Sindhutai Sapkal Biography: The Mother of Orphan

Sindhutai Sapkal (14 November 1948 – 4 January 2022) was an Indian social worker and activist who was well recognized for her work with orphaned children. In the year 2021, she was given the Padma Shri in the field of Social Work.

Early years

Sapkal was born to Abhimanyu Sathe, a cow herder, on November 14, 1948, in Pimpri Meghe hamlet in Wardha district in the erstwhile Central Provinces and Berar of British India.

She was dubbed Chindhi since she was an undesired child (Marathi for "torn piece of cloth"). After passing the fourth grade, she was forced to drop out of school due to extreme poverty, family obligations, and early marriage. Sapkal married Shrihari Sapkal, a 20-year-old man when she was 12 years old and moved to Nawargaon village in Wardha. The marriage did not survive long, and she was left to care for a girl child at the age of 20.

Sindhutai Sapkal Biography: The Mother of Orphan

Work with Adivasis

Sindhutai Sapkal, who began her work with Adivasis in Chikhaldara, eventually ended up begging for food on railway stations. She discovered numerous children who had been abandoned by their parents during the process and adopted them as her own. She then pleaded even more vehemently for them to be fed. She resolved to become a mother to any orphans that came across her path. She eventually surrendered her biological child to the Shrimant Dagdu Sheth Halwai Trust in Pune in order to remove any feelings of bias between her biological and adoptive children.

On May 18, 2016, the weekly Optimist Citizen published an article about Sapkal's struggle: She ended herself in Chikaldara, Maharashtra's Amravati district, in this never-ending struggle for survival. There are 84 tribal villages that were evacuated as part of a tiger conservation initiative. In the middle of the chaos, a project official seized 132 Adivasi villagers' cows, one of which died. Sapkal made the decision to struggle for the full rehabilitation of the tribal villagers who were defenseless. The Minister of Forests recognized her efforts and made suitable preparations for alternate relocation. Sapkal worked for the re-establishment of 84 communities.

Sindhutai Sapkal Biography: The Mother of Orphan

She met Chhedilal Gupta, the then-Minister of Forests, during her campaign. He agreed that the villages should not be relocated until the government has made adequate plans for alternate locations. Sapkal showed Prime Minister Indira Gandhi images of an Adivasi who had lost his eyes to a wild bear when she arrived to start the tiger project. She is reported to have said, "I informed her that if a cow or a hen was killed by a wild animal, the forest service would compensate them, so why not a human? She quickly issued a restitution order."

Sapkal took in orphaned and abandoned Adivasi children after learning of their predicament. In exchange for limited food, Sapkal took care of them. It became her life's mission shortly after that.

Orphanages

Sapkal dedicated her life to helping orphans. As a result, she was affectionately referred to as "Mai," which means "mother." She raised nearly 1,500 orphaned children and had a grand family of 382 sons-in-law and 49 daughters-in-law as a result of their efforts. For her achievements, she has received over 700 honors. She spent her prize money on land to build a home for orphaned children.