India, Nov. 10 -- Social activist Sanjit "Bunker" Roy, who founded the Barefoot College and spent more than five decades on rural development and women's empowerment, died at his home in Tilonia in Ajmer district on Tuesday morning. He was 81.

He died at 6.15 am in the presence of his wife, the activist Aruna Roy, and others close to him. "He went as he wanted to, in his own home in Tilonia, surrounded by some of the countless people who loved and cared for him deeply and passionately," a statement from those associated with him said. Activist Nikhil Dey said the funeral will be held in Tilonia at 4 pm.

Roy founded the Social Work and Research Centre, known as Barefoot College, in Tilonia in 1972. What began in a Rajasthan village becam...