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Aruna Roy Biography: Age, Career, Family and More

F4U Editorial Desk • Updated September 28, 2026 • 6 min read

Quick Info

Date of birth26 May 1946

Age77 Years

BirthplaceMadras Presidency, British India (now Chennai, India)

ProfessionRTI and Socio-political Activist

NationalityIndian

Marital statusMarried

SpouseSanjit Bunker Roy (m. 1970)

FamilyFather - Elupai Doraiswami Jayaram; Mother - Hema; One younger brother; Sisters - Nayanika Krishna and Manya Jayaram Lindsay; Manya Jayaram passed away in January 2020

Aruna Roy Biography

Aruna Roy is an Indian social and RTI activist best known for co-founding the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS). A former civil servant, she has spent,

Early life and background
Aruna Roy was born on 26 May 1946 in the Madras Presidency of British India (now Chennai). She grew up in a well-educated Tamil Brahmin family with a strong tradition of public service and social concern. Her father, E. D. Jayaram, worked as a lawyer and was also active in cultural circles; her mother’s family included individuals who worked to improve access to education for the poor. Aruna attended a range of schools, including the Convent of Jesus and Mary, the Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in New Delhi, and Kalakshetra in Adyar. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Indraprastha College for Women and went on to complete postgraduate studies at the University of Delhi.

From a young age she was widely read and multilingual, becoming fluent in Tamil, English, French, and Hindi by her mid-20s. Influenced by Gandhian ideas and early feminist thinking, she originally considered a career in uniformed services. In 1968 she was among the small number of women who cleared the Indian Administrative Service exam and entered public service.

Career
Aruna Roy served as an Indian Administrative Service officer for seven years before resigning in 1974. After a period of training that included time at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, she protested aspects of the curriculum while still a probationer and later chose to work closely with rural communities.

In the late 1970s and 1980s she moved to Tilonia in Rajasthan to live and work with villagers at the Barefoot College, a nonprofit social enterprise founded by her husband, Sanjit Bunker Roy. There she and other members of the college worked to bring basic services, appropriate technologies, and education to communities that lacked electricity, piped water, banking services, and public transport. Roy has described Tilonia as a formative place that taught her practical lessons about grassroots life and organizing.

On 1 May 1990, Roy, together with Nikhil Dey and Shankar Singh, launched the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) in Rajsamand district, Rajasthan. MKSS campaigned for transparency and accountability in public life, helping to spearhead the movement that led to the enactment of the Right to Information Act in 2005. Under the MKSS banner she has worked on campaigns focused on the rights of people living below the poverty line, including the Right to Work, the Right to Food, and broader demands for social and economic justice.

Roy has also been involved in national-level policy and advocacy work. She served on the National Advisory Council until her resignation in 2006 and was active in campaigns for a universal non-contributory pension for workers in the unorganised sector through the Pension Parishad and related networks. In 2008 she became president of The National Federation of Indian Women. Internationally, she was appointed professor of practice in global governance at McGill University in Montreal in 2016.

Writing and public interventions
Aruna Roy is an author of several books and writings on social change and governance. Her first book appeared in 1974, and subsequent works include Schools and Communities: An Experience in Rural India (1980), An Indian Feminist at Seventy (2017), and The RTI Story: Power to the People (2018). She has been an active campaigner in courts and public forums on human rights and governance issues.

Public profile
Over the years Roy has received significant recognition for her work. Awards and honours mentioned in her career include the Times Fellowships Award (1991), the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership (2000), the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award (2010), inclusion on Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people (2011), and the Dr. Paulos Mar Gregorios award (2019). She has been publicly associated with causes such as the Right to Information and social welfare campaigns and has sometimes been the subject of debate because of positions taken in public petitions.

Personal life
Aruna Roy is married to Sanjit Bunker Roy; the couple married in 1970. She does not have children. Her family includes a younger brother and two sisters, Nayanika Krishna and Manya Jayaram Lindsay; Manya Jayaram died in January 2020. Roy follows an omnist outlook and has been influenced by Mahatma Gandhi’s principles throughout her life. She is vegetarian and lists reading and writing among her interests.

Latest updates
Roy continues to be publicly active as a campaigner, writer, and speaker. Her recent book publications and her ongoing involvement with movements for transparency, social welfare, and labour and farmer rights reflect an enduring commitment to grassroots organizing and public accountability.
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Recent Work

The RTI Story: Power to the People

A book recounting the campaign and impact of the Right to Information movement in India.

2018
An Indian Feminist at Seventy

A collection of writings and reflections published when she turned seventy.

2017
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Career Highlights

  1. Co-founder of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS)
  2. Key figure in campaigns leading to the Right to Information Act (2005)
  3. Recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership (2000)
  4. Listed among Time magazine’s 100 most influential people (2011)
  5. Professor of practice in global governance at McGill University (appointed 2016)
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Frequently Asked Questions

When was Aruna Roy born?

26 May 1946

What is Aruna Roy known for?

RTI and Socio-political Activist

What is Aruna Roy’s marital status?

Married

Who is Aruna Roy married to?

Sanjit Bunker Roy (m. 1970)