Aruna Roy

@Social Activist, Timeline and Family

Aruna Roy is an Indian political and social activist who founded the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathana

Jun 26, 1946

Cancer CelebritiesIndianActivistsAnti Corruption ActivistsPolitical Activists
Biography

Personal Details

  • Birthday: June 26, 1946
  • Nationality: Indian
  • Famous: Political, Social Activist, Activists, Anti Corruption Activists, Political Activists
  • Spouses: Bunker Roy
  • Universities:
    • Convent of Jesus and Mary
    • Delhi
    • Post graduation in English literature from Indraprastha College
    • Delhi University.
  • Founder / Co-Founder:
    • Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan
  • Birth Place: Chennai

Aruna Roy born at

Chennai

Unsplash
Birth Place

She married Bunker Roy, a college classmate and a fellow social activist, in 1970. They both decided not to have any children and devoted their lives to social work.

Unsplash
Personal Life

She was born on June 26, 1946, in Chennai, as the eldest child of Hema and Jayaram. She has three younger siblings. Even though she was born in Chennai, she spent much of her childhood in Delhi.

Unsplash
Childhood & Early Life

Her father was a lawyer and a civil servant with a strong social conscience while her mother was a well-educated and independent minded woman. Her parents instilled in her a deep concern for social causes and she was encouraged to be a free thinker.

Unsplash
Childhood & Early Life

She attended the conservative Convent of Jesus and Mary which was run by French and English nuns. After studying there for five years her father had her transferred to Kalakshetra, a famous art school in Madras (now Chennai) where she studied for two years.

Unsplash
Childhood & Early Life

After studying for a while in the Aurobindhu Ashram in Pondicherry she was transferred to Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan in New Delhi from where she completed her precollegiate education.

Unsplash
Childhood & Early Life

She was fluent in Hindi, English and Tamil and on the insistence of her father, also learnt French. Her parents taught her that all religions were equal and encouraged her to question the existing social norms.

Unsplash
Childhood & Early Life

She started working in 1968. She was first posted in Tamil Nadu and was then sent to North Arcot where she gained her first experience of living in a rural community. It was here that she learned about the harsh realities of the life of rural poor.

Unsplash
Career

As one of the few women in the IAS, time and again she had to prove her credibility. Even though she was troubled by the red-tapism in the bureaucracy, she also learnt a lot through this experience.

Unsplash
Career

She got married in 1970. At the time of her marriage she was working as a subcollector in Pondicherry. She also collected revenues and oversaw the work of other departments.

Unsplash
Career

She got transferred to Delhi where she was posted as a subdivisonal magistrate. She had jurisdiction over six police stations and was often called to handle student unrest and elections in addition to her regular duties. While serving in Delhi she became aware of the extent of corruption in the government.

Unsplash
Career

She was later posted as deputy secretary for finance and then as secretary in the office of the lieutenant governor in 1973. By now she had realized that the IAS was not what she had imagined it to be. Disillusioned by the rampant corruption she was contemplating the next move in her career.

Unsplash
Career

She is one of the co-founders of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) which is a social movement and grassroots organization which played a key role in pushing the Indian government to enact the Right to Information Act (RTI).

Unsplash
Major Works