Indian Express:
Ahmedabad: Monday, April 15, 2013.
 |
RTI on Wheels |
With fewer
RTI applications filed from tribal areas, Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (MAGP),
a voluntary organisation, will launch an “RTI on Wheels”’ caravan in the tribal
pockets of Gujarat, Rajasthan, MP and Maharashtra on completion of seven years
of the enactment of RTI Act on October 12 this year.
The primary
objective of the yatra is to create awareness among the tribals in interior
areas about RTI Act and encourage them to access information about various
developmental schemes in their areas.
Equipped with
LCD projector, screen, computer with wi-fi connection, scanner, printer and a
small library, a private vehicle will be manned by four to five volunteers of
MAGP. It will be screening films on RTI and impart half a day training in
drafting RTI applications to the educated youths in small towns and villages it
visits on its route. By using Skype call, it will also be arranging lectures
through video-conferencing from RTI experts, followed by a question answer
session. The van is also equipped with solar panels to ensure that it does not
depend on battery or diesel for power supply to electronic gadgets.
The caravan
will also be distributing literature in local language on the importance of RTI
in bringing improvement in-delivery of government services in their areas.
Before the
launch of the yatra, MAGP will be requesting the Gujarat Governor to write
letters to the Governors of the states where the “RTI on Wheels” caravan will
be passing through. Volunteers on the yatra would be meeting the Governor,
chief minister, information commissioner, RTI users, government officials as
also mediapersons in the respective states and briefing them about the
caravan’s objective. They would also be arranging media coverage of the RTI
training in remote tribal villages with a view to spreading more awareness
among the people at the lowest level about RTI.
They will
also train the villagers and tribals in drafting RTI queries and how to submit
them to the authorities.
The 20-day
tour covering tribal dominated districts of the four states, the tour is the
pilot phase of the “RTI Bharat Yatra” to cover tribal regions across the
country.
It will be
kicked off from Amirgadh in Sabarkantha district and will come to an end at
Ahwa in the Dang district of Gujarat.
The caravan
will cover Banaskantha, Sabarkantha, Panchmahals, Dahol, Narmada and Dangs
district in Gujarat, Udaipur and Sirohi in Rajasthan, Jhabua in MP, Thane,
Yavatmal, Buldhana, Vardha, Nasik, Chandrapur, Gadhchiroli and Gondiya
districts of Maharashtra.
In subsequent
phases, the yatra will cover Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Goa, Karnataka,
Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya, Tripura and Manipur.
Speaking to
The Indian Express, MAGP representatives Harinesh Pandya and Pankti Jog said
the tribal areas accounted for the least RTI applications in the country. They
said people in other areas have used RTI provisions for improvement in services
in several parts of Gujarat as also other states but there was no effective use
of RTI in tribal areas owing to lack of awareness among the tribal community.
“RTI Bharat
Yatra” is being supported by Association for India’s Development (AID), a
US-based voluntary group consisting of Indian immigrants.
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