Thakurdas Bang (1917 – 27 January 2013) was an Indian

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British ...

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and Gandhian

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

. He was involved in the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

. He practised Gandhism, Gandhian philosophy, Gandhian study even at the age of 95. He was also involved in

Khadi Khadi (, ), derived from khaddar, is a hand-spun and woven natural fibre cloth promoted by Mahatma Gandhi, Gandhi as Swadeshi movement, ''swadeshi (of homeland)'' for the freedom struggle of India and the term is used throughout the Indian sub ...

and Sarvodaya movements. As an economic professor in G S College of Commerce he motivated many students like Madhukarrao Chaudhari, Justice Chandrashekhar Shankar Dharmadhikari and Ramakrushna Bajaj to participate in the freedom struggle. He is succeeded by Abhay Bang and Ashok Bang. Ashok Bang decided to work for issues related to farming and Abhay decided to work for health of villagers.

Abhay and Rani Bang Abhay Bang and Rani Bang are Indian activists and community health researchers working in the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra, India. They have developed initiatives and programs aimed at reducing infant mortality rates. Their initiatives ...

founded SEARCH (the Society For Education, Action and Research In Community Health) - a non-profit organization in Gadchiroli, which is involved in rural health service and research

Early life

Thakurdas Bang was born at Ganori village in Amaravati District in

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

went on to become an economics professor in a college started by one of Mahatma Gandhi's associates. He lived in Wardha district, a town few miles away from Gandhi's ashram in Sevagram. He participated in the Quit India Movement in 1942 and was imprisoned for two years. During his role as a professor he conducted many lectures and organised camps to steer students to fight for freedom. He considered this as his greatest opportunity to prepare the students to fight against British Government in India.

Meeting with Gandhi

On deciding to pursue his career as economist in the US, Bang wanted to seek blessings from Mahatma Gandhi. On conveying the reason for his visit to ashram, Gandhi uttered only one sentence "If you want to study economics, don't go to the US; go to the villages of India." This meeting with Gandhi changed his life completely and he started working along with his students in villages studying economics of farmers by living like them.

Social and political life

After deciding to stay in India to study on village economics, he was involved in movements such as Bhoodan-land donation to landless, Gramdan-village commune movements. Being a follower of

Jayaprakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan Srivastava (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), also known as JP and ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian politician, theorist and Indian independence activist, independence activist. He is mai ...

he joined him in Sarvodaya movement along with other prominent leaders across the country. He was also in support with Narayan to offer a non-violent resistance in

Sino-Indian War The Sino–Indian War, also known as the China–India War or the Indo–China War, was an armed conflict between China and India that took place from October to November 1962. It was a military escalation of the Sino–Indian border dispu ...

in 1962.

Awards

*Bang was the recipient of

Jamnalal Bajaj Award Jamnalal Bajaj Award is an Indian award, for promoting Gandhian values, community service and social development. Established in 1978, by the Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation of Bajaj Group, it is given annually in four categories, and usually pres ...

in 1992 under the category of constructive work. He received the award from the tenth President of India

K R Narayanan Kocheril Raman "K. R." Narayanan (27 October 1920 – 9 November 2005) was an Indian statesman, diplomat, academic, and politician who served as the vice president of India from 1992 to 1997 and president of India from 1997 to 2002. Naray ...

. *He was selected for the 2012 Nag Bhushan. *He was honoured with the Maharashtra Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award For Social Work in January 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bang, Thakurdas 1917 births 20th-century Indian philosophers 20th-century Indian economists Indian independence activists from Maharashtra 2013 deaths Gandhians People from Amravati district