Lok Biradari Prakalp (LBP), a project of the Maharogi Sewa Samiti (MSS), Warora, was started by the legendary social worker Baba Amte in 1973 for integrated development of Madia Gond, the primitive tribals of Bhamragad in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra, India. The Madia Gonds occupy 150 square kilometers of dense forest in eastern Maharashtra, bordering Andhra Pradesh and Chattisgarh states. In a thousand isolated villages, they survive by hunting and gathering and shifting cultivation.
Mission
To focus on the socio-economic development of rural and tribal population. To provide better health care and educational facilities and also to promote soil and water conservation.
“I don’t want to be a great leader, I want to be a man who goes around with a little oil can and when he sees a breakdown, offers his help. To me, the man who does that is greater than any holy man in saffron-coloured robes. The mechanic with oil can. That is my ideal in life” – Baba Amte
Baba Amte devoted his life to many other social causes also, the most notable of which were environmental awareness, wildlife preservation and the Narmada Bachao Andolan. He was deeply influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, with whom he had spent some time in Sevagram Ashram. Baba Amte was a follower of Gandhism for his entire life, dedicating his life to the cause of upliftment of the downtrodden classes of society.
In 1946, Baba got married to Sadhana Guleshastri, who was later referred to by community members as Sadhanatai or simply Tai. Their two sons, Vikas and Prakash, are both doctors. Both have dedicated their lives to social work and causes similar to those of their parents. Elder son Dr. Vikas Amte runs the Maharogi Sewa Samiti (Leprosy Service Society). Dr. Vikas, along with his wife Dr. Bharati Amte, co-ordinates operations between Anandwan and satellite projects while also running a hospital at Anandwan.
Baba Amte’s younger son Dr. Prakash Amte and his wife Dr. Mandakini Amte are running the Lok Biradari project since 1974, forfeiting the opportunity of a lucrative medical practice. Deep in the heartland of India in an isolated tribal village called Hemalkasa, Dr. Prakash and Dr. Mandakini Amte have quietly been performing miracles on a daily basis, for almost three decades. This couple provides medical care to about 40,000 tribal people every year and education to hundreds of kids. They’ve been doing this for 27 years.
Biography of Dr. Prakash and Dr. Mandakini Amte
“My father never forced me to take up this duty. When we came to the project for a picnic, Manda and I decided that we belonged to this jungle. We were firm in giving back everything that we got back in the form of education to these primitive, neglected tribals.”-Dr. Prakash Amte
Dr. Prakash Amte grew up in Anandwan, an ashram and rehabilitation center for leprosy patients in Maharashtra founded by his father, the renowned Gandhian humanitarian Murlidhar Devidas Amte, or Baba Amte. Prakash was busy with postgraduate surgical studies in Nagpur when, in 1974, he volunteered to take over a new project begun by Baba Amte among the Madia Gonds. In the meanwhile he got married to Dr. Mandakini Amte (later known as Mandatai) who left her government job to eventually start a hospital, school and an orphanage for injured wild animals including a lion, leopards and more. Dr. Prakash and his wife Mandakini abandoned their urban practices and, in a leap of faith, moved to remote Hemalkasa.
The Amtes are social and environmental pioneers. Dr. Mandakini Amte helps tribal women deal with their inhibitions and superstitions related to health care. Dr. Prakash Amte is famous for his medical work with serious injuries and illnesses, like bear bites and burns, and for caring for wild animals rescued by the Amte Animal Ark.
Their sons Digant and Aniket, who are both doctors, themselves have decided to dedicate their lives to the same cause.
Problems plaguing the Gond Community
Poverty is one of the biggest problems of this community. Their lifestyle is completely primitive. Food is also in scarcity, as the food grown through primitive farming techniques is not enough to sustain the family for the entire year. The Madia Gonds often rely on toddy and other forms of alcohol to suppress their hunger and minimize food requirements. Moreover, houses are built using forest timber, bamboo, grass etc which do not provide them with enough shelter from the harsh seasons.
Health is another concern regarding the Madia Gonds. Historically the Madia Gonds were victims of ravages of small-pox and skin-diseases and a mild form of leprosy called Gondi Rog. Medical care has been virtually unheard of for this community. Lack of several essential nutrients in their diet has rendered them vulnerable to malnutrition and other protein deficiencies. Malaria, tuberculosis and a spectrum of other viral diseases are constant threats for them, along with several water borne and communicable diseases. There is also a high prevalence of genetically transmitted diseases like sickle cell anaemia and thalassaemia.
Additionally living in the wilderness, they are often at risk from wild animals like bears and panthers, and insects like bees and scorpions. The region they inhabit is also the hot-bed of naxal activities, and they have often been prey to naxalite violence.
Unavailability of clean drinking water, proper food is another problem that they face. Illiteracy is another big issue, with nearly all members of the tribe being illiterate. Moreover, their poverty and illiteracy have led them to be exploited by corrupt officials and greedy outsiders.
Initiatives taken to solve the problems
At the time Lok Biradari was formed, illiteracy in the area was almost total, and medical care was unheard of. Shifting cultivation was the only kind of agriculture the tribals knew. Getting enough food was a constant struggle. Malaria was a constant scourge, as was wild animal attacks. The sole contact of the Madia Gonds with the outside world was through forest contractors and forest guards who spared no opportunity to exploit them.
Dr Prakash, and his wife, Dr. Mandakini, fresh from medical college, went to Hemalkasa. They told Baba Amte that they would spend the rest of their lives serving the Gonds. Prakash gave up his studies to specialize in surgery and Mandakini gave up her government job. The young couple settled in a doorless hut without a telephone or electricity or privacy. They practiced medicine beside the road and warmed themselves by a wood fire at night. The Madia Gonds, shy people and suspicious of outsiders, spurned their help at first. Prakash and Mandakini learned their language and patiently gained their trust. The miraculous cures of an epileptic boy with terrible burns and a man near death from cerebral malaria turned the tide. "Once a patient is cured," says Prakash, "he comes back and brings four new patients."
Hospital
"I have rarely come across people like the ones managing this project. Absolutely down-to-earth, a smile on everyone's face, Prakash Amte and his colleagues are among the most famous Indians living today."-Bhanu Rajagopalan, boloji.com
Dr.Prakash and Dr.(Mrs) Mandakini Amte have both worked tirelessly under extremely difficult conditions to help in the preservation of India's tribal people. In this particular project primary health care was given top priority. Six sub centres were started in the interior forest area, geographically wide apart from the main hospital, of which three are still functional.
The early years of the project entailed a massive struggle in the extremely difficult conditions of a thick and remote forest. The centre, started in 1973, has recently developed into a full fledged hospital having 40 beds and caters to over 45,000 patients annually. At Hemalkasa the hospital is ensconced in the surrounding dense forest, where the Madia Gond tribal patients feel most comfortable in recuperating after their treatment. Hundreds of patients come daily to the hospital traversing long and difficult terrain on foot. The Amtes treat almost 45,000 patients every year entirely free of cost and provide round the clock services for the emergency cases. The tribals have a high regard for them.
School
A residential school (1st to 12th standard) was started in 1976 for the tribal children now giving free education to nearly 650 students. They are provided with hostel accommodation and given free lodging and boarding facilities. All education material is also provided free of cost to them. Apart from the formal education, they are also provided vocational training and guidance, which will be useful in their day to day life. For eg: practical training in farming, seed production, dairy, bamboo craft, ceramic art, greeting cards, tailoring, health education etc. These programmes are aimed at the survival of the tribals and all efforts have been made to bring about awareness of social rights and duties through continued dialogue and social exposure.
Dr. Digant and Dr. Aniket, sons of Prakash and Mandakini Amte, also completed their schooling at Hemalkasa.
Preservation of Wild Life
A small sheltered enclosure has been formed at Hemalkasa to keep orphaned babies of wild animals, thereby protecting them from merciless killing. This rescue-cum-orphanage, houses probably one of the largest one-man-collection of wild animals in the country and the world at large. The Hemalkasa community of workers live in complete harmony with a great diversity of wild animals still to be found in this relatively undisturbed, thick forest.
By -
Poorvi Kala
Suman Meena
Soumya Rao
Tanya Thomas
Sukriti Sood
Simi Mohan
Manisha Harit
Shivani Kaul
June Paul
Ninad Tatke
