RTI

On 30th May 2009, a coalition of various Civil Society Organizations (CSO's) in Bangalore launched a Right to Information (RTI) clinic between 2.00 PM and 4.00 PM in Cubbon Park (opposite the Bangalore Press Club entrance). Held at the same time and location on the last Saturday every successive month, this initiative will complete a year on May-29-2010. The primary objective of these free entry sessions is to share success stories in using the RTI Act for public benefit. Nearly four hundred persons have approached the CSO's through the clinics and elsewhere. This is encouraging everyone involved to continue spreading…

If you have been in Cubbon Park opposite the Bangalore Press Club entrance between 2.00 PM and 4.00 PM on the month's last Saturday, you have probably noticed a group of around fifteen or twenty people discussing the RTI Act (Right to Information) and relevant laws. This could be the free RTI clinic that several Civil Society Organizations (CSO's) in Bangalore like the South India Cell for Human Rights Education and Monitoring (SICHREM), Urban Research Centre (URC), Centre for Advocacy and Research (CFAR), OpenSpace, Mahiti Hakku Adhyayana Kendra (MHAK), Anti Corruption Forum (ACF) et al, have been organizing jointly since…

Heard that the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has been spending thousands of crores of rupees on 'development' projects? And awarding contracts to various private consultants? But, who are they? Bangalore based Anti Corruption Forum (ACF - a group of social activists who have good experience and knowledge of the RTI Act and many other legislations) decided to find out. According to information ACF has obtained, a total of 97 consultants throughout India have been appointed for the 'development' work out of which 18 are from Bangalore. The ACF filed an RTI application with the BBMP in December 2009, requesting details…

During the October RTI clinic at Cubbon Park, I met Jacob P (name changed to protect identity), a private sector employee who participated in the September edition for the first time. After that, he has never missed a clinic and has been updating me on the status of his applications regularly. "The commitment and enthusiasm of some of the RTI activists I met during the clinic inspired me to use the Act in public interest. I have told one of my friends about what I saw and heard and hope to bring him along next time", said Jacob. In October…

Having missed the Right to Information (RTI) clinic in September, I was determined to participate in this edition. Despite the minimal participation, Bangalore's famous and seasoned RTI activists (and retired government employees) like Veeresh Bellur and Vikram Simha from Mahiti Hakku Adhyan Kendra (MHAK) and Anand S of Anti-Corruption Forum (ACF) continue to inspire us with their knowledge and enthusiasm. And, this may be impossible without the committed efforts of Bangalore based civil society organizations (CSO's) like South India Cell for Human Rights Education and Monitoring (SICHREM), Urban Research Centre (URC), Centre for Advocacy and Research (CFAR), OpenSpace and others…

Anitha Ranjani Sampath, a power systems engineer in Bangalore and a volunteer with Hasiru Usiru’s (HU) Namma Raste Namma Ooru and Namma Metro campaigns since August 2008, filed RTI applications to obtain critical information regarding various public infrastructure projects. In an e-chat, she readily shared her experiences as below.What motivated you to request these details? During various discussions within HU, we realised that essential data that were unclear about the Namma Metro and road widening projects included the following: •  Overall expenditure, construction and execution plan •  Impact on trees – how many will be cut, when, where and why?…

A Coalition of various Civil Society Organizations in Bangalore has been organizing a Press Conference on the last Thursday of every month since May 2009 in Bangalore.  The purpose of this press conference is to bring before the press, the success stories of the use of Right to Information Act, 2005 in bringing justice to the public.We here by present you TWO RTI success stories in today’s press conference.Case-1Dr.Jagadish Sanganal is working as Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Veterinary College, Bangalore. Prior to this Dr.Jagadish was working as Veterinary Officer in the Department of Animal Husbandary, Government of Karnataka during…

The Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media (IIJNM) organised a Right To Information (RTI) workshop, ‘State of the RTI’,  on 14th August, at Alliance Francaise de Bangalore.Guest speaker, Dr Shekhar Singh of the National Coalition for People’s Right to Information talked about safeguarding RTI and described how the law was drafted to catch corrupt officials in government departments. He presented the findings of a recent, nationwide survey conducted by his group. The survey tested the knowledge and use of the RTI by more than 35,000 citizens across 10 states. The survey found out that more than 800 RTI requests…

"The RTI Act is best understood by using it, not just knowing it". – Anand S, ACF BangaloreIt was around 2.15 PM on Jul-25, the last Saturday of the month at Cubbon Park and RTI Clinic’s second session., I was just in time to hear Manohar Ranganathan of the South India Cell for Human Rights Education and Monitoring (SICHREM) welcome the gathering. Nearly 25 people including students, public, private and self-employed citizens, community workers and the two to three co-organisers were present. Sultan, a state government officer joined the interaction later as an observer. Anand of the Anti-Corruption Forum (ACF)…

As a part of an initiative on good governance, a group of RTI activists and civil societies in the city came up with RTI Clinics for citizens of Bangalore. The Clinic is a joint initiative of RTI activists groups, community-based organizations and grassroots social justice campaigners. The idea behind coming up with RTI Clinic is to create awareness on the Act, provide procedural guidance and assistance to obtain information from government bodies. (Social justice campaigners are people who campaign for the fundamental rights or grievance redressal of the marginalized such as domestic workers, child labourers and internally displaced riot victims,…