“Information is power. If you deny people the right to know, you deny them democracy.”

She wore crisp cotton sarees and once carried the seal of the Indian Administrative Service.
But in the dusty villages of Rajasthan, Aruna Roy found her true badge of honour — the voice of the people.

When she resigned from the IAS in 1975, it wasn’t to retire, but to rebel.
Not with rage, but with rights. Not with slogans, but with systems that could endure.

What followed was one of India’s greatest democratic revolutions from below — the Right to Information movement — a movement that forced the state to open its books and made transparency the people’s constitutional weapon.

From Power Corridors to Village Chaupals

Aruna Roy’s journey is not just inspiring; it is counter-cultural.

A St. Stephen’s graduate and a civil servant in the 60s and 70s, she quickly realized the system was built to serve power, not people.
She quit and moved to rural Rajasthan, living without electricity, water, or money, learning not to teach — but to listen.

In Devdungri, she helped form the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), a collective that fought for fair wages, transparency in accounts, and dignity of labour.

And it was from a thatched-roof tent — not Parliament — that the slogan was born:

“Hum Janenge, Hum Jeeyenge” (We will know. We will live.)

RTI: A Law Forged in the Streets

The Right to Information wasn’t drafted in law books.
It was written in account books read under lantern light, on streets outside government offices, at protests where peasants asked to see how public funds were spent.

Aruna Roy and MKSS turned that demand into a national movement, culminating in the RTI Act of 2005 — a gamechanger that empowered every Indian to question power.

Since then, RTI has exposed:

• Multi-crore scams in food distribution
• Illegal land transfers
• Ghost schools and ghost employees
• Rampant leakages in welfare schemes

Millions of citizens have filed RTI applications — not activists, not journalists — but farmers, widows, sanitation workers, and students.

Global Recognition

• Ramon Magsaysay Award (2000)
• Légion d’honneur by the French government
• Member of National Advisory Council, architect of multiple pro-poor laws
• Listed among the world’s most influential thinkers on democratic rights

But ask her where her real honour lies?

She’ll say:
“In the face of a woman who was paid after 10 years, because she saw her name in the muster roll.”

Her Words

“The poor don’t need charity. They need justice.”
“Information is not just a right — it is the soul of governance.”
“The government is not a parent. It is a servant.”

Why She’s a Human of Change

• Because she made democracy walk beyond elections and enter everyday life
• Because she gave the vulnerable a voice that could no longer be ignored
• Because she proved that the fight for transparency is the fight for dignity

In a world where power often hides behind walls, Aruna Roy opened windows — not just in government buildings, but in the minds of millions.

Aruna Roy
Episode 8 | Humans of Change
One World. One Change. One Human.