Anjali Bhardwaj

Anjali Bhardwaj at a press conference of the National Campaign for Peoples' Right to Information (NCPRI)

Anjali Bhardwaj (born 1973) is an Indian social activist working on issues of transparency and accountability. She is a co-convenor of the National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI)[1] and a founding member of Satark Nagrik Sangathan.[2] She works on issues related to right to information, Lokpal, whistleblower protection, grievance redress, and right to food.

Early life

Bhardwaj did her BA from Lady Sri Ram College, Delhi University, and holds an MSc degree from the University of Oxford and a master's degree from the Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University.[3]

Work

Bhardwaj has been involved with the right to information movement in India since 1999. Anjali has been very vocal on the question of accountability and transparency.,[4] She is a co-convenor of the National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI). Her efforts there include working toward the Right to Information Act, 2005, the Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2011,[5] The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013,[6] and the Grievance Redress Bill.[7]

Anjali is a founding member of Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS).[8] Set up in 2003, SNS uses the Right to Information Act to help improve the accountability of the Indian government.[9] Report Cards developed by SNS on the performance of legislators are widely publicized through the media.

She works with RTI Assessment & Advocacy Group (RAAG), which was set up in 2008 to undertake ongoing assessments of the implementation of the RTI Act.[10]

Awards and honors

Anjali has been honored with the "International Anticorruption Champions Award" by the US Department of State, where she was among the 12 global Anticorruption champions.[11] Anjali was awarded the Ashoka Fellowship for Social Entrepreneurs in 2009 for using the RTI Act to ensure transparency, accountability and responsiveness in the functioning of elected representatives.[12] She was presented the Honour Roll of Lady Shri Ram College in 2011 for promoting transparency and accountability in governance.[13]

Media

She writes extensively on issues of transparency and accountability in the media:

  • Peoples' Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2012–13[14]
  • Article on Lokpal amendments – Indian Express[15]
  • Article on Whistle Blowers Protection Act – Indian Express[16]
  • Article on Prevention of Corruption Act – The Hindu[17]
  • Article on Lokpal Act – EPW[18]
  • Article on Lokpal Bill – Economic Times[19]
  • Article on proposed amendments to the RTI Act – Outlook magazine[20]
  • Article on performance of Information Commissions – The Deccan Herald[21]
  • Article on the RTI Act – Outlook Magazine[22]

References

  1. ^ "NCPRI » Structure". righttoinformation.info. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  2. ^ Anuja (1 November 2013). "Satark Nagrik Sangathan | Know whom you are voting for". Livemint. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  3. ^ "The Telegraph — Calcutta: Jobs". www.telegraphindia.com. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  4. ^ Bhardwaj, Anjali (23 June 2020). "Transparency during a crisis". The Hindu – via www.thehindu.com.
  5. ^ "Whistleblowers' Bill Likely to Face Rough Weather in Rajya Sabha". NDTV.com. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  6. ^ Bhatnagar, Gaurav Vivek. "Lokpal Amendment Diluting Act's Purpose, says Anjali Bhardwaj". thewire.in. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  7. ^ "Citizens Charter: She was denied pension for years". Governance Now. 1 August 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  8. ^ "Satark Nagrik Sangathan". www.snsindia.org. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  9. ^ Vidani, Peter. "Case Study #11: Satark Nagrik Sangathan's Report Cards for Elected Representatives". Opening Parliament Blog. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  10. ^ "Speaker: Thomson Reuters South Asia Risk Summit 2016". Reuters. Archived from the original on 15 December 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
  11. ^ "Recognizing Anticorruption Champions Around the World | US Department of State". Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  12. ^ "Anjali Bharadwaj | Ashoka - India". india.ashoka.org. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  13. ^ "Lady Shri Ram College". lsr.edu.in. Archived from the original on 18 May 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  14. ^ "RaaG — CES RTI study 2011 - 13". RTI Assessment and Advocacy group. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  15. ^ "Betrayal In The House". The Indian Express. 4 August 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  16. ^ "Whistleblowing in the time of Vyapam". The Indian Express. 13 August 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  17. ^ Bhardwaj, Anjali; Johri, Amrita (6 May 2016). "How not to fight corruption". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  18. ^ "The Lokpal Act of 2014". Economic and Political Weekly. 49 (5). 5 June 2015.
  19. ^ "The proposed Jan Lokpal is all too powerful: Anjali Bhardwaj, A member of the working committee of the National Campaign for Peoples' Right to Information - The Economic Times". The Economic Times. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  20. ^ "Let's All Come To The Party". Outlook India. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  21. ^ "Tardy working of info panels". Deccan Herald. 25 July 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  22. ^ "R Stands For..." Outlook India. Retrieved 11 October 2016.