Known and loved by millions of villagers and city-folk of India and the world over, Medha Patkar, founder of the Narmada Bachao Andolan and the National Alliance of People's Movements, was born on 1 December 1954 in Bombay. Her father fought in India's independence movement and later was a trade unionist. Her mother works in a women's organisation named Swadhar. After earning an M.A. in Social Work from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, she worked with voluntary organizations in Bombay slums for 5 years as well as tribal districts of North-East Gujarat for 2 years. She left her position on the faculty of Tata Institute of Social Sciences as well as her unfinished Ph.D. when she became immersed in the tribal and peasant communities in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat eventually organized as the Narmada Bachao Andolan. The Narmada Bachao Andolan began as a fight for information about the Narmada Valley Development Projects and continued as a fight for just rehabilitation for the lakhs of people to be ousted by the Sardar Sarovar Dam and other large dams along the Narmada river. Eventually when it became clear that the magnitude of the project precluded accurate assessment of damages and losses, and that rehabilitation was impossible, the movement challenged the very basis of the project and questioned its claim to "development." (For a history of the Narmada Bachao Andolan please see Sanjay Sangvai "The River and Life: People's Struggle in the Narmada Valley", Bombay: Earth Care Books, 2000)

Among India's most dynamic activists, Medha tai or Medha didi, as she is called by schoolchildren and police alike, knows the Narmada Valley hamlet by hamlet. Equally fleetfooted on the narrow mountain paths with only a torch and the light of the moon and stars, or on the Indian Railways where all the Ticket Collectors (TCs) are familiar with her travelling karyalaya -- documents, banners, pamphlets -- Medha Patkar follows the truth to its lair. Veteran of several fasts, monsoon satyagrahas on the banks of the rising Narmada, her uncompromising insistence on the right to life and livelihood has compelled the post-Independence generation in India as well as around the world to revisit the basic questions of natural resources, human rights, environment, and development. Facing police beatings and many jail terms on the way, she continues to believe in the best of people and the democratic system. She has won over police and even government officers through her simple faith in justice and comprehensive analysis of the facts. At a recent occupation by the Narmada Bachao Andolan of the Ministry of Water Resources in Delhi, a police officer was heard saying on his mobile phone, "But this is not a law and order problem." Linking the Narmada Bachao Andolan with hundreds of peasant, tribal, dalit, women and labour movements throught India, Medha Patkar is a Convener of the National Alliance of People's Movements - a non-electoral, secular political alliance opposed to globalisation-liberalisation based economic policy and for alternative development paradigm and plans. She has served as a Commissioner to the World Commission on Dams, the first independent global Commission constituted to enquire on the water, power and alternative issues, related to dams, across the world.

Taking up a two-pronged approach of sangharsh (struggle) and nirman (constructive work), Medha tai has worked with villagers and community groups to develop alternatives in energy, water harvesting, and education for tribal children. The Reva Jeevanshala, using both state and local syllabus taught by local teachers in the local language, is a system of 9 residential schools and 4 day-schools in the tribal villages of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat.

Medha Patkar has received numerous awards, including the Deena Nath Mangeshkar Award, Mahatma Phule Award, Right Livelihood Award, Goldman Environment Prize, Green Ribbon Award for Best International Political Campaigner by BBC, and the Human Rights Defender's Award from Amnesty International.


Medha Patkar is an eminent activist in India. She built foundation of human rights movement in India through Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA). NBA - started as a fight to seek information about the Narmada Valley Development Projects has inspired numerous human rights movements in India and worldwide ever since. Adding entirely different dimension to leadership Sangharsh (struggle) and Nirman (constructive Work) Medha Patkar brings up a broader vision to seek micro-to-macro, local-to-global linkage. As a result of her dualistic thinking and acting, she helped create National Alliance of People's Movement (NAPM) - a collaboration of various organizations across India to collectively organize around issues like, globalization, neoliberalism, and sustainable development.

During the early nineties Medha Patkar started gaining national and international attention for her efforts in the movement. She was honoured by various national and international awards. She is recipient of the Goldman Environment Award in 1991 as well as in 1992. Medha Patkar has also received various other prestigious honours such as the Mahatma Phule Award, Right Livelihood Award, Green Ribbon Award for Best International Political Campaigner by BBC, the Human Rights Defender's Award from Amnesty International, and many other.

However, one of her greatest rewards came in 1995 from the Supreme Court of India. Previously, in 1994 Supreme Court gave permission to increase height of the dam on Narmada river in some areas. NBA filed a petition to stop construction of the dam on the grounds of its inconsistent economic planning, severe environmental hazards and lack of rehabilitation plan for the citizens whose livelihoods were connected to that land. Supreme Court, in 1995, ruled in favour of NBA by stopping construction until Government could come up with a coherent plan. However, NBA's work is relentlessly going on by supporting the villages and communities in that area with alternative energy, education, water harvesting and several other things. And this inspirational journey of Medha Patkar and NBA is receiving worldwide support and recognition.