Anil Madhav Dave (6 July 1956 – 18 May 2017) was an Indian

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

and politician. A member of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

, he served as the

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

for Environment, Forest and Climate Change in the Narendra Modi ministry from July 2016 till the time of his death in May 2017.

Career

As environmentalist

Passionate about the revival of the

Narmada River The Narmada River, previously also known as ''Narbada'' or anglicised as ''Nerbudda'', is the 5th longest river in India and overall the longest west-flowing river in the country. It is also the largest flowing river in the state of Madhya Prade ...

, Dave founded Narmada Samagra, an organization to work towards it. In a 2015 interview, he claimed human activity to be responsible for floods of the Narmada, the water of which is stored in the trees and mountains of its bank that seeps into it forming the actual

catchment area A catchment area in human geography, is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...

. He held the release of chemicals into the catchment area responsible for aiding

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

in the region, and added that, "Climate change, in near future, will reduce Narmada into a cricket pitch as the river will die due to irresponsible human activities." He opposed big river projects and felt that those older than 20 years must go through social and economic audit to evaluate what was gained and lost from them. He advocated for natural farming against use of genetically modified seeds.

Political career

Dave was a Member of Parliament, representing

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

in the

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

(the

upper house An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...

Indian Parliament The Parliament of India (ISO: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Government of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the People). The President o ...

) since 2009. He was a member of various committees including the Committee on Water Resources and the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. He was also a member of the Parliamentary Forum on Global Warming and Climate Change from March 2010 to June 2010. He was appointed the

(MoS) independent charge of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in the

Modi Government The premiership of Narendra Modi began 26 May 2014 with his First swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi, swearing-in as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. He succeeded Manmohan Singh of the Indian N ...

's cabinet expansion on 5 July 2016. On 15 August 2016, in the strongest statement of India's move towards an Asbestos-free country, Dave categorically stated "Since the use of

asbestos Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...

is affecting human health, its usage should gradually be minimised and ended. As far as I know, its use is declining, but it must end".

Personal life

Dave was born on 6 July 1956 in the city of Badnagar, in the Ujjain district of

, to Pushpa Devi and Madhav Dave. He earned his master's degree in commerce from Gujarati College,

Indore Indore (; ISO 15919, ISO: , ) is the largest and most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The commercial capital of the state, it has been declared as the List of cleanest cities in India, cleanest city of In ...

, specializing in Rural Development and Management. He also began his political career during this time, taking part in the JP Movement, and was elected the college president. He was also a cadet of the National Cadet Corps' Air Wing. Dave joined the

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,, ) is an Indian right-wing politics, right-wing, Hindutva, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar ( ...

and identified himself as its "swayamsewak" (volunteer).

Death

Dave complained of uneasiness on the morning of 18 May 2017 at his residence in Safdarjung Road,

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

. He was brought to the

All India Institute of Medical Sciences The All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is a group of autonomous government public medical universities of higher education under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. These institutes ha ...

at 8:45 a.m. ( IST) in a state of

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

. Efforts to revive him failed and was pronounced dead at 9:45 a.m. (IST). He had been diagnosed with

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

early in 2017 and had not completely recovered. He was unmarried. In a

will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

written in July 2012, he had expressed a wish that his funeral be performed in accordance to Vedic rituals and "if possible, cremation ... be performed on the banks of river Narmada at Bandrabhan where Nadi Mahotsav was organised". He had added, "If you want to cherish my memories, plant trees and save them. This would give me pleasure." In accordance with his wishes, the funeral was carried out in Bandrabhan, on the banks of the River Narmada, in Madhya Pradesh's Narmadapuram district at 10 a.m. (IST) on 19 May with full state honours. Dave was the second minister in Modi cabinet to die, the first being Gopinath Munde, former minister for rural development, who died in a car accident a week after his swearing-in ceremony.

Publications

* ''From Amarkantak to Amarkantak'' * ''Beyond

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

References

External links

Anil Dave, Rajya Sabha Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dave, Anil 1956 births 2017 deaths Indian conservationists Rajya Sabha members from Madhya Pradesh People from Ujjain Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Madhya Pradesh

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Narendra Modi ministry Rajya Sabha members from the Bharatiya Janata Party