Nirmala Deshpande (17 October 1929 – 1 May 2008) (pronunciationⓘ) was a noted Indian social activist who had embraced Gandhi and philosophy.

She devoted her adult life to the promotion of communal harmony and service to women, tribal people, and the dispossessed in India.

Her peace mission to Kashmir in 1994 and her initiative in organizing India-Pakistan meet in 1996 were her two major public service achievements.

[8] In 2006, Deshpande championed clemency for Afzal Guru, who had been convicted of a terrorist attack on Indian Parliament in 2001.

Deshpande visited many cities in the United States of America on a tour organized by a prominent Indian American from Lansing, Michigan in the last few years of her life.

[4] Deshpande authored several novels in Hindi, "Seemant", on the theme of women's liberation, and "Chimlig", based on Chinese cultural ethos, (one of which got a national award), some plays, and travelogues.

After her death, the magazine is being published every month through crowdfunding by one of her close associates Ram Mohan Rai, a social activist from Panipat (Haryana).

Deshpande received the Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award (2005) and the Padma Vibhushan title in 2006.

Nirmala Deshpande ji also received first Banarsi Das Gupta "Rashtra Gaurav Puraskar" on 5 November 2007 in a function, present to her by Vice President of India Sh.