Nagpur, Jan 27 (IANS): Thakurdas Bang, a Gandhian, freedom fighter and community worker, died at his home in Wardha here Sunday, a family member said.

He was 95 and is survived by his wife Suman and sons Abhay and Ashok.

"He passed away this morning peacefully due to old age. He was not suffering from any serious ailments," Abhay Bang told IANS.

His funeral ceremonies shall be performed at Wardha this evening, he added.

Thakurdas Bang, his son Abhay Bang and daughter-in-law Rani were the moving spirit behind the NGO Society for Education, Action and Research in Community Health (SEARCH), Gadchiroli. They worked for the uplift of the poorest of tribals and marginalised villagers in this north-Maharashtra district.

During the Indian freedom struggle, Thakurdas Bang - who was then planning to leave for the US to study on a doctoral thesis in economics - went to seek Mahatma Gandhi's blessings in Wardha.

Gandhi told him that if he wanted to study economics, he should go to the Indian villages. Thakurdas Bang did not go to the US and dedicated his life to rural community work.

Later his sons, agro-scientist Ashok Bang and medico Abhay Bang, followed in their father's footsteps and are at the forefront of the social and rural reforms movement in Maharashtra.