Arvind Kejriwal is a popular Indian politician who is presently the Chief Minister of Delhi. He founded the Aam Aadmi Party in 2012. He also served as the Chief Minister from December 2013 till February 2014 but later stepped down from the post after 49 days. His party again contested for the Delhi Assembly elections in the year 2015 and won with a majority of 67 out of the total of 70 seats.
Prior to entering in politics, Kejriwal worked in the Indian Revenue Service for the post of Joint Commissioner for the Income Tax Department in New Delhi. He was also awarded the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for his contribution in the grassroots movement against corruption, Parivartan. He later donated all the money that he won from the Award to Public Cause Research Foundation.
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Early life and education
Arvind Kejriwal was born on August 16, 1968 in Siwani, Harayana to Gobind Ram Kejriwal and Gita Devi. His father was an electrical engineer and alimony of the Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra and his mother was a homemaker. He has two other siblings and is the oldest of them all. Their family had to move a lot due to his father’s job.
Majority of Kejriwal’s childhood was spent in the northern part of India in Sonipat, Ghaziabad and Hisar. He finished his schooling from Campus School in Hisar and then from Christian Missionary Holy Child School in Sonipat. He scored an All India Rank of 563 in the IIT-JEE exam in the year 1985 and later enrolled in the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur from where he majored in Mechanical Engineering.
Kejriwal later joined Tata Steel in the year 1989 soon after graduating from IIT, Kharagpur but later resigned in 1992. He prepared for the Civil Services Examinations in the meantime. He even visited Kolkata during that time and met Mother Teresa and volunteered in the Missionaries of Charity.
Wife and children
- In the year 1995, Kejriwal married Sunita who herself was in the 1993 IRS officer batch. The couple are proud parents of two children.
Career
Kejriwal joined the Indian Revenue Services for the post of Assistant Commissioner in the year 1995 after qualifying the Civil Services Examinations. In 2000, Kejriwal applied for leave of two years which was sanctioned by the authorities on the condition that he would not be able to leave the job for three years after resuming. After finishing the tenure, he resigned in February 2006. He had to pay a sum of ₹ 927,787 due to violation of the contract which he deemed as incorrect but paid the sum anyway.
He founded the Aam Aadmi Party in the year 2012 to fight against the growing corruption and to fight for the rights of common people. He was elected as the Chief Minister in the 2012 elections but he stepped down after working for 49 days due to the criticisms and accusations. His party again won the Delhi Assembly elections in 2015 and is currently serving as the Chief Minister of the State.
Arvind Kejriwal – Net Worth and Salary
Arvind Kejriwal has an estimated net worth of Rs. 2.09 crore including the money of his wife and all the movable assets that he owns.
The Chief Minister of Delhi’s basic salary is Rs. 72000 per month, which includes Basic Salary of Rs. 20,000, Dearness Allowance of Rs. 4000 , Monthly Allowance of Rs. 30000 and Constituency Fund totalling to Rs. 18,000. Apart from this monthly salary, he gets secretarial allowance of Rs. 10000 per month, water and electricity facility at Rs.4000 per month, travel facilities at Rs. 50,000 per annum, telephone facilities at Rs. 8,000 per month and conveyance allowance at Rs. 6000 per month.
The Delhi Vidhansabha passed a bill on December 3, 2016 for increasing the salary of Delhi MLAs. The bill is still pending with the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi. If approved, the salary of Delhi CM will be –
Basic Salary – Rs. 80000
Monthly Allowance – Rs. 60000
Constituency Fund- Rs.5000
This means on approval, Arvind Kejriwal’s salary will be three times of what he is earning presently, the monthly package coming to Rs.2.2 lakh. He will also get Rs. 3 lakh annually as allowance for traveling, Rs. 30000 as expenses for hiring four employees and Rs. 25,000 for working as MLA.
