Vilas Rupawate (born 16 March 1967) is an

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n politician from the state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

, working for the betterment of

Dalit Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...

devadasi In India, a devadasi was a female artist who was dedicated to the worship and service of a deity or a temple for the rest of her life. The dedication took place in a ceremony that was somewhat similar to a marriage ceremony. In addition to taki ...

s and widows. In 2011, he joined the Indian National Congress. He became the General Secretary of the

Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee The Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (or Maharashtra PCC) is the state unit of the Indian National Congress for the state of Maharashtra. The head office of the organization is situated in Dadar, Mumbai and administrative office in Colaba ...

in January 2013, Rupawate became President of Nirathar Nirashrit Vyakti Vikas Vibhag under the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee on 25 September 2011. Rupawate is founder of "Vilasbhau Rupwate Pratishthaan", which works with "Maharashtra Niraadhar Mahila Sanghatana" and "Maharashtra Devdasi Mahila Sanghatana". These organizations provide facilities for widows and devadasis. The group had organized a raasta roko protest at Kasarwadi near Pimpri-Chinchwad in June 2009.https://web.archive.org/web/20141218114513/http://vilasbhaurupawate.org/marathi.html

References

1967 births Marathi politicians Indian National Congress politicians from Maharashtra Living people Politicians from Mumbai Social workers from Maharashtra {{Maharashtra-INC-politician-stub