Anil’s Long and Hard Fight for Justice!

Anil Gavasane is a fighter. A tenacious fighter. He admits that his successes are too few and failures too many. But his motto is “Himmat nahi haarni hai. Atleast yeh toh log samjhenge ki ek aisa aadmi bhi hai jo raaste ka kaanta banta hai. Yeh bhi zaroori hai”. 

Anil’s fight for justice began when he returned back to his small village Malwandi, Taluka Barshi, in Solapur district from Pune in 2011. His father was a wage labourer who died without really getting the benefits he should have. This unjust condition of his late father moved him towards activism. As he started understanding the situation in his village, he realised that the core problem is that all resources, including those that come via the Gram Panchayat are controlled by a few landowners. 

His work is focused on improving the conditions of his village and removing corruption from his Panchayat so that all entitlements can be fairly distributed. He does not belong to any organization as such. He is part of the Samvidhan Pracharak movement. On his own, he has undertaken 7-8 andolans - on safai, aanganwadi, on MNREGA wages, on drinking water for the local school, on the road in the village. Not all of these have been successful. Yes, the drinking water RO was installed and the non-existent road was made. But it is still a kaccha road so he is fighting for it to be made pucca. But his biggest andolan is to remove corruption from the Panchayat. His first andolan against Panchayat was on 20th July 2022 and he is still fighting the powerful vested interests. 

Through his andolans and public meetings he reaches out to people in his village, taluka and district. Most people in his village come for his andolans and public meetings. At the taluka and district level, he has about 30 people who work with him from time to time. Another way of outreach to people he has used is that he has motivated his wife to form Mahila Bachatgat (SHG) through UMEED, a NRLM programme. Through these groups she has provided support to 100-150 families. He helps her with these, by advising on what schemes are available for such SHGs and how the women in these groups can use them to their benefit. 

After the training with We, the People Abhiyan his respect for the Constitution has increased and he has a better understanding of his role as a citizen. He better understands how the government works. He also realised that his battle is not personal, his fight is with the system, the prashashan. In fact, he finds innovative ways to keep the prashashan informed so that his threats are also reduced. Whenever he goes on an andolan, he writes a letter to all authorities naming people who have threatened him!

Since WTPA training, the most important shift has been in his mindset. He understood that it is his responsibility to fight for justice and equality, that the Constitution requires him to fight. Also, he now believes that citizens are maalik. Earlier, when anyone in authority asked him – “tu kaun”, he used to feel intimidated. Now, he feels his power as a citizen, he feels the power of his rights. He knows that the government is his sewak. So, he feels so much more confident than before. He says firmly, “Mujhe daring aa gaya hai”!

The above story has been written and published with the explicit consent of the individual involved. All facts presented are based on WTPA's direct interaction with the individual, ensuring accuracy and integrity in our reporting.