Ashutosh Bhatt

Nominated for : Creating awareness of heritage.

Initiative - Conserving the rich cultural heritage of the city.

House Number 1766, Dhobi ni Pol. Press the bell and Ahmedabad’s own ‘custodian of heritage’ Ashutosh Bhatt welcomes you in his 300-yearold ancestral house. Be it introducing youngsters to the glorious past of the city or dissuading heritage property owners from selling them to builders, the 75-year-old veteran has been ‘in the job of conservation’ in the fast-growing concrete jungle for more than 35 years.“We owe our identity to the past. Dismissing old structures as bricks and cement is tantamount to showing disrespect to our past. They are embodiment of our culture. We should work towards their rehabilitation than disposing them of. A perfect blend of past and present can only build a bright future. And this is universal; true for all cultures; across the country,” says Bhatt, a former banker.
An active member of Khadia Itihas Samiti since its inception in 1977, Bhatt has worked with stalwarts like Ashok Bhatt, the late speaker of Gujarat Assembly and Khadia MLA, to preserve the rich heritage of Khadia, Raipur, Sarangpur, Kalupur, Dariapur, Bhadra and surrounding areas.
Bhatt’s efforts have been acknowledged by BJP patriarch L K Advani, the state government and Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. He was twice invited to give lecture on parliamentary democracy at Mavlankar Hall in Gujarat assembly. Name a pol or heritage structure, and Bhatt would open the pages of their history for you.
He enumerates several historical and contemporary events that provide insight into Khadia’s contribution to India’s freedom movement and its association with the legends like Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Vivekananda and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
“Gandhiji had stayed in Khadia. He had once said ‘Khadia is the area which truly represents my thoughts and principles’. On his call in 1942, several Khadia youths joined the freedom struggle. Many of them laid their life for the nation. This is the spirit of Khadia that believes in fighting against injustice. Time has changed but the spirit has been intact over the centuries,” says Bhatt proudly, recounting tales that establish Khadia and Gujarat’s significance in history of modern India. Khadia is 500-year-old vicinity.
It was known as Akbarpura during the Mughal era. It also houses Vanita Vishram in Jethabhai ni pol, a school and hub of several social activities for more than a century, that laid foundation for women’s liberation 1908, says Bhatt who has written more than 10 books that chronicle historical events. According to Bhatt, national song Vande Matram was first sung in Khadia in Dhobi ni pol.
“In fact, the concept of ‘Swadeshi’ was first propagated by Ambalal Sakarlal Desai who spearheaded the Swadeshi movement in Ahmedabad much before Gandhiji popularised the idea.
Last year, Garange was called to conduct a workshop at Sabarmati Central Jail to teach music to women prisoners. “It was a challenge for me to train female prisoners as they had no idea of music. In future, I want at least two kids to go ahead in this field and make all of us proud,” he says.
Desai was one of the speakers at the Benaras Congress in 1905. There he introduced the idea of Swadeshi and invited fellow Bengalis to come to Ahmedabad to learn the nuances of setting up mills in Bengal,” says Bhatt, an encyclopaedia for students who dig into the past for their study.
On living in ‘Walled City’, he says: “Life in pols boost community feeling. Here, we are like a huge close-knit family that stands by all its members through thick and thin. Fortunately, the vice of western influence that alienates one from one’s family and roots has not poisoned the air here.”

Utpal Bhatt

Nominated for : Motivating poor school students in remote areas.

Initiative - Distributes school uniform among the Poor.

Uniforms may mean the most monotonous and non-glamorous dress code for many of us. However, to a large number of school students, especially in rural areas, uniforms mean a flaunt-it-in-style-at-wedding outfits. Many of us are in the habit of buying new uniforms at the beginning of new academic year and discard the old ones. One man thought of changing this by recycling the discarded uniforms.Utpal Bhatt, a former government employee, began collecting old uniforms in year 2011 after he visited some rural schools as part of his Gunotsav project assignment. He was supposed to inspect the working of the rural community schools. Says Bhatt, “When I first visited schools in rural areas, I noticed that many of the students came to schools in tattered clothes. They were disciplined and eager to study, but it did not look like a classroom as none in the lot wore decent dresses, forget a uniform.” This inspired Bhatt to begin a modest charity by collecting old uniforms and distributing them among the school students in rural areas.
Later, he worked out statistics and calculated whether it was feasible for him to give newly stitched uniforms to these young and eager children. He shared his thought on a social networking site and was flooded with responses from his NRI friends to help him in the project. “I screened various schools in remote villages in Karjan taluka in Vadodara district. Schools in these areas have children of farm labourers. The strength is about 150 students in each school. None of them knew what a uniform meant. I took a tailor, Jayesh Parmar, along with me.
He took measurements for each of the student. We later pulled in a cloth merchant. Putting in use the donations received from my NRI friends, I executed the task,” Bhatt says. After a couple of months, Bhatt and Parmar returned to the schools at Sharupur Timbi with brand new uniforms. “We had readied 150 pairs in this pilot project. We distributed each pair with a lunch box, a compass box and a water bottle each. The kids took the goodies home. Their smile, zeal, and excitement made us happier. It inspired me to take this project forward,” says Bhatt.
By now, Bhatt has covered areas of Malpur, Meghraj, Pavi-Jetpur, Kawant, Saputara and Chhota Udepur. Following the model of the pilot project, Bhatt has completed 22 uniform charity projects in two years and distributed about 4,000 uniforms, each costing about Rs 350. “Each phase of this project roughly costs around Rs 1 lakh and I take up one school every month. At present the focus is on schools in Saputara area. I have first focussed on the rural schools in tribal belts as during my Gunotsav project trips as a civil servant, I had noticed that these areas were the most deprived,” he says.
The size of goodie bag has also expanded. “I have now added a pair of chappals, and bottles of tonics and cough syrup,” said Bhatt. Bhatt had migrated to Canada in 2000 and after about a decade returned to reunite with his ageing parents in Ahmedabad. “I took up a government job in 2010 and started the uniform project in 2011. Later, I got a request from Kirit Budhalal Foundation in Ahmedabad that it wanted to join me in taking Project Uniform forward. I joined their company as a pharmaceutical executive in 2013. The foundation today donates as much funds as required for this project without imposing any conditions.”

Dakxin Bajrange

Nominated for : Empowering stigmatised denotified tribals.

Initiative - Bringing DNTS into mainstream.

What is in a name, wrote William Shakespeare. For people belonging to some of the nomadic and denotified tribes in India the answer would be – everything. Subjected to the ignominy of being labelled as criminals during the pre-Independ- ence era, these tribes are still struggling to find their rightful place in a society, a section of which that is more than willing to write them off as criminals. However, after decades of oppression and atrocities, things have finally started looking up for these people, thanks to Budhan Theatre and its director Dakxin Bajrange, who also belongs to Chhara commu- nity, one of the DNTs.“These people are not criminals,” says Dakxin, elaborating, “they are nomads who used to make a living by performing on the streets. They were labelled as criminals for their part in helping revolutionaries during the free- dom struggle. After Independence, our govern- ment was only happy to treat them as outcasts and criminals. My efforts, through Budhan Theatre, are to make people aware of the DNTs and their present situation.”
The theatre, based in Chharanagar, has helped accord a certain degree of respectability to the inhabitants of the neighbourhood, once famous for brewing hooch and other criminal activities. The Chharanagar Library is the hub of activity for the artists of Budhan. “Anyone who is associated with the theatre is dedicated to it. They are not involved in any criminal activities. Theatre has given them a new direction and purpose,” Dakxin says.
Dakxin insists that his is not a one-man cru- sade but a collective effort where communities play a major role. “Most of the artistes in the theatre are from the DNT communities. Most plays are based on their personal experiences. The fact that the actors come from these mar- ginalised communities make these plays more than just theatre. It makes these plays a revolu- tion against years of oppression,” he says.
Why choose theatre as a medium of expression? Pat comes the answer, “Because we are artistes. Our forefathers were skilled actors, singers and performers. It is an inherent quality and what we do best. It is also very effective.” Dakxin has an MA in Workshop Theatre from Leeds University, UK and is also an award-win- ning filmmaker. However, when given a chance to work abroad, he chose to work with the DNTs.
According to Dakxin, the problems faced by these tribes are numerous. “The children of these communities find it tough to get admission to schools, youths are unable to find good jobs and they have to live under the constant fear of being incarcerated just on the basis of suspicion. All this because there is no proper provision in Constitution for the DNTs,” he says.
Dakxin and Budhan artistes also conduct workshops among other DNT communities in the state. He has trained more than 200 youths at Budhan and also works with disabled chil- dren, nurturing their talents in performing arts.
Authorities also seek his help in getting opinions from the 12 DNT communities and the 28 nomadic tribes in the state on DNT laws and guidelines. Over the years, Budhan Theatre has helped the DNTs get entry into the mainstream society by inculcating in them confidence and leadership. Their efforts to get attention of the masses have yielded results. Dakxin says, “Once, we showed our play to some senior cops who agreed that the DNTs are treated badly. That day, the cops took a pledge to be more sensitive towards these communities. I think this rising awareness among people is a great first step.”

Mittal Patel

Nominated For : Founded A front for nomads.


Initiative - Helping nomadic tribes get identity

For the 28 nomadic and 12 denotified tribes in the state, 32-year-old Mittal Patel has become a messiah. With their existence hardly acknowledged by the state or the central government, these tribes were struggling to make a livelihood sans the benefits of various government welfare schemes.Mittal, a former journalist, has been working since 2006 to create an ‘identity’ for the members of these tribes. “Being nomads meant they had no identity, at least legally. They had no documents like a ration card or voters’ ID, birth certificates, land deeds in their names.
Their existence was mostly unacknowledged by the government. Though they lived in India, they had nothing to substantiate their Indian citizenship. As they didn’t have identity proof, they couldn’t avail any of the government welfare schemes. They were ‘outsiders’ in their own country,” says Mittal, whose NGO Vicharata Samuday Samarthan Manch (VSSM) works for the uplift of the nomadic tribes in the state.
Mittal first came into contact with the nomadic tribes during her journalism internship in 2005. She wrote to the Gujarat government requesting for locations of the nomadic tribes. “Surprisingly, they didn’t know anything about the locations of these tribes,” she says.
When she finally managed to locate the tribes, she was so moved by their deplorable conditions that she decided to dedicate her life for the betterment of these tribes. VSSM works with the government machinery for the benefits of the nomadic (Vicharta) and denotified (Vimukt) tribes.
Mittal says, “sDafers (who guard crops), Saraniya (knife sharpeners), Kangsia (bangle sellers and traders), Nat and Nataniyas (performers), Vansfoda (make and sell bamboo products), Madaris (work with monkeys) and Vadis (snake charmers) are a few of the tribes that account for Gujarat’s nomadic population of 40 lakh. People think that they are one single community. But that is not true. Each of tribe has a different heritage.”
People of these tribes acknowledge that ‘Mittalben’s’ efforts have helped them get a better life. However, bringing about this positive change was not a cakewalk for Mittal. She says, “These people had been declared ‘habitual criminals’ by the British. Even after independence, the stigma of being labelled criminals remained. No one wanted to associate with the ‘criminal’ and tried to discourage me. But I was determined to track down these tribes and help them out. Of course, I had a list of these tribes that I had procured from one of the government agencies.”
Armed with the list and her determination, Mittal set out to help the nomadic tribes in the state. However, rehabilitation was not an easy job. She says, “These people are nomads and settling down didn’t suit them. Modernisation and industrialisation had robbed them of their livelihoods. Even the government couldn’t keep track of them so as to provide them basic facilities like education and health care.”
But this did not deter Patel who within a year of receiving the list, got voters’ ID for over 20,000 members of nomadic and de-notified tribes. Since then, about 50,000 nomads have been issued voters’ ID, thanks to efforts made by Mittal. She even lobbied and got the state government to pass a resolution to give land rights to the nomadic and denotified people. More than 500 plots were allotted to those who had no home to call their own. Mittal has also helped get schooling facilities, arranged group marriages and rescued girls of these tribes from prostitution.

Natubhai Patel

Nominated For : Helping begin a new life in old age.


Initiative - Finding match for senior citizens.

For some, January 26 was the day when everything they had was lost to a massive earthquake. But for Natubhai Patel, this was the day that changed it all. "I used to work in the Kutch-Bhuj region before my retirement. The hotel I stayed in collapsed like pack of cards in seconds. Had it been a working day, I would not have survived," he said.That a few fortunate get a second lease of life, the realisation made Patel scout for ways to help people in distress. "During those days, I was already doing match-making for Patel community youngsters. You can say it is in my genes as my father, a farmer, was also actively involved in the match-making. But work commitment would allow to hold the meets only on week-ends," says the 64-year-old.
The first sarva gnyaati (all caste) sammelan was held in 2002. As this was a free of cost service, Patel called it "Vina Mulye Amulya Sewa" (VMAS).
"During the event, a non-resident Gujarati man who had lost his son in the earthquake came to me. He wanted to find a suitable match for his daughter-in-law. At the same event, a man approached me who was looking for a match for his father-in-law. And this was that moment of awakening that showed me the path to contribute to society. beating the stereotypes, I started thinking about the scores of elderly men and women in need of emotional support," says Patel who was superintendent with the Ministry of Statistics and Implementation. And this paved way for the first senior citizen mela which was held in 2003.
And it is not just big talks that Patel has. He speaks with data which is at the tip of his tongue. "We have 2,500 applications from Jains, 2,200 from Brahmins, 1,800 from Vaishnavs, 1,000 from Patels and 1,500 of other communities. I beg to differ if you think it is a caste matter. We have several classifications. We have found match for 1,550 graduates, 50 undergraduates, 125 professionals, 350 divorcee and 60 senior citizens," he says.
"The sad part is that women are often hesitant to come forward due to taboos. Their percentage is low compared with men. Against the 2,000 applications of divorcee men, we have received applications from only 100 divorcee women. And the trend is common across the sections of the society," he says.
It was Patel’s efforts that twelve couples are united under live-in relationship. From 2002 to 2010, about 55 elderly couple started their second marriage inning. Of these, only three had failed. Patel checked the reasons of the failure and found out that in one case it was property, in second it was the daughter-in-law not wanting a new mother-in-law and in the third case, the man wanted to have sex every day while his partner was not comfortable with this.
"This was the time when the Supreme Court judgment came. And we thought in direction of live-in relation. We then organised the first ever live-in relationship mela for seniors citizens. There are 12 such couples who are in a live-in relationship. VMAS has also conducted three swayamvars till date," says Patel.
Patel has two sons and two daughters-in-law who not only support him but are actively involved in organising all events held under the banner of VMAS across the country. "VMAS has become a big name even outside Gujarat. As it is free of cost, the event is organised purely on sponsorship basis," Patel says.
Be it Aamir Khan featuring him on his show 'Satyamev Jayate' or him getting calls from NRIs even at 2 am, Patel's initiative has been getting a wide-scale acknowledgement from all over the country.
"We have organised match-making events at Bhopal, Mumbai, Faridabad, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Ranchi and many other places. Next in line is Bangalore. We are holding a meet there on February 16. Delhi, Kolkata and Chandigarh are the other places which are on the list. We are also in talks with organisations in the US. If we get sponsorship, we shall organise a meet there as well," says Patel who holds regular matrimonial meets at his house in Vasna.

Prakshal Mehta and Wricha Johari

Nominated For : Promoting environment-friendly practices.


Initiative - Conducting environment education programmes,projects

The desire to see a greener world has inspired Prakshal Mehta and Wricha Johari to prepare a battery of ‘agent of change’. Recognised as ‘Global Shapers’ by World Economic Forum for their contribution to the field of environment conservation, their brainchild World Around You - Everything Connects (WAY-EC) has been promoting green culture among massess by its innovative and interactive programmes.After an in-depth study of ‘boring and traditional’ environment education programmes and awareness drives, the two started giving shape to the state’s first ever three-year-long behavioural change ‘communi-action’ programme, WAY-EC, for students of class 5, 6 and 7.
“We want to instil green values among the budding citizens. The idea is to bring permanent change in behaviour by inculcating environmental manners at tender age. This will groom them as change-makers for their local environment,” said Prakshal who studied the impact of tourism on Gir National Park as part of his master’s research work.
Wricha and Prakshal’s dissertations, prepared while they were doing Master in Development Communication, helped them understand environment education and conservation activities.
“We found people-connect missing in most environment programmes. Because it lacks innovative and interesting ideas, the green crusade is often reduced to a dud affair. We try to plug in these loopholes through our initiatives that attempt to establish a link between people and the world around them,” he elaborated.
From individuals to industries, students to researchers, housewives to CEOs, and NGOs to government departments, WAY-EC caters to all awakened groups and individuals who want to protect the environment. There is no dearth of nature lovers who have conservation in their heart.
But we didn’t want to sit and wait. And, therefore we started to find our own WAY to realise the dream — a world full of all natural hues, said Wricha who studied the effect of outdoor environment education programmes conducted in different parts of the state.
From being classmates to partners in education, the two 2008 passouts consider themselves fortunate for being able to ‘turn their passion into profession’. The two young Amdavadis also initiated a few projects at college level that taught them how effective communication can bring a sea change in perspective of society.
Neha, a student who attended WAY-EC’s batch 1, said: “My mother is thankful to the WAY programme as we now know the importance of saving electricity. We switch off the television and other appliances when they are not being used.”
WAY-EC’s initiative Pen Pals, said to be first of its kind in the world, has earned Prakshal and Wricha the coveted title of ‘Global Shapers’. They have conceptualised, designed and handcrafted utility products from thrown-way plastic pens.
The initiative has got unexpected response at all levels, said Wricha who has presented the project to the just-concluded WEF’s annual meeting in Davos. They target to collect 50,00,000 discarded pens from schools, colleges and offices to handcraft utility products from these pens with the help of local women groups and artisans.
Shopping for the planet is another unique idea, WAY-EC has floated. The programme has been designed to increase people’s participation in reducing and reusing lifestyle wastes in simpler ways.
The event will invite nearly 3,000 underprivileged kids and collect thousands of reusable waste items from permanent collection points. While Wricha has worked with premier organisations like CEE and EMMRC, Prakshal too has had a stint at CEE, WWF and EMMRC

Sanjay Joshi

Nominated For : Forcing government to formulate policy on
tracing missing children

Initiative - Founded an organization to help parents
find missing children

Vishwa Patel missing case changed the life of rights activist Sanjay Joshi. So did it happen to the state’s policy on search for missing children. Joshi, 45, became a messiah for the missing children and their parents in Gujarat and shook up the state’s machinery which was forced to come up with a policy to lodge complaints of missing children.Children going missing in the state was a serious issue and the administration’s response remained insensitive to it. That the government had to issue directive to the police to lodge such complaints and pursue the case sincerely is a testimony to Joshi’s resolve.
A resident of Satellite, Joshi has been working for protection of human rights for years. Anna Hazare-led India Against Corruption came as a godsend for him. He joined the movement and while being a part of Team Anna, he wrote a number of articles on domestic violence, corruption and missing children in India.
However, people started recognising his work when he picked up the issue of Vishwa Patel, the 11-year-old girl who went missing from a marriage function in her housing society in Vejalpur in January 2012. Days of deadlock and inactivity on part of the police prompted Joshi to approach Vishwa’s parents and join them in search for the child.
Thousands of parents joined them, in turn. Such was the scale of problem in the state. The moving tales of the parents only strengthened his resolve and he decided to give his effort a formal shape. Joshi launched a website, www. searchmychild.in, and Facebook page, Searchmychild India, to bring together the parents of missing children, their kin and all those who felt for them.
The effort led to the creation of a well-knit community supported by activists from other parts of the country in their endeavour in tracing the missing children. A number of public meetings in city gardens was held and a few dharnas were organised to create awareness among the people and force the government to formulate a policy on search for missing children in the state. Joshi escalated the issue by taking it up with senior government functionaries and political leaders.
During the campaign, he met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram. "In 2012, we organised events on 240 days. A big relief came when the Supreme Court ruled that the complaint of missing children should be considered a serious issue and FIR should be lodged by the police with immediate effect. Gujarat High Court, too, issued guidelines on the missing children," Joshi says.
A special cell was set up by the CID devoted to searching for missing children in the state. "There was tremendous pressure on me from several quarters to stop the activity, but I wanted to see the smile return to the face of missing children's parents. They saw in me a ray of hope and I was sure that one day we will win the battle against an apathetic government machinery," Joshi said.
According to data compiled by Joshi and his associates and put on the website and the Facebook page, between 2007 and April 2013, as many as 58,972 people had gone missing in the state. Children formed a whopping 70 per cent of these. Increased pressure on the government agencies, led to the successful tracing of 51,442 of them. Now parents can approach the police and lodge complaint of their missing child without waiting for several days, as the case was earlier.

Prahlad Solanki

Nominated for : Saving people who jump into the Sabarmati
to end their life.

Initiative - Saves people from drowning.

Fifty-one-year-old Prahlad Solanki claims to be a humble fisherman who loves the Sabarmati as he does his mother. However, Solanki is much more than a simple fisherman. He is like a ray of hope to those who, in their state of despair, decide to give up one of the most precious gift – life. In the past 34 years, Solanki has saved more than 100 people from ending their lives in the Sabarmati.For this fisherman who lives under Subhash Bridge, saving people who fall or jump into the river is his life’s mission. According to Solanki, he cannot bear the thought of someone losing a loved one. “Once I saw a family mourn the loss of a loved one who had drowned in the river. There was so much pain there. I do whatever I can to spare other families the same pain,” Solanki says. According to Solanki, most people he has rescued had jumped off the Subhash Bridge or the railway bridge.
Solanki says, “The first time I rescued a person from drowning, I was 17. No one, not even the most dejected person, would consciously end his or her life. It is just a moment of insanity that prompts the dejected to take such an extreme step. Even when they do take the final plunge, I am sure they are hoping against hope that someone will save them.”
He has even fashioned a raft from thermocol -- which can easily carry seven people—to help his cause. “The raft is lighter and fast, which means I can reach the drowning person quickly. The raft has helped me save several lives.” In fact, Solanki takes pride in the fact that he is on the spot to rescue the victims even before the fire brigade.
Some of the victims whom Solanki has saved have returned to thank him for his kindness. “A few months ago, I saved a Motera woman from drowning in the Sabarmati. She had jumped into the river to end her life as she was ill and didn’t want to be a burden on her family. I rescued her and took her home to her family. A few days ago, she visited me. She is on her way to recovery now and is very happy. Life, with all its ups and downs, is never hopeless,” says this father of two.
Solanki learnt to swim at 10. He recollects, “I took to the water like a fish. Since then, I have loved the water. Sabarmati is like a mother to me. I loathe leaving her. When I was 18, a fire officer, impressed by my rescue skills, had promised to give me a job in the fire brigade once I turned 21. But I loved the river so much that I took up fishing.” According to Solanki, he does not regret his decision, considering he earns Rs 400 to Rs 500 daily from fishing and still saves lives.
His wife Shyamakumari says, “Sometimes he sleeps on the raft so that he can be close to the river. I am proud of my husband. He is the most kind-hearted man I have ever met.”
Over the years, people have come forward to give Solanki monetary assistance. But he humbly turns down the offers of help. “Money is not my goal. What I do is not for money or glory but for my conscience. If I stand by and watch a person drown, what kind of person would I be?” ponders the fisherman.
Although he has not been able to save every person who has fallen into the river, he is happy to have made a difference in the lives of some. “I will continue to save drowning people till god and my body allows it,” he ends.