Jockin Arputham Biography 
Jockin Arputham is a social worker from Mumbai, who is fondly addressed as ‘slum dweller’and ‘toilet man’, but with dignity and honour. Arputham has worked for more than 40 years in slums and shanty towns, mainly in Mumbai for the betterment of urban living. He is the founder president of the National Slum Dwellers Federation, an organization he found in the 1970s aimed at proper organizing of efforts by Slum Dwellers International. Government of India bestowed on him its fourth highest civilian honor, the Padma Shri award in 2011. He is also a recipient of year 2000 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Peace and International Understanding, and an honorary doctorate by KIIT University, Bhubaneswar in 2009.
Jockin Arputham hails from Karnataka. He was born in Kolar Gold Fields, Kolar district of Karnataka in 1947. Both his parents are from Tamil Nadu, and hence he is of Tamil origin. He moved to Mumbai in the early 1960s for job opportunities. During early days he worked as a carpenter and building contractor. He got married and also had two daughters, who are now married and settled in Bangalore. But they assist their father in social work.
Ever since Jockin Arputham made Mumbai his home he has worked for the people around him. Over the years, while at Mumbai, he took great efforts for developing slums, providing them access to water and sanitation, and forming savings groups to many initiatives started by him, and he also provided proper channels to organize those activities. Visible transformation especially in the ghettos of Mumbai, where he is based is a testimony of his true dedication in the rehabilitation of the people belonging to the slum areas. He also earned him a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize 2014, which later went to yet another Indian social worker Kailash Satyarthi.
Published: October 04, 2018
Updated: October 04, 2018
