we will tell you about Medha Patkar who is a well-known Indian social Activist. She is known for her works on economic and women’s issues. In this blog we are going to tell you the Medha Patkar Biography, so read this full blog to get the complete information.
Medha Patkar Bio
Medha Patkar is a well-known Indian social activist. She works on various crucial political and economic issues which are raised by tribals, the farmers, laborers, and women who face injustice in India. She is an alumnus of TISS which is a premier institute of Social Science Research in India.
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Early life
She was born on 1 December 1954 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Currently, she is 67 years old as of 2021. Her father Vasant Khanolkar who was a freedom fighter and Labour Union leader and her mother Indumati Khanolkar was a gazetted officer in the Post and Telegraph department. She has a brother named Mahesh Khanolkar and he is an architect.
She has done an MA in Social work from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences.
She was married for seven years but later her marriage ended in divorce.
Political career
In January 2004, during the World Social Forum which was held in Mumbai. She and other members of the National Alliance of People’s Movement started a political party called Lok Rajniti Manch. However, she did not participate as an active politician but she created an environment and atmosphere by campaigning. Most people said that she should stand in the election but she denied it.
Then in 2014, she joined the Aam Aadmi Party led by Arvind Kejriwal. She and her organization supported the Aam Aadmi Party during the Lok Sabha campaign.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, she contested for the North East Mumbai constituency but she lost. Then in March 2015, she resigned from the Aam Aadmi party’s primary membership.
As an Activist
She worked with voluntary organizations for five years in Mumbai and the tribal districts of Northeast districts of Gujarat for 3 years. She has also worked as a member of the faculty at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences.
She has participated in many events including Narmada Bachao Andolan, Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan, National Alliance of people’s movement, Tata Nano plant Singur, Nandi gram land grab resistance, Lavasa, Golibar demolition, Save Sugar Cooperatives mission, Hiranandani land scam, and Kovvada Nuclear project.
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Awards
She has received many awards and honors for her public service as an activist and social worker. Her awards include Right Livelihood Award in 1991, Goldman Environment Award in 1992, Green Ribbon Award for Best International Political campaigner by BBC, England in 1995, Human Rights defender’s Award from Amnesty International, Germany in 1999, M.A. Thomas National Human Rights award from Vigil India Movement in 1999, Person of the Year BBC in 1999, Deena Nath Mangeshkar award in 1999, Mahatma Phule Award in 1999, Basavashree Award in 2001, MatoshreeBhimabai Ambedkar Award in 2013 and Mother Teresa Award for Social Justice in 2014.
