Anand was raised in Mumbai, completed his Bachelor of Commerce in Mumbai and post-graduate studies in Baroda. He was in his early teens when he became involved in activism during the emergency. In late 1970s, when emergency ended with the change in the government, he saw that people's problems did not get solved. He realized that one of the main causes of people's issues was unequal resource allocation, where a small percentage of urban population takes away most of the resources, depriving the rural poor of their basic needs. He also realized the need to be at the grassroots level to have a deeper understanding of people's problems. He moved out of Mumbai and settled in a small village in the district of Bharuch in Gujarat. He worked there with a small non-governmental organization (NGO) called Sarvangeen Gram Vikas Mandal. During his work with the NGO, Anand realized that the "Project-Program-Target" model adapted by NGOs is detrimental to mobilizing people as both the NGO and the beneficiaries look only at the short-term success or gains of a project and not at the root of the problems. Hence he decided not to form an NGO of his own but instead to form a network of friends and work on issues at the grassroots level as well as those at the macro level. In 1991, he moved to Kantidra, a small tribal village, 65 km downstream from the Sardar Sarovar dam and stayed there until 1999. By this time, he had started taking on a larger role on issues such as tribal rights, economic policies and communal harmony. So he decided to move to Rajpipla from where travel and communication was easier. Anand was introduced to AID when AID Jeevan Saathis, Ravi Kuchimanchi and Arvinda Pillamari, met him in Mumbai in 1998. Since then Anand has helped AID to get in touch with many grassroots organizations in Gujarat. A humble Gandhian, Anand earned his living by selling jaggery while focusing the bulk of his time in environmental struggle and people's issues. Highly recommended by senior AID volunteers, Ravi Kuchimanchi, Arvinda Pillamari, Gautam Desai and Dr.Mohan Bhagat, Anand became an AID Saathi in 2004. His honesty, humility, commitment and intellectual abilities are beyond doubt. Anand's grassroots work along with his abilities to organize and the anti-communal stand that he has taken are critical to furthering AID's education in these various developmental issues. AID bay area chapter has been coordinating his saathiship and proudly stands by Anand and his work! | |||
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AID started a new chapter in engaging with grassroots movements in Gujarat when we elected Anand Mazgaonkar as our Saathi. Anand is based in Rajpipla in Gujarat and is a senior activist with Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti (PSS) and National Alliance of Peoples' Movements (NAPM).