You face a variety of problems with
the government departments, police, educational institutions,
passport offices, PWD, municipality, etc.
- You have some pending work with a department and they
are not doing it.
- They are expecting or demanding a bribe.
- You submitted a grievance but they are simply not acting
on it.
- You made a complaint against any wrongdoing, but without
any result.
- A decision was taken that affected you but you were not
provided any reason.
- You company did some government work but they are not
releasing your payment.
You can use the Right to Information Act, 2005 to overcome
such problems. File a request for that information which will
make government officers uncomfortable or expose their
corruption. Usually, this forces them to act and do your work
first & then report a positive status so that you may be kept in
good humour. How can they make you unhappy when you hold the key
to their career!
|
| Have you ever
thought |
- Why are the streets and colonies so dirty?
- Why are manhole covers or footpath slabs over sewer lines
missing, posing 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 still 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 hospital?
- 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 be corrupt, inefficient or insensitive.
|
| How do we hold the
government accountable |
| To make the government
accountable, we need information regarding government decisions
and how exactly it functions. The Right to Information Act
empowers us to do just that. It gives us the right to obtain
information from the government about matters 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 the 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. Wont you like to hold
the government similarly accountable in your area, city and
state?
Under the RTI Act, you can demand the following from any government body:
- photocopies of most documents, records, file notings,
correspondence, tenders, contracts, payments, estimates,
measurements of engineering works, etc.
- inspection of documents - books, registers,
files, drawings, records - absolutely anything
- samples of material used in the construction of roads,
drains, buildings, etc.
- inspection of any under-construction or completed work done
by the government
- the status of your complaints, requests, applications,
etc.
To better understand how RTI works, please explore other
links on this RTI section. |
