Mrinaltai IAWS Newsletter July 2012_Page_18

, Women’s rights activist and Veteran socialist leader who combined her crusade for social justice and distributive justice for more than five decades passed away on 17th July, 2012. Hundreds of women, men and elderly from different walks of life-social and political workers, women’s rights activists, trade unionists, teachers, nurses, community workers for whose causes and day to day survival struggles she had strived all her life participated in the funeral procession. Even powerful politicians against whom she had campaigned during anti price rise movement had nothing but words of admiration and appreciation for her simple, transparent, Spartan life and unflinching dedication to her mission of serving the poor and the marginalized sections of society.
She brought issue of safe drinking water centre stage during 1960s. In 1964, she stormed into the BMC and tore up the ballot papers after 11 people were killed in water riots in the slums since municipal law did not permit water connections to the slums. This injustice was rectified, the slums got taps. She remembered by three generations of Mumbaikars as "Paaniwali Bai" (a woman who got the water).