Manish Sisodia is a senior leader of the Aam Aadmi Party and currently the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi. He is passionate about transforming public education in India, and has come to be known as one of the country’s most dynamic and innovative Education Ministers. He has earned himself a reputation as an educationist thought leader, and someone who has shown the courage to introduce and implement bold policy changes that have already begun to significantly enhance learning levels among children studying in Delhi’s government schools. Even as school education in India continues to be in a state of crisis, a ray of hope has emerged through the Delhi model of education administration.

A long-time associate of activist turned politician Arvind Kejriwal, he took the plunge into active politics when the anti-corruption movement of 2011 evolved into the Aam Aadmi Party. He has championed the idea of decentralisation of governance through Mohalla sabhas and was deeply involved in many local self-governance experiments in Delhi and also villages of Bihar. He pioneered the concept of ‘Swaraj Budget’ in Delhi, an experiment in participatory budgeting, where Mohalla Sabhas held across Delhi contributed to the budget-making process.

His experiences as a TV news journalist for almost a decade led him to give up his professional career and launch the NGO Kabir, which worked in East Delhi to popularise the Right to Information Act so as to encourage citizens to use the law. Kabir became the go-to organisation for Doordarshan’s weekly show on RTI ‘Janane Ka Haq’ for research on how the law works. Together with Kejriwal’s NGO Parivartan, the two activists and their organisations were at the forefront of the campaign towards transparency and decentralisation in governance.

He hopes to make reform in education a popular movement and create a positive political discourse around the issue.