Medha Patkar (born 1 December 1954) is an Indian social activist best known as the leader of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save the Narmada Movement). Since the mid-1980s she has campaigned for the rights of tribal people, farmers and labourers displaced by the Sardar Sarovar dam and other projects on the Narmada river. She is also a founder of the National Alliance of People’s Movements, a network of grassroots organisations. Her methods are those of non-violent protest: marches, sit-ins and long fasts.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Medha Patkar |
| Born | 1 December 1954, Bombay (now Mumbai), India |
| Age | 71 |
| Occupation | Social activist |
| Education | Ruia College, Mumbai; Tata Institute of Social Sciences (M.A. Social Work) |
| Organisations | Narmada Bachao Andolan; National Alliance of People’s Movements |
| Parents | Vasant Khanolkar, Indumati Khanolkar |
| Honours | Right Livelihood Award (1991), Goldman Environmental Prize (1992) |
Early Life
Patkar was born in Mumbai. Her father, Vasant Khanolkar, was a freedom fighter and trade union leader, and her mother, Indumati, worked in the postal service and with a women’s organisation. She took a science degree from Ruia College and a master’s in social work from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). She worked for several years with voluntary organisations in Mumbai’s slums and in the tribal districts of Gujarat, and she left her doctoral studies at TISS unfinished to work in the Narmada valley.
Narmada Bachao Andolan
In 1985 Patkar visited villages in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat that would be flooded by the Sardar Sarovar dam. She found that people had been told little about the project or about where they would be resettled. She began organising them, and by 1989 the separate groups had come together as the Narmada Bachao Andolan.
The movement held a long march towards the dam site in 1990–91, and Patkar went on a 22-day fast. The protests drew international attention and led the World Bank, which was funding the dam, to set up an independent review. The review was critical of the project, and the Bank’s involvement ended in 1993.
The movement took its case to the Supreme Court, which halted construction for some years but allowed it to continue in 2000, on condition that displaced families were resettled first. Patkar has continued to press for proper rehabilitation, fasting again in 2006 and 2017. The dam was completed and inaugurated in 2017. The writer Arundhati Roy was among the movement’s well-known supporters.
Other Work
In the 1990s Patkar helped found the National Alliance of People’s Movements. She has supported campaigns against slum demolitions in Mumbai, against land acquisition at Singur and Nandigram in West Bengal and for the rights of unorganised workers. She served on the World Commission on Dams. In 2014 she contested the Lok Sabha election from Mumbai North East for the Aam Aadmi Party of Arvind Kejriwal and lost.
Legal Cases
In 2024 a Delhi court convicted Patkar in a criminal defamation case filed in 2001 by V. K. Saxena, who later became Lieutenant Governor of Delhi. She challenged the verdict in higher courts, which upheld the conviction in 2025.
Awards and Honours
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was Medha Patkar born?
Medha Patkar was born on 1 December 1954 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India and is 71 years old.
What is Medha Patkar’s occupation?
Occupation: Social activist.
What honours has Medha Patkar received?
Right Livelihood Award (1991), Goldman Environmental Prize (1992).
Featured image: Medha Patkar speaks at the Bhopal Jan Utsav, 2017. Photo by Chinchu.c, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
