Aruna Roy : A Political and Social activist
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The co-founder of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), Aruna Roy is an Indian political and social activist who is known for her immense contribution in the upliftment of the vulnerable sections of our society.
- Aruna was born in Chennai and brought up in Delhi. She completed her graduation in English Literature from Indraprastha College, Delhi University.
- She appeared for Civil Services Examination in the year 1967 and cleared it to become a civil servant.
- Aruna started working as an IAS officer in 1968, she was first posted in Tamil Nadu and was later sent to North Arcot.
- Even though she was troubled by the red tapism of the bureaucracy, she faced it all bravely and learned a lot from all the experiences.
- Later, Aruna was posted as deputy secretary for finance and next, she became secretary in the office of the Lieutenant Governor in the year 1973.
- However, soon she got disillusioned by the rampant corruption which made her quit her job in the year 1974 to join the Social Work and Research Center (SWRC) which was established by her husband.
- While working with this organization in Rajasthan, Aruna realised that she was able to do more for them by working at the grassroots level than as an officer.
- Next, in the year 1987, along with other social activists like Nikhil Dey and Shankar Singh, Aruna Roy founded the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) which focused at empowering these workers who constitute the most vulnerable section of our society.
- Overall these years, MKSS has achieved several goals, the most important one was pushing the government to enact the Right to Information Act (RTI).
- Roy has been honored with Raman Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership in 2000 and the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration, Academia and Management in the year 2010.
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