Chandi Prasad Bhatt
Chandi Prasad Bhatt | |
---|---|
Chipko Movement | |
Parent(s) | Ganga Ram Bhatt (father) Maheshi Devi Thapliyal (mother) |
Awards | Ramon Magsaysay Award (1982) Padma Bhushan (2005) Gandhi Peace Prize (2013) |
Chandi Prasad Bhatt (born 23 June 1934) is an
Today he is known for his work on
In 2013, he was the recipient of the Gandhi Peace Prize.[3][4][5]
Early life
Chandi Prasad Bhatt was born on 23 June 1934, as the second child of Ganga Ram Bhatt and Maheshi Devi Thapliyal, in a family of priests to the Rudranath Temple in
Career
Farmland was scarce in the overpopulated mountains, and so were jobs. Like most men of the mountain villages, Chandi Prasad taught art to children for a year to support his mother, before eventually forced to work in the plains. He joined the Garhwal Motor Owners Union (GMOU) as a booking clerk, posted at various places including, Rishikesh, Pipalkoti and Karnaprayag.
In 1956, Bhatt found hope when he heard a speech by the
In 1960, he left his job at GMOU, to commit full-time to his Sarvodaya activities, and by 1964, Bhatt had instituted the Dasholi Gram Swarajya Mandal (Society for Village Self-Rule) to organise fellow villagers in Gopeshwar for employment near their homes in forest-based industries, making wooden implements from ash trees and gathering and marketing herbs for
Curtailment of the villagers' legitimate rights to trees and forest products in favour of outside commercial interests enabled Bhatt, in 1973, to mobilise the forest-wise society members and villagers into the collective
In 1974 he and his colleagues led a movement to save the cultural and archaeological heritage of the Badrinath shrine.[9]
Bhatt and his society colleagues have been helped by sympathetic scientists, officials and college students. Yet theirs is essentially an indigenous movement of mountain villagers, and Chipko Andolan has become an instrument of action and education for members, officials and outsiders, in the realities of effective resource conservation.
Although Bhatt has attended meetings in lowland India and abroad as a spokesman for Chipko, he has remained a man of his community. He and his wife continue to live the simple life of their Himalayan neighbours. In the process he has become knowledgeable and productive in helping ensure his peoples' hard won living. In 2003, he was appointed a member of the 'National Forest Commission', which reviewed all existing policies and legal frameworks relating to forest management, and submitted its report to the Government in 2005.[10]His active participation at BIPARD Gaya for 2nd CFC's on 15 th of March 2024.
Publications
(Selected Books)
- Gentle Resistance: The Autobiography of Chandi Prasad Bhatt [1]
- Gudgudi ek samajik karyakarta ki jeewangatha :[2]
- Parvat Parvat, Basti Basti — Publisher NBT India
- Pratikar Ke Ankur (Hindi)
- Adhure Gyan Aur Kalpanik Vishwas Par Himalaya Se Chherkhani Ghatak (Hindi)
- Future of Large Projects in the Himalaya
- Eco-system of Central Himalaya
- Chipko Experience
Awards and honours
- 1982: Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership[11]
- 2005: Padma Bhushan
- 2013: Awarded Gandhi Peace Prize for the year 2013 on 15 July 2014 by The President of India[4][12]
- 2016: Sri Sathya Sai Award for Human Excellence in the Environment category by Sri Sathya Sai Lok Seva Trust[13]
- 2017/2018: Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration[14]
References
- ^ a b A Gandhian in Garhwal[usurped] The Hindu, Sunday, 2 June 2002.
- ^ A clutch of crusaders across India are ready to stake their reputations and devote their lives to saving the environment.. The Times of India, 22 September 2002.
- The Telegraph, 4 September 2004.
- ^ a b "Untitled Page".
- ^ "The President of India".
- ^ BIOGRAPHY of Chandi Prasad Bhatt Archived 5 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine The 1982 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership.
- ISBN 0-938497-04-9. Page 65.
- ^ Pathak, Shekhar. "gaura-devi-a-leading-lady-of-chipko-movement-2/". Retrieved 2 September 2011.
- ^ "The forgotten story of how Chipko Andolan pioneer Chandi Prasad Bhatt saved Badrinath temple". Scroll. 20 December 2018. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
- ^ Justice Kirpal to head National Forest Commission The Times of India, 21 February 2003.
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20130401090233/http://www.rmaf.org.ph/Awardees/Citation/CitationBhattCha.htm Citation for the 1982 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership
- ^ "President presents Gandhi Peace Prize to Chandi Prasad Bhatt". 15 July 2014.
- ^ "Sri Sathya Sai Awards for Human Excellence conferred on seven people | News - Times of India Videos". The Times of India.
- ^ UNDP Global 500 Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership 1982 Padma Shri 1986 govind ballabh pant Vishwavidyalaya dwara dr of science ki upadhi Padma Bhushan 2005
External links
- "A Gandhian in Garhwal" by Ramachandra Guha, The Hindu, 2 June 2002
- Hug the Trees! by Mark Shepard
- Citation for the 1982 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership and response
- Website of the Nanda Devi Campaign, the successor to the Chipko Movement
- The Chipko Movement Archived 21 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine