At first glance Bhadresh Wamja looks like any other college-going kid wearing bright T- shirts and zooming around on a bike. It's tough to believe that efforts by this 19-year-old forced all fair price shops in Gujarat come under the ambit of the RTI Act
RTI users are increasingly being targeted for exposing wrongdoings in public offices. Through its website, RTI Anonymous group offers a service of filing RTI applications
The Right to information movement we are currently witness to owes its existence to farmers and labourers in small villages of Rajasthan who in the late 90s demanded that official records regarding government funds be made public and the corrupt brought to book. Continued pressure by non-government groups and activists for transparency in governance led to enactment of the RTI Act in 2005. GOI Monitor accessed and assessed the data related to its performance at the central level through first five years of its existence. Here are the highs and lows.
In 2010, 28 attacks on RTI activists were reported from across the country which included 10 murders. And while all this goes on, authorities perform lip service promising strong action against the guilty and better security to whistle blowers. Needless to say the going is getting tougher for those fighting to make official information public.
The reactionary barrage
Babu Ram Chauhan always knew what was coming but he could not afford drop what he was doing. Belonging to Ramgarh village located near to India’s border with Pakistan in west Rajasthan, Chauhan exposed encroachment on more than 17,000 hectares prime irrigated land in the area. On July 11, he was kidnapped while returning home after teaching at a school 30 km away from his village. The kidnappers beat him up badly, shaved his head and forced urine down his throat. They would have thrown him in the Indira Gandhi canal but for a few passersby who raised an alarm.
Second part of the series done for The Hoot analyses CIC's decisions on serious issues including mercy petitions, phone tapping and bank details: Since the inception of the RTI Act in 2005, the role of Central Information Commission (CIC) has been exemplary. Barring some instances, the commission has been appreciated for ensuring that public authorities are accountable to the people. Along the way, it has dealt successfully with various serious issues like disclosure of information related to mercy petitions, phone tapping and bank details to name a few.
Public officers have been wrongly invoking exemptions under national interest to deny information under the RTI Act. A two-part series done for The Hoot tracks denials and the CIC's approach.
Visit Rangpar village in Rajkot district of Gujarat and you will be amazed by a smooth, winding road that leads to an otherwise quaint settlement. The fact that this road was made possible by a blind resident further feeds the wonderment.