People-Magsaysay-Kejriwal

*New Delhi, July 31: Social activist Arvind Kejriwal, who pioneered the Right to Information movement in the national capital, is among seven winners of the Ramon Magsaysay Awards for this year.

Mr Kejriwal, who heads the NGO 'Parivartan', is the only winner from India.

The awards were announced by the Board of Trustees of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation in Manila, the capital of Philippines today.

Mr Kejriwal, who left his job as a tax officer with the Indian Revenue Service, to form 'Parivartan', was cited by the Magsaysay Foundation for ''activating India's right-to-information movement at the grassroots, empowering New Delhi's poorest citizens to fight corruption by holding government answerable to the people''.

The 38-year-old social activist won in the 'Emergent Leadership' category, which honours the oustanding work of an individual, who is 40 years or below on issues of social change in his or her community.

The other winners include Ek Sonn Chan, the head of the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority for 'Government Service' and Park Won Soon, head of the Beautiful Foundation and the Hope Institute of Korea for 'Public Service.

Ms Eugenia Duran Apostol, a journalist and publisher from the Philippines won for 'Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts' and Mr Sanduk Ruit, the head of the Tilganga Eye Centre in Nepal for 'Peace and International Understanding'.

Mr Antonio Meloto, also from the Philippines won in the category of 'Community Leadership' along with his Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation.

Mr Kejriwal joins a list of illustrious Magsaysay awardees from India including Vinoba Bhave, Baba Amte, Mahasweta Devi, Varghese Kurien and Aruna Roy.

In its citation, the Magsaysay Foundation said Mr Kejriwal understood that brazen corruption of the high and the mighty might grab headlines but for ordinary people it is the ubiquity of everyday corruption that weighs heaviest. Mr Kejriwal founded 'Parivartan', which means 'change', in 2000 appealing first to the tax department he left to make it more transparent and less capricious.

He failed in his first attempt, but went to the court with a Public Interest Litigation directing the tax department to implement a five-point transparency plan and even organised a 'satyagraha' outside the Chief Commissioner's office.

'Parivartan', which has only ten full-time members in its seventh year, ran a successful campaign last year against the Delhi government's move to privatise water supply.

The Ramon Magsaysay Awards, named after the late President of the Philippines, were presented in 1958. Since then the Ramon Magsaysay Foundation has honoured over 250 individuals and institutions. The 'Emergent Leadership' award was instituted in 2000 with the support of a Ford Foundation grant.

UNI