bskusum@gmail.com
Born on June 04, 1947 in Jhunjhunu, India Bhawani did his Master’s in Sociology.
JP movement
Inspired by the Gandhian philosophy of "Sarvodaya" ("universal uplift" or "progress of all"), Bhawani Shanker Kusum resigned from the Government service and involved in Sampoorn Kranti Aandolan (Peaceful total revolution) under the leadership of Jay Prakash Narayan (J.P.) in 1974. He was nominated by J.P. in the six members National Committee of the Non-party Students and Youth forum ‘Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Vahini’ in 1977 and mobilized the youth of India for “Transformation of the Society", a nonviolent revolutionary movement against the corrupt polity and political system.
With Baba Amte
He played vital role in coordinating the Knit India March with 200 youth on bicycles to establish ahimsa and other Gandhian values in all parts of India under the leadership of reverend humanist
Baba Amte in 1985 (South to North) and 1987 (East to West) for raising awareness on human rights, peace and brotherhood among all sects of the society. He engaged in the rehabilitation of 1,000 leprosy-affected people by emancipating from beggary and making them self-reliant.
At international level
He served as NGO delegate for Asia Pacific in the UNAIDS Program Coordinating Board (Geneva) for 2 years, NGO Observer for Asia Pacific in the Clean Technology Fund Committee of the World Bank for 2 years and CSO representative from Asia in The united nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). He is presently working as President, Gram Bharati Samiti, and National Coordinator of Intersect Worldwide (an international Network of NGOs).
Prohibition
He actively engaged in the movement for prohibition in the slums of Jaipur under the leadership of Shri Gokul Bhai Bhatt, the reverend Gandhian and one of the founders of Rajasthan. Thirteen wine shops (Thekas) running in the midst of the slums closed after yearlong agitations, peaceful
demonstrations and picketing. Also, he played a key role in organizing state-level people’s movements through various activities i.e. rally, demonstrations, dharna etc. in support of Gokul Bhai’s demand for total prohibition in Rajasthan in 1978.
Reclamation of Bhoodan land
In 19979-80 he went in the tribal area of Rajasthan bordering to M.P. to work on a project of developing Bhoodan land (Land donated to Vinoba a reverend Gandhian leader for further distributing it to the landless poor) for ‘Sahariya’ tribe in the remote of district Kota. While working for reclaiming infertile, stony and barren Bhoodan land he worked untiringly to promote Gandhian values among the tribal communities through multifaceted activities e.g. organizing tribal youth to stop extracting elicit liquor, which was very common in several villages, running night classes at their ‘Sahrana’ (a community place) for non-formal education, unionizing for protecting their human rights and violence against women and girls.
He organized ‘PADYATRA’ (Walk on foot) for ‘Gram Swaraj’ (People’s sovereignty) in hundreds of villages of the area under the leadership of Mr. Siddharaj Dhadda and Mr. Brahmdutta Sharma, the eminent Gandhian leaders of Rajasthan. He organized youth camps to sensitize them to stop having liquor and smoking, take care of health and hygiene and to be aware of their rights. He could close 10 breweries with support of local youth, women and community leaders. He accomplished the project successfully by allotting the land to 50 families of Sahariya tribe after making it cultivatable.
Countries visited
Indonesia, the Netherlands, Germany, Kenya, U.K., Philippines, Australia, Spain, France, Switzerland, Thailand, Canada, U.S.A., Zambia, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Morocco, Cambodia, Pakistan, Turkey, Nepal, China, Burkina Faso to participate and make presentation on various topics i.e. human rights, violence against women and girls, combating drought and land degradation, women’s land rights etc..
Freelance journalism
He did freelance journalism for 20 years and wrote cover stories, articles, short write ups on contemporary issues in leading Hindi dailies and magazines including ‘Dharmyug’, ‘Dinmaan’, Navbharat Times, Rajasthan Patrika, Itwari Patrika etc. on contemporary issues and problems of the society.
He has served as:
Awards and appreciation
