RTI ACT - KNOW HOW

HOLDING THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUINTABLE USING RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT (RTI)

1. Do you have any pending work with any department of the government?
2. Are they not doing your work and expecting or demanding a bribe?
3. Did you file a grievance application in a government department but they are simply not acting on it?
4. Did you make ay complaint against any official/citizen or any wrong doing, but without any result?

You can use the Right to Information Act to know the status of your application or work. The government will have to provide you the information within 30 days.Demanding the status under the law almost, always forces then to act and do your work first and then report a positive status. How can they say they did nothing?

HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT

· Why are the streets and colonies so dirty?
· Why the manhole covers or footpath slabs over sewer lines missing, posing a danger to life?
· Why are the roads in your area in such a pathetic condition?
· Why are people dying of starvation in various parts of the country?
· Why are till so many people forced to live in abject poverty?
· Why your local municipality does so little and always claims that they have no funds?
· Why your local ration shop never has any ration?
· Why there is never any doctor or medicines at the government hospitals?
· Where have all the teachers in the government schools gone?

Some of us feel that we need good politicians and good bureaucrats. However, real change can come only when the people of this country have the power to hold their governments accountable. When that happens, no government or politician would dare to the corrupt, inefficient of insensitive.

HOW DO WE HOLD THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABLE

To make the government accountable, we need information regarding government decisions and functioning. The Right to Information Act empowers us to do just that. It gives us the right to obtain information from the government about batters that affect us in thousands of ways. Used innovatively, such information could lead to exposure of corruption and inaction, and make the government responsive and accountable.

The government spends so much money on various works in your area. You may and should ask for the details of all the works carried out by municipal body in your area. How much money was spent? On what works was it spent? Similar information was asked by people all over the country since October 2005. When the information was physically verified, it turned out that a number of works existed only on paper. Won’t you like to hold the government similarly accountable in your area? Under the RTI Act. you can demand from any department body.

· Any information pertaining to any of its departments.
· Photocopies of government contracts, payments, estimates, measurements of engineering works, etc.
· Samples of material used in the construction of roads, drains, buildings etc.
· To inspect any under-construction or completed works done by the government,
· To inspect government documents –books, registers, drawings, records, absolutely anything.
· The status of your complaints and requests.

Using RTI Act is quite simple. An average citizen with average education can begin to use it effortlessly within 5 minutes this is the time it takes to learn the broad rules.

K. K. Raman
Anna Trust, Coimbatore.

Related Links:
RTI applicant told to cough up Rs 11 lakh - Times Of India

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