Times
of India: Lucknow: Sunday, 04 October 2015.
Instead of
going to 'netas' and political parties to know benefits one is entitled to as
member of the minorities, it is advisable to seek RTI. Muslim men and women
above 20 years of age will learn to seek RTI on minority welfare schemes of the
Centre and state in a three-hour training session on the Right to Information
(RTI) Act on Sunday. The participants will be tutored on various clauses of the
Act and taught drafting the application, appeals and complaints in the right
format. A booklet on RTI in Urdu with eight `success stories' will keep the
youth going for long.
UP
information commissioner (IC), Hafiz Usman, who will be the chief guest said,
"RTI should be used as a tool against corruption." The Act treats
information seekers as equals and not as vote-bank and this is the message that
will reach 100-odd madrassas, the hub of Muslim youths in the first training
session to be held on RTI exclusively for members of their community.
The first
session of the training programme will be held in Lucknow though participants
will be from all over the state. "Men and women from ordinary walks of
life can sit in the session and learn," said one of the trainers Najibur
Rahman Nadvi. After each session participants will learn to write applications
and how to make first and second appeals and complaints. Each application will
be checked and mistakes pointed out to participants.
Youth will be
encouraged to use RTI to know what schemes they are entitled to benefit under
and in case they have been kept away from the benefits, what are the reasons.
The organisers said they will hold similar sessions in other districts too in
future.
"It was
information sought via RTI on Waqf properties that made us file petition in the
Supreme Court in September 2013," said RTI activist Salim Baig, adding,
"UPA government announced Waqf Nigam after we questioned it using
RTI." Eight success stories on RTI that the 30-page booklet contains were
the ones sought by Muslim activists.
Implementation
of RTI Act in UP completes 10 years in October. The session, therefore, will
also take stock of RTI implementation in UP.