This RTI activist adds colours, logos to his applications.

The Times of India: Surat: Wednesday, May 30, 2012.

His questions in RTI applications may irritate any government officer. Yet the officials nonetheless read the applications filed by RTI activist Kanu Shah, 75, with lot of interest and enthusiasm.

"Normally, the applications are filed in a plain paper and have a simple format. However, Shah adds flavour to them. He uses colours, logos and scanned images to make them look beautiful," said Nagin Halpati, public information officer, District Education Office, Surat.

PIOs ask him why does he put in so much of hard work for writing RTI applications. "The officials initially smile looking at the applications but begin to argue on reading them. My aim is to attract them to read the applications with interest," said Shah, a lawyer at Surat District and Sessions Court.

Shah uses colour pictures and attractive fonts in the applications to convey his message. Besides, he uses Gujarati, English and legal language for asking specific questions. Foremost, he keeps them short and simple.

"RTI is a very powerful act. Officials should respect it. I started with filing simple RTI applications and then began preparing designer applications. This is my way of telling the officials that the soul of RTI indeed is beautiful," Shah said.

In the recent past, Shah has filed a few RTI applications in Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) and DEO. The replies to his application had revealed that SMC was charging maximum for blank forms when the rate charged by other municipal corporations in the state was just Rs 2 or Rs 5. From the DEO, he had sought important details about city schools.