OBC Organisations Nominated Dr Manisha Bangar for Padma Shri for her Distinguished Efforts in Uplifting Bahujan Community

Other Backward Caste (OBC) organizations from several states nominated Dr Manisha Bangar for the prestigious Padma Shri award.

The Padma Awards are one of the highest civilian honours of India announced annually on the eve of Republic Day. The Awards are given in three categories: Padma Vibhushan (for exceptional and distinguished service), Padma Bhushan (distinguished service of higher-order) and Padma Shri (distinguished service). The award seeks to recognize achievements in all fields of activities or disciplines where an element of public service is involved.

This is Why OBC Organisations Nominated Dr Manisha Bangar

Dr Manisha Bangar is a Gastroenterologist and a liver transplant specialist. She is professionally practising medicine for the last two decades. For the last two twenty years, she has been making invaluable and distinguished contributions in the field of medical research, and education. She has been a member of the Governing Body Council of The Liver (INASL) and the South Asian Association for the Study of the Liver (SAASL).

Along with her excellent professional medical expertise, she is also a Human Rights champion. She is an activist and analyst of social and political issues. She is the former Vice president of BAMCEF and a founding member of the National India News Network. 

She is an active voice of Bahujan and a dedicated Human Rights activist committed to uplifting the Bahujan community. 

Dr Bangar responded humbly when the NIN team reached out for her comment on this, she replied, “I am aware that the Padma awards have been announced a few days ago. For me, more important than winning or not winning the award is the fact many OBC organisations in a self-driven and self-motivated manner from many states nominated me for the fourth highest civilian award given by Government of India.”

It is gladdening and very satisfying for me that I have received the unwavering support of organizations journalists, lawyers from the OBC community who themselves in a very high spirited and committed way the movement for representation education and public health for India’s disadvantaged communities, she added.

On asking how she looks at leading Bahujan organizations rallying for her, she said, “Never in my past two and half decades of work have I ever focused on awards rewards etc but the fact that my diligence has been noticed by National level organisations and independent thought leaders to be enough for other Bahujan activists thought leaders, journalists is very gratifying thing for me means more to me than winning any award.”

She also raised concern about the underrepresentation of Bahujan communities in state awards, she said “It is also a fact that SC ST OBC is grossly underrepresented in any of the State awards”. I hope that this will inspire many Bahujan activists and community leaders to carry on their work in this arena and keep the struggle on, Dr Bangar added.

Dr Manisha Bangar’s believes that through fair Representation and Diversity Bahujan community can realise its full potential

For the past two decades, Dr Bangar has organized numerous seminars on representation to achieve diversity and equality among institutions of India. Through her news media network, she is ensuring fair representation and diversity in the newsroom. Dr Bangar has been also participating in various anti-caste movements and ensuring safe institutional spaces. For the past two decades, Dr Manisha Bangar has been actively promoting the rights of the Bahujan community and especially of women. She is holding a national-level leadership position for more than a decade now. 

For the same Dr Bangar proposed solutions at the Symposium on Sustainable Development Goals – Combating Inequalities for the achievement of SDG on 13 April 2016 in New York City, USA. She was a speaker at the symposium and presented before the UN Secretary-General, the impediments in achieving the SDG 2020, 2026 & 2030 in the area of health in India and proposed solutions.

She has also been training and creating grassroots level leadership among the indigenous community youth and women. 

Caste Based Census will Smash the Brahminical Politics 

Dr Bangar has been actively campaigning for the caste-based census. The Government and other Non-Bahujan parties are not keen to include the caste column in the census and so far avoiding the questions on this subject matter. Dr Bangar through media campaigns and by supporting grassroots organizations and Bahujan activists ensuring the census based on caste.

She started a series of panel discussions to aware Bahujan communities about the caste census. Several distinguished faculty and academicians were invited for the talk and discuss the caste census. At the same time, she ensured a platform for the young emerging leadership advocating for the caste census. 

Through her social media account, she made appeals and influenced people to lobby together against the Brahminical plot of discouraging caste-based census. She has been campaigning for OBC rights and against Brahmanical supremacy for the last two decades. 

During the COVID 19, the Pandemic safety of the people was the topmost priority and still, it is  

Dr Manisha Bangar has been educating the masses and raising awareness on COVID 19 for more than 2 years through video messages. She started a special series combating corona with Dr Manisha Bangar where she was debunked misinformation and fake news on the deadly virus and also aware the masses by suggesting the right means. She led another awareness campaign on covid vaccines asking people to get vaccinated.

Alternative Media to strengthen the democratic forces and ensure a media platform for Bahujan

Dr Bangar founded and established an alternative Digital Media platform – “National India News Network” in 2017. The news network within three years has grown exponentially and is currently a digital platform with a 2.04 million subscriber base and 30 million viewership.

She also started a Weekly Talk Show Program to discuss public policies and suggest solutions on pertaining issues. In “Policy Matters with Dr Manisha Bangar” she discusses, critically analyse and debate various aspects of Health and Education Policies especially from the perspective of its accessibility and benefit to the disadvantaged groups.

As the Managing Director of “National India News”, she ensured the streaming of informed debates on issues of the underprivileged population of India. The commitment of this channel under her leadership for diversity in Media was highlighted in the symposium on “Media and Caste ” conducted in Harvard University in February 2020, and it was published in a prominent digital platform “The Print” 

which has a three million subscriber base. For the last 5 years in news media, her utmost priority is to strengthen the democratic forces and ensure media platforms to Bahujan 

She is also among the founding member of the media training institute of the NIN network started in the year 2021 

Nourishing the Bahujan Politics through Elections 

Dr Manisha Bangar participated in the Indian Parliamentary Election 2019 and contested for the seat of Member of Parliament from the Nagpur, Maharashtra Lok Sabha Constituency. 

She is also serving as the National Vice President of the People’s Party of India–D since November 2018.

Honoured with Prestigious Awards and Recognition 

Dr Bangar has been Honored and felicitated by the Kalinga Gastroenterology Foundation (KGF) – Orissa by Prof Emeritus Gastroenterology Dept., AIIMS Dr S. K. Acharya the “Kalinga Samman” award for outstanding work to educate the community about Hepatitis control, eradication, health care accessibility and liver disease awareness in August 2017

She has been also Honored by the President of World Hepatitis Alliance (WHA)- Geneva, Switzerland Mr Charles Gore by the Title “ FRIEND of WORLD HEPATITIS ALLIANCE “ in recognition of the exceptional work to educate, increase awareness and improve the lives of the people living with hepatitis in India in general and Andhra Pradesh in particular in May 2013

Along with medicine, she has been also honoured by several prestigious awards for her social work. In May 2017 Organization of Minorities of India, the USA honoured Dr Bangar with Global Bahujan Award. Along with a couple of awards in the year 2020, she was honoured with the prestigious Eashwari Bai Award presented by the Telangana Govt for distinguished service to the marginalized communities and gender empowerment. This award was presented by distinguished ministers and top opposition leaders from Telangana State and the Government of India.

A Bahujan Relentlessly Working for the Bahujan community for the last two decades 

Dr Manisha’s relentless work to combat hepatitis made her the only woman in India to be awarded the title of “Friend of Alliance” (2012-2013) by WHO- World Hepatitis Alliance. It was for her exemplary work at the clinical and community level to influence real change in health outcomes for those with chronic hepatitis. In her efforts of making hepatitis free society, she reached out to more than 7 lac population of united Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Since 2009, she is raising awareness about hepatitis by providing free consultation and screening. She is frequently organizing vaccination camps, public events educational programs.

Her effort impacted 500 million people around the world which is recognized by World Hepatitis Alliance 

In the state capital of Telangana, she conducted seven major public events on World Hepatitis Day for a decade. Her involvement in 2012-13 with WHA made the record on Guinness world Book. She established 50 medical camps and reached out to 2.5 million populations. For Hepatitis awareness she created a huge grassroots network in 9 districts.

Through project (IC – Hep) she made her reach up to taluka level training medical practitioners and community people. She engaged youth and established a network of trained clinicians to support the general public in a total of 9 districts AP – Telangana. 

Utilising her position as Governing Council Member and Task Force member of National and South Asian Liver Disease Associations as well as Nutrition forums she is constantly engaged in policymaking and advocacy at grass root levels. 

Utilizing her social media influence she engaged with several doctors and organized discussions and awareness programs to combat coronavirus. Her work during the pandemic was recognized by various mainstream media.

General Secretary Dharmendra Kushwaha on the behalf of OBC Mahasabha nominated Dr Bangar. OBC Mahasabha is a pan-India organisation representing 560 million people of India. National President of OBC Sevasangh Pradeep Dhobley also nominated Dr Bangar on the behalf of OBC Sevasangh for her extraordinary contributions in uplifting the socio-political and health conditions of the Bahujan community.

Several other organisations, lawyers and journalists endorsed and nominated Dr Bangar. Former The Hindu journalist Mallikaarjun endorsed whereas senior journalists like Mahendra Yadav, Mahesh Donia, Chandra Bhushan Yadav nominated Dr Bangar’s for the Padma awards.