Dr. Manibhai Desai, a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi and a messiah of the rural poor, walked tall in the development world. His charismatic and legendary leadership in rural development brought BAIF on the international map with global organisations eager to support the innovative programmes of BAIF in dairy development, afforestation, water resources development, tribal development, community health and empowerment of women. On the domestic front too, this crusader of the rural poor received invitations from various states to promote BAIF’s models of rural development in their states and improve the livelihood status of rural communities in those states. Today, BAIF is implementing programmes in 15 states of India and has reached out to more than 4.0 million families from 100,000 villages.
On the occasion of his 104th birth anniversary today, the BAIF team expresses their tribute to their Founder who inspired countless youth to engage in rural development and pledges to continue his mission of ensuring rural prosperity through various livelihood and climate action-oriented programmes for achieving carbon offsetting and neutrality.
