- Aruna Roy
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Aruna Roy Born May 26, 1946
ChennaiNationality Indian Occupation Activist Aruna Roy (born 26 May 1946) is an Indian political and social activist who founded and heads the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathana ("Workers and Peasants Strength Union"). She is best known as a prominent leader of the Right to Information movement, which led to the enactment of the Right to Information Act in 2005.[1] She has also remained a member of the National Advisory Council.[2]
In 2000, she received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership.[3] In 2010 she received the prestigious Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration, Academia and Management.[4]
Contents
Career
Aruna served as a civil servant in the Indian Administrative Service between 1968 and 1974. She then resigned to devote her time to social and political campaigns. She joined the Social Work and Research Center (SWRC) in Tilonia, Rajasthan.[5][6][7] In 1983 Aruna dissociated herself from the SWRC.
Right to Information
In 2004, under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi, the Congress party won the national elections and formed the central government. Aruna was inducted into the National Advisory Committee (NAC), an extremely powerful but extra-constitutional quasi-governmental body headed by Sonia Gandhi which effectively supervises the working of the common minimum program of UPA II. [8] which was passed by the Indian parliament in 2005. She served as a member of the National Advisory Council of India until 2006 and is part of NAC II.
References
- ^ Blacked out: government secrecy in the information age, by Alasdair Scott Roberts. Cambridge University Press, 2006.
- ^ "NAC reconstituted". The Hindu. Jun 04, 2005. http://www.hindu.com/2005/06/04/stories/2005060404461200.htm.
- ^ Ramon Magsaysay Award Citation
- ^ Thehindu.com
- ^ Women who dared, by Ritu Menon. Published by National Book Trust, India, 2002. ISBN 8123738560. Page 169-170.
- ^ Aruna Roy BusinessWeek, July 8, 2002.
- ^ Aruna Roy National Resource Center for Women, Govt. of India.
- ^ Visionaries: The 20th Century's 100 Most Important Inspirational Leaders, by Satish Kumar, Freddie Whitefield. Published by Chelsea Green Publishing, 2007. ISBN 1933392533. Page 139.
External links
Categories:- Indian women activists
- Indian social activists
- Freedom of information activists
- Indraprastha College for Women alumni
- University of Delhi alumni
- Ramon Magsaysay Award winners
- 1946 births
- Indian politicians
- Living people
- People from Chennai
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