Sunday, October 04, 2015

Teaching Muslim youths to earn rightful benefits using RTI

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.