Friends, all of us are very much familiar with the social activist Anna Hazare, but does anyone know about ARVIND KEJRIWAL, who is a leading supporter of Anna's hunger strike for the Jan Lokpal Bill.?
Here's something on Arvind Kejriwal.
Early life
Arvind Kejriwal was born in Hissar, Haryana in 1968. His father was an engineer and he spent most of his childhood living in small northern Indian towns like Sonepat, Mathura and Hissar. Kejriwal graduated from IIT Kharagpur as a Mechanical engineer in 1989.
Career
Kejriwal joined Tata Steel after his graduation from IIT Kharagpur. After quitting his job with Tata Steel, he spent some time working with Mother Teresa in Kolkata, the Ramakrishna Mission in the North-East India and Nehru Yuva Kendra.
Kejriwal joined the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) in 1995 and worked as an Additional Commissioner of Income Tax in Delhi. In January 2000, he took a sabbatical from work and founded Parivartan, a Delhi based citizens’ movement which works on ensuring a just, transparent and accountable governance. Thereafter, in February 2006, he resigned from the job, to work full-time at Parivartan. In December 2006, Kejriwal along with Manish Sisodia and Abhinandan Sekhri started Public Cause Research Foundation, which works for promoting better local self governance and RTI related campaigns
Right to Information
He along with Aruna Roy and others, campaigned for the Right to Information Act (RTI), which soon became a silent social movement, Delhi Right to Information Act was passed in 2001 and eventually at national level Indian Parliament passed the RTI in 2005. Thereafter, in July 2006, he spearheaded an awareness campaign for RTI across India. To motivate others Arvind has now instituted an RTI Award through his organisation. Kejriwal has been using RTI in corruption cases in many government departments including the Income Tax department, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the Public Distribution System (PDS), the Delhi Electricity Board and others.
Jan Lokpal Bill
As a member of India Against Corruption (IAC) Kejriwal is an active participant in the movement for the enactment of Jan Lokpal Bill. He is considered a key figure along with social activist Anna Hazare. On August 16 2011, Key members of the India Against Corruption including Kejriwal were arrested, four hours before the planned indefinite hunger strike by Hazare. Rajan Bhagat, spokesman for Delhi Police, said police arrested Hazare under a legal provision that bans public gatherings and protests at the park in Delhi where Hazare was planning to begin his hunger strike. Discussions are still going on between members of IAC and Ministers of Indian government overdifferences on Lokpal Bill.
Awards
- 2004: Ashoka Fellow, Civic Engagement.
- 2005: 'Satyendra Dubey Memorial Award', IIT Kanpur for his campaign for bringing transparency in Government.
- 2006: Ramon Magsaysay Award for Eminent Leadership.
- 2006: CNN-IBN, 'Indian of the Year' in Public Service
- 2009: Distinguished Alumnus Award, IIT Kharagpur for Eminent Leadership.
- 2010: Policy Change Agent of the Year, The Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence along with Aruna Roy.
Books
The Right to Information : Vyawharik Margdarshika - Co-Author - Vishnu Rajgadia, Published by Rajkamal Prakashan, New Delhi. in the year 2008.
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