Now you have got power. Use it

The Right to Information Act (RTI) has been implemented across the country from 12 October. Citizens can now demand most of the papers which will make various government departments more transparent.

The application fee of Rs 10 and a small effort of filing a simple requisition for information, which can be done from home in less than an hour, give citizens the right to ask for information and ensure good governance. Earlier, when nine states, including Maharashtra had RTI Acts, citizens have used this with considerable success.  

Take these instances. Chimanpada at Marol was not getting water connection for over a year. Using RTI, James John and Ravi Nair first asked the municipal corporation for the reason. The corporation said or rather INFORMED that permission for digging the road, under which the pipeline existed, was not given by the traffic department. Then they rushed to the traffic department for reasons flaunting the RTI rules. They replied no permission had ever been sought! The result: Chimanpada soon started getting water!

Citizens can apply to get information from various state and Central authorities. All such bodies have to appoint public information officers, who have the responsibility of giving information within 30 days, failing which they are personally liable to pay a penalty of Rs 250 per day for any delay. No forms need to be obtained. We only need to use the proper format. Citizens can also ask to inspect works or files in an office.

I myself have used RIT in various ways. It is possible to get a commission report to be made public using RTI. In another case, a police inspector Prakash Aware charged with raping a minor had been reinstated in service within six months! The cop was dismissed from service later, thanks to RTI.

In another instance, proof has been obtained about political interference in police transfers, and I am using this as a monitor to curb the nefarious practice. The primary power of RTI is the fact it empowers individual citizens to requisition information. It transfers power directly into the hands of the foundation of democracy- the citizen.

Through the Act, we can transform ourselves into a truly participative democracy. We have got the power and responsibility for good governance.

The responsibility of ensuring that the RTI Act will deliver its potential rests with us. We need to build an awareness to seize the opportunity through a sustained campaign- a National Campaign for People's Right Information.

The author is a working committee member of National Campaign for People's Right Information

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News you can use

M S Kamath

Consumer courts were set up in 1986 to solve consumer disputes in a quasi-judicial manner. Many even called them "common sense courts''. 

Over the years, however, with more and more references of matters involving large sums of money (complaints against builders and fixed deposit schemes), advocates and solicitors started making an appearance in consumer courts. Technical jargon, repeated adjournments and prolonged arguments led to a situation where in the consumer court was as bad as, or even worse, than a civil court.

To cure this retrograde phenomenon, the National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission, the apex body which oversees administration of consumer courts, has issued certain regulations which have just come into force. Some of these include:

1. The court should sit from 10.30 am. to 4.00 pm. (part-time courts have been the order of the day in recent times)
2. Advocates should not come to the court in robes
3. Presiding officers and members should not sit on a dais which is more than 12 inches above the level at which litigants sit
4. Orders should be delivered within 15 days of the final hearing in a case
5. Extra copies of an order should be available on payment of a token fee
6. Adjournments are taboo. Fixed costs of a minimum of Rs 500 per adjournment are to be levied on the respondent and of Rs 100 on the complainant on request for adjournment.
7. Touts and busy bodies in the form of 'Authorised Agents' are to be discouraged from appearing in the consumer forum.
8. A voluntary consumer organisation is to get a right of appearance in disputes.

This column will bring you latest updates on what is happening in the consumer world