Vinoba Bhave, 1895 - 1982, was the spiritual successor of Mahatma Gandhi. He is famous for the land gift movement, Bhoodhan movement, where people donated land to the landless poor of India.

His importance is illustrated by the fact that when Jawaharlal Nehru became the first prime minister of the independent republic of India, Nehru first of all went to see Vinoba Bhave to get his blessing.

In his relentless work on improving the life in the Indian village Vinoba Bhave soon realized that leprosy was a common illness that required their attention. A leprosy centre was therefore opened in Dattapur in 1936 with Manoharji Diwan in charge.

It was therefore quite natural that 43 years later the head of the National Leprosy Control Programme in India, Dr K.C. Das, when travelling in India visiting the member states and their control programmes, he also paid a visit to Vinoba Bhave.