In his short speech, Baba Adhav, winner of the Lifetime Contribution Award,
gave the assembled audience a line that is surely destined to become a
much-used catchphrase.
Unmindful of the assembled ministers and MPs, Baba said, “The government
keeps announcing that the GDP is increasing. But the sad part is that the other
GDP – the gareeb, dalit and peedit (suffering) – is also a number that is
increasing.”
The applause to this was deafening, and it was obvious the line resonated
with the audience, coming up in several conversations through the rest of the
evening. “The highlight of my evening was Baba Adhav’s speech,” information
commissioner Shailesh Gandhi said later.
The 82-year-old’s tone was gentle and his Marathi-accented Hindi disarming,
but there was no blunting the steel in his words.
After thanking TOI for the award, which pointedly said he accepted on
behalf of crores unorganised workers across the country, Baba promised to
continue working for an equal India free of exploitation. These fighting words
from an octogenarian drew instant applause from the audience. But Baba then
said, “While accepting this award, I am filled with great sadness and anxiety
that we are moving further from a just and equal society. Differences are
increasing, and the feeling of brotherhood is ebbing. The basic values of our
Constitution are being violated.”
The audience gave Adhav a standing ovation the end of his speech. “That was
truly overwhelming,” he said later.
Baba’s wife, Sheela, and members of the Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari
Panchyat (KKPKP), a waste collectors’ union from Pune, were in the audience see
their hero finally getting the limelight in the national capital of decades of
unselfish toil.
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