Dr. Janak Palta McGilligan

Indian Social Worker

Dr. Janak Palta McGilligan, veteran social worker runs the Jimmy McGilligan Centre for Sustainable Development in the village Sanawadiya, Indore for the past 25 years. She is a prominent Social Worker, Social Scientist and committed to Sustainable Development.

Janak Palta left her home, job and family in Chandigarh and moved to Indore, as a Baha’i pioneer in 1985 in response to the call from National Spiritual Assembly of Baha’i’s of India to establish Barli Development Institute For Rural Women (http://www.barli.org). She served as a director of the Institute for about 26 years for empowerment of 6000 tribal and rural young women from 500 socially and economically deprived villages of India to become social change agents for sustainable community development. She was able to do this work along with her dedicated husband Jimmy McGilligan who also left his home country, family and business as a UK Baha’i pioneer. Unfortunately, he passed away following a fatal road accident but his mission is being carried on by his wife Janak Palta McGilligan as a Centre of Learning for Sustainable Development.