Bunker Roy: Difference between revisions

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'''Bunker{{short Roy''',description|Indian realsocial Nameactivist Sanjitand Royeducator (born 1945), }}

{{for|the Indian cricketer|Sanjit Roy (cricketer)}}

Born in Burnpur Bengal, currently [[West Bengal]]. Indian Social Activist. Heads the organisation [[Barefoot college]] in Tilonia, Rajasthan. 1972 an [[Indian_NGOs]] was registered as Social Work and Research Centre [http://www.indianngos.com/people/bunkerroy.htm]. Bunker is influenced by philosophy of [[Mahatma Gandhi]] One of the key principle being sustainable Development. In the year 2002 he was selected for Geneva-based Schwab Foundation's award[http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2002/09/22/stories/2002092202240700.htm].

{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}

{{BLP sources|date=October 2019}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Sanjit Bunker Roy

| image = Sanjit Bunker Roy at Time 2010.jpg

| image_size = 250px

| caption = Roy at the [[Time 100]] event in 2010

| birth_name = Sanjit Roy

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1945|06|30}}

| birth_place = [[Burnpur]], [[Bengal Presidency]], British India

| death_place =

| alma_mater = [[St. Stephen's College, Delhi]]

| occupation = Social activist & founder of [[Barefoot College]]

| spouse = {{marriage|[[Aruna Roy]]|1970}}

| parents =

| children =

| nationality = Indian

}}

'''Sanjit''' "'''Bunker'''" '''Roy''' (born 30 June 1945) is an Indian social activist and educator who founded the [[Barefoot College]]. He was selected as one of [[Time 100]]'s 100 most influential personalities in 2010 for his work in educating illiterate and semi-literate rural Indians.<ref name=TIME>Mortenson, Greg. (29 April 2010) [https://web.archive.org/web/20100502132925/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1984685_1984745_1985478,00.html Sanjit 'Bunker' Roy The 2010 TIME 100]. ''TIME''. Retrieved on 2 June 2012.</ref> Roy was awarded the [[Padma Shri]] by [[Giani Zail Singh]] in 1986.

Bunker was educated in [[doon school]] and [[St._Stephen%27s_College%2C_Delhi%2C_India]]. During the [[Rajiv Gandhi]] regime un successfully introduced legislation to bring legislation on transparency and accountability of voluntary organisations, [[NGO]]s which finally was withdrawn.[http://web.mac.com/udaydandavate/iWeb/Site/Bunker.html]

==Early life==

<blockquote>

He attended [[The Doon School]] from 1956 to 1962,{{citation needed|date=November 2012}} and [[St. Stephen's College, Delhi]] from 1962 to 1967.<ref name="VergheseEd2006">{{cite book |editor=Verghese, B. G. |author=bunker Roy |title=Tomorrow's India: Another Tryst with Destiny |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JRTBJNRntlcC&pg=PA347 |access-date=23 November 2012 |date=1 February 2006 |publisher=Penguin Books India |isbn=9780670058631 |pages=347–}}</ref>

There is a mistaken belief that illiteracy is a barrier to the rural poor developing themselves with skills of their own. In other words a rural poor farmer, weaver, potter, leather worker, blacksmith and other artisans,because they have never been through a formal education system are not capable of producing high quality products with a marvelous eye for aesthetics and form. In the rural areas of India today for instance there are endless examples of rainwater harvesting structures for drinking water and sanitation still being used today that are hundreds of years old constructed when there were no architects and engineers. [http://web.mac.com/udaydandavate/iWeb/Site/Bunker.html]

</blockquote>

He was the Indian national squash champion in 1965 and also represented India in three world squash championships.

==External link==

*[http://www.barefootcollege.org/ Official cite of Barefoot College]

*[http://www.indianngos.com/interviews/bunker_roy.htm interview with bunker]

*[http://www.myhero.com/myhero/hero.asp?hero=Bunker_Roy_06 COMMUNITY HERO: BUNKER ROY]

*[http://web.mac.com/udaydandavate/iWeb/Site/Bunker.html Profile]

*[http://www.unesco.org/courier/2000_03/uk/dossier/txt02.htm India’s Barefoot College generation]

''Articles by Bunker Roy''

*[http://www.un.org/Pubs/chronicle/2000/issue1/0100p86.htm Village as Positive force for good governance]

==Barefoot College==

{{india-bio-stub}}

Bunker is a founder of what is now called [[Barefoot College]].<ref name="John2003">{{cite book |last=John |first=Mary |title=Children's Rights and Power: Charging Up for a New Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=95aHsTYl-0sC&pg=PA232 |access-date=23 November 2012 |year=2003 |publisher=Jessica Kingsley Publishers |isbn=9781853026584 |pages=232–}}</ref> After conducting a survey of water supplies in 100 drought-prone areas, Roy established the Social Work and Research Centre in 1972.<ref name="John2003" /> Its mission soon changed from a focus on water and irrigation to empowerment and sustainability.<ref name="John2003" /> The programs focused on siting water pumps near villages and training the local population to maintain them without dependence on outside mechanics, providing training as paramedics for local medical treatment, and on solar power to decrease dependence and time spent on kerosene lighting.<ref name="John2003" />

He was recognized in 2010 in Time for the programs of the college which have trained more than 3 million people in skills including solar engineers such as the [[Solar Mamas]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Parvin Shaikh |first=Neda |date=2024-05-23 |title=Feminism in Practice: Learning from the Barefoot “Solar Mamas” |url=https://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol26/iss3/14/ |journal=Journal of International Women's Studies |volume=26 |issue=3 |issn=1539-8706}}</ref> teachers, midwives, weavers, architects, and doctors.<ref name=TIME />

He was married to ex-IAS [[Aruna Roy]] in 1970.

==Other work==

Roy was appointed by [[Rajiv Gandhi]] to the government's Planning Commission. He recommended that legislation be created that would apply a "code of conduct" for [[NGO|non-governmental organizations]]. He also proposed that a national council be created that would recommend "legitimate" organizations to the government and monitor their activities. Both of these recommendations were "fiercely" opposed as mechanisms that could be used to promote patronage of favored groups and quell organizations that were not supportive of a particular government or party.<ref name="JHU">{{cite book |editor1=Sumit Ganguly |editor2=Larry Diamond |editor3=Marc F. Plattner |title=The State of India's Democracy |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lgs1tFTh-JMC&pg=PA157 |access-date=23 November 2012 |date=13 August 2007 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=9780801887918 |pages=157– |chapter=The Role of Civil Society}}</ref>

In 1983, he was the plaintiff in ''Roy v State of Rajasthan'' in which the Supreme Court struck down an emergency policy which had allowed women famine relief workers to be paid less than male workers.<ref name="Epp1998">{{cite book |last=Epp |first=Charles R. |title=The Rights Revolution: Lawyers, Activists, and Supreme Courts in Comparative Perspective |url=https://archive.org/details/rightsrevolution0065eppc |url-access=registration |access-date=23 November 2012 |date=15 October 1998 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=9780226211619 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/rightsrevolution0065eppc/page/253 253]–}}</ref>

Roy has spoken at the [[TED (conference)|TED]] conference,<ref name="toited">{{cite news |url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-10-28/jaipur/34779858_1_tedx-ideas-school-kids |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130103203624/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-10-28/jaipur/34779858_1_tedx-ideas-school-kids |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 January 2013 |title=Students untapped forces of social change |last=TNN |date=28 October 2012 |work=[[The Times of India]] |access-date=23 November 2012}}</ref> about how the Barefoot College "helps rural communities becomes self-sufficient."<ref name="ted">{{cite web |url=http://www.ted.com/talks/bunker_roy.html |title=Bunker Roy: Learning from a barefoot movement |last=Bunker Roy |work=[[TED (conference)|TED]] |access-date=23 November 2012 |archive-date=22 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121122134448/http://www.ted.com/talks/bunker_roy.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Awards and recognition==

* '''1985:''' "[[Jamnalal Bajaj Award]]" for Application of Science and Technology for Rural Development.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mr. Sanjit Bunker Roy|url=http://www.jamnalalbajajawards.org/awards/archives/1985/science-and-technology/sanjit-bunker-roy|work=[[Jamnalal Bajaj Award]]}}</ref>

* '''2003:''' Won The 2003 "[[St Andrews Prize for the Environment]]"<ref>{{cite news |title=The 2003 St Andrews Prize for the Environment |work=[[St Andrews Prize for the Environment]] |url=https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/st-andrews-prize/previous-winners/}}</ref>

* '''2003:''' One of 20 people to be selected as "Social Entrepreneurs of the Year" by [[Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship]]<ref>{{cite news|title=Swiss award for Bunker Roy|url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/swiss-award-for-bunker-roy/article27870788.ece|work=[[The Hindu]]|date=22 September 2002}}</ref>

* '''2009:''' Received a "Robert Hill Award" for his contribution to promotion of photo-voltaics (solar energy)<ref>{{cite news|title=Global honour for barefoot wonder Bunker Roy|url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-otherstates/Global-honour-for-barefoot-wonder-Bunker-Roy/article16523579.ece|work=[[The Hindu]]|date=29 September 2009}}</ref>

==References==

{{Reflist}}

==External linklinks==

{{Commons category}}

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070211205903/http://web.mac.com/udaydandavate/iWeb/Site/Bunker.html Profile]

* {{TED speaker}}

{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Social Work}}

{{Jamnalal Bajaj Award winners}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roy, Bunker}}

[[Category:1945 births]]

[[Category:Living people]]

[[Category:Businesspeople from West Bengal]]

[[Category:Scholars from Rajasthan]]

[[Category:The Doon School alumni]]

[[Category:Indian social entrepreneurs]]

[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in social work]]

[[Category:20th-century Indian businesspeople]]

[[Category:20th-century Indian educators]]

[[Category:Scholars from West Bengal]]

[[Category:People from Asansol]]

[[Category:Indian male squash players]]