The 'Alternative Power List' of India

The 'real' power list of India, as compiled by the Outlook magazine. Kudos to them for telling us who these people are.

These are the people who make a 'difference' in India, 'sticking out' as Outlook terms, 'for the greater common good'.

1. P. Sainath - Putting rural India and the farmers' crisis firmly on the national and media agenda
2. Irrfan Khan - Among the New Generation of actors, his ability to set every role on a slow, crackling flame has set new standards of excellence
3. Prof Irfan Habib - A leader among social scientists, cutting across disciplines. Uses history to counter communal propaganda, modern myths.
4. Jean Dreze - His incisive work on hunger, child malnutrition and other issues has brought the Other India into intellectual and policy focus
5. Kandala Balagopal - Fighting for the rights of the marginalised all over India, exposing state abuses
6. C. Rammanohar Reddy - Runs a magazine that has set the agenda for intellectual debate, government policies for nearly 60 years
7. Dr Abusaleh Sharif - His survey of Indian Muslims has offered both a challenge and critique to policy, showing up its gross inadequacies and spurring it to more focused action
8. Satinder K. Lambah - Winning Pakistan's trust, and keeping communication channels open, even in difficult times
9. Bezwada Wilson - Leads a nationwide crusade to abolish the dehumanising practice of manual scavenging
10. Joe Madiath - Transforming disease-ridden hamlets into sparkling model villages
11. Madhav Chavan - Leads a huge effort to improve the quality of primary education in government schools
12. Ashok Agarwal - Forced Delhi's educational bureaucracy and private schools to recognise the rights of poor children
13. Pulok Chatterjee - A quiet, low-key force in the bureaucracy
14. J.S. Bandukwala - Fearless crusader against communalism in Gujarat. Has paid a heavy price for his outspoken activism.
15. Prof Obaid Siddiqi - Making the National Centre for Biological Sciences, which he set up, a world-class institution
16. Vishal Bharadwaj - Making films that successfully challenge the tired Bollywood box-office formula, yet captivate audiences.
17. Deep Joshi - Recruiting the best professional talent to work on a wide range of remarkably profitable rural livelihood promotion projects that have transformed the lives of nearly 70,000 families
18. Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal - Using his spiritual influence to engage rural folks in large-scale environmental, anti-pollution projects
19. Raghuvansh Prasad Singh - Ensuring that the UPA gives rural development high priority, and that NREGs makes history
20. Krishan Kumar - Creating a successful model for checking female foeticide, running a district that is a model of efficient governance
21. Gopal Gandhi - A rare example of humility, ethical conduct and scholarship in public life
22. Abhay & Rani Bang - Creating an internationally acclaimed and adopted model for drastically reducing child mortality in backward rural areas
23. William Bissell - Giving traditional handlooms and handicrafts contemporary relevance
24. Ashok Jhunjhunwala - Empowering rural India through telecom and computer technology
25. Dr Ashoke Sen - Has proved that pioneering scientific thinking and world-class research is still happening in India.