Anna Hazare is an Indian social activist recognized for developing the model village of Ralegan Siddhi in Maharashtra. He led a decade-long struggle resulting in the passage of right to information legislation in India. In 2011, he went on a hunger strike demanding the passage of the Jan Lokpal bill to establish an independent anti-corruption ombudsman. Large protests erupted across India in support of his movement, applying public pressure on the government and ultimately leading to the acceptance of a compromise on establishing a drafting committee.
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Anna hazare by mukesh patel
1. Anna Hazare
A man behind democratic revolution in India
The dream of India as a strong nation will not be realised without
self-reliant, self-sufficient villages, this can be achieved only
through social commitment & involvement of the common man."
- Anna Hazare
2. Kisan Bapat Baburao Hazare, born 15
January 1940, popularly known as Anna Hazare
is an Indian social activist who is especially
recognized for his contribution to the
development of Ralegan Siddhi, a village in
Parner taluka of Ahmednagar district,
Maharashtra, India and his efforts for establishing
it as a model village, for which he was awarded
the Padma Bhushan by the Government of
India in 1992.
3. The Watershed Development programme
Removal of untouchability Uprooting alcoholism
In Ralegan Siddhi
Collective marriages Milk production
Gram Sabha Education
4. A Decade of Struggle...
Anna Hazare had to struggle for 11 years continuously against government for giving rights to
citizens by making legislations for Right to Information, More Rights for the Gram Sabha,
Regulating Transfers of the Government Officers, Prohibition and against Red Tapism.
After the ShivSena BJP government came in power on March 11, 1995; Anna Hazare started
communicating with the government for taking steps to curb corruption. He wrote to the
government 15 times and had meetings with it.
He sent a letter to the government on January 12, 1998 asking it to make an act for Right to
Information for checking corruption.
As government was not paying any heed to his demand even after writing many letters and
discussions, he started dharna on April 6, 1995 at the Azad Maidan, Mumbai.
He again wrote to the government 10 times between April 6, 1998 and August 2, 1999 asking
it to make the Act for Right to Information. In the mean time, Congress NCP government
came in power.
He communicated with the newly formed government 5 times pressing it to make the Act. As it
failed to do this, he wrote to the govt. on April 6, 2000 warning it that a statewide dharna
agitation in front of Collector Offices would be started from 1st may and he would go on fast
from 20th May, 2000.
As per schedule, the dharna agitation started in front of all Collector Offices all over the state
on 2nd May. The fast was postponed as the Central Government passed a bill in Lok Sabha
on Information Technology.
5. Continued communication with the govt. Wrote 14 times and had meetings with the govt. One
year lapsed.
On 1st March 2001, wrote to the govt. that he would start statewide maun andolan from 1st May
if the govt. did not make the legislation. The Chief Minister held a meeting with other concerned
ministers and Secretaries and made a promise that the govt. will pass the bill in the coming
session.
After the promise from the Chief Minister, 81 days lapsed. Annas correspondence with the
govt. was continued. He wrote again on 1st March 2001 telling that he would undertake maun
on 9th August 2001 at his native village Ralegan Siddhi.
As per his warning, he started maun agitation on 9th August. On the same day, people started
agitation all over Maharashtra.
After 4 days of maun, the Minister of Law and Justice Mr. Vilas Kaka Undalkar visited Ralegan
Siddhi to discuss with Anna Hazare. He facilitated a telephonic discussion with the Chief
Minister and the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra. After promise from them, Anna stopped his
maun.
After the lapse of 1 year and a month and writing more than 15 letters, the govt. was not taking
any action. So Anna started maun again on 21st Sept. 2002. After 5 days, four Ministers of the
maharashtra Govt., viz. Mr. Dilip Valse Patil, Shivajirao Kardile, Shivajirao Moghe and R. R.
Patil came to Ralegan Siddhi for discussions with Anna Hazare. After getting a written
assurance from the Chief Minister and Chief secretary, Anna stopped his agitation.
6. A meeting between Anna Hazare and the govt. was held on 30th October 2002 at Mumbai
where the Chief Minister, the Chief secretary, other ministers and senior officers participated
in the meeting on behalf of the govt. Again a promise was made.
But as the govt. was not keeping its promise, Anna again warned on 21st January that he
would undertake agitation on 20th February at Mumbai.
In the mean time, the Chief minister of Maharashtra got changed. The new CM Mr.
Sushilkumar Shinde informed Anna Hazare that a solution would be found within a timeframe
after a meeting with Ministers and Senior Officers. So Anna postponed his agitation.
A high level meeting was held at the Secretariat in Mumbai on 17th February and the CM
promised that appropriate action would be taken.
After the failure of the govt. to keep its words, Anna again warned the govt. of agitation from
August 9, 2003 at Mumbai.
Anna finally went on fast on 9th August 2003 at the Azad Maidan in Mumbai. Thousands of
people from all over Maharashtra gathered at the site of fast in support of his agitation. At the
same time, people also protested at Collector Offices at all district headquarters. All this
mounted tremendous pressure on the govt. There was a threat of govt. collapse if the Act
was not passed. Finaly, the President of India signed the Bill on 12th day of Annas fast and
declared that the Act would be effective from 2002. Anna ended his fast at the hands of a
noted Social Worker Mr. Tukaramdada Gitacharya.
The Right to Information Act came into effect in Maharashtra from 2002. With Annas
persuasion, the same Act came into effect for the whole nation.
Likewise, the Acts for more rights to the Gram Sabha and against Red Tapism were passed by
the government.
8. Indian anti-corruption movement 2011
Jan Lokpal Bill movement
Protest`s timeline :
April 4, 2011
Anna Hazare, the anti-corruption activist leader announced his fast unto death till Jan
Lokpal Bill is enacted.
April 5, 2011
Anna Hazare, initiated his fast unto death at Jantar Mantar in Delhi.Around 6,000 Mumbai
residents joined Anna Hazare for a one-day fast to support the demand for implementation of
the Jan Lokpal Bill.In Pune,over 6,000 residents joined the campaign.The Freedom Park in
Banglore was the cynosure of all eyes on Thursday as Bangaloreans from all walks of life
thronged the place to support Anna Hazare.Anna Hazare also said that if the bill was not
passed, then he will call a mass nation-wide agitation.He called his movement as "second
struggle for independence" and he will continue the fight.
April 7, 2011
Two rounds of talks with the government failed.Anna Hazare continued on with his fast.
Sonia Gandhi, the president of the Indian National Congress party and the head of the National
Advisory Council appealed to Anna Hazare to end his indefinite fast.
9. April 8, 2011
Protests spreaded to Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Patna, Bhopal,
Ahmedabad, Ranchi, Pune, Nashik and Kochi.Protests were organised at Jammu University in
Jammu, Thiruvananthapuram, Guwahati and Jaipur too.The government continued to squabble
with the activists stating that the bill drafting committee will be headed by a government appointed
minister and not a civil society member as the protesters demanded to avoid allowing the
government to make the bill less powerful.The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh met with the
President of India to outline to her how the government was going ahead with the demands of the
population.15 supporters of Anna Hazare on fast were hospitalized.
Bollywood came out completely in support of the protests - with famed actors, musicians and
directors speaking in support of the movement and Anna Hazare. Director Farah Khan, actor
Anupam Kher, music director Vishal Dadlani, poet-filmmaker Pritish Nandy and actor Tom Alter all
visited Jantar Mantar. Meanwhile famed Indian actors Aamir Khan, Hrithik Roshan and Amitabh
Bachchan all stated their support for the movement via social networking websites or the media.
Oscar winning Indian composer A. R.Rahman also declared his support for the anti-graft
movement. Kareena Kapoor, Shabana Azmi,Shekhar Kapur, Sushmita Sen, Bipasha Basu,
Shahid Kapoor, Riteish Deshmukh, Vivek Oberoi, Neha Dhupia,Jackky Bhagnani, Shirish Kunder,
Kailash Kher, Punit Malhotra all tweeted their support for Anna Hazare further feulling the masses
to join the movement.Famed Qatari artist M. F. Hussain showed his support by drawing a cartoon
of Anna Hazare.Indian students at Cambridge University, the former alma-mater of the Indian
prime minister also addressed their support for the movement.
10. Many prominent people from the government agencies as well as from various corporate
houses came out in support of the movement. Some of them were - Delhi Metro chief E.
Sreedharan (also called the Metro Man of India), Punj Lloyd chairman Atul Punj, Maruti Suzuki
chairman RC Bhargava, Hero group's Sunil Munjal, Tata Steel vice-chairman B Muthuraman,
Bajaj Auto Chairman Rahul Bajaj, Godrej Group head Adi Godrej, Biocon Chairman and
Managing Director Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and Kotak Mahindra Bank vice-chairman & managing
director Uday Kotak. They all declared their support for Anna Hazare and the movement.
ASSOCHAM President Dilip Modi and FICCI Director General Rajiv Kumar, both came out in
support of the movement too.
The Government of India accepted the compromise formula that there be a politician chairman
and an activist, non-politician Co-Chairman. It was reported that Pranab Mukherjee will be the
Chairman of the draft committee while Shanti Bhushan will be the co-chairman. Shanti Bhushan
was one of the original drafters of the Lokpal Bill along with Anna Hazare, Justice N. Santosh
Hegde, advocate Prashant Bhushan, and RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal.
April 9, 2011
After accepting all the demands of Anna Hazare, the Government of India issued a Official
Gazette saying that the draft of lokpal would be made and presented in the coming monsoon
session of Lok Sabha.Victory celebrations were held all over India from Jantar Mantar - the
center of the protests to Jammu, Mumbai, Nagpur, Chennai, Kolkatta, Allahabad[29] and even
Anna Hazare's village.Bollywood lauded the victory of Anna Hazare, once again echoing their
support for the movement and the support of the Indian citizenry.Protesters and leaders of the
movement alike stated that the path to attaining complete passing of the bill is still a difficlut one,
and the movement has to see more harsher days ahead.The movement has become a symbol of
civil society's power in India.
11. After being widely televised by the Indian media, and widely supported by almost every
Indian citizen (as the issue of corruption has been an issue every Indian holds very negative
views about), the movement has attained a certain level of credibility in the eyes of the Indian
masses. Its uniqueness in the fact that it was completely apolitical; was a movement solely of
the people; did not wish to put in disarray the country as in the case of total shutdowns
organised by politcal parties (Commonly called a Bandh) ; and was able to bend the government
- is something new for India. Many commentators have called the movement the 'wake-up' call
for India. Meanwhile social networking chatter has been filled with fears that Indians will once
again go back to 'sleep' with time.
12. Protests Description :
On 5 April 2011, Anna Hazare initiated a movement for passing a stronger anti-
corruption Lokpal (ombudsman) bill in the Indian Parliament. As a part of this movement, N.
Santosh Hegde, a former justice of the Supreme Court of India and Lokayukta of Karnataka,
Prashant Bhushan, a senior lawyer in the Supreme Court along with the members of the India
Against Corruption movement drafted an alternate bill, named as the Jan Lokpal Bill (People's
Ombudsman Bill) with more stringent provisions and wider power to the Lokpal (Ombudsman).
Hazare began a fast unto death from 5 April 2011 at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, to press for the
demand to form a joint committee of the representatives of the Government and the civil society
to draft a new bill with stronger penal actions and more independence to the Lokpal and
Lokayuktas (Ombudsmen in the states), after his demand was rejected by the Prime Minister of
India Manmohan Singh .Before commencing his 'fast unto death' he stated, "I will fast until Jan
Lokpal Bill is passed".
The movement attracted attention very quickly through various media. It has been
reported that thousands of people joined to support Hazare's effort. Almost 150 people
reportedly joined Hazare in his fast.He said that he would not allow any politician to sit with him
in this movement. Politicians like Uma Bharti and Om Prakash Chautala were shooed away by
protesters when they came to visit the site where the protest was taking place.A number of social
activists including Medha Patkar, Arvind Kejriwal and former IPS officer Kiran Bedi, Jayaprakash
Narayan of the Lok Satta have lent their support to Hazare's hunger strike and anti-corruption
campaign. This movement has also been joined by many people providing their support in
Internet social media such as twitter and facebook. In addition to spiritual leaders Sri Sri Ravi
Shankar, Swami Ramdev, Swami Agnivesh and former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev,many
celebrities showed their public support through micro-blogging site Twitter.As a result of this
movement, on 6 April 2011 Sharad Pawar resigned from the group of ministers formed for
reviewing the draft Lokpal bill 2010.The movement gathered significant support from India's
youth visible through the local support and on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.
13. There have also been protests in Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad,
Guwahati, Shillong, Aizawl among other cities of India.On 8 April 2011, the Government of India
accepted all demands of the movement. On 9 April 2011 it issued a notification in the Gazette of
India on formation of a joint committee. It accepted the formula that there be a politician
chairman and an activist, non-politician Co-Chairman. According to the notification, Pranab
Mukherjee will be the Chairman of the draft committee while Shanti Bhushan will be the co-
chairman. The Joint Drafting Committee shall consist of five nominee ministers of the
Government of India and five nominees of the civil society. The five nominee Ministers of the
Government of India are Pranab Mukherjee, Union Minister of Finance, P. Chidambaram, Union
Minister of Home Affairs, M. Veerappa Moily, Union Minister of Law and Justice, Kapil Sibal,
Union Minister of Human Resource and Development and Minister of Communication and
Information Technology and Salman Khursheed, Union Minister of Water Resources and
Minister of Minority Affairs. The five nominees of the civil society are Anna Hazare, N. Santosh
Hegde, Shanti Bhushan Senior Advocate, Prashant Bhushan, Advocate and Arvind Kejriwal.On
the morning of 9 April 2011 Anna Hazare ended his 97-hour hunger strike by first offering water
to some of his supporters who had gone on a hunger strike in his support. The social activist
then broke his fast by consuming some water. He addressed the people and set a deadline of
15 August 2011 to pass the Lokpal Bill in the Indian Parliament.
"Real fight begins now. We have a lot of struggle ahead of us in drafting
the new legislation, We have shown the world in just five days that we
are united for the cause of the nation. The youth power in this
movement is a sign of hope.- Anna Hazare.
14. Awards...
Man of the year Award (1988) Diwaliben Mehta Award (1999)
Padmabhusan Award (1990) National Intergration Award (1999)
Padmashri Award (1992) Paul Mittal National Award (2000)
Vivekananda Seva Puraskar (1994) Basavshri Prashasti Award (2000)
Shiromani Award (1996) Transparency International (IT)
Integrity Award (2003)
Godavari Gaurav Puraskar (1996)
World Bank's Jit Gill Memorial Award (2008)
Giants International Award (1996)
Vishwa-Vatsalya & Santbal Award
Mahaveer Puraskar (1997)
Priy Darshini Vriksha Mitra Award
Care India Award (1998)
Young India Award
Jana Seva Puraskar (1998)
Krushi Bhusahan
Rotary International Manav Seva Puraskar (1998)