Bunker Roy, Founder of Barefoot College, Dies at 81 in Tilonia

Sanjit "Bunker" Roy, the social activist who founded Barefoot College in Tilonia, Rajasthan, died on Tuesday morning at his home in Tilonia. He was 81.

Sowmya Kidambi, chief executive and director of Barefoot College, said Roy passed away peacefully at 6.15 am at his home in Tilonia, in Ajmer district, with his wife Aruna Roy and others around him. "Bunker Roy passed away peacefully at 6.15 am this morning with Aruna and others around him," Kidambi said in a statement reported by the ANI news agency. "He went as he wanted to, in his own home in Tilonia."

ANI reported that Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor and Ashok Gehlot expressed condolences and remembered his work on rural development and empowerment. The Hindu also reported the death on Tuesday morning. No cause of death was reported by any of the sources that confirmed the news.

A college built on village knowledge

Roy was born on 30 June 1945 in Burnpur. He was educated at The Doon School and St Stephen's College, and he was a three time national squash champion who gave up a privileged career path for rural work.

His turn came after the Bihar famine of 1966-67, where he saw the hardships of famine hit villagers at close range. He moved to Tilonia and in 1972 set up the Social Work and Research Centre, the organisation that became known around the world as Barefoot College. Its early work centred on water conservation, starting with efforts to recharge groundwater through open wells.

The college built its method on a simple idea: rural people, including people with little formal schooling, could be trained to solve problems in their own communities. Its work grew to cover drinking water, education, healthcare, rural livelihoods and women's empowerment.

The Solar Mamas

The programme that carried the college furthest was Solar Mamas, launched in 2000. It trained women from villages without electricity to become solar engineers. After six months of training in India, the women went home to their own countries to assemble, install and repair solar home lighting systems. The programme reached 96 countries.

According to the college's 50 year anniversary brochure, published in 2022, the organisation had by then trained 1,708 women and electrified more than 75,000 households, saving an estimated 45 million litres of kerosene.

Honours and funeral

Roy received the Padma Shri in 1986. His other honours included the Jamnalal Bajaj Award, the Blue Planet Prize and the Clinton Global Citizen Award. TIME magazine named him among the world's 100 most influential people in 2010.

Activist Nikhil Dey said the funeral would take place in Tilonia at 4 pm on Tuesday. Roy is survived by his wife, the social activist Aruna Roy.