Anandwan literally, ''Forest of happiness'', located around 5 kilometers from
Warora
Warora is a city and municipal council in Chandrapur district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. During the British Raj, the town was part of the Central Provinces and was a coal-mining center. The work place of famous social worker Baba Amt ...
in
Chandrapur district
Chandrapur district (Marathi pronunciation: ͡ʃən̪d̪ɾəpuːɾ (earlier known as ''Chanda district'') is a district in the Nagpur Division in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Chandrapur was the largest district in India until the Gadchiro ...
in the state of
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
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, is an
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 ...
and a community rehabilitation centre which was mainly started for
leprosy
Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve damag ...
patients and the disabled from downtrodden sections of society.
It was founded in 1949 by noted social activist
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 ...
. The project is run by the organisation Maharogi Seva Samiti,
and even being located one of the most backward districts of Central India -Chandrapur, has built livelihood capabilities of thousands of downtrodden people, persons with disabilities like leprosy, orthopedically handicapped, vision and hearing impaired and primitive tribal members since 1949. Two of its other projects are
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 ...
and Somnath, a village for cured leprosy patients.
Baba Amte developed Anandwan to be a self-contained ashram (which could be described as "a
kibbutz
A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...
for the sick"). Today residents are self-sufficient in terms of basic subsistence.
In addition the ashram has various home-based, small-scale industry units run by the residents that generate income to cover additional requirements.
Baba Amte also shaped Anandwan as an environmentally aware community to practice energy utilization, waste recycling and minimizing use of natural resources that might otherwise lead to their depletion.
The Miracle Worker Baba Amte - Collector's office, Chandrapur district
Anandwan today has two hospitals, a college, an orphanage, a school for the blind, a school for the deaf and a technical wing.
Dr. Vikas Amte, Baba Amte's elder son, is the chief functionary at Anandwan. He undertook various experiments in Anandwan regarding rehabilitation which have been mentioned in a book titled 'Anandwan Prayogwan'.
Books
A book titled 'Anandwan Prayogwan' has been written by Dr. Vikas Amte which describes different experiments undertaken at Anadwan.
Additional Works
In later years the samiti managing Anandwan, also added two projects under the Lok Biradari Prakalp at Somnath in Mul tehsil of Chandrapur district in 1967 and at Hemalkasa,which is looked after by Prakash and Mandakini Amte, both doctors, and their sons Digant and Aniket and their wives Anagha and Sameeksha. in Bhamragad tehsil of Gadchiroli district in 1973.
See also
*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 ...
*Vikas Amte
Vikas means expanding, progress or development in Sanskrit. It is often used as a masculine given name in Greater India. You would find people with this name mostly in North Indian states. Vikas and Pragati both means development. But Vikas name ...
*Prakash Amte
Prakash Baba Amte is a social worker from Maharashtra, India. Amte and his wife, Mandakini Amte, were awarded the Magsaysay Award for 'Community Leadership'[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 work ...]
*Sheetal Amte
Sheetal Amte (26 January 1981 – 30 November 2020), also known by the name Sheetal Amte-Karajgi after her marriage, was an Indian public health expert, disability specialist and social entrepreneur. She was chief executive officer and board memb ...
Further reading
*
*
*
References
{{reflist
External links
Anandwan, Official websiteReport on AnandwanMaharogi Sewa Samiti: AnandwanAnandwan - Maharogi Sewa Samiti
Ashrams
1951 establishments in Bombay State
Religious organizations established in 1951
Chandrapur district
Leper hospitals
Health charities in India