Medha Patkar born December 1, 1954, is an Indian social activist and also known as a former Politician working on various crucial political and economic issues in India raised by tribals, farmers, laborers, and women facing injustice and inequality in India.

Patkar is the founder member of the 32 years old people’s movement called Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) which was done in three states: Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat. This moment has been established in a struggle for justice for the people who were affected by the dam projects related to the Sardar Sarovar dam project. She is also one of the founder members of the National Alliance of People’s Movements, an alliance of hundreds of people’s developing organizations.

Career

 Medha Patkar worked with voluntary organizations for 5 years in Mumbai’s slums and local tribal districts of North-East districts of Gujarat for almost 3 years. She also worked in the faculty at Tata Institute of Social Sciences but resigned her position to take up the fieldwork. She was a Ph.D. and a scholar on traditional societies and studied economic development and its impact in India. After working up to M.Phil. level she again left her unfinished Ph.D. when she became much interested in her work with the tribal and farmer communities in the Narmada valley spread over three states [Maharastra, Gujrat, Madhya Pradesh].

The National Alliance Of People’s Movement

The National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) was held in India, with the stated aim of working on a range of issues related to socio-economic justice and inequality mainly for women. Medha Patkar founded the National Alliance of People’s Movements with the objective of “facilitating unity, equality and providing strength to peoples’ movements in India, further questioning the current development model to work towards is just an alternative”. She is known as the national convener of the Narmada Bachao Andolan.