Rachna Dhingra (born 3 September 1977) is a social activist working in Bhopal with the survivors of the
Bhopal gas tragedy
The Bhopal disaster, also referred to as the Bhopal gas tragedy, was a chemical accident on the night of 2–3 December 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. Considered the world's w ...
, a gas leak from a Union Carbide plant in 1984 that has killed 20,000 people. She is also currently a member of the
Aam Aadmi Party
The Aam Aadmi Party (; AAP) is a political party in India, as one of the national political parties. The AAP was founded in November 2012 by Arvind Kejriwal and his then-companions following the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement, popular ...
of India.
Early life and education
Rachna Dhingra, the only child of her parents, was born in Delhi. Her parents divorced when she was 3 months old, mainly because of the birth of a girl child. Her mother was a single parent since then, until she moved to USA to remarry in 1992.
Rachna was 18 at this time.
Rachna did her undergraduate in business administration from
Ross School of Business
The Stephen M. Ross School of Business, also known as Michigan Ross, is the business school of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1924, the school is ranked among the best business schools i ...
at
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
, Ann Arbor in the United States. After graduating, she joined Accenture as a Business Consultant. In the year 2002 she resigned from her job and in January 2003, Rachna came to Bhopal to work in support of the Bhopal survivors’ struggle for justice.
Social work
During her time at the University of Michigan, Rachna joined a student group called the Association for India's Development, Ann Arbor, that was already working for the welfare of the survivors of the Bhopal disaster. In Ann Arbor, Rachna along with other AID volunteers set up the Bhopal Action Network to support not just the cause of the Bhopal survivors, but the survivors from other chemical disasters over the world. Rachna is now actively involved in the campaign for the Bhopal survivors through the Bhopal Group of Information and Action. Her goal is to get the appropriate compensation to survivors, initiating efforts for clean drinking water, generating employment, and mobilizing local and global communities. She was part of relief efforts for 2001 Gujarat earthquake and 2002 Gujarat riots.
Bhopal gas tragedy: struggle for justice
As a member of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action for the last 10 years, Rachna has taken part in legal actions, protest demonstrations and media presentations on issues of the disaster in Bhopal locally, nationally and internationally.
Rachna has walked from Bhopal to New Delhi in 2006 and again in 2008 along with survivors of the disaster and their supporters. In 2007 along with others fasted for 19 days and then again in 2008 when she continued with her fast while in Tihar jail for 10 days. In 2009 along with survivors and supporters she travelled through Europe and the United States campaigning against the U.S. based corporations responsible for the Bhopal disaster at public gatherings in Germany, Italy, Netherlands, and a dozen U.S. cities. She has been a keen and effective RTI activist for the last 8 years. Rachna was awarded the women of the year in the category of public service by the India Today magazine in 2010.
Political career
Rachna is a member of the
Aam Aadmi Party
The Aam Aadmi Party (; AAP) is a political party in India, as one of the national political parties. The AAP was founded in November 2012 by Arvind Kejriwal and his then-companions following the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement, popular ...
and contested the
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...
election in 2014 from
Bhopal
Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It i ...
,
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...
. She was one of the 28 candidates of the party who contested from Madhya Pradesh.
Awards
On 14 January 2011, Rachna Dhingra received the
India Today
''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new onl ...
woman of the year award in Public Service category from
Mariane Pearl
Mariane van Neyenhoff Pearl (born 23 July 1967) is a French freelance journalist and a former reporter and columnist for '' Glamour'' magazine. She is the widow of Daniel Pearl, an American journalist who was the South Asia Bureau Chief for ''The ...
and
India Today Group 01 or '01 may refer to:
* The year 2001, or any year ending with 01
* The month of January
* 1 (number)
Music
* 01'' (Richard Müller album), 2001
* ''01'' (Son of Dave album), 2000
* ''01'' (Urban Zakapa album), 2011
* ''O1'' (Hiroyuki Sawa ...
chairman and editor-in-chief
Aroon Purie
Aroon Purie (born 1944) is the founder-publisher and editor-in-chief of ''India Today'', and former chief executive of the India Today Group. He is the managing director of Thomson Press (India) Limited and the chairman and managing director of ...
for giving up a promising career and moving to Bhopal to campaign for justice for the victims of the gas tragedy and the affected families.
She also received the international ethecon Blue Planet Award 2019 on 23 November 2019 in Berlin, germany, honoring her courage in confronting
corporate crime
In criminology, corporate crime refers to crimes committed either by a corporation (i.e., a business entity having a separate legal personality from the natural persons that manage its activities), or by individuals acting on behalf of a corpor ...
.
References
External links
* http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060506/saturday/main1.htm
* http://www.oneforindia.org/2011/files/people/js.htm
* https://web.archive.org/web/20140315093523/http://aidindia.org/main/content/view/810/399
* https://web.archive.org/web/20140315073026/http://indiatoday.in/womansummit/2009/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&issueid=35&id=2733&Itemid=1§ionid=1
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dhingra, Rachna
Living people
1977 births
Ross School of Business alumni
Aam Aadmi Party politicians
Social workers
Women in Madhya Pradesh politics
Politicians from Bhopal
21st-century Indian women politicians
21st-century Indian politicians
Social workers from Madhya Pradesh