She is not only a famous social worker but her life is also influenced by Gandhian ideology. She is also recognized all over the world for the oppressed people of society. She is a role model as well as a source of inspiration. By now you must have probably understood that we are talking about Medha Patkar. She fought for the rights of the people of about 37 thousand villages affected by the Sardar Sarovar Project. He also led the movement of the displaced people of Maheshwar Dam.
Medha, who raised her voice at the national and international level, was born on 1 December 1954 in a middle-class family in Mumbai to Vasant Khanolkar and Indu Khanolkar. Her father freedom fighter and mother social worker. Her childhood took place in this social and political environment. Perhaps this is the reason why she emerged as the voice of the neglected by taking inspiration from his parents. Today she probably doesn’t need any introduction. Her name is his identity. She started taking interest in social work from the very beginning and due to this she earned a master’s degree in social service in 1976 from Tata Institute of Social Science, Mumbai. After that she started working with some voluntary organizations in Mumbai and Gujarat for five years. Simultaneously started teaching postgraduate students at Tata Institute of Social Science.
Development issues cannot be contained within national boundaries.
She did the work of teaching in this institute for 3 years i.e. from 1977-1979. She also taught his students how to work in the field of social science. Registered for PhD in Urban and Rural Community Development while still teaching. In the meantime, they tied the knot, but this relationship did not last long. Eventually both of them decided to part ways with mutual consent. She once again made up her mind to complete the incomplete studies of PhD, but due to the hindrance in her work, leaving her studies in the middle, she completely engaged in social service. When she raised his voice about the Narmada Valley, its echo was heard in the country and abroad.
Now her life started revolving around it. She started living a simple life. Wearing a cotton sari and thongs, a simple looking woman could hardly believe it when she spoke fluent English. People listened to her words mesmerized. Her words started having a magic effect on the people. People listened to her words mesmerized. She became a voice for the people affected by the Sardar Sarovar Project. Since 1985, she has been active in every movement related to Narmada. She became a living example for the downtrodden society. She fought for the Narmada Valley for 16 years and is doing his own thing. They stay in the valley most of the time. In 1991, she fasted for 22 days, when his condition had deteriorated.
In 1993 and 1994 also she observed long fasts. On June 5, 1995, the prominent Sarvodayi leader of Uttarakhand, Sunderlal Bahuguna, went to meet him on the completion of 51 days of fasting, but before reaching Tehri, she was arrested at a place called Narendranagar. This was not the first time for him. Even before this she has gone to jail many times for the people of the valley.
It’s essential that we reach the global centers of power to fight not just centralized planning, but privatization-based planning.
Apart from the governments of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra, her fight was also against the World Bank. Medha, who once challenged openly against the World Bank, is now also a member of one of its advisory committees. Her organization has also done commendable work in improving the condition of basic education, health and drinking water. It would probably not be an exaggeration to say that he worked to connect all the mass movements of India with each other. She started the National Alliance for People’s Movement. She has received so many awards at national and international level, which are secondary in front of her personality.