Prakash Amte


Prakash Baba Amte is a social worker from Maharashtra, India. Amte and his wife, Mandakini Amte, were awarded the Magsaysay Award for 'Community Leadership' in 2008 for their philanthropic work in the form of the Lok Biradari Prakalp amongst the Madia Gonds in the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra and the neighbouring states of Telangana and Madhya Pradesh.In November 2019 he was awarded with ICMR Lifetime Achievement Award by Bill Gates.

Early life

Amte is the son of Magsaysay awardee Baba Amte. He obtained a medical degree from Government Medical College, Nagpur.

Lok Biradari Prakalp

In 1973, Amte moved to Hemalkasa to start the Lok Biradari Prakalp, a project for the development of tribal people, most of whom were the Madia Gond in the forests of Gadchiroli district. He lived and worked there for almost twenty years performing emergency surgical procedures without electricity. The project transformed into a hospital, Lok Biradari Prakalp Davakhana, a residential school, Lok Biradari Prakalp Ashram Shala, and an orphanage for injured wild animals, the Amte's Animal Park. The project provides health care to about 40000 individuals annually. The Lok Biradari Prakalp Ashram School has over 600 students, residents and day scholars.

Awards

Amte has received many national and international awards, which include:
The biographical film Dr Prakash Baba Amte : The Real Hero starring Nana Patekar as Prakash Amte and Sonali Kulkarni as Mandakini Amte was released on 10 October 2014. The film has been released in three languages, Hindi, Marathi and English.