Kisan Bapat Baburao Hazare (born 15 January 1940), popularly known as Anna Hazare , is an Indian social activist.
Born January 15, 1940 (age 71)
Bhingar, Maharashtra, India
Parents Laxmibai Hazare(Mother)
Baburao Hazare (Father)
Anna Hazare started his career as a driver in the Indian Army. He spent his spare time reading the books of Swami Vivekananda,
Mahatma Gandhi and
Acharya Vinoba Bhave that inspired him to become a social worker and activist
After voluntary retirement from the army, Hazare came to Ralegan Siddhi village in 1975. Initially, he organized the youth of the village into an organization named the Tarun Mandal (Youth Association). He also helped forming the Pani Puravatha Mandals (Water Supply Associations) to ensure proper distribution of water.
As the next step towards social and economical change, Anna Hazare and the youth group decided to take up the issue of Alcoholism
Anna realized that the only way to increase agricultural production in a sustainable manner was to build better irrigation system.
He motivated the residents of the village into shramdan (voluntary labour) to build canals, small-scale check-dams and percolation tanks in the nearby hills for watershed development; efforts that solved the problem of scarcity of water in the village that also made irrigation possible.
Hazare also took steps to stop the second big problem, soil erosion. and also he fought again untouchability.
Awards - received by Anna Hazare
2008 - On April 15 2008, Anna 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."[25]
1992 - Padmabhushan award, by the Government of India
1990 - Padmashri award, by the Government of India
1986 - Indira Priyadarshini Vrikshamitra award by the Government of India on November 19, 1986 from the hands of Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi.
1989 - Krishi Bhushana award by the Government of Maharashtra.
WHY HE STARTED FAST UNTO DEATH:
In 2011, Anna Hazare initiated a movement for passing a stronger anti-corruption Lokpal (ombudsman) bill in the Indian Parliament. As a part of this movement, N. Santosh Hegde, a former justice of the Supreme Court of India and Lokayukta of Karnataka, Prashant Bhushan, a senior lawyer in the Supreme Court along with the members of the India Against Corruption movement drafted an alternate bill, named as the Jan Lokpal Bill (People's Ombudsman Bill) with more stringent provisions and wider power to the Lokpal (Ombudsman)
Hazare has started a fast unto death from 5 April 2011 at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, to press for the demand to form a joint committee of the representatives of the Government and the civil society to draft a new bill with stronger penal actions and more independence to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas (Ombudsmen in the states), after his demand was rejected by the Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh .
Before commencing his 'fast unto death' he stated, "I will fast until Jan Lokpal Bill is passed".
The great words from ANNA ji :
"The dream of India as a strong nation will not be realised without self-reliant, self-sufficient villages, this can be achieved only through social commitment & involvement of the common man."
The movement attracted attention very quickly through various media. It has been reported that thousands of people joined to support Hazare's effort. Almost 150 people are reported to join Hazare in his fast.
He said that he would not allow any politician to sit with him in this movement.
A number of social activists including Medha Patkar, Arvind Kejriwal and former IPS officer Kiran Bedi, Jayaprakash Narayan of the Lok Satta have lent their support to Hazare.
The movement gathered quite a significant amount of support from India's youth visible through the local support and on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.
so friends i am ready to fight against corruption ...and lets move and join our hands with anna hazare ji
JAI HO INDIA