Citizens get a hang of RTS

On Thursday, the people who had gathered at the Portuguese Church to learn more about the Governments Servants Regulation of Transfers and Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Official Duties Act, 2005, held a thorough discussion on the subject. They also held group discussions on suggestions they had on using the Act frequently.

The people who held the discussion have plans to form a pressure group to make the government implement the Act strictly. The Act was discussed under various labels such as Right to Services and Lokadhikar.

The meeting was organised by AGNI, Church in the City and Lokadhikar, an NGO that promotes awareness and usage of the Act.

The meeting started with former central information commissioner, Shailesh Gandhi, explaining the Act in brief, and then encouraging residents to use it.

"There is an interesting story to it. When I filed an RTI in 2006 to know what action had been taken against officials based on this Act, one of the officers told me that it had been passed only because Anna Hazare had undertaken a fast demanding that it be implemented. It was clear that they did not want to implement it. We should get them to implement it," said Shailesh Gandhi.

"We need to participate in democracy. Everything moves at a snail's pace. It was good to take part in the discussion. We should begin to make use of it," said Victor Noronha, a resident of Byculla.