ANNA HAZARE…THE ONE

MAN ARMY!!
• Kisan Baburao Hazare, popularly
known as Anna Hazare (January 15,
1940), is an Indian social activist who
is especially recognized for his
contribution to the development of
RALEGAN SIDDHI, a village in
Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra,
India and his efforts for establishing it
as a model village, for which he was
awarded the PADMA Bhushan by
Govt. of India, in 1992. He is also one
of the leading figures who
championed the cause of RIGHT TO
Information Act in India for his
crusade towards fighting corruption in
public offices.
EARLY LIFE AND
BACKROUND
• Anna Hazare was born in a poor family. His father
Baburao Hazare was an unskilled labourer and his
grandfather worked for the army. His grandfather was
deployed in Bhingar which made Baburao and family
to move to Bhingar, where Anna was born. Anna'a
grandfather died in 1945 when Anna's father resigned
from his job and returned to Ralegan Siddhi. Anna had
completed his education up to fourth standard and also
had six younger siblings. The family's financial
situation was tough. Baburao's sister, who was childless
offered to take care of Anna and took him to
Mumbai.Anna's father had to sell off his farmland
making life tough for the family. This forced Anna who
was in Mumbai and just completed his seventh grade in
school to take up a job. Anna worked for a florist at
Dadar, Mumbai earning about forty rupees a month.
He eventually started his own flower shop. Two of his
brothers came to Mumbaii to join him in his business,
increasing the family earnings soon to about 700-800
rupees a month.
CAREER….HIS ARMY LIFE!
In a couple of years Anna fell into bad company and
started wasting his time and money on vices. He also
started getting involved in brawls and fights, especially
when he found some simple person being harassed by
goons. He became irregular in sending money to his
family. The word went around in Ralegan that he had
become a bad character himself. In one such fight,
Anna bashed up a person rather badly. Fearing arrest,
he avoided coming to his regular work and residence
for some time. During this period (in April 1960) he
appeared in Army recruitment interviews and was
selected to join the Indian Army.For his initial
training, he was sent to Aurangabad. After training, he
was posted in Punjab as a truck driver. Being far away
from home and separated from all his friends, Anna
felt lonely. He had once resolved to end his life and
even wrote a suicide note. However, on further
reflection, he realised that his suicide may affect the
marriage prospects of his younger sister.
 HIS INHIBITIONS AND
ULTIMATE DESIRE.
• When these thoughts were churning in his mind, he came across a small booklet
titled Call to the Youth For Nation Building by Swami Vivekananda in a book-stall at
the New Delhi station.Vivekananda's thoughts gave meaning to his life and he
decided to devote the rest of his life working for the society. He read many more
books by Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi and Acharya Vinoba Bhave. His thoughts
started developing and in 1970 he told his parents about his decision not to get
married. He urged his parents to go ahead and arrange the marriage of his younger
brothers. The new-found desire to live beyond his narrow self interest later drove him
to seek voluntary retirement from the Army and come back to serve his own village.
• He wanted his native village, Ralegan Siddhi, to improve, but did not know how and
where to start. He used to come to his village on vacation and spend endless days
sitting on the rocks at the outskirts of the village. Having spent most of his life in
Mumbai and in the Army, Moreover, the people of Ralegan who had known him as an
angry young man from the days when he used to sell flowers outside Dadar station,
were unaware of the transformation that had taken place in the personality of Anna
Hazare.In 1971, Anna was transferred to Mumbai. From Mumbai he started visiting
the village regularly. From 1971 to 1974 his interaction with the village people
increased. He also spent about Rs. 3000 for giving a face lift to the Padmavati temple
with a coat of oil paint. He also developed good relations with the village youth.In
1974, he was transferred to Jammu. In 1975, he completed fifteen years of service in
Army, a statutory requirement for being entitled to a pension. He sought retirement
and, finally, in August 1975, he got relieved from the Army and came back to Ralegan
Siddhi for good.
 HIS CONTRIBUTION TO
VARIOUS PROGRAMMES.
1.WATERSHED 2.RESTORING 3.UPROOTING
DEVELOPME THE GREEN ALCHOHOLIS
NT. COVER. M.
4.MILK 5.EDUCATION. 6.REMOVAL
PRODUCTION. OF
UNTOUCHABI
LITY.
 WATERSHED
DEVELOPMENT:KEY TO
ECONOMIC GROWTH
• Anna Hazare says, you cannot expect a hungry man to live by principles. His first priority will be
to feed himself and his family. Even though jobs, mostly government and army, provided economic
certainties for a few most of the population still dependent on agriculture in Ralegan Siddhi. Anna
realized that the only way to increase agricultural production in a sustainable manner was to build
better irrigation system. Taking into account the geographical location of Ralegan, located in the
foothills, Anna Hazare persuaded villagers to construct a watershed embankment to stop water
and allow it to percolate and increase ground water level. The first embankment that was built
using voluneteer efforts developed a leak and had to reconstructed this time with government
funding.
• Anna also take steps to stop the second big problem, soil erosion. In order to conserve soil and
water by checking the run off, contour trenches and gully pluges were constructed along the hill
slopes. Grass, shrubs and about 3 lakh trees were planted along the hillside and the village. This
process was supplemented by afforestation, nullah bunds, underground check dams and cemented
bandhras at strategic locations. The Watershed Development programme turned into a huge
success and helped increase the fortunes of many farmers as they now had a reliable source of
water.onion worth Rs.80 lakhs today. As a result of these changes total agricultural production
went up from 294.3 tones in 1975-76 to 1386.2 tones in 1985-86. At current prices it meant an
increase from Rs. 3.46 lakh to Rs. 31.73 lakh i.e. 4.7fold increase in quantity and a 9-fold increase
in value.
 RESTORING THE
GREEN COVER.
• Trees are the greatest friend a man can have , they keep
environment clean and healthy. They also fulfill the fuel & fodder
needs of village. Recognizing this, the villagers undertook a
massive tree plantation drive."Social fencing" was introduced
whereby villagers voluntarily prevented cattle, goats and sheeps
from grazing freely. Open grazing was completely banned with a
new emphasis on stall-feeding (Kurhad Bandi). The Sarpanch
(head of the village council) of Ralegan narrates: "There is a
surplus of fuel wood and fodder. We now help neighbouring
villages in their time of need." As fodder became available in
abundance, the productivity and number of milk animals
increased.
UPROOTING ALCHOHOLISM.
• As the next step towards social and economical change, Anna Hazare and the
youth group decided to take up the issue of Alcoholism.. At a meeting
conducted in the temple, the villagers resolved to close down the liquor dens
and ban the drinking of alcohol in the village.Over thirty liquor brewing units
were closed by their owners voluntarily. Those who did not succumb to social
pressure were forced to close down their businesses, when the youth group
smashed up their liquor dens. The owners could not complain as their business
was illegal.
• Through the closure of liquor brewing reduced the alcoholism in Ralegan
Siddhi, some villagers continued to drink.The villagers decided that those men
would be given three warnings, after which they would be physically
punished. Twelve men who were found in a drunken state even after initial
warnings were tied to a pole with help of youth group and flogged. Anna
Hazare says, “Doesn’t a mother administer bitter medicines to a sick child
when she knows that the medicine can cure her child? The child may not like
the medicine, but the mother does it only because she cares for child. The
alcoholics were punished so that their families would not be destroyed.”
 EDUCATION
• Anna Hazare along with the youth of Ralegan siddhi worked to
increase literacy rates and education levels. In year 1976 they
started pre school to the primary school and a high school in 1979.
The villagers started taking active interest in the village school and
formed Sant Yadav Baba Shikshan Prasarak Mandal(trust) which
was registered in 1979. The trust decide to take over the function
of the village school which was in bad state due to government
neglect and also lack of interest on behalf of teachers who were
moonlighting.After opening of the school in the village, a girl
student from Ralegan Siddhi completed her S.S.C in 1982 for the
first time. Since then the school has been instrumental in bringing
in lots of changes to the village.
 REMOVAL OF
UNTOUCHABLES.
• The social barriers that existed due to the caste
system have been broken down by Ralegan Siddhi
villagers and people of all castes come together to
celebrate social events. The people of Ralegan
have largely succeeded in eradicating social
discrimination on the basis of caste. The dalits
have been integrated into the social and economic
life of the village. The villagers have built houses
for the Harijanas and helped to repay their loans to
free them from their indebtedness.
PRESENT
• Today Anna has almost acquired
the stature of a saint. He donated
his land for the hostel building. He
gives his pension money to the
village fund. A confirmed bachelor,
he lives in the village temple with a
bare minimum of personal
belongings. He eats simple food
normally cooked for the hostel
boys. Both his parents and brothers
stay in the village but they are no
different from him than any other
family in the village. This moral
authority growing out of his
selfless life has made him an
unquestioned leader of the village.
 ARREST
• Anna Hazare was arrested in 1998
when a defamation suit was filed
against him by then Maharashtra
Social Welfare minister Babanrao
Golap. He was released following
public uproar.
 AWARDS & QUOTATIONS
• Padmashree award by government of India in the year 1990
• Indira Priyadarshini Vrikshamitra award, by government of India on
November 19, 1986 from the hands of Prime Minister of India Rajiv
Gandhi.
• Krishi Bhushana award by Maharashtra government in 1989.
• Felicitation by Ahmednagar Municipal Corporation 15 January 1987
• Felicitation by Pune Municipal Corporation.
• On April 15, 2008, Kisan Baburao Hazare received the World Bank's
2008 Jit Gill Memorial Award for Outstanding Public Service: "Hazare
created a thriving model village in Ralegan Siddhi, in the impoverished
Ahmednagar region of Maharashtra state, and championed the right to
information and the fight against corruption."
 QUOTATIONS
• Anna's philosophy is a mix of Hindu spiritualism and modern Hindu thinkers like Swami
Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi and Vinoba Bhave. Various quotations taken from Anna's
lectures reflect this philosophy and his the foundation of his concept of model village.[2]
• Over every huge tree that we see overground, there always is a seed that had submerged itself into the
darkness of the soil.
• Ban on consumption and sale of alcohol lays the foundation of rural development.
• It is impossible to change the village without transforming the individual. Similarly it is impossible to
transform the country without changing its villages.
• If villages are to develop, politics have to be kept out.
• Education without spirituality cannot help development.
• Money alone does not bring development, but it certainly corrupts.
• In the process of rural development, social and economic development should go hand in hand.
• The work of social transformation is neither easy nor impossible.
• The ultimate goal of all politics and social work should be the upliftment of society and of the nation.
• Books alone cannot prepare future citizens, it requires cultural inputs to do so.
• Educational institutions are not enough to make good citizens, every home should become an
educational center.
• Indulgence causes disease whereas sacrifice leads to accomplishment.
• One should not accept anything free; accepting charity makes one lazy and dependent.
• When the person learns to see beyond his self-interest, he begins to get mental peace.
• One who performs all worldly functions and still remains detached from worldly things is a true saint.
• Salvation of the self is a part of salvation of the people.
• It is experience that gives the direction but it is youth that gives the drive to every plan.
 THE ROLE OF MEDIA
TOWARDS HIS LIFE…!!
• Anna Hazare's recent arrest and release has rightly generated a sense of outrage and
violation amongst the people in India. Anna and his life's message, however, are larger and
go beyond this particular issue that has captured media attention. Since 1975 under his
leadership, Anna's village, Ralegan Siddhi, has been an evolving as an epitomisation of the
Gandhian idiom of a self-sufficient village as an elementary unit of social organisation. Also
an important characterisitic of the economic and social transformation of Ralegan is that it
has taken place based on the principle of self-help and is concomitant with ensuring social
equity, an ideal that is happily at variance with the current fancy for "free market ideals" and
"trickle-down economics". Ralegan has been hailed as a model village, therefore, with
characterisitic bureaucratic simplification attempts are being made to "replicate" the Ralegan
miracle. Inconsiderate, the Ralegan experience is extremely relevant for its central tenet,
that with the right moral basis and with reasonable inputs, the collective genius of the people
is capable of significantly addressing its own needs. For many years now, Ralegan Siddhi
has been a byword for model development. However amongst most people I know, there
seems to be a general lack of understanding of what really happened in Ralegan and how it
came about to be so. When I myself wanted to learn more about Anna Hazare and his role
in Ralegan, I did not find any relevant information on the web. Therefore, this page is an
attempt to fill this gap and, hopefully, in the future, serve as a clearing house for information
on Anna Hazare, his life and its enduring message.
 PRESENTED BY STUDENTS
OF GHANSHYAMDAS SARAF
COLLEGE-F.Y.B.M.M.
• AS FOLLOWS:
• AAYUSHI LAHIRI
• BHAGYASHREE BHADRA
• RAKSHA SHETTY
• BHUMIKA