWorld Technology AwardThe World Technology Awards are presented annually by The World Technology Network at its World Technology Summit to individuals and corporations achieving significant, lasting progress in categories pertaining to science, technology, the arts, and design...
for Social Entrepreneurship - The Schwab Foundation for Social EntrepreneurshipSchwab Foundation for Social EntrepreneurshipThe Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship provides platforms at the country, regional and global levels to promote social entrepreneurship.- History :...
- The Stockholm Challenge Award for Information Technology
- The NASDAQ Stock Market Education Award
- The Tyler Prize.
- The St Andrews Prize for the EnvironmentSt Andrews Prize for the EnvironmentThe St Andrews Prize for the Environment is a prize awarded by Scotland's University of St Andrews and the American integrated energy company, ConocoPhillips for recognises significant contributions to environmental conservation. The prize has been running since 1998...
- 2003