'RTI empowers people to control governance'

By: Shailesh Bhatia Mid Day, Mumbai As RTI turns four, Aruna Roy, who led the movement for RTI, talks of how rural India is putting the law to use and the lessons that Mumbai can learn from it Ramon Magsaysay Award recipient in Community Leadership and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Aruna Roy can best be described as one of the pioneers of modern day Right To Information (RTI). It was a movement which she spearheaded in 1994, under the flagship of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathana and sought financial records of expenditure from the local Government institutions, including panchayats. Roy speaks on the lessons learnt in her village Devdungri in Rajasthan. Roy feels that metros such as Mumbai have a lot to learn from small towns and villages. It took over three years of grit and determination on her part to make sure that the State Legislature passed the landmark Rajasthan State Right to Information Act and other states followed suit in the coming years to accept what is today respected as the most vigorous transparency legislation in the world. Excerpts from an interview: What is the basic difference between the use of RTI in rural India and metros like Mumbai? In rural India, unlike bigger cities, the RTI is aimed at more common causes like panchayats, school buildings and public health and has gone way beyond the parameters of things pertaining to micro level grievances, which lie within the vicinity of an individual. What are the lessons to be learnt here? Mumbaikars will have to inculcate the commonality of existence. After all, not everybody lives in bungalows. A common man lives in apartments with multiple neighbours, who share their space. The village of Devdungri, in Rajasthan where I reside, is the perfect example to follow. People have their squabbles and individual grievances, but are collective in their approach to address a common cause and at the end of the day, share a sense of warmth and compassion. Does Mumbai lack compassion? I was deeply touched by comments made by a slain police officer's widow and daughter, who categorically stated on national television that hanging Kasab will not be a solution to the problem of terrorism, which rocked Mumbai recently and that the deeper question should be addressed. This by itself is the biggest example of compassion, as I know it. What was the initial spark, which led you to pursue RTI? It was in 1992, when we were facing obstacles to get relevant information on the State Government's minimum wages programme. Our primary aim was to ensure that the ordinary man could lead his life with dignity and justice. Our initial movement was also due to struggle for a community land, illegally held by a feudal landlord, which created a need to expose the official opposition to disclosure of records. This flagged off the struggle of the people. It became clear in my mind that access to relevant information is a fundamental tool for ensuring transparency and accountability of the government and of all bodies that affect public interest. How diverse are the types of RTIs from rural and urban India? India is a very big and diverse country. Every state has its own set of problems, like a farmer in Rajasthan may be facing drought, while a person in Mumbai is concerned about flooding of roads in monsoons. Similarly, a villager may want to know why anti-venom is not available in his local clinic in case of a snakebite. A poor man is more concerned about his basic necessities. What are the current areas where you would like to implement change through RTI? We have to ensure that democracy becomes a winning system. In a democracy, without the right to know, there can be no real right to exercise power and make the Government and the state accountable to its people. If a government official does not respond to RTI, he or she should be suitably penalised and accountable for the actions. Have there been cases where RTIs filed for individual needs mushroomed into larger social issues? There have been instances where what could be regarded as relatively smaller issues, like the postman not delivering pension cheques to a retired school teacher have come under the RTI scanner and exposed bigger rackets of money being transferred to fraudulent accounts or laxity of revenue officials. What is your opinion on the new breed of RTI activists? Youth today are much better informed and are using RTI on diverse topics like college canteen contracts and the health risks of consuming genetically modified brinjals. Would you like RTI activists to become cult figures? Not at all. The cause should always be bigger than an individual. Hero worship has its own pitfalls. What gives the RTI movement its bite? RTI is an effective tool to control the arbitrary exercise of power. It has the power to transform the relationship between the citizens and the Government by empowering people to exercise control over the governance. What ticks you off? I have some very bad memories of Partition and cannot tolerate violence instigated on the basis of religion, be it in Gujarat or riots in Delhi, after the assassination of Indira Gandhi. Jab jaati ke naam pe logo ko ladaya jata hai to bahut ghinn hoti hai. I can understand when individuals fight our issues, but communities cannot be instigated to clash, based on religion, caste, creed or colour.