Bharat Ratna Nanaji Deshmukh

Prime Minister, Narendra Modi paid tribute to Bharat Ratna Nanaji Deshmukh for his Jayanti.

Context

Prime Minister, Narendra Modi paid tribute to Bharat Ratna Nanaji Deshmukh for his Jayanti.

Nanaji Deshmukh born as Chandikadas Amritrao Deshmukh on October 11, 1916 in the Marathi-speaking Deshastha Brahmin family in Kadoli, a small town in the Hingoli district of Maharashtra.
He was a social activist and a longtime member of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), who also played a key role in the JP Movement against the Indira Gandhi government.

He joined RSS at the age of 13.
He was associated with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh from 1928 until his death (2010) in Satna, Madhya Pradesh, and was known for starting a series of inspired RSS schools throughout India.
As General Secretary of the Lok Sangharsh Samiti, Deshmukh was the main force behind the social activist Jayaprakash Narayan agitation for total revolution.

He was a veteran of Sangh Parivar, a founding member of the Janata Party, and one of the senior-most members of the BJP.
Nanaji Deshmukh was the founding member of the Baratiya Jan Sangh.
Nanaji Deshmukh has worked in the field of education, health and self-employment in rural areas.
He was politically active in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
He represented the Uttar Pradesh region in Balrampur constituency in Lok Sabha from 1977 to 1979.
He played an important role in carrying out the social restructuring programme in over 500 villages of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Deshmukh also founded the country's first Saraswati Sishu Mandir in Gorakhpur in 1950 and was the founder of the Deendayal Research Institute based in Chitrakoot.
He was also honored with the Padma Vibhushan in 1999.
After his death he was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest award in 2019 by the Government of India.
Nanaji Deshmukh died on 27 February 2010 (at the age of 94).