Bunker Roy, 81, Founder of Barefoot College, Dies in Tilonia
· India · The Hindu, Indian Express
Sanjit "Bunker" Roy, 81, founder of the Social Work and Research Centre (Barefoot College) in Tilonia, Ajmer district, Rajasthan, died peacefully at his home on Tuesday morning surrounded by his wife Aruna Roy and close associates. Roy, 21 at the time, abandoned a promising squash career after the 1966 Bihar famine reshaped his life's path. He studied at Doon School and St. Stephen's College before establishing Barefoot College in 1972 to train rural communities in solar energy, water conservation, and healthcare. The Social Work and Research Centre issued a statement confirming his death and his lifelong commitment to grassroots empowerment.
Why it matters
The loss of Roy marks the end of a pioneering era in Indian civil society; Barefoot College’s model of training illiterate and semi-literate villagers as solar engineers and teachers has transformed rural livelihoods across India and abroad, particularly in developing regions.
Read the original report — The Hindu
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