Chandikadas Amritrao Deshmukh

Born: 11 October 1916

Died: 27 February 2010

He was a social activist from India.
He worked in the fields of education, health, and rural self-reliance.
He was honored with the Padma Vibhushan in 1999.
He was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award in 2019 by the Government of India.
He was a leader of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and also a member of the Rajya Sabha.
He did social work in Gonda (U.P.), Balrampur and Beed (Maharashtra).
The motto of his project was: “Har hath ko denge kaam, har khet ko denge paanee”.
He also established Chitarkoot Gramoday Vishwavidyalaya in Chitrakoot, India’s first rural University, and served as its Chancellor.
He implemented the philosophy of integral humanism to improve the living standards of more than 150 villages of Bundelkhand.
He was nominated to Rajya Sabha by the NDA Government in the year 1999 in recognition of his services to the nation.