- Its Your Right to Ask !!
- Have you ever imagined you can question the MLA of your town to give the status of his MLA development fund ?
- Have you ever imagined you can question, in fact, any govt department and get response within 30 days of your request ?
Now, all these and more, are absolutely possible by RIGHT TO INFORMATION Act. 12th October, 2005 was the day when Government of India took the revolutionary step in democracy by enacting the RIGHT TO INFORMATION Act in all the States of India except J&K.
The RTI Act enables any Indian Citizen to seek information from the public authority by submitting a written application and by paying a minimal fee of Rs.10/-. The citizens can seek any information except those would affect the integrity and sovereignty of India.
The Indian Government has formed a Hierarchical Committee structure to implement this RTI act.
- A Central Information Commission (CIC) headed by the Prime Minister of India
- A State Information Commission for each state headed by the Chief Minister of the State.
- A Public Information Officer (PIO) for each department to handle and process the RTI applications filed against his department.
If you want to file an application under RTI act to seek an information, all you have to do is apply in a State Government prescribed Application form or in a Plain Paper to the concerned PIO. You should deposit Rs 10 application fee either in cash or through DD or postal order.
The PIO should respond within 30 days of reception of the application . If the information is concerned with the Life or Liberty of the person, the PIO should respond within 48 hours . If the applicant dint get the response in the stipulated time, a fine of Rs.250/- per day will be levied on the PIO.
If there is no response within 100 days , then the Central Information Commission or the State Information Commission will take appropriate disciplinary action against the PIO.
A Sword is as mightier as the Warrior and it applies the same for RTI too. One can do wonders with the help of this act. Since its inception , this act has turned the sluggish passive govt officials to respond with pace. There are numerous cases in which RTI came into rescue of the common man.
Though the awareness of RTI is less among the people, it is fast catching up and many NGOs are working toward it.
Success Stories :
- An RTI application exposed misuse of power by Union Minister of State for Food Processing, SubodhKant Sahay , to transfer a government officer during 2006.
- Street lights and roads in Whitefield area in Hyderabad were made functional by an RTI activist during Dec 2007
- A residents' welfare activist from Chennai has used the Right to Information Act to settle a 15-year-long dispute with the local Municipality over property tax assessment.
Many Stories tell the unleashed power of Right to Information Act and you can also be the next person to use RTI for the betterment of the common people.
For more information visit http://righttoinformation.gov.in/
To know the Public Information Officers of various departments http://www.rti.gov.in/states
Few RTI activist organizations
http://www.rtiindia.org/
http://rti.aidindia.org/
The early history of British expansion in India was characterised by the co-existence of two approaches towards the existing princely states. The first was a policy of annexation, where the British sought to forcibly absorb the Indian princely states into the provinces which constituted their Empire in India. The second was a policy of indirect rule, where the British assumed suzerainty and paramountcy over princely states, but conceded some degree of sovereignty to them. .. 
India, a nation that has undergone complete transformation after it got independence from the British Rule. But somehow the influence from the West never ceased to affect our culture and the growth of the Nation. The three major transforms taken from the entire lot is the way Mobiles, Cars and Malls have brought to the India nationality.
The positive role that dairying could play in providing income and employment opportunity was clear to policy-makers long time back and a set of measures were put in place to develop and protect the dairy industry. Immediately after India gained independence, the Milk Control Board was set up which controlled the supply and distribution chains.
India and space laws: A millennium perspective
India is a country with a diversity of languages. Out of more than one thousand mother tongues, only eighteen languages are included in the eighth schedule of the Indian Constitution. Development of a particular state or region, to a very great extent, depends on the development of its regional language. This was an important reason given at the time of the formation of linguistic states, though many criticized such a linguistic “division” or “re-organization”.
Past two decades have seen an unprecedented rise in the number of farmer suicides in our country. Across the nation, lacks of farmers have taken their lives in these years. Though this process is on for almost 2 decades, but it is only now that the nation is getting to know the seriousness and the extent of it. We are going through the worst ever farm crisis in the history of our nation.
3rd December 1984 Shortly after midnight poison gas leaked from a factory in Bhopal, India, owned by the Union Carbide Corporation. There was no warning, none of the plant's safety systems were working. In the city people were sleeping. They woke in darkness to the sound of screams with the gases burning their eyes, noses and mouths. They began retching and coughing up froth streaked with blood. Whole neighbourhoods fled in panic, some were trampled, others convulsed and fell dead. People lost control of their bowels and bladders as they ran. Within hours thousands of dead bodies lay in the streets.
The Emergency in India denotes the 21-month period between June 25, 1975 and March 21, 1977 when President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, upon advice by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, declared a State of Emergency in India under Article 352 of the Constitution of India, effectively bestowing on her the power to rule by decree, suspending elections and civil liberties. It is one of the most controversial periods in the history of independent India. During the Emergency, many opposition leaders were jailed, freedom of press was suspended and powers of the judiciary were curtailed
The Ancient Legend 
The All India Muslim League (AIML) was formed in Dhaka in 1906 by Muslims who were suspicious of the Hindu-majority Indian National Congress. They complained that Muslim members did not have the same rights as Hindu members. A number of different scenarios were proposed at various times. Among the first to make the demand for a separate state was the writer/philosopher Allama Iqbal, who, in his presidential address to the 1930 convention of the Muslim League said that a separate nation for Muslims was essential in an otherwise Hindu-dominated subcontinent.
Very informative!
Hey Barani.. That's a good one..
But there is one thing that we need to focus on.. How practical is this? How can a layman rise up against the powers that be? It might have succeeded in some cases.. But have there been cases where the person who used the act was coerced into withdrawing? Or was threatened?
This factor will prevent the majority of our people from using this powerful weapon.. F.E.A.R.. This is where NGOs can chip in, I feel.. A group is always stronger than an individual..
More Info
I would like to know more and use our right to info. I think its one of the best tool to fight to corruption. Its our duty to spread awareness for this. I think we should have a seprate section dedicated to help people to know more about this.