You have the right to know

[karira]

An article by Sonya Dutta Choudhury in The Sunday Times, Bangalore Edition, on 31 August 2008:
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YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW

If you're distressed by poor garbage collection, terrible road construction, illogical/vested interest demolition, turn to the Right to Information Act, says
Sonya Dutta Choudhury

Allwyn Ribeiro was most irked when he was turned away for the nth time by the Government Hospital at Byculla. The 43-year-old office superintendent for Central Railways had made three earlier trips to the hospital to collect his medical insurance card. Carrying the card was important to Ribeiro - it entitled him and his family to free medical attention a nd could even substitute for cash deposits in case of a medical emergency. Yet, each time he went, he had to return without it. The Byculla hospital officials weren't exactly forthcoming with explanations. “It’s been delayed” or “computer failure” was all they would vaguely say. They asked him not to come again with a “We’ll call you when it’s ready”.

Predictably, there was no call for weeks. Frustrated, Ribeiro found his solution in an increasingly used provision that allows the common man to get past mind-numbing bureaucracy and corruption—the Right to Information Act, better known as RTI. Says social activist Anand Castellino, “He came to me with this problem while we were conducting a camp on the use of the Right to Information at Government Law College, Churchgate. I advised him to file a RTI application, which he did right there and then.”

Ribeiro’s application, filed along with a Rs 10 court fee stamp, asked the public information officer of the Byculla hospital about the following: a) the progress of his file and b) how many such applications they had such processed in the last six months. He hardly expected his application to prompt such efficacy. “The very next day I received a call from the hospital to say ‘Come pick up your card’,” says Ribeiro, who now swears by the effectiveness of the Act.

The RTI, enacted as recently as 2005, derives from the citizens' fundamental right to information. For the princely sum of Rs.10, it allows citizens to get information on the government's actions and decisions (or non-actions).This information is to be got by special queries addressed to public information officers (PIO), appointed by all government/government bodies for this very purpose. PIOs must, by law, reply to queries within 30 days, or else face fines and penalties.

The Act is enormously inclusive and has wide scope Not only does it apply to the government proper, it also includes all public authorities like police, passport offices, municipal corporations, panchayats and even public sector undertakings. Also, all bodies substantially owned or aided by the government, like hospitals and educational institutions.

So, the next time you are deadlocked with getting your passport, your police verification, your ration card, or your income tax refund, think along the lines of RTI. If you’re distressed by lack of garbage collection, poor road construction, illogical/vested interest demolition, or even something as simple as who to turn to with relentless illegal reverse car horns being honked in your society, think RTI.

Of course, it is a cliché that information is power, but nowhere is this more stunningly obvious than in the RTI. “The mere asking of infor mation sometimes reduces illegal acts, since the wrongdoers feel restrained or threatened by exposure,” says veteran RTI activist Shailesh Gandhi. Once a businessman ,Gandhi is now full time RTI activist. He divides his time between conducting RTI workshops, filing appeals to government on civic issues like leased lands and advising the many people who call him, on the RTI way. So, if government offices are dragging their feet over issue of important documents, a mere call for information, often serves to activate them into responding.

Of course, it is not always so simple. When it comes to more complex vested interest issues like building of roads and ownership of land, information and action are tougher to get access to—as in the case of Gaurang Vora. The pathologist, who was walking home from his clinic in Dadar to his home in Sion, was disturbed by the sudden appearance of new pavements, along BR Ambedkar road. He says, “All the beautiful blue stone was chipped off and replaced with paver stones.”

So, in his RTI , Vora demanded to know a) the amount spent by the BMC on the new pavements; and b) what studies had been undertaken to establish the superiority of the paver stones over the original stone (stone, that seemed to Vora, in no need of replacement, being both aesthetic and durable). The information took 20 months to get. Even then, after two hearings and appeals, the information supplied wasn’t satisfactory. “The BMC had spent Rs 30 crores on the new pavements, but it was not able to explain why it replaced them,” says Vora. And yet, Vora feels he has achieved something. He says, “I have exposed the vested interests and the lack of thought that goes into the decisionmaking process. Perhaps they will give a second thought and will not be as reckless when it comes to spending public money the next time round.”

HALLA BOL

How to exercise your Right to Information

• Formulate your problem as precise requests for information—eg what is the progress of my file, name of officer in charge, specifications of road materials as well as samples of concrete
• Use format for some states/free form for some
• Accompany application with Rs 10 fee (payable as Rs10 court fee stamp in Maharashtra, or as postal order)
• Address to concerned Public Information Officer (PIO) eg. for ration cards, you would address the PIO of the Food and Supply office
• Keep proof of delivery—photocopy acknowledgement or courier receipt
• If information is refused or not provided, citizens can go in appeal to an Appellate Authority who would be an official in the same department, senior to the PIO
• If this too does not give a satisfactory result, one can appeal to the State or Central Information Commissioner, which is an independent constitutional authority, established under the Act.

USEFUL LINKS
www.rtiindia.org www.rti.gov.in www.satyamevajayate.info