Nana Patekar’s work in Beed through the Naam Foundation supported women’s livelihoods, families affected by farmer suicides and drought-hit villages, leaving behind projects that reached thousands of rural residents, beneficiaries and local organisations said after his death was reported on October 10.
Patekar co-founded the Naam Foundation with fellow actor Makarand Anaspure in September 2015. The foundation worked for more than a decade in drought-prone parts of Marathwada, supporting farmers and rural communities through livelihood assistance, housing, education and water conservation initiatives.
For Rajashri Pardeshi of Arvi village, the organisation’s intervention began with a sewing machine distributed in 2015. Her husband, a mason, became bedridden after falling at a construction site, leaving her responsible for running the household and educating their children. With no agricultural land to rely on, Pardeshi used the machine to earn about Rs 500 a day.
Pardeshi was among 200 women in Arvi who received sewing machines from the foundation. She told The Indian Express that the machine helped her educate her children and rebuild her family’s financial stability. Her children are now married and settled.
The foundation also supported families affected by farmer suicides. Deepak Nagargoje, founder of the Beed-based Shantiwan NGO, said Patekar and Anaspure helped build a hostel for 200 students from families affected by farmer suicides. The facility was intended to help children continue their education despite crop failures, debt and the loss of a primary breadwinner.
Housing support was another part of the work. Shailesh Bade, from Arvi, said his father died by suicide in 2016 after repeated crop failures and mounting debt. The family had been living in a kutcha house, while financial hardship had delayed the marriages of his sisters. Bade said Patekar supported the construction of a pucca house for the family. He is now pursuing graduation while working at an electronic equipment manufacturing company in Ranjangaon MIDC.
The foundation’s interventions extended beyond individual households. Shivram Ghodake, its Beed district coordinator, said river desilting and widening work across more than 30 km had benefited 140 villages and around one lakh farmers in the district. The organisation also distributed soybean, jowar and other seeds before sowing seasons, provided flour mills, cattle and goats to families, sponsored education for needy students and organised tree plantation drives.
Ghodake said the foundation was able to take up water conservation and other projects without being held back by bureaucratic delays, while allowing local residents to participate in the work. He said Patekar had planned to visit the Marathwada region to meet farmers and district collectors over worsening drought conditions, but died before that visit could take place.
The account of Patekar’s work in Beed highlights how rural distress is linked across livelihoods, housing, education, water availability and agricultural income. For beneficiaries such as Pardeshi and Bade, assistance was not limited to immediate relief but helped create earning opportunities or improve living conditions. The foundation’s future work and its response to the region’s drought conditions remain the next developments to watch.
