Sanjit “Bunker” Roy died on Tuesday at 81 in Tilonia, Rajasthan, where he spent most of his life
He founded Barefoot College in Tilonia and helped turn the village into a global centre for grassroots development
Roy’s work focused on water, irrigation, poverty alleviation, education, healthcare, livelihoods and renewable energy
Social activist Sanjit “Bunker” Roy, who built Barefoot College in Rajasthan’s Tilonia and turned the village into a globally known centre for grassroots development, died there on Tuesday at 81. Born on June 30, 1945, in Burnpur in West Bengal, Roy spent most of his life in Tilonia, where he worked on rural development and poverty alleviation. After moving to Rajasthan, he tackled water problems in drought-hit villages, often digging wells with local residents.
Roy founded Barefoot College in Tilonia in Ajmer district and built an approach that placed rural communities, especially women, at the centre of problem-solving. His work suggested that rural communities did not need urban experts, state institutions or formally trained professionals to solve problems such as poverty and energy access. He also helped place the small village on the world development map, showing that rural communities could generate creative fixes for poverty, energy access and wider inequality.
The institution he built grew from local work on water and irrigation to a wider model covering education, healthcare, livelihoods, water conservation and renewable energy.
From Doon To Tilonia
Roy trained at Doon School in Dehradun and St Stephen’s College in Delhi. He then chose village-level work over a more conventional career path and moved to Rajasthan.
In 1972, he set up the Social Work and Research Centre in Tilonia to tackle water and irrigation problems. The work began in drought-prone villages, where Roy joined local communities in digging wells and addressing water stress.
That early phase shaped the institution that followed. Roy stayed on in Tilonia for the rest of his life and built his work around practical local knowledge and village participation.
Barefoot College Model
The centre later became Barefoot College. It expanded into a broader community-led development effort that worked across education, healthcare, livelihoods, water conservation and renewable energy.
Its best-known programme focused on solar power where women from remote villages, many of them illiterate or semi-literate, were trained as solar engineers and became known as Solar Mamas.
They learnt to assemble, install, repair and maintain solar lighting systems before going back to electrify their own villages. Through that model, Roy challenged standard ideas of education by placing trust in rural communities, especially women, rather than formal qualifications.
Global Recognition And Tributes
Roy’s work won recognition in India and abroad. He was decorated with India’s fourth-highest civilian award, Padma Shri, in 1986, the Jamnalal Bajaj Award for applying science and technology to rural development in 1985 and the St Andrews Prize for the Environment in 2003.
TIME magazine included him among its 100 most influential people in the world in 2010. TIME cited his abiding compassion for the rural poor and said Roy nurtured "a grassroots social entrepreneurship that is redefining the way the world thinks about fighting poverty." It also reported that Barefoot College had trained more than three million people for jobs in the modern world, in buildings so rudimentary they have dirt floors and no chairs. TIME said the modest setup is meant to make poor students feel comfortable.
TIME said his simple formula could help nations and aid organisations build a fairer world.
Tributes followed soon after news of his death. Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot said on X that Roy made major contributions to rural self-reliance, education and development by following Mahatma Gandhi’s principles. In a post on X, Gehlot said Roy spent his life empowering villages and improving conditions for disadvantaged communities. Gehlot also referred to his long association with Roy. He said he had recently visited Barefoot College and met Roy and his wife, social activist Aruna Roy.
