Eminent social worker Dattatreya Narayan Dharmadhikari, popularly known as Appasaheb Dharmadhikari, has been conferred Maharashtra Bhushan, the top honour of Maharashtra.
The announcement was made by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Shinde and Fadnavis drove to Appasaheb’s home at Revdanda in Alibaug in Raigad district and felicitated him.
Incidentally, Appasaheb’s father and a renowned preacher-reformer, the late Dr Narayan Vishnu Dharmadhikari, revered as Nanasaheb Dharmadhikari (March 1, 1922 – July 8, 2008) was also conferred the Maharashtra Bhushan in 2008.
For decades, Appasaheb, born on 14 May 1946, has worked relentlessly doing social work, cleanliness, promoting environmental protection, social awakening, eradicating superstition, de-addiction, shunning the practice of dowry, and guiding people to live a happy and peaceful life. Appasaheb has played a significant role in organising several tree plantation drives, blood donation drives, free medical clinics, and job fairs.
He was conferred the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian honour, in recognition of his extensive contributions, in the year 2017.
In the past, the Maharashtra Bhushan has been conferred to Purushottam Laxman Deshpande (1996 - literature), Lata Mangeshkar (1997 - arts, music), Dr Vijay Bhatkar (1999 - science), Sachin Tendulkar (2001 - sports), Bhimsen Joshi (2002 - arts, music), Abhay Bang and Rani Bang (2003 - medical services), Baba Amte (2004 - social work), Raghunath Anant Mashelkar (2005 - science), Ratan Tata (2006 - public administration), Ramrao Krishnarao Patil (2007 - social work), Nanasaheb Dharmadhikari (2008 - social work), Mahesh Padgaonkar (2008 - literature), Sulochana Latkar (2009 - art, cinema), Jayant Narlikar (2010 - science), Dr Anil Kakodkar (2011 - science), Babasaheb Purandare (2015 - literature), Asha Bhosale (2021 - arts, music).