New Delhi: Indian social activist Nikhil Dey was among 11 persons that the US government recently recognised as International Anti-Corruption Champions for 2023, citing his decades-long work to build peasant and worker empowerment campaigns and exposing corruption in the delivery of government services.
Dey is the co-founder of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), which has led transparency and anti-corruption movements in India. The organisation is primarily based in Rajasthan that has led workers’ and peasants’ struggles for minimum wages and transparency.
In a statement on December 7, the US State Department said, “For the past 35 years, activist Nikhil Dey has championed policy reforms to empower workers in India. He and his counterparts have brought to light official corruption, such as the underpayment of workers on official projects, and built peasant and worker empowerment campaigns targeting corruption in the delivery of government services.”
US secretary of state Antony Blinken praised Dey for “working with and for those harmed by corruption, and those particularly who are harmed most by it: underserved, marginalised populations”. Blinken said Dey has helped communities in Rajasthan demand access to essential services and rights such as education, healthcare, fair wages and better working conditions. “His organization pioneered the practice of public audits, in which local officials have to report to communities how and where they spend the resources, and citizens have a chance themselves to ask probing questions of these officials,” he continued. These public audits spread across India and more citizens started taking the lead in holding officials to account, which “at its heart, is how democracy needs to work”.
The award, set up in 2021, recognises the US government’s “support for anticorruption leaders who put their lives on the line to spur lasting change”. Dey is the first Indian to receive the award.
The 10 other International Anti-Corruption Champions for 2023 recognised by the US government on Thursday were Stanislau Ivashkevich of Belarus, Jean-Claude Mputu of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Arturo Torres of Ecuador, Ali (Mukhammedali) Toktakunov of Kyrgyz Republic, Marc N. Kollie of Liberia, Veronica Mihailov-Moraru of Moldova, Vladimir Novovic of Montenegro, Annette Planells of Panama, Francisco Belo Simoes da Costa of Timor-Leste, and May De Silva of Seychelles.
Secretary Antony J. Blinken takes a group photo with honorees at the Anti-Corruption Champions Award Ceremony at the Department of State in Washington, D.C., December 7, 2023. Photo: US Government
US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “Congratulations to Nikhil Dey, a founding member of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, for being named an International Anti-Corruption Champion by the @StateDept.”
“The United States stands with champions like Dey who work for transparency, rule of law, and justice,” Garcetti said.
Blinken added that the State Department is committed to countering corruption and promoting integrity as a foreign policy priority and core national security interest. “On the eve of International Anti-Corruption Day, December 9, the United States is proud to honour the individuals and institutions championing transparency, accountability, integrity, and good governance worldwide,” Blinken said.
Along with Aruna Roy and Shankar Singh, Dey’s leadership of the MKSS saw the organisation play a significant role in the demand, formulation and implementation of both the Right to Information Act (RTI) and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). Dey is also involved in the right to food and right to work campaigns.