The Work of MSS:

[ Projects at a glance: ]

Anandwan, the first project site is now a bustling community of over 2,000 people including people with leprosy, blind, deaf, and orphan children, senior disabled citizens, and rural youth from nearby villages.

But Anandwan is only one of seven important project sites spread across 300 kilometers in some of Central India's most backward regions. Others include: Ashokwan (estd. 1957), Somnath (estd. 1967), Nagepalli (estd. 1972) and Hemalkasa (estd. 1973), A House of Opportunity project, Nagpur (estd. 1988). These projects include training and rehabilitation activities, agriculture, hospitals, schools and universities, and a lot more. MSS also does significant outreach to surrounding villages and communities around projects sites.

In 2002 almost 60,000 people received some form of support from MSS. All the activities are in line with the principle of responsible care toward the environment as it is our only life source and must be preserved. Walking around in the projects, you will notice that the people are content. They are smiling, keeping the place clean, and flowers are growing everywhere. The leprosy patients have reclaimed their individuality, and found a place in society. Apart from the people living in the projects, almost 20,000 people have gone back to their own villages.

Anandwan (Estd. in the year 1951)
This is the nucleus and headquarters of Maharogi Sewa Samiti. The major activities here are medical treatment, training and rehabilitation of leprosy-afflicted people, blind, deaf, mobility-challenged, orphans and a home for senior citizens. It has schools, colleges, technical institutions, and offers community living to disabled and leprosy-affected people and their families. There is a bank, a post office and store selling products made by the community. It is managed by Baba Amte's older son, Dr. Vikas Amte, his wife, Dr. Bharati Amte, and Dr. Pol, (both of them are experts in the treatment of leprosy).

Ashokwan (Estd. in the year 1955)
Ashokwan is a project to rehabilitate leprosy-affected people and is located 16 Km. south of Nagpur city on National Highway No. 7. The main objective of the Project is to provide primary medical treatment to the leprosy patients and provide them with occupations. They live at the project site and work in agriculture, horticulture, dairy and goatery, and small-scale industries.

Somnath Project (Estd. in the year 1967)
Somnath is a medical treatment and rehabilitation project of leprosy-affected people with residential communities. It is also a training center for youth groups. A national Youth Camp is held here annually during May. Besides it serves as the breadbasket of the institution with its agricultural and food grain production on about 400 hectares of land.

Nagepalli (Estd. in the year 1972)
Nagepalli is the Base Camp from which the institution's tribal activities were incubated and continues to serve as a pit stop for visitors traveling from Anandwan to Hemalkasa, five hours away. There are fruit trees and a small vegetable garden for the residents and visitors who stop by.

Hemalkasa (Estd. in the year 1973)
It is the main center of the institution's tribal development activities. The primary aims are to provide free medical treatment and support to the tribal population within a radius of about 100 Kilometers. in the Tribal region. There is a residential school for tribal children comprising about 600 students, who are provided free food, accommodation, medical and other facilities. It has an animal orphanage called Amte Animal Ark, for protection of wild life that has come under attack from deforestation and hunting. Annually, almost 40,000 patients are treated Dr. Prakash Amte, his wife Dr. Mandakini Amte, their son Dr. Digant Amte and Dr. Pandu, (the first member of the Madia Gond tribe to became a medical doctor).

A House Of Opportunity (Estd. in the year 1988)
This is a training and Rehabilitation center for disabled people located near Nagpur Airport.

Himmatgram ­ (Estd. in the year 1999)
Himmatgram is a Tribal Development and Environment Awareness Project located on the outskirts of Tadoba National Park to promote positive Human-Forest relationship.

Back to Top

[ Activities and Accomplishments: ]

During the last 50 years, the activities of MSS have resulted in many positive changes in many spheres: leprosy, social activism, environmental issues, tribals, disabled and orphan children, senior citizens and aging, and rural youth ­ just to name a few. It's extremely difficult to put in words the impact of this dynamic organization to the thousands of people who have been touched in a personal way. The organization has gone to places (literally and figuratively speaking) to which there was no roadmap. There is a great deal of wisdom and experience that comes from this type of a journey ­ and the journey continues as the organization remains committed to keeping its doors open for a long time to come.

Healthcare and Outreach:
MSS provides medical services, food, and housing for cured as well as active leprosy patients, physically-challenged, destitute old leprosy afflicted persons, families and progeny of leprosy-affected persons and other physically challenged, including deaf and the blind children, mentally or mobility disabled children or adults, disabled senior citizens and tribal people. In terms of outreach to surrounding areas, MSS is primarily active in the backward region of Central India, including the tribal belt comprising three districts: Chandrapur, Gadchiroli and Nagpur in Maharashtra State (India). MSS conducts various medical and educational camps (in addition to the similar services regularly offered on the premises). The total number of persons benefited through such programs is about 100,000. This is in addition to the 10,000 regular beneficiaries (including Residents and Students of various educational institutes).

Leprosy:
MSS has educated Indian society at large about leprosy. There has already been a major change in the society's attitude towards the leprosy-afflicted and this is expected to accelerate further still leading to total eradication of leprosy in foreseeable future in this region. MSS has successfully treated approximately 100,000 persons with Multi-Drug Treatment (leading to complete cure) and has rehabilitated about 10,000 cured leprosy afflicted persons back to their own villages where they had been originally shunned and rejected. On the Anandwan campus, a special hospital catering only to the treatment of leprosy patients has been constructed.

Education:
The community also runs an undergraduate degree-level college comprising of Arts, Science, Commerce and Agriculture faculties (present student strength around 3000) thus providing the rural youth in surrounding villages and Anandwan residents, an opportunity to obtain higher education and better jobs in the social mainstream. The organization also has special schools for secondary certificate level education for tribal children as well as blind, deaf and handicapped rural children. Farmer Assistance:
MSS provides agriculture related guidance, and imparting improved farming methods in crops, horticulture, biomass and compost fertilizer manufacturing, animal husbandry, bee-keeping etc. Demonstration plots in every major center of MSS and organizing visits by rural farmers for on-the-spot education. They also provide models and practical advice to agriculturists in Central India for improving production and income through use of improved seed varieties, better operating procedures, fishery development, crop-rotation, inter-cropping with pulses, use of bio-mass, bio-fertilizers prepared from farm waste, earthworm culture, effluents of bio-gas plants, bio-control (pesticide measures) and animal husbandry.

Rural Youth Vocational Training Programs:
The organization has helped reduce unemployment of rural youth, since idleness leads either to criminalization or migration to urban areas that then cause serious problems such as destructive fanaticism. Its training programs are pragmatic and create self-employment opportunities for these young men and women. Maharogi Sewa Samiti provides academic education and trade-oriented craft training to blind, hearing-challenged, mentally, and physically challenged rural children, leading to their financial independence and social acceptance.

Senior Citizens and Aging: MSS has also created programs for destitute senior citizens to lead a more stress-free life and continue to make useful contributions to society.

Tribal People:
Noteworthy is their ongoing medical treatment, education and social integration of one of the most backward and marginalized tribes (Madia Gond) of India. Merely 30 years ago, these tribals were totally illiterate, used only barter exchanges (did not use money at all), were undernourished, and terribly afraid of all outsiders. Today two of them have already been qualified as medical practitioners, over 100 hold state and other well-paying steady jobs, more than 100 have passed the government school certificate examination and about 500 boys and girls are receiving education in a residential school-cum-hostel complex. By learning their spoken-only dialect and respecting their primitive and ancient culture, MSS has been able to partner with them in positive ways.

The Environment:
Lastly, MSS has made a sustained effort at proper ecological management and conservation to mitigate the current wanton destruction of the environment and the nation's flora and fauna. MSS has stimulated greater ecology awareness and preservation of trees in the rural population of Central India. By introducing micro-watershed measures such as small barrages, large water-storage tanks, and more effective use of available water supply, MSS has made substantial improvement to underground water-table levels. Other important activities include recycling of non-biodegradable plastic materials and other waste into profit-making, employment-generating ventures, and the development of environment-friendly building materials (such as stabilized concrete mud blocks), and designs for cost-effective building technology and earthquake resistant structures.

Back to Top

[ Awards and Accolades: ]

Baba Amte and the Amte family has been awarded many significant international and national awards for their contribution to social justice and human rights including the Right Livelihood Award, the Magsaysay Award, the UN Human Rights Prize, the Templeton Prize, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Shree, and the Rashtra Bhushan.

Maharogi Sewa Samiti has earned the following awards and honors:

- Federation Of Indian Chambers Of Commerce & Industry Award (for outstanding achievements in training and placement of disabled persons)
- Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Dalit Mitra Award ­1992, by Social Welfare Dept. Government of Maharashtra.
- Satpaul Mittal Award ­ 1998, by Nehru Sidhant Kender Trust, Ludhiana, India

Back to Top