A formal case has been registered in Madhya Pradesh against ‘activist’ Medha Patkar, who gained notoriety as a result of the “Narmada Bachao Andolan,” in a cheating case. Medha Patkar and several others have been accused of misusing funds in the name of educating tribal children. An FIR has been lodged in Madhya Pradesh’s Barwani against Medha Patkar and 11 others in this regard.
In the FIR, Pritam Raj, the complainant, accused Patkar of embezzling more than Rs 13 crore on the pretext of funding educational opportunities for tribal children. The complaint also alleged that Patkar had misappropriated funds since she did not have accounts for all of the donations collected for the education of the tribal poor between 2007 and 2022.
According to the FIR, Medha Patkar raised more than Rs 13 crore through the ‘Narmada Navnirman Abhiyan’ foundation. She has been accused of inciting anti-government sentiment by soliciting donations for education.
In addition to Medha Patkar, the FIR names Parveen Romu Jahangir, Vijaya Chauhan, Kailash Avasya, Mohan Patidar, Ashish Mandloi, Sanjay Joshi, and others as accused.
Medha Patkar is best known for her ‘Narmada Bachao Andolan’ against the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada river. The protest contributed to the years-long postponement of the Sardar Sarovar Dam project on the Narmada River. So-called social activists and environmentalists like Medha Patkar expressed concern as soon as the construction of the project started. When Medha Patkar visited the project site in 1985, she accused that the dam had fallen short of the social and environmental requirements set forth by the Ministry of Environment and Forests.
For suspected money laundering during the “Narmada Bachao Andolan,” the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had filed an FIR against activist Medha Patkar on April 5 this year. In addition to the ED, investigations into Patkar’s shady dealings have also been initiated by the Department of Revenue Intelligence and the Income Tax Department.
According to a Pioneer report, Patkar’s NGO received a donation of roughly Rs 1.2 crores within a year of its foundation in 2004 but managed to elude authorities for almost 17 years.
The investigation raised a number of concerns regarding the payments. According to records obtained by the Pioneer, the NGO received the funds on June 18, 2005, from 20 different sources in a single day. Surprisingly, the amount of all 20 donations was the same, which was Rs 5,96,294. Pallavi Prabhaar Bhalekar, one of the donors, was a minor at the time the donations were transferred.