Five Most Innovative Social Entrepreneurs

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Arvind Kumar Kejriwal
Five Most Innovative Social Entrepreneurs
Arvind Kumar Kejriwal is an Indian social activist fighting for greater transparency in government. 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. Born in Haryana, he graduated from IIT Kharagpur as a Mechanical Engineer. He quit his job with Tata Steel to work with the Missionaries of Charity and the Ramakrishna Mission in eastern and northern India. After joining All India Services in 1992, he realized that much of the corruption prevalent in government is owing to lack of transparency in the bureaucratic procedures. Initially, he was instrumental in bringing in a number of changes to increase transparency in the Income Tax office. Kejriwal along with others, campaigned for the Right to Information Act, which became a silent social movement and eventually at national level Indian Parliament passed the Right to Information Act in 2005. As a member of Indian Against Corruption, he is an active participant in the movement for the enactment of Jan Lokpal Bill.