Chariot of scams to roll today; City to host RTI meet.

Calcutta Telegraph; Thursday , March 10 , 2011,

Shillong, March 9: The third National Convention on Right to Information (RTI) commencing here tomorrow will be inaugurated with a rath yatra.

This rath yatra, named the Ghotala Rath Yatra (chariot of scams), however, will be a spoof on rath yatras taken out by politicians to come to power.

Addressing a news conference here today, Nikhil Dey, the convener of the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information the main organiser of the convention said: “Politicians across the political spectrum have been undertaking various rath yatras as a tool to come to power with a promise to uproot corruption.”

The same politicians, however, conveniently forget their promises once they attain power, he added

“As a spoof on the rath yatras, we will organise a Ghotala Rath Yatra (chariot of scams) tomorrow here after the people’s inauguration of the convention,” Dey added.

The three-day convention will be the first since the enactment of the Right to Information Act in 2005.

Dey said the theme for this year’s convention is Reclaiming Democracy by salvaging the rule of the people from those who are corrupt.

Dey said the delegates to the convention had come from the different corners of the country and most of them belonged to the rural hinterland. “These are people who have struggled to ensure that the right to information becomes a law,” Dey added.

Giving a local touch to the convention, Kamai Ia Ka Hok, a famous Khasi catchphrase that means “earn through righteous means”, has been chosen as the slogan.

“We may not have all the answers to the lacunae in the act but we will put our heads together and find solutions,” Dey said.

Topics on RTI and corporate bodies and international financial institutions, RTI and judiciary, health, education, agriculture, privacy and others will be taken up during the convention.

The convention will also be a platform to discuss the necessary elements of a strong Lokpal Bill and to ensure that the Right to Information Act does not get diluted through any means.

Member of the National Advisory Council (NAC) and social activist, Aruna Roy, Karnataka Lokayukta N. Santosh Hedge, former Chief Justice J.S. Verma, Justice A.P. Shah who decriminalised Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, RTI activists Arvind Kejriwal, Akhil Gogoi, former Chief Election Commissioner James Michael Lyngdoh and others will participate in the convention.

It will be inaugurated by Meghalaya Governor R.S. Mooshahary at the U Soso Tham auditorium.

The convention is being jointly organised with the Meghalaya Right to Information Movement.