Tell me have you ever thought of going to government and asking what, how, where, why. Question them about anything? Did not know how to do it and just left the matter?
Come on its not possible that there is anyone among us who haven’t had that feeling. We live in a democratic nation where every facility around us is arranged for by the government (that we chose!). And all of us have come across this situation at one point of time or the other. Be it about Street lights, water, sanitation or hospitals, schools, Transport, roads etc. Haven’t there been situations where someone did not pick garbage for days together around your neighborhood? Days where roads en-route to your office was dug and not repaired for days together… haven’t been there days when you wanted to ask the local authorities what is happening. And thought that it won’t fetch you anything and left the thought there itself?
What if I told you that there is a facility provided by the government itself where in you can ask them questions, without going through any corruption, any MLA, any long procedure, any authority!
Yes Right To Information Act is the answer. Under this act any Indian citizen could ask government questions on their expenditures, plans, deadline to complete work, details of contractors etc and they will receive an answer! Surprised J well this act also provides that information has to be received by an applicant of RTI within 30 days!
Yes, Is there a road that was to be laid, has not happened yet around your house, through RTI you can actually ask the authorities every detail of the PLAN! Do you want to know what is the breakdown of costs and details of materials that was to go on that road, you can ask!
Was there any problem around year with sanitation, did you feel, I pay tax on everything I purchase and my own surroundings is like this, Where does my money go? Well you can ask government - How much do you spend on the sanitation around my house (in the area), how many workers are appointed by municipality, what is the schedule made for clearance, you can ask these questions!
People, whom I worked with, told me that, when they filed for RTI, information they received was shocking. Government records actually show crores together money spent on these and that there is regular clearing etc. You’ll be surprised to see that the documents claim to have established everything that is not around you but was suppose to be. The road in front of your house is 4 inches and the documents say its 7 inches!
It is very simple to file an RTI, just fill an application form (for information on form and filing see http://www.righttoinformation.org/faqs.asp ) and wait up for 30 days with in which you will receive the information. If you did not, you can make an appeal and the officer (Public Information Officer-PIOs) responsible gets penalized for delay! Yes there are cases where PIOs have got suspended for not sending information. This is serious business ladies and gentlemen. PIOs are usually the higher level officials like revenue officers, commissioners etc. And no one wants to risk ‘it’. They’ll answer your application. I have met them and trust me they take RTI applications seriously.
Are you wondering what next, what if I get information how is my problem getting solved, let’s take an example of the road in front of your house; which is in terrible condition, you filed for RTI asking what is the total expenditure on that particular road during previous financial year, what was the composition of the road (Tar etc), the total height of the road as per plan etc and you have now received the information pertaining to same.
Well you have in your hand the original document that acts as proof against the actual road. You can complain to vigilance agencies, CBI or even file an FIR. But it is seen that the Government does not take any action against the guilty even after repeated complaints. Though one can keep up the pressure on vigilance agencies by seeking to know the status of complaints under RTI, however, the wrongdoings can also be exposed through media. And media is thirsty for these issues.
Don’t worry, it is usually seen that the authorities get on guard and do their work properly as soon as they see an RTI filed. The officials get a clear message that the people of that area have become alert and any wrongdoings in future would not remain hidden as they were in the past.
Think about it, people can actually question and correct government. When we work at office we are monitored by superiors, by family at home… We function the way we should because there is a check on us and we are made responsible for our actions. Who should check on the government, we chose them shouldn’t we check them. The way taxes are being increased every year eating away our potential to increase standard of living, for what? For betterment of the facility made available to us. But is this true? Why do we see MLAs getting over 100% richer every year? Because no one is checking on them!
May be you and I have all comforts in life, but think of those who don’t. What might a provision like RTI do to their life? Come on it’s our hard earned money I’m talking about. We are feeding some corrupt freak when we can make sure the money goes where it is supposed to go.
Please spread the word. This is amazing provision that every citizen in this country should know of.
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