Written by: Smriti Lama - 25015, Grade X
Posted on: 17 January, 2023
Kailash Satyarthi is an Indian social reformer who is known for his activism for children’s rights education. His original name is Kailash Sharma. He was born into a Brahmin family on January 11, 1954, in Vidisha, India. His father’s name is Ramprasad Sharma, and his mother’s name is Chironji. He is 68 years old now, and he is married to Sumedha Kailash. He has two children, Bhuwan Ribhu (son) and Asmita Satyarthi (daughter). He is the youngest of the four brothers and a sister in his family. He comes from a middle-class family and was raised in a neighborhood with people of various religions. He completed his education in Vidisha and then joined the Government Boys Higher Secondary School in the same palace in Vidisha for higher studies. Then, after he graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from Samrat Ashok Technological Institute.
He also joined the college in Bhopal as a lecturer for a few years. Kailash Satyarthi gave up his career as an electrical engineer in 1980. Then he founded the "Bachpan Bachao Andolan," which means Save Childhood Movement. He also founded GoodWeave International in 1994, which is currently known as Rugmark. In 1998, Satyarthi conceived and led the Global March against Child Labor, which in the end led to the adoption of ILO Convention No. 182 on the worst form of child labor. Satyarthi is the one who fought against widespread social tolerance for child labor in India. He has been a member of UNESCO and has also been on the board of the Fast Track Initiative, which is now known as the Global Partnership for Education. He even brought child labor and slavery into the post-2015 development agenda for the United Nations' sustainable goals. The Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation was established in 2004 by him. This is the organization that spreads awareness and advocates for beneficial policies for children’s rights. Bharat Yatra was established by Kailash Satyarthi's Children’s Foundation to spread awareness about child trafficking and sexual abuse. This organization was established in Kanyakumari on September 11, 2017.
Satyarthi has received many different international honors and awards till date. He even received the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award in 1995. More than 1,200,000 people marched for 35 days, which led to the Criminal Law Amendment Act 2018 with a strict prohibition against child rape. The Yatra resulted in the Anti-Human Trafficking Bill being passed by the 16th Lok Sabha. Satyarthi is also the joint winner of the 2014 Nobel Prize, along with Taliban attack survivor Malala Yousufzai. Kailash Satyarthi now lives in New Delhi, India. And his family also includes his daughter-in-law, son-in-law, and a grandson.
References
Gowen Annie and Lakshmi Rama, “Peace Prize recipient Kailash Satyarthi has long campaigned against child labor”, Asia & Pacific, Annie Gowen and Rama Lakshmi, The washington post, Oct. 10, 2014
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/peace-prize-recipient-kailash-satyarthi-has-long-campaigned-against-child-labor/2014/10/10/358956aa-5078-11e4-877c-335b53ffe736_story.html
