Dr Gopalrao Modak A journey of dedication and sacrifice

checked on 16-08-2012 for the BOOK

Very often we are able to capture the sacrifices of our brave freedom-fighters when their life has been spent in jail or under duress of police action etc. But we rarely capture the sacrifices of those who dedicate themselves for bringing development and well-being in the society. The life-sketch of Dr Gopalrao Modak belongs to the second category.

Born on 15th September 1914 in the family of active freedom fighters, with his father and three uncles in the forefront of freedom struggle, Gopalrao Modak inherited a legacy, which called for commitment to the cause of the nation, sacrifice and concern for others. This was a period when the struggle for the independence was on and young Gopalrao Modak threw himself completely in national activism.

With a Diploma in Medicine and commitment to social service, Dr. Modak left Pune in 1938 to live in a tiny, sleepy village Khanapur in Haveli Taluka of Pune District. He had taken inspiration from Gandhiji and decided to devote his whole life for village development activities. He provided necessary leadership to the villagers and introduced the concept of “Gramswarajya” to change their lot. Dr. Modak, along with his wife, who was a trained midwife, extensively traveled to various neighbouring villages on foot and by cycle to attend to delivery cases and other health problems. He  was the only qualified doctor in the nearby 50 villages. In addition to health care concern, Dr. Modak undertook cleaning up of the villages and convinced the villagers about the importance of hygiene. He trained and involved the villagers in the social tasks he took up for their well-being.

Dr. Modak’s social work and achievements can be broadly divided into three distinct phases, from 1938 till independence, from 1947 till 1985 and from there till his demise in 2007(Verify)

In 1938 he adopted Khanapur as his “Karambhumi” for social reforms. He was successful in his first  venture at inspiring the villagers for development in a spirit of self-help through “Shram–Dan”. As a result a road bridge was constructed in 1939 across a deep gorge that had kept the village divided into two parts.
In 1940, inspired by Gandhiji, he offered ‘Satyagraha’ and organized local farmers to extend moral support to the freedom struggle.
He motivated the villagers to once again resort to self-help to solve local problems and got a 4 k.m road constructed through ‘Shram-dam’ during 1941-45. He had to go on indefinite fast twice to achieve this goal.
In 1946, Dr. Modak conducted a 15-days camp with 75 participants to discuss the importance of rural development and organized regular educational camps, which later became a permanent feature in Khanapur for many years.

In 1947 we achieved independence. Now the phase of Satyagraha and taking up cudgels with foreign government was over. Now began the phase of constructive, developmental activities. Many more villages joined Dr. Modak’s movement to transform their life. With their increasing participation, he initiated and completed the construction of community hall and 100 ‘Sopa’ (saral in hindi) latrines, which were simple and utilitarian in design and easy to maintain. These were completed in 1947.
Dr. Modak invited people from different walks of life including thinkers, writers, social workers, government officials and politicians to visit his project sites and villages to interact with the local people. This resulted in broadening the  vision of the visitors and enrichment of the lives of the host villages.

Under his leadership and initiative, the first dispensary and maternity center were built at Khanapur, which benefited 150 villages of Mose valley and its hinterland. To nurture spirituality among the members of the local community a dilapidated temple was re-constructed in 1951. But he never taught villagers "praying without self-help". During the same period, a school with I -VII standard was also built in the area. The activity of village meetings, lectures and inviting dignitaries to have dialogue with rural masses continued.

Dr. Modak’s constant efforts in the field of education resulted in the construction of a high school and a junior technical and commercial college in 1965, consisting of 22 classrooms and other infrastructure. Under the banner of Sahyadri Vikas Mandal, he continued to get support of the villagers. 

1969 was the birth centenary of Mahatma Gandhi. The Govt. of Maharashtra organized a competition for the villagers on the issues of hygiene,  cleanliness and community development. Due to very large number of community development activities carried out by Dr. Modak, Khanapur won the first prize, in entire Maharashtra. This inspired citizens from many villages and with their participation, he undertook a major afforestation programme at Shirkoli in the Catchments area of Mutha &  Amba rivers, which supply water to Pune.

In 1970 the local government and Pune University organized a seminar in Khanapur. The governor of Maharashtra and the minister of education came to Khanapur. Among the invitees were some Christian missionaries who had been working in Pune for some years: father Deleury, a French national; father Lederley, a German, and Reverend McLord, an Englishman. They were all impressed with the devotion and work of Doctor Modak. “Your work is real missionary work” they said, and promised help.

In 1975 Fr. Deleury chose Khanapur to organize a workshop, which had 200 participants, including a number of Europeans, on the issue of rural development as the foundation of democracy.

With voluntary financial contribution from his friends in Europe, a secondary school, a rural hospital at Sonapur, a reservoir for irrigation purpose and 100 public toilets were built between 1974 and 1980, at Khanapur,  Vardade and neighboring villages. A second hospital was also built in 1980.

All this social work in the Khanapur and nearby village earned appreciations from many foreign Scholars, social workers and journalists and reports on his work have been published in many foreign newspapers. Dr. Modak was invited to visit European countries twice in the past. In 1977 Dr. Modak also submitted a number of community development projects for financial support from EMMAUS  and ICCO both organisations from Holland, but they remained to materialize. However, the effort told him that he could start such activities at  a smaller scale through the continuing support from villagers.

Dr. Modak was a man with modern vision and had directed his efforts to meet the needs and challenges of the 21st century. His approach for the upliftment of the life-quality of villagers was very practical. Starting from birth control, which he took up as early as in fifties,  he  completed many more projects such as water supply system, educational institutions, roads and health care. Responding to Dr. Modak’s crusade for environmental protection, the villagers collectively decided to stop felling of trees and grazing their cattle in the forest.

By mid-eighties, there came a paradigm shift in the life style of villagers. Pune was now a fast-growing mega-city and it was a big pull for the rural youth. The culture of quick money gains had its toll on the work of Sahyadri Vikas Mandal too. Concept of ShramDan and self-sustained villages was long lost. Dr. Modak was modern enough to shift his focus from large-scale  community development projects to smaller groups of deprived people. He, along with his trusted villager-friends, especially shri Appa Jawalkar and some more, took up activities like gurukuls, balwaris , old age homes, destitute women’s homes, bio-gas plants, solar energy projects, wormiculture farms, piped water supply facility and lift irrigation pilot projects etc and continued to work in those areas till end.

In nearly 70 years Dr. Modak accomplished all this at the grassroot level and empowered men and women of all communities through his modern approach. He was a great achiever and did not believe in publicity. He became a role model for three generations. Although he  never worked for awards but awards have been rightfully coming to him for  his tireless work. He was given Jamnalal Bajaj award for social service in the year 1986 and was also conferred an award by industrialist Navalmal Firodia in the year 2001 and was chosen for Swarup Sewa award.  In the year 2003, Dr. Modak was decorated with the Pune Ratna award. 

The best accolade for Dr. Modak’s work has come from the very villagers among whom he has worked untiringly for nearly seventy five years. Many of them donated the land for his cause, be it school building or tree plantation or campsite. The villagers participated in all activities proposed by him for their upliftment. Nearly three generations have stood behind him in his great social movement and in turn have not only benifited but have also learned a lot. He transformed the life of people in the entire region, and his deeds will keep motivating  present generation to realize its social responsibilities and work towards the cause of holistic rural development.

Looking at the great missionary zeal and achievements, Dr. Modak, who was popularly known as the barefoot doctor, in the field of social work, was also nominated for a national recognition of his selfless social service, namely ‘Padmashree award’ for the year 2004.
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