Dattatraya Ekbote, known popularly as Datta Ekbote ( – 2 September 2020), was an Indian workers' rights activist, politician and former

Mayor of Pune The Mayor of Pune is the first citizen of the Indian city of Pune. The mayor is the chief of the Pune Municipal Corporation. The mayor’s role is largely ceremonial as the real powers are vested in the Municipal commissioner (India), Municipa ...

, the second largest city in

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

(after

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

) and the eighth largest city in

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 ...

. Ekbote was a longtime, vocal activist for workers' rights, especially in India's

beedi A beedi (also spelled bidi or biri) is a thin cigarette or cigar, mini-cigar filled with tobacco flake and commonly wrapped in a tendu (''Diospyros melanoxylon'') or ''Piliostigma racemosum'' leaf tied with a string or adhesive at one end. It ...

industry. The

, or bidi, is a type of cigarette popular in India. Ekbote grew up in extreme poverty to become a prominent labor rights activist and politician. He was the former Maharashtra State Vice President of the

Samajwadi Party The Samajwadi Party ( SP; ) is a Socialism, socialist political party in India. It was founded on 4 October 1992 by former Janata Dal politician Mulayam Singh Yadav and is headquartered in New Delhi. It is the third-largest political party in ...

. He was also a member of the

Janata Party The Janata Party (JP, ) is an unrecognised political party in India. Navneet Chaturvedi is the current president of the party since November 2021, replacing Jaiprakash Bandhu. The JP was established as an amalgam of Indian political partie ...

and, later in his career, the

Nationalist Congress Party The Nationalist Congress Party is one of the List of political parties in India#State parties, state parties in India and is one of the major political parties in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Maharashtra with a recognised state party statu ...

(NCP). In August 2020, Ekbote began exhibiting symptoms of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic in India The COVID-19 pandemic in India is a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). As of , according to Indian government ...

and tested positive for the virus. He and his family tried to have him admitted to intensive care units of several private hospitals in Pune, but they were unable to find an available hospital bed or an ambulance for emergency treatment. Local officials had to appeal to Maharashtra state officials in order to finally secure his admission to a public medical centre,

Sassoon Hospital Sassoon General Hospital () is a large state-run hospital in Pune, India with over 1500 beds. The B. J. Medical College, Pune and a Nurses training School is attached to it. The Jewish philanthropist David Sassoon from Mumbai made a generous do ...

, where he reportedly did not receive proper treatment. Ekbote died from COVID-19 at

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

at 12:30 a.m. on 2 September 2020, at the age of 84. Ekbote's 45-year-old son, Ravindra or "Ravi", also died from COVID-19 on 31 August 2020, after testing positive for the coronavirus. The former mayor was survived by his wife, their two daughters, and a grandson. He was cremated at Kailas Cemetery in Koregaon Park. Ekbote's death drew attention to the lack of medical infrastructure to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic in Pune. Ekbote died just days after the death of local television reporter,

Pandurang Raikar Vithoba (IAST: ''Viṭhobā''), also known as Vitthala (IAST: ''Viṭṭhala''), and Panduranga (IAST: ''Pāṇḍuraṅga''), is a Hindu deity predominantly worshipped in the Indian states of Maharashtra and Karnataka. He is a form of the Hindu ...

, who also died because he was unable to secure a bed or

ventilator A ventilator is a type of breathing apparatus, a class of medical technology that provides mechanical ventilation by moving breathable air into and out of the lungs, to deliver breaths to a patient who is physically unable to breathe, or breathi ...

in an intensive care unit, just like Ekbote.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ekbote, Datta 2020 deaths Mayors of Pune Indian civil rights activists Workers' rights activists Activists from Maharashtra Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in India 1930s births Janata Party politicians Nationalist Congress Party politicians from Maharashtra Samajwadi Party politicians from Maharashtra