A reform movement is a kind of social movement that aims to make gradual change, or change in certain aspects of society, rather than rapid or fundamental changes. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary movements.

Reformists' ideas are often grounded in liberalism, although they may be rooted in socialist (specifically, Social democratic) or religious concepts. Some rely on personal transformation; others rely on small collectives, such as Mahatma Gandhi's spinning wheel and the self sustaining village economy, as a mode of social change. Reactionary movements, which can arise against any of these, attempt to put things back the way they were before any successes the new reform movement(s) enjoyed, or to prevent any such successes.

The Radical movement campaigned for electoral reform, a reform of the Poor Laws, free trade, educational reform, postal reform, prison reform, and public sanitation. Originally this movement sought to replace the exclusive political power of the aristocracy with a more democratic system empowering urban areas and the middle and lower classes. Following the Enlightenment's ideas, the reformers looked to the Scientific Revolution and industrial progress to solve the social problems which arose with the Industrial Revolution. Newton's natural philosophy combined a mathematics of axiomatic proof with the mechanics of physical observation, yielding a coherent system of verifiable predictions and replacing a previous reliance on revelation and inspired truth. Applied to public life, this approach yielded several successful campaigns for changes in social policy. Eventually, this reform movement led to formation of the Liberal Party in 1859. Later, wealthy business owners and high ranking officials created the Conservative Party to counter the rising strength of the liberals in Parliament.

Narendra Damodardas Modi (Gujarati: નરેન્દ્ર મોદી; born 17 September 1950) is the current Chief Minister of the Indian state of Gujarat. Born in a middle class family in Vadnagar, he was the third of six children born to Damodardas Mulchand Modi and his wife Heeraben. He has been a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) since childhood also having interest in politics since adolescence. He holds a master's degree in political science. In 1998, he was chosen by L. K. Advani, the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to direct the election campaign in Gujarat as well as Himachal Pradesh.

He became Chief Minister of Gujarat in October 2001, promoted to the office at a time when his predecessor Keshubhai Patel had resigned, following the defeat of BJP in the by-elections. His tenure as chief minister of Gujarat began on 7 October 2001, and he is the longest serving Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat. In July 2007 he became the longest serving Chief Minister in Gujarat's history when he had been in power for 2063 days continuously. He was elected again for a third term on 23 December 2007 in the state elections, which he had cast as a "referendum on his rule".

Bhagya Reddy Varma or Madari Bagaiah (born May 22, 1888) is an Indian leader of Adi Hindu Movement. He was "Father of Dalit Movement in Andhra Pradesh".

Bhagya Reddy Varma was born in a dalit, mala caste family in the princely Hyderabad State to Madari Venkaiah.

Bhagya Reddy Varma founded around 26 schools in around Hyderabad region for dalits. He established Dalit panchayat courts to settle disputes among dalits. He chaired All India conference of Schedules castes held at Lucknow on 27, 28 December 1930, to support send delegation to Round Table conference. Babasaheb Ambedkar was present in this meeting.

In 1906, he started Jagan Mita Mandali to educate dalits through popular folklore.

Bhagyareddy had launched a movement against devadasi pratha, forcing the Nizam to declare it a crime.

He became Great devotee of Buddhism till his death. He celebrated Buddha poornima in public places in grand manner in 1913. He promoted Buddhism and its adoption among the Dalits.

During the Telangana Movement in 2009, the students of Telangana region renamed the G. M. C. Balayogi Athletic Stadium as Bhagya Reddy Varma Stadium.

Ram Mohun Roy, Ram Mohun also spelled Rammohun, Rammohan, or Ram Mohan (Bengali: রাজা রামমোহন রায়; 22 May 1772 – 27 September 1833) was an Indian religious, social, and educational reformer who challenged traditional Hindu culture and indicated the lines of progress for Indian society under British rule. He is sometimes called the "father of modern India". He, along with Dwarkanath Tagore and other Bengalis, founded the Brahmo Sabha in 1828, which engendered the Brahmo Samaj, an influential Indian socio-religious reform movement during the Bengal Renaissance. His influence was apparent in the fields of politics, public administration, and education, as well as religion. He is known for his efforts to abolish the practice of sati, the Hindu funeral practice in which the widow immolated herself on her husband's funeral pyre.

Roy was born in Radhanagore, Hooghly, Bengal, in August 1772 or 22 May 1774, into the Rarhi Brahmin caste. His family background displayed religious diversity; his father Ramkanto Roy was a Vaishnavite, while his mother Tarinidevi was from a Shivaite family. This was unusual for Vaishanavites did not commonly marry Shaivites at that time. Thus, one parent wanted him to be a scholar, a sastrin, while the other wanted him to have a career dedicated to the laukik, which was secular public administration. He wandered around the Himalayas and went to Tibet.

Ram Mohan is a veteran in the Indian animation industry, who started his career at the Cartoon Films Unit, Films Division of India, Government of India in 1956. He was awarded a lifetime achievement award at the 2006 Mumbai International Film Festival.

Graduated in Science from the University of Madras and later gave up post-graduate studies to join the Cartoon Films Unit, Films Division, Government of India in 1956. He received training in animation techniques from Clair Weeks of Walt Disney Studios, under the US Technical Aid program.

Ram Mohan started out by doing character design and story boards for This Our India, an animated film adapted from a book by Minoo Masani. He scripted, designed and animated many of Cartoon Film unit's productions from 1960 to 1967, including 'Homo Saps' which won the National Award for Best Experimental Film, 1967, and 'Chaos' which won an Award at the Leipzig Festival of short Films in1968. He participated in the 1967 world retrospective of Animation Cinema in Montreal.