Sankar grew up in a poor household in the rural Sundarbans in the delta of the Bay of Bengal. Situated a few hours south of Kolkata, this coastal region is tremendously affected by global climate change and periodically devastated by fierce cyclones. An intelligent student, Sankar was admitted to an excellent engineering college but was at the brink of dropping out because he could not afford the tuition. A kind gentleman intervened by paying his tuition fees. After Sankar graduated, he went back to repay the loan, which the benefactor refused. Instead, he asked Sankar to pay it forward by helping others in the locality to succeed. This inspired Sankar to establish ‘Mukti’ (Bengali: freedom) in 2003.
In the Sundarbans now, Sankar and Mukti have become synonymous with the spirit of giving and their dedication to making life better for the underserved. Mukti has assisted over a million people through three catastrophic super cyclones. It has constructed 20,000+ toilets, helped 8000+ farmers shift to organic farming, and assisted 25,000+ women to start with micro-banking. Additionally, it has secured educational scholarships for 1800+ students.
Multiple national and international awards later, Sankar continues to focus on finding innovative, capital-efficient ways to increase the impact of Mukti’s work. He visualizes and is determined to achieve 10x growth across all Mukti’s programs over the next few years.
