Vijaysinh Parmar , TNN 13 October 2009, 09:41pm IST
DHAVADIA (AMRELI): Education is not necessary for empowerment, as many success stories related to the Right to Information (RTI) Act have shown.
Take the case of school dropout Dilip Kataria, 31, from Dhavadia village in Khambha taluka of Amreli district. This spunky villager is doing his bit to ensure that public money is not misused in his village, but utilised for the government schemes it's meant for.
Kataria, who works as an electrician earning daily wages, has filed as many as 1,000 RTI applications in various government departments. They have been mostly related to basic civic amenities like roads and water, and irrigation facilities.
One of them revealed mismanagement of public money in a sanitation project, part of an eco-development plan, in 2006. A pipeline had to be laid two feet under the surface so that it wouldn't cause environmental damage. But, guidelines were not followed by the panchayat. "The state government investigated the matter after I filed the application. Two persons were found guilty and forest officials filed a police complaint against them in Khambha police station in 2008. After that, the rest of the work was done properly, ''says Kataria.
It was difficult to fight against his own people in the village, he says. "There has always been social pressure, but I have remained firm."
In 2007, there was a major problem with the mid-day meal programme across the taluka. "In my village, schoolchildren were given meals only thrice a week and the menu was not followed. I furnished the details under RTI," he says.
As a result, a co-ordinator was transferred and now the children are getting food as per government guidelines. "We have also circulated the mid-day meal guidelines to villagers so that they can check in their villages,'' he adds.
Interestingly, Kataria mainly seeks government notifications. "Generally, people don't know about such things. I use RTI and get them and circulate them among the people. This has helped a lot to create awareness," says Kataria.
He is a member of Khambha-based Mahiti Adhikar Nagarik Mandal, an organization that creates awareness about the RTI Act.
DHAVADIA (AMRELI): Education is not necessary for empowerment, as many success stories related to the Right to Information (RTI) Act have shown.
Take the case of school dropout Dilip Kataria, 31, from Dhavadia village in Khambha taluka of Amreli district. This spunky villager is doing his bit to ensure that public money is not misused in his village, but utilised for the government schemes it's meant for.
Kataria, who works as an electrician earning daily wages, has filed as many as 1,000 RTI applications in various government departments. They have been mostly related to basic civic amenities like roads and water, and irrigation facilities.
One of them revealed mismanagement of public money in a sanitation project, part of an eco-development plan, in 2006. A pipeline had to be laid two feet under the surface so that it wouldn't cause environmental damage. But, guidelines were not followed by the panchayat. "The state government investigated the matter after I filed the application. Two persons were found guilty and forest officials filed a police complaint against them in Khambha police station in 2008. After that, the rest of the work was done properly, ''says Kataria.
It was difficult to fight against his own people in the village, he says. "There has always been social pressure, but I have remained firm."
In 2007, there was a major problem with the mid-day meal programme across the taluka. "In my village, schoolchildren were given meals only thrice a week and the menu was not followed. I furnished the details under RTI," he says.
As a result, a co-ordinator was transferred and now the children are getting food as per government guidelines. "We have also circulated the mid-day meal guidelines to villagers so that they can check in their villages,'' he adds.
Interestingly, Kataria mainly seeks government notifications. "Generally, people don't know about such things. I use RTI and get them and circulate them among the people. This has helped a lot to create awareness," says Kataria.
He is a member of Khambha-based Mahiti Adhikar Nagarik Mandal, an organization that creates awareness about the RTI Act.
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