Atishi Marlena

Atishi
Personal details
Born 8th June, 1981
Delhi, India
Citizenship Indian
Nationality Indian
Political party Aam Aadmi Party
Residence Delhi
Alma mater
Known for Education policies,[2] Political activism.

Atishi Marlena [3] is an Indian politician, educator, and political activist.[4] She is a member of the Political Affairs Committee of Aam Aadmi Party.[2][5] She served as the Advisor to the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia, primarily on education, from July 2015 to 17 April 2018, when she was sacked by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. Her removal sparked a backlash on social media against the Centre,[6] after Delhi's Education Minister Manish Sisodia credited her with being the architect of Delhi's education reforms.[7]

She has been appointed as the Lok Sabha in-charge for East Delhi (Lok Sabha constituency) for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.[8]

Early life and education

Atishi was born to Delhi University professors Vijay Kumar Singh and Tripta Wahi on 8 June 1981.[9] Born Atishi singh, she was given 'Marlena' title name by her parents after Marx and Lenin.[3][10] After being raised in Delhi, and finishing high school from Springdale School, Atishi graduated in history at St. Stephen's College, Delhi in 2001. She was the Delhi University topper for that year. Soon after, she went to the Oxford University for her Master's degree in History on a Chevning scholarship. In 2005 she went to Magdalen College, Oxford as a Rhodes scholar.[4][11]

Professional career

Atishi spent some time teaching at Rishi Valley School in Andhra Pradesh before moving to a small village near Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh. There she was involved with such things as organic farming and progressive education systems, and she worked with several non-profit organisations, such as the Sambhavana Institute of Public Policy. While there she met casually with various members of the AAP, including Prashant Bhushan.[4][12]

Political career

Although always interested in public policy, Atishi observed the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement as a sceptical outsider, believing that single-issue campaigns were ineffective. In January 2013, she became involved in policy formulation for the AAP, which has its roots in that movement.[4] Atishi serves as a member of the party's apex executive body, the Political Affairs Committee. Recently, she was also appointed as the Lok Sabha in-charge for the East Delhi constituency. She was appointed a Spokesperson of the party in 2013 and has been representing the party on television debates ever since.

She was closely involved with the Jal Satyagraha in Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh 2015 and provided vital support to the AAP leader & activist spearheading the campaign Alok Agarwal during the historic protests, as well as during the legal battle that ensued.[13]

Governance

As Advisor to the Education Minister of Delhi, she played a key role in leading the education reforms in Delhi. She famously worked for the Delhi government for an honorarium of one rupee per month, before she was removed in April, 2018.

Atishi was also spearheading the flagship Mohalla Sabha Project for the Government of NCT of Delhi. The effort to decentralise governance to empower every citizen was a major promise of the AAP before coming to power. Marlena refers to it as "localising, rather ‘peoplising’, the whole process because not all decisions need to be taken at the top level. There are some decisions that need to be made locally. However enlightened the government might be, they would not have an estimate of what every individual’s need is. We are the government which is taking inputs from the people."[14] The project was rejected by the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi in 2016.

References

  1. ↑ "Meet the young leaders hoping to infuse vitality into our democracy". Hindustan Times. 20 June 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Atishi Marlena, Delhi's 'education reformer', is AAP Lok Sabha candidate from East Delhi". Financial Times. 28 August 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Atishi drops her name marlena". Hindustan Times. 28 August 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "The Aam Aadmi of AAP: 5 personal stories of sacrifice, triumph and validation". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
  5. ↑ "Political Affairs Committee". Retrieved 2016-09-27.
  6. ↑ "Support Grows For Atishi Marlena, Fired By Centre As Delhi Adviser". NDTV.com. Retrieved 2018-06-10.
  7. ↑ "'What Kind of Patriotism is This': Manish Sisodia Pens Angry Letter to PM Modi". News18. Retrieved 2018-06-10.
  8. ↑ "Amidst speculation of alliance with Congress, AAP appoints Lok Sabha in-charges for five Delhi seats". dna. 2018-06-02. Retrieved 2018-06-10.
  9. ↑ Raman, Anuradha. "Delhi University professors face intense questioning". The Hindu. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  10. ↑ Banerjee, Akash. "Six lessons in 'affordable politics': AAP victory shows how elections can be fought on a shoestring". Scroll.In. Retrieved Feb 10, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Rhodes Scholars: complete list, 1903-2015". The Rhodes Trust. Archived from the original on 2013-11-06. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
  12. ↑ "FACE TO FACE: Atishi Marlena, Aam Aadmi Party | Hard News". hardnewsmedia.com. Retrieved 2015-02-14.
  13. ↑ "Meet the young leaders hoping to infuse vitality into our democracy". 2015-06-20. Retrieved 2016-09-29.
  14. ↑ "Giving people's money back to them to spend on their own". Governance Now. 2016-05-06. Retrieved 2016-12-14.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.