Anshu Gupta
Anshu Gupta | |
|---|---|
| Born | Meerut |
| Education | Indian Institute of Mass Communication |
| Alma mater | Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi |
| Occupations | Founder Director, Goonj |
| Known for | Founder and director of Goonj and Gram Swabhimaan |
| Spouse | Meenakshi |
| Children | Urvi |
| Awards | Ramon Magsaysay Award 2015 Ashoka Fellowship 2004 Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2012 |
Anshu Gupta is an Indian entrepreneur and founder of Goonj, a non-governmental organization based in Delhi.[1] Goonj transfers urban material, particularly cloth, with rural villages, undertaking disaster relief, rural community development and humanitarian aid in parts of 23 states in India. Through Goonj, Gupta built a barter system between rural communities and urban surplus material, transferring material resources like clothing, utensils, food grains as compensation for labour- digging wells, building schools within the community, repairing roads and general community development.[2] Gupta has been recognized by the Ramon Magsaysay foundation for his "creative vision in transforming the culture of giving in India".[3]
Early life
Anshu Gupta was born in Meerut. He spent his early years in Chakrata, Banbasa while his father was posted in the Indian Army's Military Engineer Services (MES).[4]
Career
Gupta worked as a freelance journalist after completing his schooling, writing about history, monuments and humanitarian issues[5]. He was a copywriter at Chaitra followed by Power Grid Corporation, and then Escorts Communication.[6]
Goonj
In 1999, he started Goonj with his wife, Meenakshi, to work on rural aid using the barter of clothing and other material resources for labour and community development. Beginning with 67 pieces of cloth collected in Sarita Vihar, the organization expanded operation across 28 states and 4000 villages, employing over 1000 workers as of 2022.[6]
Cloth for Work
Under Goonj's initiative 'Cloth for Work', village communities across India work on their issues and get urban material for their efforts. Cloth for Work and other Goonj initiatives have received various national and international recognition.[7] Goonj also provides aid to victims of natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes.[8]
Anshu Gupta has been called by media as The Clothing Man of India for establishing clothing as an important developmental work.[9]
In "Cloth for Work", communities have built bamboo bridges, dug up wells, done bunding of acres of land, developed small irrigation canals, have built drainage systems, built village schools, repaired roads, and developed water harvesting systems to clean up water bodies. The organization emphasizes the importance of self-reliance in a community.[10][11]
School to School
Goonj's School to School initiative, launched in Coimbatore in 2010, encouraged students in cities to donate school materials to have them redistributed to rural schools.[12]
Not Just a Piece of Cloth
Gupta initiated the "Not Just a Piece of Cloth" campaign following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The initiative was started after Gupta observed over a 100 truckloads worth of cloth, deemed unwearable, be discarded as waste. The material was recycled into reusable cotton cloth.[10] In the absence of affordable health and hygiene products, unhygienic alternatives like sand, ash or rags are employed with no real alternatives. The initiative aims to help women with the risk of infection and the social stigma against periods.[13]
Rahat
An earthquake in Uttarkashi triggered Gupta's involvement with disaster relief and rehabilitation. For nearly two decades, he has been working on disasters from earthquakes to tsunamis, cyclones, and floods. Goonj's initiative "Rahat" evolved into an active network of stakeholders in rural and urban India, ensuring timely response for generating need-based disaster relief and rehabilitation efforts.[14]
Recognition
- Ramon Magsaysay Award[15][16]
- Ashoka and Schwab Fellowship[9][10]
- CNN IBN Real Heroes award in the women welfare segment[17]
- Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award by Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship[18][19]
- Forbes magazine listed Gupta as one of India's most powerful rural entrepreneurs[1]
- Curry stone design prize[20]
- AIMA (All India Management Association) Award[21]
- Marico Innovation Award[22]
References
- ^ a b Rout, Srinibas (29 July 2015). "10 things to know about Magsaysay award winner Anshu Gupta of Goonj". Business Standard India. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- ^ "Meet The Man Who Has Changed The Way We Look at Giving". readersdigest.in. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
- ^ "Gupta, Anshu – The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation – Honoring greatness of spirit and transformative leadership in Asia". rmaward.asia. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
- ^ https://www.theceo.in/leaders/anshu-gupta
- ^ "Anshu Gupta". World Economic Forum. Archived from the original on 29 December 2025. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
- ^ a b SINHA, PRASHANT (16 August 2014). ""The Clothing Man", Interview with Anshu Gupta, Founder – Goonj". InsideIIM. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
- ^ "Anshu Gupta: Changed the culture of giving in India". The Indian Express. 30 July 2015. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
- ^ Rout, Srinibas (29 July 2015). "10 things to know about Magsaysay award winner Anshu Gupta of Goonj". Business Standard India. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
- ^ a b Goldapple, Lisa (1 March 2021). "India's 'Clothing Man' goes beyond cloth". Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- ^ a b c "Anshu Gupta – Goonj Founder Who Taught India The Joy of Giving". 3 October 2016.
- ^ "Donation is About the Receiver's Dignity: Magsaysay Award-Winner Anshu Gupta". NDTV. 29 July 2015.
- ^ Staff Reporter (18 February 2020). "Goonj launches 'School to School' scheme in Coimbatore". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
- ^ Singh, Ankita (12 April 2022). "Circular Economy & Not Just A Piece of Cloth". thelogicalindian.com. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
- ^ S, Kishan Rao A. (30 June 2020). "Dignity, Not Charity: How Goonj's Three-Point Plan Is Transforming Relief Measures in Crisis-Hit Areas". thelogicalindian.com. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
- ^ Jatin Anand and Kritika Sharma Sebastian (29 July 2015). "Sanjeev Chaturvedi, Anshu Gupta win Ramon Magsaysay Award". The Hindu.
- ^ Foundation, Ramon Magsaysay Award. "2015 Ramon Magsaysay Awardees Announced". RMAF. Archived from the original on 31 July 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
- ^ "Real Heroes Awards Given to Ashoka Fellows | Ashoka | Everyone a Changemaker". ashoka.org. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
- ^ Aditi (13 November 2012). "Goonj wins 'social entrepreneur' award". The Hindu.
- ^ "Awardees". Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
- ^ "Anshu Gupta". IdeaFestival – Stay Curious. 9 August 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
- ^ "AIMA Public Service Excellence Award". aima.in. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
- ^ Foundation, Marico Innovation. "New-age Innovators and Change-makers of India Recognised at the 7th Edition of Marico Innovation Foundation Awards" (Press release). PR Newswire. Retrieved 4 February 2022.