Social activist Sanjit Bunker Roy dies in Rajasthan at 81
The founder of Barefoot College, who trained rural women as solar engineers, passed away at his home in Tilonia on Tuesday.
Social activist Sanjit 'Bunker' Roy died on Tuesday at 81 at his home in Tilonia, Rajasthan, according to reports by Outlook, The Tribune, and The Times of India. Roy was the founder of Barefoot College, an institution that turned the village of Tilonia into a global centre for grassroots development.
Roy's work focused on rural development, poverty alleviation, healthcare, and renewable energy. He established the Social Work and Research Centre in 1972, which later became Barefoot College. His model prioritised local knowledge over formal qualifications, famously training illiterate or semi-literate women, known as 'Solar Mamas', to become solar engineers.
Born in 1945 in Burnpur, West Bengal, Roy was educated at the Doon School and St Stephen’s College. He reportedly chose village-level work after witnessing the Bihar famine in 1965. His wife, social activist Aruna Roy, was by his side when he passed away at 6.15 am.
Roy received several honours, including the Padma Shri in 1986 and the Jamnalal Bajaj Award in 1985. In 2010, TIME magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Tributes were paid by former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, and Jairam Ramesh.
The Barefoot College model included training women to install and maintain solar lighting systems in their own communities. The institution's campus, built by local architects, won an Aga Khan Award for Architecture.