It’s not very common in Indian politics that a politician quits public life at the peak of his career, takes up social service and then ends up getting the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award.

But that’s what Nanaji Deshmukh exactly did.1

After quitting politics in 1980, Nanaji, through the Deendayal Research Institute (DRI), set up alternative rural development models based on traditional knowledge in the remote areas of Gonda and Chitrakoot in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh respectively. Some were established in Maharashtra’s Beed too.

In 2019, he was awarded the ‘Bharat Ratna’ posthumously.

His contributions in the field of rural development and social transformation were carried forward by the DRI, which has now expanded its work to many more states.

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• 1. “When the Janata Party government was formed in 1977, Nanaji Deshmukh was requested to join the government as a minister but he did not do so. He followed J.P. (Jaiprakash Narayan) and preferred to devote himself towards rural development and making our villages self-reliant, free from poverty,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said while inaugurating the birth centenary celebrations of Nanaji three years ago.