MANS was founded by
Narendra Dabholkar in 1989. In 1999, MANS had protested the canonisation of
Mother Teresa on the basis of purported miracles, although they had praised her service to the ailing and diseased. The organisation campaigned against immersion of
Ganesha idols in water bodies and urged people to use smaller idols and vegetable dyes to avoid polluting rivers and lakes. MANS proposed that citizens could instead immerse the idols into the tanks built specially for this purpose on the riverbanks. In 2011, MANS protested the torture of mentally ill people under the superstitious belief that it will cure them. Such practices were carried out in a
dargah in
Chalisgaon. MANS has also challenged
godmen who claim to perform miracles. In December 2002, a prize of
lakh was announced to be given to anyone who could perform one of the listed 12 miracles. The list included walking on water, floating in air, standing on hot coals for five minutes, being present in two places simultaneously and materialising necklaces from thin air, among others. Members of MANS toured rural areas debunking these godmen. They have campaigned against astrology. In October 2009, MANS organised a contest with a prize money of
lakh challenging astrologers to predict the results of the Maharashtra Assembly poll election with at least 80% accuracy. ==Internal Rift in Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS)==