 Her maternal aunt was Mitra Bir, educationalist, who was sentenced to twelve years in jail at the age of 22, and later went on to open schools for girls at Madgaon (Margao), Verem, Kakora and other locations in Goa, as also centres for adult and vocational education for women, before her death in 1978.Mitra was married to the late Madhav Bir, member of the Goa legislative assembly and Gandhian.Kanekar's maternal uncle, the late M. V. Kakodkar was also active in the campaign to open temples to all in Goa the 1960s.