The Madhya Pradesh police today filed a case against social activist and founder of the ‘Narmada Bachao’ movement Medha Patkar and 11 others for allegedly misusing around Rs 13 crores collected in the name of education of tribal children. The complainant also alleged that the money collected by the Narmada Navnirman Abhiyan trust was being used in funding anti-national activities. The activist has refuted the allegations and said that the complainant is a member of the student wing of the ruling BJP’s ideological mentor the RSS.
The First Information Report, or FIR, was filed under section 420 of the Indian Penal Code in the Barwani district.
Patkar is the trustee of the Narmada Navnirman Abhiyan trust.
A complainant named Pritam Raj Badole has registered the FIR alleging that Medha Patkar misled people by impersonating herself as a social worker who works to provide primary-level education to the tribal children of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, while also providing residential living schools for educational purposes.
Meanwhile, the activist refuted the allegations against her and said that while she has not obtained any official notice from the police, she was ready with an answer to every charge.
Asserting that the complainant has connections with Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) which is the student wing of BJP’s ideological mentor of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Patkar said, “We have the audit report available for every question regarding the financial status. We, in fact, won the case against the Delhi Lieutenant Governor as we do not accept foreign money and always audit our bank accounts. Even in the future, we will keep answering and putting forth the evidence. The complainant is a member of ABVP and is connected with RSS.”
“We have used the money to help people generate livelihood and will keep doing it. We have been charged with such allegations in the past as well. We do not accept CSR funds, however, it was only once when we accepted it from a Nandurbar collector and we have already registered the audit for the same,” she added.
With inputs from NDTV
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