In
Gujarat, PRIA's state partner Unnati,
undertook a number of initiatives
to further the cause of the RTI
Act. A 15 day campaign was organised
by the network ‘Gujarat Mahiti Adhikar
Pahel', of which Unnati is a member,
in July 2006, for CSOs in Ahmedabad.
Participants were oriented about
the main provisions of the RTI Act
and taught the process of drafting
and filing applications. Representatives
of CSOs so trained thereafter, assisted
people in filing applications and
approaching the concerned public
authorities for demanding information
under the RTI Act.
Unnati(state
partner of PRIA in Gujarat) took up
a number of initiatives to further
the RTI in the state, through various
means.
Campaigns
Unnati
is part of a network called ‘Gujarat
Mahiti Adhikar Pahel’,which
is working to build an enabling environment
for promotion of Right to Information
in the state.
A
15-day campaign was organised by this
network in the month of July 2006,for
CSOs across Gujarat, in Ahmedabad.
In this campaign, participants were
oriented about the main provisions
of the RTI Act and process of drafting
and filing applications. The representatives
of CSOs so trained thereafter, assisted
people in filing applications and
approaching the appropriate public
authorities for demanding information
under the RTI Act.
The
campaign received wide media coverage
and on an average about 300 people
visited the campaign site each day.
Also, more than 1300 applications
were filed each day.A signature campaign
was also launched to protest the proposed
amendments to remove file notings
from the purview of the Act, through
an amendment in the RTI Act, by the
Government. Unnati succeeded in getting
around 2000 signatures from the Sabarkantha
and Ahmedabad districts of the state
alone
More
than 35000 signatures were collected
by the network from across the State
and representation sent to the Prime
Minister, Leader of the Opposition
and UPA Chairperson. The campaign
was a huge success and was widely
reported in the print and electronic
media.
Training
Programmes and Workshops
A
3 day residential training on ‘Citizenship
and Governance’ for staff of
state NGOs was organised during the
month of June 2006. 32 participants
from 12 organisations participated
in this workshop. There were many
topics discussed during the workshop,
such as Good Governance, Gender Justice,
Vulnerability analysis, Social mobilisation,
Main features of NREGA and RTI.
The
main focus of the session on RTI was
to highlight the role of the Right
to Information regime to achieve good
governance. Information on RTI was
disseminated in 9 wards of Bhachau
town to 166 Citizen Leaders (CLs).
21 meetings were held across 10 wards,
in which more than 500 citizens were
oriented about the salient provisions
of the RTI Act.
Similar
orientations were also organised for
elected representatives of 19 Gram
Panchayats of Kutch district. Elected
representatives from Sabarkantha and
Ahmedabad district were also oriented
on the provisions of the Act and drafting
of applications. There was special
emphasis on linking development schemeslike
SSA with the RTI Act.
People
were also helped to file applications
to different public authorities/departments
such as Anganwadi, Primary Health
Centre, Food and Civil Supplies Department
and Social Welfare Department. When
citizens approached these departments,
most of them were given prompt information.
Promoting
Proactive Disclosure
A
study on proactive disclosure of information
in Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan(SSA) was
initiated in Ahmedabad district as
part of a national study conducted
by PRIA to study the status of proactive
disclosure at various levels in the
SSA programme, in some selected states.
Focused
group discussions were held with the
respondents on the basis of questionnaires
developed for the study
As
part of the study, some suggestions
emerged for effective proactive disclosure
as part of the SSA programme including:-
‚
Details can be pasted on a notice
board in the village at a public place,
such as the Gram Panchayat office.
‚ There could be periodic updation
of the notice board. ‚ Gram
Sabha could be the best forum for
dissemination of proactive disclosure
information .There can be a Citizen’s
Committee to oversee the status of
information disclosure on the SSA
programme.
The
District Panchayat of Ahmedabad had
a small publication that included
the details of Public Information
Officers(PIOs) of the departments
under it. Due to efforts of Unnati,
a huge board has been put up now,
for easy access to such information.
The
newly elected representatives, representing
Viramgam, Daskrol, Dholka, Khedbrahma
and Bhachau talukas of Ahmedabad district
were also trained to proactively furnish
information about the Gram Panchayat
and the programmes being implemented
through it. This would help the GPs
to take initiatives to provide proactive
disclosure information, which is their
obligation as per the RTI Act.
Impact
•
Through the mass campaign, an enabling
environment for the implementation
of the Right to Information Act in
the state was built. • Citizen
leaders and elected representatives
were introduced to the provisions
of the RTI Act for the first time.
• People were helped to file
applications to different public authorities,
for redressal of their long pending
grievances. • People achieved
success in obtaining information from
a number of Government departments.
• Many citizens obtained useful
information, regarding Government
sponsored schemes, such as information
on ‘Swarnjayanti Gram Rozgar
Yojana’ (SGRY) grant and on
the’Sardar Awas Yojana’
(SAY). • As a result of
Unnati’s efforts, many Gram
and Taluka Panchayats took initiatives
for proactive disclosure of information.
