The Young Chronicle: For 4th Graders February 14th, 2015 | Page 2

YOUNG CHRONICLE

THE YOUNG CHRONICLE
people get their work done in government departments without

The Chief Minister of Delhi- Arvind Kejriwal

paying a bribe. They also exposed corruption in projects in
2002.

Rons and
Pranks had

In November 2000, Kejriwal was granted 2 years of paid leave

heard of

to pursue higher education. He rejoined in November 2002,

the

but didnʼt get any posting for about a year, so after 18 months,

sweeping

he applied for unpaid leave for 18 months. In February 2006,

victory

Kejriwal resigned from his position as a Joint Commissioner of

made by

Income tax. That year, he joined Anna Hazare to campaign for

Arvind

the Right to Information Act.

Kejriwalʼs
Aam

In December 2006, Kejriwal established the Public Cause

Aadmi

Research Foundation in December 2006, together

Party, in

with Manish Sisodia and Abhinandan Sekhri. He donated his

Delhi. But they didnʼt know his background before his participation

Ramon Magsaysay Award prize money as a seed fund.

in Anna Hazareʼs fast. So they decided to scout for information on

Besides the three founders, Prashant Bhushan and Kiran

him and hereʼs what they found.

Bedi served as the Foundation's trustees. This new body paid
the employees of Parivartan. Kejriwal used the RTI Act in

Arvind Kejriwal was born on 16th August 1968 in Bhiwani district,

corruption cases in many government departments including

Haryana, to Gobind Ram Kejriwal and Gita Devi. His father was an

the Income Tax Department, the Municipal Corporation of

electrical engineer from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra; and

Delhi, the Public Distribution System and the Delhi Electricity

he himself is a mechanical engineer from Indian Institute of

Board.

Technology, Kharagpur. Post his graduation, he joined Tata Steel
in 1989, and was posted in Jamshedpur. Thereafter, Kejriwal

In 2010, Kejriwal protested against corruption in the

joined the IRS as an Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax in

Commonwealth Games. He advocated the appointment of a

1995, after qualifying the Civil Services Exam.

public whistle blower or Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas
in states. In 2011, Kejriwal joined several other activists,

Kejriwal started a movement named Parivartan owing to the

including Anna Hazare and Kiran Bedi, to form the India

rampant corruption in the Income Tax Department, with Manish

Against Corruption (IAC) group. The IAC demanded

Sisodia and few others, while still in service. A month later, he took

enactment of the Jan Lokpal Bill, which would result in a

a sabbatical from work, to focus on Parivartan. Parivartan

strong ombudsman or whistleblower. The campaign evolved

addressed citizensʼ grievances related to Public Distribution

into the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement. In response to

System, Public Works, Social Welfare Schemes, Income Tax and

the campaign, the government's advisory body - the National

Electricity. Parivartan wasnʼt a registered NGO, it ran on individual

Advisory Council - drafted a Lokpal Bill. However, the NAC's

donations and was characterized as a jan andolan by its members.

Bill was criticised by Kejriwal and other activists on the

In 2000, Parivartan filed a PIL (Public Interest Litigation)

grounds that it did not have enough powers to take action

demanding transparency in public dealings of the Income Tax

against the prime minister, other corrupt office holders and the

department. They also organized a Satyagraha outside the Chief

judiciary.

Commissioner of Income Taxʼs office. They also stationed
themselves outside the electricity department, asking visitors not to

Kejriwal then decided to form the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and

pay bribes, and offered them to get their work done for free. Later,

fight the Delhi elections in December 201. He formed the

Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia launched Kabir, a registered NGO

government with the congress and stayed in power for 49

named after the medieval philosopher Kabir. Like Parivartan, Kabir

days, after which he resigned because of the congress's

was also focused on Right to Information and participatory

inability to pass his proposed anti-corruption legislation due to

governance. However, unlike Parivartan, it accepted institutional

a lack of support from other political parties. AAP then

donations. According to Kejriwal, Kabir was mainly run by Manish

decided to stand for the national elections but didnʼt win many

Sisodia.

seats. They however had a landslide victory last week, and is
poised to become the Chief Minister of Delhi for a second

One of the major achievements of Kejriwal were, enacting the

term.

Right to Information (RTI) Act, which allowed the citizens to access
governement records for a small fee. Parivartan used RTI to help

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