Medha Patkar
Medha Patkar in 2002
Born	(1954-12-01) 1 December 1954 (age 57)
Organization	National Alliance of People's Movements(NAPM)
Political movement	Narmada Bachao Andolan

Medha Patkar (Marathi: मेधा पाटकर, born 1 December 1954) is an Indian social activist. She is known for her role in Narmada Bachao Andolan. She has also filed a public interest petition in the Bombay high court against Lavasa along with other members of National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM), including Anna Hazare.

Personal life[link]

MEDHA PATKAR was born in Mumbai Maharashtra in Kudaldeshkar family to Indu and Vasant Khanolkar, a trade union leader and freedom fighter.^[1] She was raised by politically and socially active parents. Her father actively fought in the Indian Independence Movement^{[citation needed]}. Her mother was a member of Swadar, an organization setup to help and assist women suffering difficult circumstances arising out of financial, educational, and health related problems. Her parents' activism played a role in shaping her philosophical views.She was often known for her extreme views on growth of country and liberalization.^[2]

She got married to Mr. Patkar but got divorced.

She did her M.A. in Social Work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

Author Jacques Leslie devoted a third of his book, Deep Water: The Epic Struggle Over Dams, Displaced People, and the Environment (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2005), to a portrait of Patkar as she planned to drown herself in rising reservoir waters behind the Sardar Sarovar Dam, whose construction she fought for two decades.

Awards and honors[link]

Medha Patkar is one of the recipients of Right Livelihood Award for the year 1991. She received the 1999 M.A. Thomas National Human Rights Award from Vigil India Movement. She has also received numerous other awards, including the Deena Nath Mangeshkar Award, Mahatma Phule Award, Goldman Environment Prize, Green Ribbon Award for Best International Political Campaigner by BBC, and the Human Rights Defender's Award from Amnesty International.

Criticism[link]

Patkar's refusal to participate in protest against a proposed Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project, in her home region of Konkan, has made local activists there unhappy and sad. One Konkan activist accused her of highlighting issues to "further her own purpose", and then abandoning them.^[3]

Though she is past employee of Tata Empire, Patkar also played a pivotal role in driving out the Tata Nano plant from Singur, West Bengal, ostensibly due to insufficient benefits to locals and use of fertile land for industry. However, the locals later appealed to Tata Motors to set up the plant at Singur accepting that they were misled.^[3] At the height of the agitation Ratan Tata had made a caustic remark questioning the source of funds of the agitators.^[3] Raipur, Jan 8 : Two days after dozens of tribal people threw eggs and tomatoes at social activist Medha Patkar and several of her associates in Maoist violence-hit Dantewada district in Chhattisgarh, she finally alleged it was a "state government-sponsored protest". "It was all a government-sponsored protest in Dantewada in police presence. Those who threw eggs and tomatoes were brought from a relief camp by the government," Patkar told a press conference. »

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Medha Patkar

• Friends of the river Narmada website
• Right Livelihood Award website
• Articles written by Medha Patkar
• Speech by Medha Patkar at the 2nd World Water Forum in The Hague, March 2000
• Interview with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now!, March 2009 (video, audio, and print transcript)
• National Alliance of people's movement official website
• National Alliance of people's movement Andhra Pradesh Chapter
• The Truth about Medha Patkar

Arvind Kejriwal
Arvind Kejriwal
Born	(1968-06-16) 16 June 1968 (age 44) Hissar, Haryana
Education	B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering
Alma mater	IIT Kharagpur
Organization	Parivartan (परिवर्तन) Public Cause Research Foundation India Against Corruption
Political movement	2012 Indian anti-corruption movement 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement Right to Information Jan Lokpal Bill
Religion	Hinduism
Children	3
Website
http://www.pcrf.in/

Arvind Kumar Kejriwal (born 16 June 1968) is a retired Indian Revenue Service officer and an Indian social activist fighting for greater transparency in Government.^[1] He was awarded Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership in 2006, for activating India's Right to Information movement at grassroots and social activities to empower the poorest citizens to fight corruption by holding the government answerable to the people.^[2][3][2][2] Kejriwal is also a Saathi (fellow) of the Association for India's Development,^[4] a Global Impact award winning NGO.^[5]

Early life[link]

Arvind Kejriwal was born in a Marwari family in Hissar, Haryana in 1968.^[1] His father was an engineer and he spent most of his childhood living in small northern Indian towns like Sonepat, Mathura and Hissar. He did his schooling from Campus School.^[6] Kejriwal graduated from IIT Kharagpur as a Mechanical engineer in 1989.^[7][8]

Career[link]

Kejriwal joined Tata Steel right after his graduation from IIT Kharagpur. Kejriwal quit his job with Tata Steel in 1992^{[citation needed]} and spent some time working with Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata, the Ramakrishna Mission in the North-East India and Nehru Yuva Kendra.^[9][10]

Kejriwal joined the Indian Revenue Service in 1995 after qualifying the highly competitive IAS examination.^[10] In February 2006, he voluntarily resigned from the IRS as Joint Commissioner in IT Department.^[11] After voluntary resignation from job, he founded Parivartan, a Delhi based citizens’ movement which works on ensuring a just, transparent and accountable governance. 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^[12]

Right to Information[link]

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^[7] 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.^[13] To motivate others Arvind has now instituted an RTI Award through his organisation.^[14] 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.^[9][15]

Jan Lokpal Bill[link]

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.^[16] On August 16, 2011, Key members of the India Against Corruption including Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi, and Manish Sisodia were arrested four hours before the planned indefinite hunger strike by Hazare.^[17] 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. Activists were later released same day although they spent two more days in the Tihar jail negotiating conditions put on protest.^[18] Kejriwal left the jail on August 18 and the protests started the following day from Ramlila Maidan in Delhi.^[19] After twelve days of protests and many discussions between the government and the activists, Parliament passed a resolution to consider three points in drafting of Lokpal bill.^[20]

Controversies[link]

Swami Agnivesh a former colleague of Kejriwal in Team Anna accused Arvind Kejriwal of diverting money from India Against Corruption (IAC) fund to his (Kejriwal's) own NGO. Kejriwal allegedly deposited Rs 70-80 lakh from IAC fund in his own NGO. The money was raised as the donation to IAC.^[21] Mr. Kejriwal responded to the allegation that the IAC was a "movement" not an institution and that PCRF was working as a secretariat for IAC.^[22]

In an article published in the Hindu newspaper in 22 August 2011, Booker prize winning author and civil rights activist Arundhati Roy alleged that an NGO run by Kejriwal received a donation of USD 400,000 from the Ford Foundation in the past 3 years.^[23] Arvind Kejriwal has since admitted that the NGO Kabir he runs along with Manish Sisodia, did receive funds from the New York-based Ford Foundation, but pointed out that it had stopped about two years ago. Kejriwal dismissed the view held by some which suggested that Ford Foundation has historically been linked to CIA, the US intelligence agency that used it for channeling funds to its recipients in foreign countries.^[24][25]

Personal life[link]

Kejriwal is married to Sunita, who is an IRS officer his batchmate from National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie.^[8] They live just outside Delhi with their two children.^[10] and presently Additional Director in Serious Fraud Investigation Office.

Awards[link]

• 2004: Ashoka Fellow, Civic Engagement.^[9]
• 2005: 'Satyendra K. Dubey Memorial Award', IIT Kanpur for his campaign for bringing transparency in Government.^[7]
• 2006: Ramon Magsaysay Award for Eminent Leadership.^[2][3]
• 2006: CNN-IBN, 'Indian of the Year' in Public Service^[26]
• 2009: Distinguished Alumnus Award, IIT Kharagpur for Eminent Leadership.^[1]
• 2010: Policy Change Agent of the Year, The Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence along with Aruna Roy.^[27]
• 2011: NDTV Indian of the Year along with Anna Hazare^[28]

Arvind Kejariwal has also won an IIM Gold Medal.

Books[link]

The Right to Information : Vyawharik Margdarshika - Co-Author - Vishnu Rajgadia, Published by Rajkamal Prakashan, New Delhi. in the year 2008.^{[citation needed]}

Slipper Attack on Kejriwal[link]

Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal was attacked by a youth with a slipper during attending a program in Jhulelal Park Lucknow, India under India Against Corruption (IAC) anti-graft campaign.^[29]

After the incident, the accused was caught by the IAC volunteers and handed over to the police. Later, Mr. Kejriwal asked that the accused be released and did not file any FIR against him.^[30]

The accused was identified as Jitendra Pathak of Uttar Pradesh’s Jalaun district, who worked for the Indian National Congress from 2006-2009 and is a former member of Congress Sewa Dal.^[31] He was not a mere party worker but was responsible for key areas in Jhansi. As per the accused acceptance, he considers Rahul Gandhi as his role model.^[32][33]

Kejriwal's attacker Jitendra Pathak has been sacked from his job. He is working in a private construction company Ansh Project Service, Lucknow.^[34] On the other hand, Arvind Kejriwal has written a letter to the chairman of the company to take back their decision and to retain the accused. As per Kejriwal's ideology, violence can be stopped by non-violence only and taking Jitendra's job is violence against the accused and his family.^[35]

In a Sting operation done by India TV in Lucknow, the slipper threatened a bomb attack during Anna Hazare's anti-graft movement in Uttar Pradesh .^[36]

See also[link]

• Right to Information Act
• Jan Lokpal Bill
• India Against Corruption
• 2012 Indian anti-corruption movement
• 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Arvind Kejriwal

• 'Parivartan' Official website
• 'Arvind Kejriwal' website
• 'Public Cause Research Foundation' Official website
• 'The Insurgent' by MEHBOOB JEELANI, The Caravan
• Arvind Kejriwal Interview BBC Hindi
• Arvind Kejriwal Interview BBC Hindi - Audio
• Jaago Re! "Usse kuchh farak padega kya?": Arvind Kejriwal on fighting corruption in India
• An Interview with Arvind Kejriwal
• 'Lokraj Andolan'
• 'India Against Corruption'
• 'Valmik Thapar Interviews Arvind Kejriwal'
• Follow Jan Lokpal Bill Movement