Anna Hazare, born in Bhingar, near Ahmadnagar, India, in a farming family on June 15, 1938, stands synonymous to honesty and activism who fights for a cause silently but ensures his voice reaches every corner.
After serving Army for 12 years, Anna started the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Andolan in Ralegaon Siddhi to fight against corruption in 1991.
In 1992, for efforts in establishing this village as a model for others, Anna was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India.
On 5 April 2011, Anna started a hunger strike to exert pressure on the Indian government to enact a Lokpal Bill, a stringent anti-corruption law. After the government accepted Hazare’s demands, Anna ended fast on 9 April 2011.
Anna participated in the satyagraha movement in 2011, This aimed for a stronger anti-corruption Lokpal bill in the Indian parliament, which was drafted by Kiran Bedi, a social activist and a retired Indian Police Service officer, Prashant Bhushan, Arvind Kejriwal, a social activist, and N. Santosh Hegde, Lokayukta of Karnataka and a former justice of the Supreme Court of India.
The Indian government issued a gazette notification consisting of government, civil society representatives, and formation of a joint committee to draft the legislation.
Hazare also contributed to the structuring and development of a village named Ralegan Siddhi in Parner taluka of Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India.
Anna Hazare: His childhood, young age and profession
Hazare was the eldest son of Laxmi Bai and Baburao Hazare who worked as an unskilled laborer in Ayurveda Ashram Pharmacy. He has four brothers and two sisters.
His siblings never attended school as his father struggled to support the family financially. In fact, he adopted the name Anna, which means “elder person” or “father” in Marathi, however, his real name was Kisan Baburao Hazare.
Anna started selling flowers at the Dadar railway station in Mumbai and eventually managed to own two flower shops in the city.
Anna grew up in the village of Ralegan Siddhi, near Ahmadnagar in Maharashtra state, India and led movements to promote rural development punish and investigate corruption in public life and increase government transparency.
In 1963, he joined the Army and became an army truck driver He remained in the army until 1978.
Hazare undertook army training at Aurangabad.
Even during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Anna was posted at the Khem Karan sector border where he miraculously survived an enemy attack.
After completing 12 years of service as ray driver, Anna was honorably discharged in 1975.
However, determined to use his life to improve the common welfare, he began a rural development social project in Ralegan Siddhi, which suffered from unemployment, poverty, drought, and crime.
His reading habits
He spent his spare time reading the works of Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda, and Vinoba Bhave and also read Swami Vivekananda’s book “Call to the youth for nation-building” many times which inspired him to think deeper.
Anna started the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Andolan in Ralegaon Siddhi to fight against corruption in 1991.
Hazare also contributed to the structuring and development of a village named Ralegan Siddhi in Parner taluka of Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India.
In 1992, for efforts in establishing this village as a model for others, Anna was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India.
Anna Hazare lives a very austere life in a single room attached to the Sant Yadavbaba temple since 1975.
Hazare is unmarried. He owns 0.07 hectares of family land. Anna declared ₹1,500 as cash on hand and his bank balance of ₹67,183.