Kailash Satyarthi Biography
About Kailash Satyarthi
A child rights activist, Kailash Satyarthi recently became a household name when he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 alongside Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai.
Born on January 11, 1953 in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, Satyarthi gained immense recognition and appreciation for his contribution to alleviate child labor from the country and also his work, including the establishment of Bachpan Bachao Andolan which provides rehabilitation to look after the progress of those children who have been rescued from places where they were working and were victims of bonded labor.
Kailash Satyarthi started off as an electrical engineer, but he left the career to serve those children who have been victimized by the grave problem that child labor is.
Since childhood itself he would always feel empathetic towards the plight of such children and had the urge to do something for them.
Kailash Satyarthi has always been compassionate towards the less fortunate and in the year 1980, in order to make the masses know more about how rampant the problem of child labor actually is, he started a journal called The Struggle Shall Continue, and soon teamed up with other people sharing similar interests to influence the public about the ill-effects on child labor in the society.
While the Bachpan Bachao Andolan has till date rescued more than 80,000 children from the clutches of bonded labor, Satyarthi’s determination and headstrong attitude to help eradicate child labor from the country has also led to the creation of another organization with similar goals—South Asian Coalition on Child Servitude.
This organization has also proved to be a successful initiative, helping save more than thousands of children from the act of bonded labor.
To take the initiative further, Kailash Satyarthi established the Bal Ashram in Rajasthan, where these rescued children are not just facilitated with rehabilitation but also taught some fundamental elements, to live a happy and healthy life.
Kailash Satyarthi has also been a part of the UNESCO’s Education for All agenda and has done significant work addressing the United Nations Human Rights Commission and General Assembly, conveying a message to the world to come together and fight against the evil that child labor is.
On receiving the Nobel Prize in 2014, he has dedicated the award to his country India.