Archive · 8 Oct 2026
Nana Patekar Remembered for Helping Beed Families Rebuild Livelihoods
Rajashree Asaram Pardeshi lives in Beed, Maharashtra.
Years ago, her husband was badly injured at work and could no longer work.
Naam Foundation gave her a sewing machine so she could earn money for her family.
She now stitches clothes and says the machine helped bring hope and stability to her life.
The foundation was started after drought and farmer suicides caused hardship in the area.
Nana Patekar and Makarand Anaspure helped families with tools and other support for earning a living.
The foundation also worked on conserving water.
Local coordinator Shivram Ghodake says this work has helped farmers in the region.
Pardeshi and others are mourning Patekar, who died in Goa at 76.
Rajashree Asaram Pardeshi says a sewing machine from Naam Foundation helped support her family after her husband became bedridden.
Pardeshi earns about Rs 400–500 a day stitching and hemming clothes, or nearly Rs 10,000 a month.
Nana Patekar and Makarand Anaspure supported families affected by farmer suicides in Beed during severe drought.
Naam Foundation provided livelihood tools and undertook rural development work, including water conservation.
A 34-kilometre stretch of the Riddhi Siddhi river was desilted and widened; four government-built check dams now benefit 14 villages.
- Who
- Nana Patekar, Naam Foundation, and Beed residents including Rajashree Asaram Pardeshi.
- What
- Patekar is being remembered for supporting rural families through livelihood assistance and water conservation work.
- When
- Patekar died on Thursday, aged 76; Pardeshi said she received the sewing machine about 10 years ago.
- Where
- Beed district, Maharashtra; Patekar died in Goa.
- Why
- The support responded to drought, farmer suicides, and hardship among farming families.
- Pardeshi's sewing machine
- Provided by Naam Foundation about 10 years ago.
- Pardeshi's reported earnings
- About Rs 400–500 daily and nearly Rs 10,000 monthly.
- Foundation's response
- Livelihood tools included sewing machines, flour mills, and livestock.
- River work
- Desilting and widening along a 34-kilometre stretch of the Riddhi Siddhi river in Pimpalner.
- Check dams
- The government built four check dams along the river after the intervention.
- Reported beneficiaries
- The check dams benefit 14 villages; water conservation work supports irrigation on about 10,000 hectares and about 100,000 farmers, according to Shivram Ghodake.
- Patekar
- Died in Goa on Thursday at age 76.