Amritlal Vithaldas Thakkar, widely recognized as Thakkar Bapa (29 November 1869 – 20 January 1951), was a prominent Indian social worker dedicated to the upliftment of tribal communities in what is now

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. He became a member of the

Servants of India Society The Servants of India Society is a social reform organisation that was formed in Pune, Maharashtra, on June 12, 1905 by Gopal Krishna Gokhale, who left the Deccan Education Society to form this association. Along with him were a small group of ...

in 1914 founded by

Gopal Krishna Gokhale Gopal Krishna Gokhale ( International Phonetic Alphabet, �ɡoːpaːl ˈkrɪʂɳə ˈɡoːkʰleː9 May 1866 – 19 February 1915) was an Indian political leader and a social reformer during the Indian independence movement, and political me ...

in 1905. In 1922, he founded the ''Bhil Seva Mandal''. Later, he became the general secretary of the '' Harijan Sevak Sangh'' founded by

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

in 1932. The ''Bharatiya Adimjati Sevak Sangh'' was founded on 24 October 1948 on his initiative. When Indian constitution was being framed, Kenvi visited the most remote and difficult parts of India and conducted investigations into the situation of tribal and

Harijan Dalit ( from meaning "broken/scattered") is a term used for untouchables and outcasts, who represented the lowest stratum of the castes in the Indian subcontinent. They are also called Harijans. Dalits were excluded from the fourfold var ...

people. He was appointed the chairman of "Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas (Other than Assam)", a sub committee of the constituent assembly. Mahatma Gandhi would call him 'bapa'. In one of his appeals in 1939

called him "Father of Harijans". Thakkarbapa visited forests in

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

, rural

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

, drought affected areas of

Orissa Odisha (), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is a state located in Eastern India. It is the eighth-largest state by area, and the eleventh-largest by population, with over 41 million inhabitants. The state also has the thir ...

Bhil Bhil or Bheel refer to the various Indigenous peoples, indigenous groups inhabiting western India, including parts of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and are also found in distant places such as Bengal and Tripura. Though they now speak the Bhili ...

belts in Gujarat and Harijan areas of

Saurashtra Saurashtra, Sourashtra, or variants may refer to: ** Kathiawar, also called Saurashtra Peninsula, a peninsula in western India ** Saurashtra (state), alias United State of Kathiawar, a former Indian state, merged into Bombay State and since its d ...

Mahar Mahar is one of the Indian caste found largely in the state of Maharashtra and neighbouring areas. Most of the Mahar community followed B. R. Ambedkar in converting to Buddhism in the middle of the 20th century. As of 2017 the Mahar caste w ...

areas of Maharashtra, untouchables in

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

, hilly areas of Chhota Nagpur, desert of

Tharparkar Tharparkar (Dhatki language, Dhatki/; , ), also known as Thar, is a district in Sindh province in Pakistan, headquartered at Mithi. Before Indian independence it was known as the Thar and Parkar (1901⁠–⁠1947) or Eastern Sindh Frontier Distr ...

, foothills of

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than 100 pea ...

, coastal areas of

Travancore The kingdom of Travancore (), also known as the kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor () or later as Travancore State, was a kingdom that lasted from until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvanan ...

to undertake his mission of empowering Harijans. Thakkar Bapa devoted 35 years of his life to empowering the ''Harijan'' community.

Early life

Thakkar Bappa was born on 29 November 1869 in a middle-class

Lohana Lohana are a Hindu ''jāti, caste'', a trading or mercantile community mostly residing in India and some also in Pakistan. The Lohanas are divided into many separate cultural groups as a result of centuries apart in different regions. Thus th ...

Gujarati -

Vaishnava Vaishnavism () ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu traditions, that considers Vishnu as the sole supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, '' Mahavishnu''. It is one of the major Hindu denominations along wit ...

family of

Bhavnagar Bhavnagar is a city and the headquarters of Bhavnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It was founded in 1723 by Bhavsinhji Gohil. It was the capital of Bhavnagar State, which was a princely state before it was merged into the Dominion ...

in Saurashtra region of Gujarat State India. In 1886 he matriculated from Bhavnagar High School and secured Sir Jaswant Singh ji Scholarship. His father Vithal Das Thakkar named the child Amrit Lal. He received his first schooling for benevolence and service to humanity from his father. He got his L.C.E. (Licentiate of Civil Engineering) from Poona Engineering College in 1890. He worked as an engineer creditably in Porbander and later went out of India to serve in laying the First Railway Track in

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

(East Africa). He served also as chief engineer in

Sangli State Sangli State was one of the 11- gun salute Maratha princely states of British India. It was under the Kolhapur-Deccan Residency in the Bombay Presidency, and later the Deccan States Agency. The Principality of Sangli covered an area of 2,8 ...

for some time and then was employed in Bombay Municipality as an engineer. It was here he saw, for the first time, the miserable conditions of those scavengers who had to dispose of the refuse of the whole town of

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

. He was shocked to see the filthy colonies where the Sweepers had to live and made a firm resolve to devote the rest of his life to alleviate the lot of these people. He later served in Uganda (Country) railways in East Africa. In 1914, he resigned and took up social work. He became a member of

and advocated the rights of untouchables and tribe. He coined the word ''

adivasi The Adivasi (also transliterated as Adibasi) are heterogeneous tribal groups across the Indian subcontinent. The term is a recent invention from the 20th century and is now widely used as a self-designation by groups classified as Scheduled Tr ...

'' to refer to the tribal people, the inhabitants of forest in 1930s.

Honors

The

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

issued a stamp in his honor in 1969. A well known locality, Thakkar Bappa Colony in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

is named after him. The

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

state government has instituted an award named in his honor for dedicated services to poor, victimised and totally backward tribal community. Maharashtra government has set the scheme to improve aadivasi villages and colonies named ''Thakkar Bappa aadivasi vasti sudharana'' in the year 2007.

Popular culture

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

, Thakkar was fondly known as "Appa Thakkar", the

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

version of "Thakkar Bapa". Some believe the

Madras Bashai Madras Bashai (Tamil: , ) is a Variety (linguistics), variety of the Tamil language spoken by native people in the city of Chennai (previously known as Madras) in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In the past it was sometimes considered a pidgin, ...

term "appatakkar", meaning a know-all, developed from Thakkar's Tamil name, though others deny it. The term gained popularity through its usage in the 2010 Tamil film '' Boss Engira Bhaskaran'' by comedian Santhanam.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bapa, Thakkar 1869 births 1951 deaths Social workers from Gujarat Members of the Constituent Assembly of India Gujarati people People from Bhavnagar 19th-century Indian educators 20th-century Indian educators Indian civil engineers People from British India Gandhians

Early life

Honors

Popular culture

References

Further reading

External links