Arvind Kejriwal Arvind Kejriwal is a social activist and politician in India. He is associated with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) that was launched by him in 2012. Kejriwal did his graduation in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology. A former Indian Revenue Service officer and also Joint Commissioner of the Income Tax Department, he is better known for his key role in drafting the Jan Lokpal Bill. In 1999 Kejriwal founded Parivartan, an NGO aiming to assist the citizens in electricity, income tax and food ration-related matters. His contributions and role to empower the poorest at the grassroots level and implement the Right to Information Act (RTI) won Kejriwal the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2006 for Emergent Leadership. He created a corpus fund with the award money and founded the NGO called Public Cause Research Foundation in 2012. He also published a book called Swaraj in 2012. Arvind Kejriwal took the oath as Delhi Chief Minister on 28th December 2013 at the Ramlila Maidan in front of thosands of people and formed the government by Congresss support. However his rule lasted only 49 days and he was forced to resign from his post after both BJP and Congress turned adamant and put their foot down against giving a clearance to Aam Aadmy Partys Jan Lokpal Bill. Personal background of Arvind Kejriwal Arvind Kejriwal was born on August 16, 1968 in Haryana to a well-educated couple, Mr. Gobind Ram Kejriwal and Gita Devi. The family was financially sound. He has a younger brother and a younger sister. His father, Mr. Gobind Ran Kejriwal, was an electrical engineer from the Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra. His father’s work led him to several places. Arvind Kejriwal’s childhood passed mostly in towns of north India, like Gaziabad, Hisar and Sonepat. He did his schooling in Hisar at Campus School. Thereafter he graduated in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur in 1989. He also spent some time at the Ramkrishna Mission and Nehru Yuva Kendra at Kolkata. Kejriwal married his batch mate Sunita from the National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie. She is an IRS officer. They have two children: a daughter, Harshita, and a son, Pulkit. Arvind Kejriwal is a pure vegetarian and has been a regular practitioner of Vipassana. Detailed professional background of Arvind Kejriwal before entering politics After completing his studies in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, in 1989, he joined Tata Steel. In order to study and appear for the Civil Services Examination, he took leave of absence from the company. Finally in 1992 he left the job and later in the same year qualified the Civil Services Examination and joined the Indian Revenue Service (IRS). Arvind Kejriwal was also a Joint Commissioiner in the Income Tax Department. He resigned from the position in February 2006. He assisted in forming the NGO Parivartan in December 1999, which aimed at helping people with issues related to income tax, food ration and electricity. At that time, he was still serving in the Income Tax Department. How did Arvind Kejriwal enter politics? During the nation-wide protests against corruption, Arvind Kejriwal had a difference of opinion with Anna Hazare. Hazare wanted the Jan Lokpal movement to be politically neutral. On the other hand, Kejriwal’s opinion was that as no progress had been attained through talks with different political parties, it was necessary to get directly involved in politics. An organization named India Against Corruption conducted a social media survey in this regard. The result indicated support for politicization. Others involved in the anti-corruption movement too had split opinions. While Kejriwal’s move was supported by some renowned people like Shanti Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan, others like Santosh Hegde and Kiran Bedi opposed it. On September 19, 2012, Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal came to an agreement that their difference of opinion regarding politicization of the agenda is irreconcilable. On October 2, 2012,
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 12:18:24 +0000
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