Tuesday, October 13, 2009
'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.
Warning against misusing RTI Act to harass administration
“The Act is meant to help people and should not be used
as a tool to harass the administration”
CHENNAI: There are 17 types of information, ranging from
log books and records to memos, maintained by a government
department which the public can access using the Right
to Information (RTI) Act. All that one needs to exercise this
fundamental right to information is a sheet of paper and a
Rs.10 worth legal stamp.
All this and more was discussed at a dissemination meet to
commemorate the celebration of RTI week (October 6-12)
held at the Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University here on
Monday. Speaking on the occasion, V. Srikumar, law officer
of the University, said that according to official statistics, over
1.11 lakh RTI applications have been filed in the State in the
past four years. More than 43,000 applications were filed in 2008 alone.
“The trend of seeking information through the RTI is picking up.
People are beginning to appreciate the power of the Act and
Tamil Nadu is one of the States where a vast number of
applications have been filed,” said Mr. Srikumar.
“The RTI Act has also made government departments more
efficient by forcing officials to maintain the records properly,”
said Meer Mustafa Hussain, Vice-Chancellor of the University.
“Websites are also promptly updating anticipating request for information,”
he added.
He however had a word of caution for the public and said that the
act is meant to help them and should not be used as a tool to harass
the administration.
The NCC Directorate organised a lecture on Monday as part of the
Week at Agarwal Vidhyalaya in which Sartaj Imam, Deputy Director
General of NCC, addressed the students.
Awareness rally
An awareness rally on RTI Act was organised by the cadets of 1
(TN) battery NCC at Avadi. The unit is conducting a
CATC-cum-SSB camp at CRPF, Avadi,
from October 6th to October 15th.
The rally was flagged off by camp commandant
Lt. Col. Ravikumar. About 300 cadets took part in
the rally carrying banners and placards spreading
the importance of the Act.
RTI a tool in hands of aam-admi to fight red-tapism
New Delhi: To own a house was the dream of 70-year-old rickshaw
puller Mazloom Nadaf which he nurtured throughout his life.
For once, he felt his wish will be realised when he was given Rs 25,000
for a house under Indira Awaas Yozna but little did he know that getting
the money from Block Development Officer would be a tough task.
Nadaf, hailing from Madhubani district in Bihar, claims that he was asked
to pay a bribe of Rs 5,000 to get the due amount under the scheme.
Four years ago, the Right to Information Act came into being and Nadaf
utilised it to the fullest, an NGO that helps educate people on the RTI Act said.
Not only did he get the substantial amount without paying any bribe within 10
days of filing an application, but he also became one of the first persons from
Bihar to reap the benefits of the Act.
Later, the remaining portion was also sent to him with which he managed to
fulfil his dream of buying a house.
On the eve of the Act completing four years, many a common man like
him find themselves empowered.
"Nadaf was the first RTI applicant from Bihar and today many have followed
his footsteps. Most of the time you will find Nadaf transporting people
who have problems, in his rickshaw. He carries them to some RTI activist,"
said Ashok Kumar Singh, a member of the NGO.
Manish Sisodiya, an RTI activist in Delhi said,
"This is the power of RTI - even an ordinary rickshawala becomes
as powerful as the member of Parliament."
In another case, villagers filed different RTI applications and
have successfully brought eight villages under the count of the Census.
"Bhawanipur, Bichiya, Naibarti Tadiya, Kailash Nagar Dhakia,
Dilshad Nagar, Gokulpur, Mehboobnagar and Kautarniya Ghat
were never under the count of the Census. All development work
was denied with the excuse that it was not in the map.
People were devoid of school, clean drinking water, toilet and
all development schemes of the government," Sisodia said.
"People living in this area were considered encroacher of land by
the government. We had bright students in this area who got
in Shastastra Seema Bal but were denied jobs as they did not have a
residence proof. They could vote but they did not have a voter I-card," he said.
Finally, these eight villages are recognised and all come
under the count of the Census, he said.
"It's a very difficult question. The point here is that it has started
having an impact. So to say that it has delivered is going a little far.
What I can say that it has started making a major impact on
government's functioning," Chief Information Commissioner
Wajahat Habibullah said when asked whether the Act has delivered on
the expectations of the common man.
President of India to inaugurate 4th Annual Convention on RTI tomorrow
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RTI -Not yet a strong tool
BANGALORE: While the Right to Information Act has done its bit to ensure
India is a successful working democracy, its implementation leaves a lot
to be desired. Sadly, many citizens are still unaware of how to file applications.
The suo motu disclosure should have been implemented within 120 days
of enforcement of the Act, but it's still pending.
The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), along with organizations
like CIVIC, CREAT, Kria Katte and PAC, organized a discussion on Saturday to
assess how well the Act has been utilized in the past four years.
CHRI programme coordinator Venkatesh Nayak said a study is needed to
find out if it has affected government operations. RTI has worked best in
tackling corruption and holding officers accountable, he pointed out.
"The first two objectives of creating informed citizenry and transparency
in government functioning haven't improved much."
"Even if RTI Act has helped expose corruption, there is no plan to deal
with such cases. They remain pending for long, till people forget about it.
Gujarat has a special redressal system which helps deal with them faster,"
said Nayak.
The government is still secretive about many issues. Citizens need to be
vigilant about free trade agreements that the government is entering into
with other countries and file RTI applications strategically to understand
implications of such policies, Nayak pointed out.
Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde said the right to information is as vital as
the right to free speech. Though it is a statutory right and has its limitations,
it gives citizens many opportunities.
"We receive 20 to 30 cases per day. Since 1986, the composition of our staff
has remained the same. We have nine judges and one of them is an
information officer. The government has given us other assignments like
the Nandguri SEZ, Hassan Ring Road, PWD recruitments, etc, which leaves
us with less time to track corruption," he said.
The Cromptroller and Auditor General's 2007-08 report points that a whopping
Rs 51,000 crore has gone unaccounted for in eight government projects, which
include JNNURM and NREGA.
Chief information commissioner K K Mishra stressed on the need for a
state-level RTI cell. He said 7,000 cases are pending with the commission.
The government had commissioned a private company to review implementation
of the Act in the past four years. Others like the National Campaign for People's Right
To Information have also reviewed it in several states and the findings have been
similar.
"People still find it diffiocult to file RTI applications. It is pathetic.
In all departments there should be a nodal officer to implement the Act,"
he said. He also recommended that 1 lakh common service centres the
government is planning to set up should also accept RTI applications.
* BBMP gets one of the highest number of RTI queries. In two cases from Ward
No. 50, huge misappropriation of funds was revealed. In the case of asphalting
of Ramaiyengar Road, Rs 3,60,650 was paid to the contractor but the work
wasn't carried out
* In the case of six roadside drains in the same ward, work was done according
to the sanctioned estimate of Rs 6.55 lakh, but Rs 16.48 lakh was paid to the
contractor.
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