Let us take the case of Ram. He was not being given his ration card. But when he applied under RTI, he was given a card within a week. What did Ram ask? He asked the following questions:

· I filed an application for a duplicate ration card on 27th January 2004. Please tell me the daily progress made on my application so far. i.e. when did my application reach which officer, for how long did it stay with that officer and what did he/she do during that period?

· According to the rules, my card should have been made in 10 days. However, it is more than three months now. Please give the names and designations of the officials who were supposed to take action on my application and who have not done so?

· What action would be taken against these officials for not doing their work and for causing harassment to the public? By when would that action be taken?

· By when would I get my card now?

In normal circumstances, such an application would be thrown in a dustbin. But this law says that the PIO has to reply in 30 days. If they don’t do that, their salary could be deducted. The problem is that it is not easy to answer these questions.

The first question is: Please provide the daily progress made on my application

There is no progress made. But the government officials cannot write in that they have not acted for so many months. Else that would be “admission of guilt on paper”. Which in a legal term for saying that they are going to be “booted”

The next question is: Please provide the names and designations of the officers who were supposed to take action on my application and who had not done.

If the government provides names and designations of the officials, their responsibility gets fixed. Any officer is most scared of fixing of responsibility against him in this manner.
So, the moment one files such an application, his/her pending work is done.

What should I do after getting information?

It depends on why you asked for that information and what type of information is it. Often a lot of things start falling in place just by asking for information. For instance, you would get your passport or a ration card just by asking for the status of your application. In many cases, roads got repaired as soon as the "money spent" on repairs was asked. So, seeking information and questioning the government is an important step, which in itself is complete in many cases.

But suppose you expose some corruption or wrongdoing using RTI. Then, you can complain to vigilance agencies, CBI or even file an FIR.

But one thing is certain. Seeking information like this and exposing the corruption does improve the future. The officials get a clear message that the people of that area have become alert and any wrongdoings in future would not remain hidden as they were in the past. So, their risks of getting caught increase.

Generally, when you go to a Govt. office to get some work done, the situation is quite pathetic. The Govt. employees will either not listen to you or they will give you a vague response or they will raise some “irrelevant” objection.

This is generally done because the employees are “fishing” for a bribe! They are hoping that you will get frustrated and give them a bribe to “move things faster!” Do not give the bribe to them. Use the RTI Act and get your work done. Here we will show you how you can do this!

Just as an example, let us assume that you applied for a new water connection about a year back, but still nothing has happened about it. What you should do is, write an application according to the rules of your state and send it to the PIO of the Govt. department you are dealing with.

The application you write can be on these lines:

I had applied for a new water connection about a year back, but have not received the same. Copy of the receipt of the same is enclosed for your reference. Please provide the following information with respect to the same:

· Please provide the daily progress report made on my application.

· Please give the names and designations of the officials with whom my application was lying during this period. Please intimate the periods when it was lying with which officer and what was the action taken by that official during that period.

· Please give the proof of receipt and dispatch of my application in the office of each of these officials.

· According to your rules, in how many days should a new water connection be granted. Please provide a copy of these rules.

· The above officials have not adhered to the time limit mentioned in these rules. Are these officials guilty of violating these rules and hence guilty of misconduct under their conduct rules. Please give a copy of their conduct rule, which they have violated by violating the above mentioned rule.

· These officials have caused serious mental injury to me by making me run around all this while. Are these officials guilty of causing mental harassment to the public?

· What action can be taken against these officials for violating all the above rules and the conduct rules? By when this action would be taken?

· By when would I be granted my water connection?

Normally, it becomes difficult for the officials to reply to these questions. If they do reply to all the above questions, this will lead to them taking action against the officers who have not been performing their duties. The general experience is that the moment you file such an application, the work is done.

Get your Govt. grievances sloved!

If you have a grievance or problem against any Govt. detpartment, you can use the department’s “Grievance Redressal Machinery” to voice your problem so that it may be solved.

Unfortunately, the officers in charge do little about the grievances that they receive. You can change this. Now, you can keep a check on the working of the “grievance redressal machinery” of any department.

Use RTI and ask for the following details:

Please give a list of all the grievances received by all the officers in your department during the period ________ to _______. The list should contain the following details:
1. Name and address of the complainant
2. The circle/district etc to which it pertains
3. Brief description of the grievance
4. Date of receipt of grievance
5. Date of redressal of grievance
6. Nature of redressal
7. If not redressed, reasons for the same
8. As per law, in how many days such a grievance should be redressed
9. Name of the official responsible for the delay
10. Action proposed to be taken against this official for delay
11. Is grievance against an official? If yes, name of the person
12. What action has been taken against that employee?
13. If any enquiry carried out, results of the same
14. If no enquiry carried out, why?

Please give copies of all the complaints and enquiry reports made against the officials alleged to be guilty.

Once investigation into these matters begin, the Govt. department will have to start correcting itself.

In this article we have talked about the RTI (Right to Information) act. This act, has given the people, the power to CHANGE the country. The RTI act has made the inner working of the Govt. transparent! If YOU, the average citizen learns to use this act, YOU can change the country.

In this article, we have told you everything that you need to know about the RTI Act, how you can use it, how it affects you etc! Even if you know nothing about “politics” or “laws” do not worry. This article is written in a very simple and easy to understand way keeping the lay man in mind. If you think that the RTI Act does not affect you, "YOU ARE WRONG!"

If you are a citizen of Indian, the RTI Act has given you a lot of power that you can and must use.

For example, next time you ask for a “phone line” or a “water connection”, if you use the RTI Act, you can get your work done quickly. You will not have to make 15 trips to the Govt. offices and bribe and beg the officials to get your work done. RTI has changed all that. Though this article we will show you how to use RTI, to get your work done!

Are the roads outside your house terrible, RTI will help you solve the problem. Is there a problem of un-hygiene in your area, RTI will help you solve your problem.

If you are young and cannot appreciate all the above points, then believe us that sooner or later you will have to go and get some of your work done though Govt. offices. When you do, you will appreciate the power RTI. But, by then it will be too late.

Why? Because there is talk about RTI being changed so that the power is taken away from the people. In this article we have showed you how you can fight this and support RTI.

Basically, if you are an Indian, YOU MUST read this! Not only that, do tell as many people as you can to also read this. Do this for your country!

Unhygienic drinking water. Moon-cratered roads. Uncollected, stinking garbage pile-ups. Power thefts. Statue-like BBMP officers. Land grabs. Unauthorised structures. Residential plots converted to commercial properties. Bribe-hankering government staff. This list can go on and on.