Inspiring Woman Of The Week

Aruna Roy is the woman behind India’s Right To Information movement which resulted in the enactment of the Right To Information Act.

Aruna Roy is the woman behind India’s Right To Information movement which resulted in the enactment of the Right To Information Act.

Aruna Roy was born in Chennai in 1946. After completing her schooling from several prestigious institutions, she joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). However, in 1974, she quit the IAS and joined the Social Work and Research Centre in Rajasthan. Here she worked at the grassroots level and in 1983 she founded the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathana to support the local peasants and farmers.

Following this, Aruna Roy started campaigning for the right to information in a bid to make India’s bureaucracy transparent and accessible to the common man. After a long struggle, the Right To Information (RTI) Act was finally passed by the government. Today, this Act serves as an important tool to expose corrupt leaders and political scams.

In 2000 Aruna Roy was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership and she has also served as a member of the National Advisory Council of India.

Why we find her inspiring:

– For successfully spearheading campaigns that benefit the ordinary citizens of India

– For being a positive agent of change

*Photo source: India Today

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