Kapil Deo was born on March 1, 1964, in a family of Dalit couple Kesari Devi and Laxmi Prasad residing in Malari village near Barachawar development block headquarters in Ghazipur district. He has six sisters and one brother. His father worked as a labour to eke out his livelihood and used to sing in spare time.
He received his primary and junior education at Barachawar and did High School and Intermediate from Hartman Inter College, Hartmanpur, Ghazipur. Because of financial crisis he was deprived of further education for a year. He worked as a labour, collected some money and started graduation level education from the next year from Mathura Mahavidyalaya, Rasara, Ballia. He was married to Lalsa Devi at a young age of 11 years in 1975 and his gawana (a custom in which wife comes to her husband’s home for the first time) took place in 1979. He had to face stiff resistance from the family as his wife did not bring any dowry with her.
During Emergency in 1976, he became associated with Leftist and IPF of Ghazipur. In 1980 he intensively studied for a month history of Dalit movement in Nagpur at Marathwada University. There he became influenced with the mission of Baba Saheb. On coming back home he launched 24-hour akhand kirtan (non-stop recital of devotional songs) of Hare Bhim Hare Buddha to break religious customs. This shook Hindu feudal forces. They implicated several youth of Malari village in fake criminal cases. He opposed police atrocities.
Kapil Deo made his people contest elections to panchayats in the year 1981 to get rid of feudal elements and got success too. During the next five years he played leading role in the panchayat and by 1985 got Malari completely free of crime.
While this went on he came into contact with the Delhi based organisation People’s Institute for Development and Training (PIDT) and other social activists. During 1983 he led Uttar Pradesh in a research project on Energy and Rural Women funded b the International Labour Organisation. Now he decided to form a regional forum of local aware people.
His parents, however, did not subscribe to his activities and they disowned him. He moved into a hut in Malari village itself and restarted life. To earn livelihood he worked as a labour on the farm of several landlords in Malari and neighbouring villages. By 1986 he had two daughters and one son. At the time of birth of his son his wife became seriously ill. During the same year he got 15 bighas of land on lease. To get occupation of his land he had to contest suit and went to jail twice. He became a thorn in the eyes of feudal elements. Soon he donated half of his land in the name of Baba Saheb.
In 1985 he founded Poorvanchal Gramin Vikas Evam Prashikshan Sansthan and got it registered in 1987 under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. Since then he is heading the organisation. In 1989 he got the organisation registered under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 1976. He played the role of trainer in Shiksha Karmi Scheme and Lok Jumbish Project of the Rajasthan Government for almost a year.
While coming back to his home he became victim of rowdy elements of Sikh community. At that time he came into contact with the organisations working at the national level. Gauri Chowdhury of Action Aid started sending Rs 1,000 per month. She cooperated him to get fellowship from Delhi based organisation Jagori. By 1990 he played role of trainer and supervisor in non-formal education project implemented by PIDIT. In 1990 he got became associated with the Ministry of Human Resource Development and other international organisations.
Soon differences cropped up in the organisation he had founded. He struggled and succeeded in getting back the organisation on rails. By 1995 he got the organisation self-reliant. In 1996 he launched a campaign for freeing Mushar community from crime. The same year his son was kidnapped from the hostel of St Xavier College, Ghazipur, and he was freed after a week in captivity.
In 1997 a state level forum of voluntary organisations was formed at the state level. He was elected as founder member of the executive body of the forum. During the same year he formed Dynamic Action Group (DAG) to promote Dalit movement under voluntary movement in the state.
His increasing fame in the social sector brought him in contact with several national and international organisations. He went on his foreign tour during 1997 to Bangladesh. He was part of 10-member delegation to that country.
Kapil Deo’s wife died on September 18, 1998. He was shattered with this loss, but did not bend and continued to promote the organisation. In 1999, he was elected chairperson of Uttar Pradesh Voluntary Action Network (UPVAN). He continued to hold this position for next four years. In 2000, he was elected member of the national committee of the National Dalit Alliance, headquartered in Hyderabad. In 2001, he was made founder of Mushar Action Resource Group (MARG) to study Mushar community and sensitise other voluntary organisations on the issue. In 2001 he founded Poorvanchal Sewa Trust and is managing it since then.
All these efforts got him recognition at the national and international levels. He was elected as a representative for participating in an international conference organised by the United Nations. He made declaration to end casteism along with racism. He along with Voluntary Forum of India raised Dalit issue at Durban (South Africa) and lobbied with international community and media. He got international community aware of the Dalit issue despite the challenges from the government.
He has decided to further the mission of Baba Saheb Jati Toro Manavta Joro (banish casteism link with humanity). He has decided not to rest till ill like casteism ends. Through his struggles he has dedicated himself to get complete freedom for the deprived Dalit community.