Social Activist and Barefoot College Founder Bunker Roy Dies at 81

Renowned social activist and founder of Barefoot College, Bunker Roy, passed away on November 10, 2026, at the age of 81. Born Sanjit Roy in 1945, he was widely recognised for his lifelong commitment to rural development, community empowerment and the use of practical knowledge to improve the lives of people in underserved villages.

According to his family, Roy passed away peacefully at around 6:15 am in the presence of his wife, Aruna Roy, and other family members. His funeral was scheduled to take place on Tuesday evening in Tilonia, Rajasthan, the village where he had spent much of his life working with rural communities.

Roy's contribution to India's development sector was rooted in a simple belief: rural people possess valuable knowledge and abilities, and they should have the opportunity to use those skills to improve their own communities. Through Barefoot College, he helped develop a model of education and rural development that challenged conventional ideas about expertise, technology and social progress.

From Elite Education to a Life Dedicated to Rural India

Bunker Roy was educated at Doon School and St Stephen's College. During his younger years, he was also a successful sportsman and became a three-time national squash champion.

However, a visit to the famine-affected region of Palamu in 1966 changed the direction of his life. At that time, Palamu was part of Bihar and is now in Jharkhand. The experience exposed him to the difficult living conditions faced by rural communities and deeply influenced his understanding of poverty and development.

After spending around one and a half years travelling, Roy decided to settle in Tilonia, Rajasthan. Instead of pursuing a conventional professional career, he chose to work directly with villagers and understand their everyday challenges.

His early work included collaborating with a farmer friend, Meghraj, on drilling wells to improve water availability and recharge local water resources. These experiences helped shape his approach to community-based development.

The Beginning of Barefoot College

In 1972, Roy established the Social Work and Research Centre (SWRC) in Tilonia. The organisation later became widely known as Barefoot College.

The institution was built around Gandhian principles of self-reliance, dignity of labour and decentralisation. Its approach was different from conventional development models that often depended on outside experts and formal qualifications.

Roy believed that people from rural communities could learn technical skills and become experts in their own fields, even without formal academic degrees. He wanted development programmes to recognise local knowledge and give communities the ability to solve their own problems.

One of his well-known ideas was that institutions should make space for people often overlooked by mainstream systems, including those he described as "cop outs, drop outs and wash outs".

The philosophy reflected his belief that education and opportunities should not be limited to people with conventional academic achievements.

Solar Energy and the Solar Mamas Initiative

One of Barefoot College's most recognised initiatives involved training rural women to become solar engineers.

The programme, popularly associated with the name "Solar Mamas", trained women from rural communities to install, maintain and repair solar energy systems.

Many of the women selected for the programme had limited formal education. Through practical, hands-on training, they acquired technical skills that allowed them to bring electricity to homes and communities that lacked reliable access to power.

The initiative also challenged traditional assumptions about women's roles in technology and engineering. By training women as solar technicians, the programme connected clean-energy access with women's empowerment and economic participation.

The Solar Mamas initiative became an important example of Roy's wider philosophy: communities should be equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to manage their own development.

Work Across Rural Development Sectors

Barefoot College's activities extended beyond solar energy. Its work covered several important areas of rural life, including water conservation, education, healthcare, livelihoods and women's empowerment.

The organisation focused on practical solutions that could be developed and maintained by local communities. Rather than treating villagers simply as beneficiaries of development programmes, Roy encouraged them to become active participants and decision-makers.

His approach placed particular importance on decentralisation. He believed that solutions designed around local needs and managed by local people could be more sustainable than systems imposed from outside.

Over the years, his work helped bring attention to the importance of grassroots knowledge and community participation in development.

National and International Recognition

Bunker Roy received several awards and honours for his contribution to social development.

He was awarded the Jamnalal Bajaj Award in 1985 and the Padma Shri in 1986. He also received the Tyler Prize in 2004 for his work in environmental and social development.

In 2010, he was included in TIME magazine's list of the world's 100 most influential people.

Despite receiving international recognition, his work remained closely connected to rural communities and the development model established in Tilonia.

A Legacy Built on Self-Reliance and Dignity

Roy's work challenged the idea that development must always depend on highly qualified professionals, outside institutions or expensive technology. He demonstrated how rural communities could build their own capabilities through training, practical experience and collective participation.

His efforts in solar energy, water conservation, education and healthcare helped establish a distinctive model of grassroots development.

Following his death, Barefoot College said that his legacy would continue to live on through the people, communities and initiatives he helped inspire.

Bunker Roy's life represented a long commitment to the belief that ordinary people can become agents of meaningful change. From his early experience in famine-affected Palamu to the establishment of Barefoot College in Tilonia, his journey remained focused on dignity, self-reliance and empowering rural communities.