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Volume-50

Communicate Minds
30th November 2006 FORTNIGHTLY

RTI CAMPAIGN BY OSAM ADVISORS

Khirod Ch. Malick Pitabasa Sethi Shiv Prasad Meher Aurobinda Mahapatra

In this Issue...
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Editorial RTI campaign by OSAM Right to Information:A perspective Other BISWA News

The Link
Chief Editor Debabrata Malick Editor Kiranbala Acharya

Central Office
BISWA At-Danipali, P.O-Budharaja Dist-Sambalpur, PIN-768004 Tele fax- +91-663-2533597 Email:biswamalick@rediffmail.com, kcmalick@biswa.org www.biswa.org

State Offices
ORISSA Gada Gopinath Colony, In front of High School, Plot No. E/7 PO: Rasulgarh, Bhubaneswar-751010 CHHATTISGARH C-243, Kuber Griha Society Rohinipuram, Raipur-492010, Telephone No: 0771-6451927

Right To Information Act (RTI) speaks about the legal rights of a citizen to have an access to Government held information. But due to illiteracy majority of the citizens are unaware of RTI Act for which they remain deprived of their rights. On behalf of Orissa Suchana Adhikar Manch (OSAM), Mr. Kalyan Ananda and Mr. Ananda Samal organized a camp on RTI at Swaksharata Bhawan, Sambalpur. The camp took place in two phases, I. a training of volunteers which was held from 6th Nov 2006 to 8th Nov 2006 and II. a camp where an open house discussion with public took place. The camp endured for 10 days, starting on 10th Nov 2006 and was inaugurated by Mr. Vishal Gagan, DM and Collector, Sambalpur. The paragraph below presents a birds eye view of events of the campaign. On the first day of camp the volunteers met people of slums and taught them how to apply in RTI forms. On the second day of camp people gathered in large numbers and received leaflets confined information on RTI. This day Suchana Adhikar Manch staged street plays at Golebazar, Ainthapali, Bareipali, and Durgapali. On the third day street plays were performed at Kamalibazar, Modipara, Batemura, and Putibandh. It was a successful day in awareness campaign as people in large number came to participate with their identity cards. They wanted to know more about RTI. On the fourth day many people demanded BPL cards and ration cards but they were informed about RTI Act, which is only about getting information from the Government officials. On the fifth day people came with complains on BPL cards, Record of Rights (ROR) and other issues. On the sixth day large number of people gathered with complains on land disputes and other problems. On the seventh day five volunteers took pending cases of RTI camp to concerned Public Information Officer (PIO) of Sambalpur. On the eighth day some outsiders tried to create disturbances on the name of BPL card issue, which was solved within an hour and the camp ran smoothly. On the ninth day many cases of RTI were solved over telephone

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Parliament passed a new Law on Child Labor issue and it is interesting to note that there are about 5 crore child laborers in India out of which about 5 lakh are in New Delhi, 3 lakh in Mumbai, 69% in agricultural sector, 22% in service sectors like dhaba / hotel, rag pickers, cycle shop and as domestic servants 9% in industrial sector. Out of the 5 crores; 84% are in the age group 6-11 and 72% are in the age group of 7-15and dont attend schools i.e. they are dropouts.6500 schools in the country are run by NGOs for the Child Laborers. Rs.151 cores have been earmarked for the Department of Labor on Child Welfare in India. Crores of rupees are being spent on advertisements on this issue by 8 Television Channels in the country. There is no scarcity of laws / legislations in our country, but the real problem lies in proper, effective and timely implementation of those laws. Nevertheless, the positive sign is that awareness among the masses is rising. So let us hope for the best.

calls. On the tenth and last day of the camp it was observed that the total number of cases registered was 4027, where as the cases from the camp were 3327. At the end of the camp a press meet was organized to share information on activities of the camp. Mr. Vishal Gagan, DM and Collector, Sambalpur participated and heartily congratulated all the volunteers of Suchana Adhikar Manch, the print and electronic media for their valuable participation.

Right to Information: A perspective The social problems of contemporary India are the result of a complex nexus between the factors of exclusion and inclusion rooted in history, values, and cultural ethos. Many of these problems based on the policy of segregation have not been addressed by the development strategy launched since Independence. Recent policies of globalization have further undermined the role of larger societal norms as well as the state apparatus that could counter exclusionary forces. The agenda of social development has remained unfinished, keeping social tensions simmering. Today, however, in the policy debate, orthodox economic liberalism is giving way to concerns regarding social consequences of globalization, as it affects the poorest and the marginalized sections of the population. Thus, a number of highly important and far-reaching social policy measures have been brought on to the development agenda, in the form of the Right to Information Act, Rural Employment Guarantee Act, and Rural Health Mission among others. This unique volume argues the need to harness the energy of the nation to ensure their effective implementation through an overview of trends and patterns of development along with policies and programmes. It identifies key

TRAINING PROGRAM ON EFFECTIVE USE OF MEDIA & COMMUNICATION FOR DEVELOPMENT, 2006 Response Net, New Delhi organized a 3 day training on Effective use of Media & Communication for Development, 2006 from 23rd Nov, 2006 to 25th Nov, 2006 at Bahai House, New Delhi. The objective of the training was to highlight the importance of media for development sector and to brief about media handling during information dissemination for successful development. On behalf of BISWA Ms. Kiranbala Acharya, Asst, PRO, participated in it. Training of Counselors on Shelter Homes Swadhikar Forum and ISD jointly organized a 3 day training program on Laws Related to Women at CYSD, Bhubanswer from 23rd to
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concerns and proposes measures of possible intervention. The areas and sectors discussed include: poverty, unemployment, and the role and importance of public intervention challenges in the health sector achievements and failures in education challenges in urban governance the role and location of women in social development communal relations as an important factor in attaining social integration inequality and population mobility decentralization and empowering local government social security. Disclosure of Government Information in India is governed by a law enacted during the British rule, the Official Secrets Act of 1889 which was last amended in 1923. Though the intent of this law was to secure only information related to security of the State, sovereignty of the country and friendly relations with foreign States, it contained provisions which could make it a crime to disclose even nonclassified information. Civil Service conduct rules and the Indian Evidence Act put further restrictions on government officials powers to disclose information to the public. In 1975, the Supreme Court delivered a judgment that has been described as a landmark, which held that the people have a right to know every public act, everything that is done in a public way, by their public functionaries Passage of a National Level law, however, proved to be a difficult task. Given the experience of State Governments in passing practicable legislation, the Central Government appointed a working group under H. D. Shourie and assigned it the task of drafting legislation. The Shourie draft, in an extremely diluted form, was the basis for the Freedom of Information Bill, 2000 which eventually became law under the Freedom of Information Act, 2002. This Act was severely criticized for permitting too many exemptions, not only under the standard grounds of national security and sovereignty, but also for requests that would involve disproportionate diversion of the resources of a public authority. There was no upper limit on the charges that could be levied. There were no penalties for not complying with a request for information. The FoI Act, consequently, never came into effective force. As stated in the section 26 of the Act, the Act enjoins upon the federal government, as also the state governments of the Republic of India to initiate necessary steps to:

Develop educational programmes for the public especially the disadvantaged communities on RTI. Encourage Public Authorities to participate in the development and organization of such programmes. Promote timely dissemination of accurate information to the public. Train officers and develop training materials. Compile and disseminate a User Guide for the public in the respective official language. Publish names, designation postal addresses and contact details of PIOs and other information such as notices regarding fees to be paid, remedies available in law if request is rejected etc.

CASE STUDY
Birigad is a small village in Baramuda Gram Panchayat of Harbhanga Block of Boudh District. By the initiatives of BISWA, Biriguda-1 SHG was formed on 13th Nov 2004 by 12 members. They unanimously decided the monthly saving is being Rs.30/- and it should be regularly saved. By the time when they started internal lending their savings had touched Rs7989/-. They took their first loan of Rs.12000/- and committed to repay within one year. After repayment of the first loan they applied for the second loan of Rs60, 000/- for various productive purposes. This group is also a member of Harbhanga-01 Federation and regularly attends the meetings and deposit monthly fees. Members are also actively participating in various village development activities. Jashoda Bhoi, an active member of this group got a loan of Rs10, 000/-(second loan) from BISWA. She harvested of peanuts and sold it in the nearby weekly market at a rate of Rs. 9/- per Tambi (1Khandi=20Tambi=26.5Kg.). Later on she purchased 20 khandi of peanuts at the rate of Rs12/- per Kg and sold it with good profits. In this process she got a profit of Rs4650/- within 2 months. On the other hand her husband is engaged in rice business from which he had also generated sizeable profit within two months. Due to her active participation in SHG membership she is able to manage her family expenses smoothly. HEALTH CAMP AT BHATLI A health camp was organized by BISWA as a part of RCH-II program on 13th Nov, 2006 at Bhatli village in Jujumura block. More than 300 patients received treatment in that camp. The treating physician Dr. Anil Mishra observed that the patients are mainly affected by malaria and common cold. Mr. Ashis Panda and Mr. Prakash Sahoo, Health Workers were present in the camp on behalf of BISWA.
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25th Nov 20006. The objective of the program was to educate the participant counselors on legal systems, Indian Constitution and Constitutional provisions for the women and also to implement some idea about Right To Information (RTI). On behalf of BISWA Ms. Rosalene Panda, Counselor SWADHAR attended the training program. This training program was supported by OXFAM.

Printed and Published by Debabrata Malick, Chief Editor. The Link, at BISWA Computer Section, Danipali, Budharaja, Sambalpur. PIN- 768004 Ph. No- 0663-2533597, email: thelink@biswa.org