Poverty and the Right to Know: Using Information to Demand Equity and Justice

Aruna Roy, one of India’s leading social activists and the founding member of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), a non-party political organization based in Rajasthan, India, will speak at a Brookings event Thursday, October 28 to discuss the progress of the right-to-information movement in India. She will discuss her organization’s role in the movement as well as the dilemma the MKSS is facing in its future role in India’s political framework.

Founded in 1990 and composed mainly of peasants and rural workers, the MKSS is a grassroots movement that combines democratic dissent and direct action to demand increased transparency and accountability in government.

The discussion will also feature Thomas Blanton, executive director of the National Security Archive, who will address the work of the MKSS as it relates to the global movement toward transparency. Participants will take questions from the audience.