Pune Aug 25 PTI Gail Omvedt a leading scholar on caste studies died in Maharashtras Sangli district on Wednesday after a prolonged illness family sources said Dr Omvedt 81 who breathed her last at her village Kasegaon pioneered caste studies having come as a student from the US and settled down in India in the 1970s She married Bharat Patankar a Marxist scholar and activist and the couple lived in the village Omvedt who first came to study caste and Mahatma Phules movement in Maharashtra as a PhD student was moved by the caste and untouchability system in India and settled down in Maharashtra to work for the liberation of the oppressed castes a colleague said The American-born Indian scholar sociologist and human rights activist was well known for her writing on Dalits OBCs and Adivasis Omvedt was a prolific writer and published numerous books Her PhD thesis introduced Mahatma Phules Satyashodhak movement to the world and her book Dalits and Democratic Revolution became popular with young students A leading figure in the Phule-Ambedkarite movement she was actively involved in many movements Born in Minneapolis Dr Omvedt came to India after completing her higher studies and plunged herself into the various social movements for the Dalits poor and downtrodden farmers women and other public causes The Omvedt-Patankar couple founded the Shramik Mukti Dal in the early 1980s and she became an Indian citizen during this period She authored several books on various social subjects taught in colleges and universities and penned columns for various newspapers worked for the United Nations Development Programme Oxfam NOVIB and other international bodies She headed the Phule-Ambedkar Chair in Pune University under the Department of Sociology She also taught at the Institute of Asian Studies in Copenhagen The Dalit Intellectual Collective said she was one of Indias most original thinkers who did not let caste and class be erased in the feminist movement Time is yet to produce another scholar and incisive and capacious thinker like her it said in a statement Others who condoled her death included historian Ramchandra Guha CPI M leader Sitaram Yechury Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray Thackeray said her contribution to various social movements in India folk traditions and her work on womens rights will be remembered She is survived by her husband daughter Prachi son-in-law Tejaswi and granddaughter Nia PTI SPK ARU VT VT VT

Pune Aug 25 PTI Noted researcher and co-founder of the Shramik Mukti Dal Dr Gail Omvedt died of prolonged illness in Kasegaon village of Maharashtras Sangli district on Wednesday family sources said She was 81 As a student in the US Dr Omvedt took part in various movements such as anti-war agitations After completing her post-graduate studies in America she came to India and started her studies on various social movements and the work of Mahatma Phule During her doctoral research she wrote her thesis on Non-Brahmin Movement in Western India and started working for the cause of Dalits women and other deprived classes Dr Omvedt co-founded the Shramik Mukti Dal with her activist husband Dr Bharat Patankar and became an Indian citizen in 1983 The activist-researcher penned more than 25 books including Cultural Revolt In Colonial Society - The Non-Brahmin Movement in Western India Seeking Begumpura Buddhism In India Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar to name a few Dr Omvedt is survived by her husband daughter son-in-law and granddaughter Condoling Dr Omvedts death Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said her contribution to various social movements in India Sant literature folk traditions and her work on womens rights will remain noted PTI SPK ARU ARU