Nandurbar’s independent adivasi candidate, Nirmala Vasave aims to uplift tribal population

Nirmala Kagadya Vasave, an independent Lok Sabha candidate, aims to uplift Nandurbar's tribal population through development and rights advocacy.

For over 75 years the tribal population of Nandurbar have been kept away from all kinds of development and growth, but it is high time that one among the adivasi stands up for the rights of its people, said 38-year-old Nirmala Kagadya Vasave, an independent candidate contesting for the Lok Sabha seat from People’s Party of India Democratic.

With pamphlets and posters underway, Ms. Vasave’s public rallies and campaigns will begin on May 3 in the tribal-dominated district, of Nandurbar, Maharashtra, which votes on May 13 in Phase 4  

Taking to The Hindu from Bhangarpada village in the Akkalkuwa taluka of Nandurbar, Ms. Vasave is happy that her party’s symbol is an ‘Autorickshaw’, finalised recently. “An autorickshaw does not discriminate with its passengers. In my opinion, autorickshaw drivers are the most honest people. They are not rich but go out of their way to serve people,” she said.

Belonging to the Bhil tribal community, her family comes from an agricultural background. “My family is supportive of what I do,” Ms. Vasave said. Her family, including her mother and nine siblings (six sisters and four brothers), are engaged in farming and grow mahua, bhagar (barnyard millet), jowar (Sorghum), bajra (Pearl millet), maize, pulses like urad among others.

She is the seventh among all the siblings who in 2006 had worked for two years with activist-turned-politician, Medha Patkar on Narmada Bachao Andolan, a social movement spearheaded by native tribals, farmers, environmentalists and human rights activists against a dam project across the Narmada River, which flows through the States of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

With a post-graduation in social work (Master of Social Work) from Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth, Pune, she founded the Nirmal Adivasi Charitable Trust to address tribal community issues. Ms. Vasave’s manifesto, reflective of this, is focused on the core issues of the district such as migration, health crises such as malnutrition, anaemia, sickle cell, maternal and child death, water crisis, displacement of people and connectivity in the region.