Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 73
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Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
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Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 74
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Code Context
            if (Configure::read('debug')) {

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    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67eff3b36ada7-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67eff3b36ada7-trace').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none');"><b>Notice</b> (8)</a>: Undefined variable: urlPrefix [<b>APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp</b>, line <b>8</b>]<div id="cakeErr67eff3b36ada7-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67eff3b36ada7-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67eff3b36ada7-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67eff3b36ada7-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67eff3b36ada7-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr67eff3b36ada7-code" class="cake-code-dump" style="display: none;"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"></span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">head</span><span style="color: #007700">&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The Facebook page on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=58&quot;&gt;Right to Information&lt;/a&gt; challenges the government with some provocative questions. &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;ldquo;We all pay taxes. Even a beggar on the street pays sales tax when he buys anything from the market. This money belongs to us. But where does this money go? Why are there no medicines in the hospitals? Why are people dying of starvation? Why are the roads in such pathetic conditions? Why are the taps dry?&amp;rdquo; says the page&amp;rsquo;s opening lines. Most of the 1000-odd members of the online community agree that a &amp;ldquo;good government is an open government&amp;rdquo;. &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;India has been a democracy since 1947, but the process of good governance &amp;mdash; strengthening the link between citizens and the state &amp;mdash; began only in 2005, with the enactment of the RTI. Before that it was next to impossible for an ordinary citizen to get any information from the government because of &amp;lsquo;confidentiality&amp;rsquo; and the Official Secrets Act. &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Subhash Chandra Agrawal, who has caused much disquiet with RTI applications on a wide range of issues from judicial reforms to Padma awards, laments that &amp;ldquo;the babu mentality is still a big stumbling block in getting real information. The government officials neither know the RTI nor are they ready to share information with us.&amp;rdquo; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;One, if marginal reason, is the birth of the RTI activist. From 2005, the country &amp;mdash; from its villages to its towns and cities &amp;mdash; has seen a new kind of civic activist. He or she uses information procured from government files to insist its functioning is more transparent and accountable. &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;V Madhav, 30, has filed more than 250 applications and been the trigger for landmark change. He believes the Act is meant more to ensure transparency than good governance. &amp;ldquo;There are many obstacles to utilizing the RTI Act, but it is the only legislation that had given power to the people,&amp;rdquo; says the activist who quit his job with a IT firm and joined an NGO. &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;But there is a decided nuisance value about RTI petitions that seek information about silly things. Some government officials say this is the &amp;ldquo;misuse of the RTI&amp;rdquo;. It is noteworthy that a Principal Information Officer (PIO) makes the case on an internet discussion portal for the RTI to be made more &amp;ldquo;responsible. If India has to progress, RTI has to be reformed. There must be some control over what can be asked under RTI,&amp;rdquo; the officer argues. &amp;ldquo;Also there must be some limit over the number of questions one can ask. If a citizen asks something beyond the Act, there must be some provisions to punish him,&amp;rdquo; says the anonymous officer, calling the RTI a tussle between &amp;ldquo;working and non-working people&amp;rdquo;. &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;It is true that there have been recent instances of estranged wives attempting to put a figure on their husband&amp;rsquo;s salaries using the RTI. Neighbours have tried to use RTI to settle scores with each other. In UP, a group of RTI activists asked chief minister Mayawati to set-up an expert committee to investigate &amp;lsquo;Gumnami Baba&amp;rsquo;, whom a retired Supreme Court judge purportedly identified as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in a documentary. &lt;br /&gt;
But Agrawal says frivolous cases do not make a nonsense of the RTI. &amp;ldquo;Even educated people don&amp;rsquo;t really know about the RTI or how to use it. That&amp;rsquo;s why there are some frivolous cases, but that&amp;rsquo;s no reason to make any amendments to it.&amp;rdquo; &lt;/font&gt;
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&amp;ldquo;We all pay taxes. Even a beggar on the street pays sales tax when he buys anything from the market. This money belongs to us....&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;The Facebook page on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=58&quot; title=&quot;http://im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=58&quot;&gt;Right to Information&lt;/a&gt; challenges the government with some provocative questions. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;ldquo;We all pay taxes. Even a beggar on the street pays sales tax when he buys anything from the market. This money belongs to us. But where does this money go? Why are there no medicines in the hospitals? Why are people dying of starvation? Why are the roads in such pathetic conditions? Why are the taps dry?&amp;rdquo; says the page&amp;rsquo;s opening lines. Most of the 1000-odd members of the online community agree that a &amp;ldquo;good government is an open government&amp;rdquo;. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;India has been a democracy since 1947, but the process of good governance &amp;mdash; strengthening the link between citizens and the state &amp;mdash; began only in 2005, with the enactment of the RTI. Before that it was next to impossible for an ordinary citizen to get any information from the government because of &amp;lsquo;confidentiality&amp;rsquo; and the Official Secrets Act. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Subhash Chandra Agrawal, who has caused much disquiet with RTI applications on a wide range of issues from judicial reforms to Padma awards, laments that &amp;ldquo;the babu mentality is still a big stumbling block in getting real information. The government officials neither know the RTI nor are they ready to share information with us.&amp;rdquo; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;One, if marginal reason, is the birth of the RTI activist. From 2005, the country &amp;mdash; from its villages to its towns and cities &amp;mdash; has seen a new kind of civic activist. He or she uses information procured from government files to insist its functioning is more transparent and accountable. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;V Madhav, 30, has filed more than 250 applications and been the trigger for landmark change. He believes the Act is meant more to ensure transparency than good governance. &amp;ldquo;There are many obstacles to utilizing the RTI Act, but it is the only legislation that had given power to the people,&amp;rdquo; says the activist who quit his job with a IT firm and joined an NGO. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;But there is a decided nuisance value about RTI petitions that seek information about silly things. Some government officials say this is the &amp;ldquo;misuse of the RTI&amp;rdquo;. It is noteworthy that a Principal Information Officer (PIO) makes the case on an internet discussion portal for the RTI to be made more &amp;ldquo;responsible. If India has to progress, RTI has to be reformed. There must be some control over what can be asked under RTI,&amp;rdquo; the officer argues. &amp;ldquo;Also there must be some limit over the number of questions one can ask. If a citizen asks something beyond the Act, there must be some provisions to punish him,&amp;rdquo; says the anonymous officer, calling the RTI a tussle between &amp;ldquo;working and non-working people&amp;rdquo;. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;It is true that there have been recent instances of estranged wives attempting to put a figure on their husband&amp;rsquo;s salaries using the RTI. Neighbours have tried to use RTI to settle scores with each other. In UP, a group of RTI activists asked chief minister Mayawati to set-up an expert committee to investigate &amp;lsquo;Gumnami Baba&amp;rsquo;, whom a retired Supreme Court judge purportedly identified as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in a documentary. &lt;br /&gt;But Agrawal says frivolous cases do not make a nonsense of the RTI. &amp;ldquo;Even educated people don&amp;rsquo;t really know about the RTI or how to use it. That&amp;rsquo;s why there are some frivolous cases, but that&amp;rsquo;s no reason to make any amendments to it.&amp;rdquo; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#039;,
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&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The Facebook page on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=58&quot;&gt;Right to Information&lt;/a&gt; challenges the government with some provocative questions. &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;ldquo;We all pay taxes. Even a beggar on the street pays sales tax when he buys anything from the market. This money belongs to us. But where does this money go? Why are there no medicines in the hospitals? Why are people dying of starvation? Why are the roads in such pathetic conditions? Why are the taps dry?&amp;rdquo; says the page&amp;rsquo;s opening lines. Most of the 1000-odd members of the online community agree that a &amp;ldquo;good government is an open government&amp;rdquo;. &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;India has been a democracy since 1947, but the process of good governance &amp;mdash; strengthening the link between citizens and the state &amp;mdash; began only in 2005, with the enactment of the RTI. Before that it was next to impossible for an ordinary citizen to get any information from the government because of &amp;lsquo;confidentiality&amp;rsquo; and the Official Secrets Act. &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Subhash Chandra Agrawal, who has caused much disquiet with RTI applications on a wide range of issues from judicial reforms to Padma awards, laments that &amp;ldquo;the babu mentality is still a big stumbling block in getting real information. The government officials neither know the RTI nor are they ready to share information with us.&amp;rdquo; &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;One, if marginal reason, is the birth of the RTI activist. From 2005, the country &amp;mdash; from its villages to its towns and cities &amp;mdash; has seen a new kind of civic activist. He or she uses information procured from government files to insist its functioning is more transparent and accountable. &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;V Madhav, 30, has filed more than 250 applications and been the trigger for landmark change. He believes the Act is meant more to ensure transparency than good governance. &amp;ldquo;There are many obstacles to utilizing the RTI Act, but it is the only legislation that had given power to the people,&amp;rdquo; says the activist who quit his job with a IT firm and joined an NGO. &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;But there is a decided nuisance value about RTI petitions that seek information about silly things. Some government officials say this is the &amp;ldquo;misuse of the RTI&amp;rdquo;. It is noteworthy that a Principal Information Officer (PIO) makes the case on an internet discussion portal for the RTI to be made more &amp;ldquo;responsible. If India has to progress, RTI has to be reformed. There must be some control over what can be asked under RTI,&amp;rdquo; the officer argues. &amp;ldquo;Also there must be some limit over the number of questions one can ask. If a citizen asks something beyond the Act, there must be some provisions to punish him,&amp;rdquo; says the anonymous officer, calling the RTI a tussle between &amp;ldquo;working and non-working people&amp;rdquo;. &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;It is true that there have been recent instances of estranged wives attempting to put a figure on their husband&amp;rsquo;s salaries using the RTI. Neighbours have tried to use RTI to settle scores with each other. In UP, a group of RTI activists asked chief minister Mayawati to set-up an expert committee to investigate &amp;lsquo;Gumnami Baba&amp;rsquo;, whom a retired Supreme Court judge purportedly identified as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in a documentary. &lt;br /&gt;
But Agrawal says frivolous cases do not make a nonsense of the RTI. &amp;ldquo;Even educated people don&amp;rsquo;t really know about the RTI or how to use it. That&amp;rsquo;s why there are some frivolous cases, but that&amp;rsquo;s no reason to make any amendments to it.&amp;rdquo; &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
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The Facebook page on the Right to Information challenges the government with some provocative questions. 


&amp;ldquo;We all pay taxes. Even a beggar on the street pays sales tax when he buys anything from the market. This money belongs to us....&#039;
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The Facebook page on the Right to Information challenges the government with some provocative questions. 


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                <strong>Army of activists a boon or bane? by Shobhan Saxena</strong></h1>
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                <p align="justify"><br /><font >The Facebook page on the <a href="http://im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=58" title="http://im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=58">Right to Information</a> challenges the government with some provocative questions. </font></p><p align="justify"><font >&ldquo;We all pay taxes. Even a beggar on the street pays sales tax when he buys anything from the market. This money belongs to us. But where does this money go? Why are there no medicines in the hospitals? Why are people dying of starvation? Why are the roads in such pathetic conditions? Why are the taps dry?&rdquo; says the page&rsquo;s opening lines. Most of the 1000-odd members of the online community agree that a &ldquo;good government is an open government&rdquo;. </font></p><p align="justify"><font >India has been a democracy since 1947, but the process of good governance &mdash; strengthening the link between citizens and the state &mdash; began only in 2005, with the enactment of the RTI. Before that it was next to impossible for an ordinary citizen to get any information from the government because of &lsquo;confidentiality&rsquo; and the Official Secrets Act. </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Subhash Chandra Agrawal, who has caused much disquiet with RTI applications on a wide range of issues from judicial reforms to Padma awards, laments that &ldquo;the babu mentality is still a big stumbling block in getting real information. The government officials neither know the RTI nor are they ready to share information with us.&rdquo; </font></p><p align="justify"><font >One, if marginal reason, is the birth of the RTI activist. From 2005, the country &mdash; from its villages to its towns and cities &mdash; has seen a new kind of civic activist. He or she uses information procured from government files to insist its functioning is more transparent and accountable. </font></p><p align="justify"><font >V Madhav, 30, has filed more than 250 applications and been the trigger for landmark change. He believes the Act is meant more to ensure transparency than good governance. &ldquo;There are many obstacles to utilizing the RTI Act, but it is the only legislation that had given power to the people,&rdquo; says the activist who quit his job with a IT firm and joined an NGO. </font></p><p align="justify"><font >But there is a decided nuisance value about RTI petitions that seek information about silly things. Some government officials say this is the &ldquo;misuse of the RTI&rdquo;. It is noteworthy that a Principal Information Officer (PIO) makes the case on an internet discussion portal for the RTI to be made more &ldquo;responsible. If India has to progress, RTI has to be reformed. There must be some control over what can be asked under RTI,&rdquo; the officer argues. &ldquo;Also there must be some limit over the number of questions one can ask. If a citizen asks something beyond the Act, there must be some provisions to punish him,&rdquo; says the anonymous officer, calling the RTI a tussle between &ldquo;working and non-working people&rdquo;. </font></p><p align="justify"><font >It is true that there have been recent instances of estranged wives attempting to put a figure on their husband&rsquo;s salaries using the RTI. Neighbours have tried to use RTI to settle scores with each other. In UP, a group of RTI activists asked chief minister Mayawati to set-up an expert committee to investigate &lsquo;Gumnami Baba&rsquo;, whom a retired Supreme Court judge purportedly identified as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in a documentary. <br />But Agrawal says frivolous cases do not make a nonsense of the RTI. &ldquo;Even educated people don&rsquo;t really know about the RTI or how to use it. That&rsquo;s why there are some frivolous cases, but that&rsquo;s no reason to make any amendments to it.&rdquo; </font></p>               </font>
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The Facebook page on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=58&quot;&gt;Right to Information&lt;/a&gt; challenges the government with some provocative questions. &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;ldquo;We all pay taxes. Even a beggar on the street pays sales tax when he buys anything from the market. This money belongs to us. But where does this money go? Why are there no medicines in the hospitals? Why are people dying of starvation? Why are the roads in such pathetic conditions? Why are the taps dry?&amp;rdquo; says the page&amp;rsquo;s opening lines. Most of the 1000-odd members of the online community agree that a &amp;ldquo;good government is an open government&amp;rdquo;. &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;India has been a democracy since 1947, but the process of good governance &amp;mdash; strengthening the link between citizens and the state &amp;mdash; began only in 2005, with the enactment of the RTI. Before that it was next to impossible for an ordinary citizen to get any information from the government because of &amp;lsquo;confidentiality&amp;rsquo; and the Official Secrets Act. &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Subhash Chandra Agrawal, who has caused much disquiet with RTI applications on a wide range of issues from judicial reforms to Padma awards, laments that &amp;ldquo;the babu mentality is still a big stumbling block in getting real information. The government officials neither know the RTI nor are they ready to share information with us.&amp;rdquo; &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;One, if marginal reason, is the birth of the RTI activist. From 2005, the country &amp;mdash; from its villages to its towns and cities &amp;mdash; has seen a new kind of civic activist. He or she uses information procured from government files to insist its functioning is more transparent and accountable. &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;V Madhav, 30, has filed more than 250 applications and been the trigger for landmark change. He believes the Act is meant more to ensure transparency than good governance. &amp;ldquo;There are many obstacles to utilizing the RTI Act, but it is the only legislation that had given power to the people,&amp;rdquo; says the activist who quit his job with a IT firm and joined an NGO. &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;But there is a decided nuisance value about RTI petitions that seek information about silly things. Some government officials say this is the &amp;ldquo;misuse of the RTI&amp;rdquo;. It is noteworthy that a Principal Information Officer (PIO) makes the case on an internet discussion portal for the RTI to be made more &amp;ldquo;responsible. If India has to progress, RTI has to be reformed. There must be some control over what can be asked under RTI,&amp;rdquo; the officer argues. &amp;ldquo;Also there must be some limit over the number of questions one can ask. If a citizen asks something beyond the Act, there must be some provisions to punish him,&amp;rdquo; says the anonymous officer, calling the RTI a tussle between &amp;ldquo;working and non-working people&amp;rdquo;. &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;It is true that there have been recent instances of estranged wives attempting to put a figure on their husband&amp;rsquo;s salaries using the RTI. Neighbours have tried to use RTI to settle scores with each other. In UP, a group of RTI activists asked chief minister Mayawati to set-up an expert committee to investigate &amp;lsquo;Gumnami Baba&amp;rsquo;, whom a retired Supreme Court judge purportedly identified as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in a documentary. &lt;br /&gt;
But Agrawal says frivolous cases do not make a nonsense of the RTI. &amp;ldquo;Even educated people don&amp;rsquo;t really know about the RTI or how to use it. That&amp;rsquo;s why there are some frivolous cases, but that&amp;rsquo;s no reason to make any amendments to it.&amp;rdquo; &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
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The Facebook page on the Right to Information challenges the government with some provocative questions. 


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	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;The Facebook page on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=58&quot; title=&quot;http://im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=58&quot;&gt;Right to Information&lt;/a&gt; challenges the government with some provocative questions. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;ldquo;We all pay taxes. Even a beggar on the street pays sales tax when he buys anything from the market. This money belongs to us. But where does this money go? Why are there no medicines in the hospitals? Why are people dying of starvation? Why are the roads in such pathetic conditions? Why are the taps dry?&amp;rdquo; says the page&amp;rsquo;s opening lines. Most of the 1000-odd members of the online community agree that a &amp;ldquo;good government is an open government&amp;rdquo;. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;India has been a democracy since 1947, but the process of good governance &amp;mdash; strengthening the link between citizens and the state &amp;mdash; began only in 2005, with the enactment of the RTI. Before that it was next to impossible for an ordinary citizen to get any information from the government because of &amp;lsquo;confidentiality&amp;rsquo; and the Official Secrets Act. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Subhash Chandra Agrawal, who has caused much disquiet with RTI applications on a wide range of issues from judicial reforms to Padma awards, laments that &amp;ldquo;the babu mentality is still a big stumbling block in getting real information. The government officials neither know the RTI nor are they ready to share information with us.&amp;rdquo; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;One, if marginal reason, is the birth of the RTI activist. From 2005, the country &amp;mdash; from its villages to its towns and cities &amp;mdash; has seen a new kind of civic activist. He or she uses information procured from government files to insist its functioning is more transparent and accountable. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;V Madhav, 30, has filed more than 250 applications and been the trigger for landmark change. He believes the Act is meant more to ensure transparency than good governance. &amp;ldquo;There are many obstacles to utilizing the RTI Act, but it is the only legislation that had given power to the people,&amp;rdquo; says the activist who quit his job with a IT firm and joined an NGO. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;But there is a decided nuisance value about RTI petitions that seek information about silly things. Some government officials say this is the &amp;ldquo;misuse of the RTI&amp;rdquo;. It is noteworthy that a Principal Information Officer (PIO) makes the case on an internet discussion portal for the RTI to be made more &amp;ldquo;responsible. If India has to progress, RTI has to be reformed. There must be some control over what can be asked under RTI,&amp;rdquo; the officer argues. &amp;ldquo;Also there must be some limit over the number of questions one can ask. If a citizen asks something beyond the Act, there must be some provisions to punish him,&amp;rdquo; says the anonymous officer, calling the RTI a tussle between &amp;ldquo;working and non-working people&amp;rdquo;. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;It is true that there have been recent instances of estranged wives attempting to put a figure on their husband&amp;rsquo;s salaries using the RTI. Neighbours have tried to use RTI to settle scores with each other. In UP, a group of RTI activists asked chief minister Mayawati to set-up an expert committee to investigate &amp;lsquo;Gumnami Baba&amp;rsquo;, whom a retired Supreme Court judge purportedly identified as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in a documentary. &lt;br /&gt;But Agrawal says frivolous cases do not make a nonsense of the RTI. &amp;ldquo;Even educated people don&amp;rsquo;t really know about the RTI or how to use it. That&amp;rsquo;s why there are some frivolous cases, but that&amp;rsquo;s no reason to make any amendments to it.&amp;rdquo; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#039;,
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	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Army of activists a boon or bane? by Shobhan Saxena&#039;,
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	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The Facebook page on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=58&quot;&gt;Right to Information&lt;/a&gt; challenges the government with some provocative questions. &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;ldquo;We all pay taxes. Even a beggar on the street pays sales tax when he buys anything from the market. This money belongs to us. But where does this money go? Why are there no medicines in the hospitals? Why are people dying of starvation? Why are the roads in such pathetic conditions? Why are the taps dry?&amp;rdquo; says the page&amp;rsquo;s opening lines. Most of the 1000-odd members of the online community agree that a &amp;ldquo;good government is an open government&amp;rdquo;. &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;India has been a democracy since 1947, but the process of good governance &amp;mdash; strengthening the link between citizens and the state &amp;mdash; began only in 2005, with the enactment of the RTI. Before that it was next to impossible for an ordinary citizen to get any information from the government because of &amp;lsquo;confidentiality&amp;rsquo; and the Official Secrets Act. &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Subhash Chandra Agrawal, who has caused much disquiet with RTI applications on a wide range of issues from judicial reforms to Padma awards, laments that &amp;ldquo;the babu mentality is still a big stumbling block in getting real information. The government officials neither know the RTI nor are they ready to share information with us.&amp;rdquo; &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;One, if marginal reason, is the birth of the RTI activist. From 2005, the country &amp;mdash; from its villages to its towns and cities &amp;mdash; has seen a new kind of civic activist. He or she uses information procured from government files to insist its functioning is more transparent and accountable. &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;V Madhav, 30, has filed more than 250 applications and been the trigger for landmark change. He believes the Act is meant more to ensure transparency than good governance. &amp;ldquo;There are many obstacles to utilizing the RTI Act, but it is the only legislation that had given power to the people,&amp;rdquo; says the activist who quit his job with a IT firm and joined an NGO. &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;But there is a decided nuisance value about RTI petitions that seek information about silly things. Some government officials say this is the &amp;ldquo;misuse of the RTI&amp;rdquo;. It is noteworthy that a Principal Information Officer (PIO) makes the case on an internet discussion portal for the RTI to be made more &amp;ldquo;responsible. If India has to progress, RTI has to be reformed. There must be some control over what can be asked under RTI,&amp;rdquo; the officer argues. &amp;ldquo;Also there must be some limit over the number of questions one can ask. If a citizen asks something beyond the Act, there must be some provisions to punish him,&amp;rdquo; says the anonymous officer, calling the RTI a tussle between &amp;ldquo;working and non-working people&amp;rdquo;. &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;It is true that there have been recent instances of estranged wives attempting to put a figure on their husband&amp;rsquo;s salaries using the RTI. Neighbours have tried to use RTI to settle scores with each other. In UP, a group of RTI activists asked chief minister Mayawati to set-up an expert committee to investigate &amp;lsquo;Gumnami Baba&amp;rsquo;, whom a retired Supreme Court judge purportedly identified as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in a documentary. &lt;br /&gt;
But Agrawal says frivolous cases do not make a nonsense of the RTI. &amp;ldquo;Even educated people don&amp;rsquo;t really know about the RTI or how to use it. That&amp;rsquo;s why there are some frivolous cases, but that&amp;rsquo;s no reason to make any amendments to it.&amp;rdquo; &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&#039;,
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The Facebook page on the Right to Information challenges the government with some provocative questions. 


&amp;ldquo;We all pay taxes. Even a beggar on the street pays sales tax when he buys anything from the market. This money belongs to us....&#039;
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The Facebook page on the Right to Information challenges the government with some provocative questions. 


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                <strong>Army of activists a boon or bane? by Shobhan Saxena</strong></h1>
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                <p align="justify"><br /><font >The Facebook page on the <a href="http://im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=58" title="http://im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=58">Right to Information</a> challenges the government with some provocative questions. </font></p><p align="justify"><font >&ldquo;We all pay taxes. Even a beggar on the street pays sales tax when he buys anything from the market. This money belongs to us. But where does this money go? Why are there no medicines in the hospitals? Why are people dying of starvation? Why are the roads in such pathetic conditions? Why are the taps dry?&rdquo; says the page&rsquo;s opening lines. Most of the 1000-odd members of the online community agree that a &ldquo;good government is an open government&rdquo;. </font></p><p align="justify"><font >India has been a democracy since 1947, but the process of good governance &mdash; strengthening the link between citizens and the state &mdash; began only in 2005, with the enactment of the RTI. Before that it was next to impossible for an ordinary citizen to get any information from the government because of &lsquo;confidentiality&rsquo; and the Official Secrets Act. </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Subhash Chandra Agrawal, who has caused much disquiet with RTI applications on a wide range of issues from judicial reforms to Padma awards, laments that &ldquo;the babu mentality is still a big stumbling block in getting real information. The government officials neither know the RTI nor are they ready to share information with us.&rdquo; </font></p><p align="justify"><font >One, if marginal reason, is the birth of the RTI activist. From 2005, the country &mdash; from its villages to its towns and cities &mdash; has seen a new kind of civic activist. He or she uses information procured from government files to insist its functioning is more transparent and accountable. </font></p><p align="justify"><font >V Madhav, 30, has filed more than 250 applications and been the trigger for landmark change. He believes the Act is meant more to ensure transparency than good governance. &ldquo;There are many obstacles to utilizing the RTI Act, but it is the only legislation that had given power to the people,&rdquo; says the activist who quit his job with a IT firm and joined an NGO. </font></p><p align="justify"><font >But there is a decided nuisance value about RTI petitions that seek information about silly things. Some government officials say this is the &ldquo;misuse of the RTI&rdquo;. It is noteworthy that a Principal Information Officer (PIO) makes the case on an internet discussion portal for the RTI to be made more &ldquo;responsible. If India has to progress, RTI has to be reformed. There must be some control over what can be asked under RTI,&rdquo; the officer argues. &ldquo;Also there must be some limit over the number of questions one can ask. If a citizen asks something beyond the Act, there must be some provisions to punish him,&rdquo; says the anonymous officer, calling the RTI a tussle between &ldquo;working and non-working people&rdquo;. </font></p><p align="justify"><font >It is true that there have been recent instances of estranged wives attempting to put a figure on their husband&rsquo;s salaries using the RTI. Neighbours have tried to use RTI to settle scores with each other. In UP, a group of RTI activists asked chief minister Mayawati to set-up an expert committee to investigate &lsquo;Gumnami Baba&rsquo;, whom a retired Supreme Court judge purportedly identified as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in a documentary. <br />But Agrawal says frivolous cases do not make a nonsense of the RTI. &ldquo;Even educated people don&rsquo;t really know about the RTI or how to use it. That&rsquo;s why there are some frivolous cases, but that&rsquo;s no reason to make any amendments to it.&rdquo; </font></p>               </font>
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    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67eff3b36ada7-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67eff3b36ada7-trace').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none');"><b>Notice</b> (8)</a>: Undefined variable: urlPrefix [<b>APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp</b>, line <b>8</b>]<div id="cakeErr67eff3b36ada7-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67eff3b36ada7-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67eff3b36ada7-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67eff3b36ada7-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67eff3b36ada7-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr67eff3b36ada7-code" class="cake-code-dump" style="display: none;"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"></span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">head</span><span style="color: #007700">&gt;
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&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The Facebook page on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=58&quot;&gt;Right to Information&lt;/a&gt; challenges the government with some provocative questions. &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;ldquo;We all pay taxes. Even a beggar on the street pays sales tax when he buys anything from the market. This money belongs to us. But where does this money go? Why are there no medicines in the hospitals? Why are people dying of starvation? Why are the roads in such pathetic conditions? Why are the taps dry?&amp;rdquo; says the page&amp;rsquo;s opening lines. Most of the 1000-odd members of the online community agree that a &amp;ldquo;good government is an open government&amp;rdquo;. &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;India has been a democracy since 1947, but the process of good governance &amp;mdash; strengthening the link between citizens and the state &amp;mdash; began only in 2005, with the enactment of the RTI. Before that it was next to impossible for an ordinary citizen to get any information from the government because of &amp;lsquo;confidentiality&amp;rsquo; and the Official Secrets Act. &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Subhash Chandra Agrawal, who has caused much disquiet with RTI applications on a wide range of issues from judicial reforms to Padma awards, laments that &amp;ldquo;the babu mentality is still a big stumbling block in getting real information. The government officials neither know the RTI nor are they ready to share information with us.&amp;rdquo; &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;One, if marginal reason, is the birth of the RTI activist. From 2005, the country &amp;mdash; from its villages to its towns and cities &amp;mdash; has seen a new kind of civic activist. He or she uses information procured from government files to insist its functioning is more transparent and accountable. &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;V Madhav, 30, has filed more than 250 applications and been the trigger for landmark change. He believes the Act is meant more to ensure transparency than good governance. &amp;ldquo;There are many obstacles to utilizing the RTI Act, but it is the only legislation that had given power to the people,&amp;rdquo; says the activist who quit his job with a IT firm and joined an NGO. &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;But there is a decided nuisance value about RTI petitions that seek information about silly things. Some government officials say this is the &amp;ldquo;misuse of the RTI&amp;rdquo;. It is noteworthy that a Principal Information Officer (PIO) makes the case on an internet discussion portal for the RTI to be made more &amp;ldquo;responsible. If India has to progress, RTI has to be reformed. There must be some control over what can be asked under RTI,&amp;rdquo; the officer argues. &amp;ldquo;Also there must be some limit over the number of questions one can ask. If a citizen asks something beyond the Act, there must be some provisions to punish him,&amp;rdquo; says the anonymous officer, calling the RTI a tussle between &amp;ldquo;working and non-working people&amp;rdquo;. &lt;/font&gt;
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&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;It is true that there have been recent instances of estranged wives attempting to put a figure on their husband&amp;rsquo;s salaries using the RTI. Neighbours have tried to use RTI to settle scores with each other. In UP, a group of RTI activists asked chief minister Mayawati to set-up an expert committee to investigate &amp;lsquo;Gumnami Baba&amp;rsquo;, whom a retired Supreme Court judge purportedly identified as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in a documentary. &lt;br /&gt;
But Agrawal says frivolous cases do not make a nonsense of the RTI. &amp;ldquo;Even educated people don&amp;rsquo;t really know about the RTI or how to use it. That&amp;rsquo;s why there are some frivolous cases, but that&amp;rsquo;s no reason to make any amendments to it.&amp;rdquo; &lt;/font&gt;
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&amp;ldquo;We all pay taxes. Even a beggar on the street pays sales tax when he buys anything from the market. This money belongs to us....&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font &gt;The Facebook page on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=58&quot; title=&quot;http://im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=58&quot;&gt;Right to Information&lt;/a&gt; challenges the government with some provocative questions. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;&amp;ldquo;We all pay taxes. Even a beggar on the street pays sales tax when he buys anything from the market. This money belongs to us. But where does this money go? Why are there no medicines in the hospitals? Why are people dying of starvation? Why are the roads in such pathetic conditions? Why are the taps dry?&amp;rdquo; says the page&amp;rsquo;s opening lines. Most of the 1000-odd members of the online community agree that a &amp;ldquo;good government is an open government&amp;rdquo;. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;India has been a democracy since 1947, but the process of good governance &amp;mdash; strengthening the link between citizens and the state &amp;mdash; began only in 2005, with the enactment of the RTI. Before that it was next to impossible for an ordinary citizen to get any information from the government because of &amp;lsquo;confidentiality&amp;rsquo; and the Official Secrets Act. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;Subhash Chandra Agrawal, who has caused much disquiet with RTI applications on a wide range of issues from judicial reforms to Padma awards, laments that &amp;ldquo;the babu mentality is still a big stumbling block in getting real information. The government officials neither know the RTI nor are they ready to share information with us.&amp;rdquo; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;One, if marginal reason, is the birth of the RTI activist. From 2005, the country &amp;mdash; from its villages to its towns and cities &amp;mdash; has seen a new kind of civic activist. He or she uses information procured from government files to insist its functioning is more transparent and accountable. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;V Madhav, 30, has filed more than 250 applications and been the trigger for landmark change. He believes the Act is meant more to ensure transparency than good governance. &amp;ldquo;There are many obstacles to utilizing the RTI Act, but it is the only legislation that had given power to the people,&amp;rdquo; says the activist who quit his job with a IT firm and joined an NGO. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;But there is a decided nuisance value about RTI petitions that seek information about silly things. Some government officials say this is the &amp;ldquo;misuse of the RTI&amp;rdquo;. It is noteworthy that a Principal Information Officer (PIO) makes the case on an internet discussion portal for the RTI to be made more &amp;ldquo;responsible. If India has to progress, RTI has to be reformed. There must be some control over what can be asked under RTI,&amp;rdquo; the officer argues. &amp;ldquo;Also there must be some limit over the number of questions one can ask. If a citizen asks something beyond the Act, there must be some provisions to punish him,&amp;rdquo; says the anonymous officer, calling the RTI a tussle between &amp;ldquo;working and non-working people&amp;rdquo;. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;font &gt;It is true that there have been recent instances of estranged wives attempting to put a figure on their husband&amp;rsquo;s salaries using the RTI. Neighbours have tried to use RTI to settle scores with each other. In UP, a group of RTI activists asked chief minister Mayawati to set-up an expert committee to investigate &amp;lsquo;Gumnami Baba&amp;rsquo;, whom a retired Supreme Court judge purportedly identified as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in a documentary. &lt;br /&gt;But Agrawal says frivolous cases do not make a nonsense of the RTI. &amp;ldquo;Even educated people don&amp;rsquo;t really know about the RTI or how to use it. That&amp;rsquo;s why there are some frivolous cases, but that&amp;rsquo;s no reason to make any amendments to it.&amp;rdquo; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#039;,
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&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The Facebook page on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=58&quot;&gt;Right to Information&lt;/a&gt; challenges the government with some provocative questions. &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;ldquo;We all pay taxes. Even a beggar on the street pays sales tax when he buys anything from the market. This money belongs to us. But where does this money go? Why are there no medicines in the hospitals? Why are people dying of starvation? Why are the roads in such pathetic conditions? Why are the taps dry?&amp;rdquo; says the page&amp;rsquo;s opening lines. Most of the 1000-odd members of the online community agree that a &amp;ldquo;good government is an open government&amp;rdquo;. &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;India has been a democracy since 1947, but the process of good governance &amp;mdash; strengthening the link between citizens and the state &amp;mdash; began only in 2005, with the enactment of the RTI. Before that it was next to impossible for an ordinary citizen to get any information from the government because of &amp;lsquo;confidentiality&amp;rsquo; and the Official Secrets Act. &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Subhash Chandra Agrawal, who has caused much disquiet with RTI applications on a wide range of issues from judicial reforms to Padma awards, laments that &amp;ldquo;the babu mentality is still a big stumbling block in getting real information. The government officials neither know the RTI nor are they ready to share information with us.&amp;rdquo; &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;One, if marginal reason, is the birth of the RTI activist. From 2005, the country &amp;mdash; from its villages to its towns and cities &amp;mdash; has seen a new kind of civic activist. He or she uses information procured from government files to insist its functioning is more transparent and accountable. &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;V Madhav, 30, has filed more than 250 applications and been the trigger for landmark change. He believes the Act is meant more to ensure transparency than good governance. &amp;ldquo;There are many obstacles to utilizing the RTI Act, but it is the only legislation that had given power to the people,&amp;rdquo; says the activist who quit his job with a IT firm and joined an NGO. &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;But there is a decided nuisance value about RTI petitions that seek information about silly things. Some government officials say this is the &amp;ldquo;misuse of the RTI&amp;rdquo;. It is noteworthy that a Principal Information Officer (PIO) makes the case on an internet discussion portal for the RTI to be made more &amp;ldquo;responsible. If India has to progress, RTI has to be reformed. There must be some control over what can be asked under RTI,&amp;rdquo; the officer argues. &amp;ldquo;Also there must be some limit over the number of questions one can ask. If a citizen asks something beyond the Act, there must be some provisions to punish him,&amp;rdquo; says the anonymous officer, calling the RTI a tussle between &amp;ldquo;working and non-working people&amp;rdquo;. &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;It is true that there have been recent instances of estranged wives attempting to put a figure on their husband&amp;rsquo;s salaries using the RTI. Neighbours have tried to use RTI to settle scores with each other. In UP, a group of RTI activists asked chief minister Mayawati to set-up an expert committee to investigate &amp;lsquo;Gumnami Baba&amp;rsquo;, whom a retired Supreme Court judge purportedly identified as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in a documentary. &lt;br /&gt;
But Agrawal says frivolous cases do not make a nonsense of the RTI. &amp;ldquo;Even educated people don&amp;rsquo;t really know about the RTI or how to use it. That&amp;rsquo;s why there are some frivolous cases, but that&amp;rsquo;s no reason to make any amendments to it.&amp;rdquo; &lt;/font&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&#039;,
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The Facebook page on the Right to Information challenges the government with some provocative questions. 


&amp;ldquo;We all pay taxes. Even a beggar on the street pays sales tax when he buys anything from the market. This money belongs to us....&#039;
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The Facebook page on the Right to Information challenges the government with some provocative questions. 


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                <strong>Army of activists a boon or bane? by Shobhan Saxena</strong></h1>
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                <p align="justify"><br /><font >The Facebook page on the <a href="http://im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=58" title="http://im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=58">Right to Information</a> challenges the government with some provocative questions. </font></p><p align="justify"><font >&ldquo;We all pay taxes. Even a beggar on the street pays sales tax when he buys anything from the market. This money belongs to us. But where does this money go? Why are there no medicines in the hospitals? Why are people dying of starvation? Why are the roads in such pathetic conditions? Why are the taps dry?&rdquo; says the page&rsquo;s opening lines. Most of the 1000-odd members of the online community agree that a &ldquo;good government is an open government&rdquo;. </font></p><p align="justify"><font >India has been a democracy since 1947, but the process of good governance &mdash; strengthening the link between citizens and the state &mdash; began only in 2005, with the enactment of the RTI. Before that it was next to impossible for an ordinary citizen to get any information from the government because of &lsquo;confidentiality&rsquo; and the Official Secrets Act. </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Subhash Chandra Agrawal, who has caused much disquiet with RTI applications on a wide range of issues from judicial reforms to Padma awards, laments that &ldquo;the babu mentality is still a big stumbling block in getting real information. The government officials neither know the RTI nor are they ready to share information with us.&rdquo; </font></p><p align="justify"><font >One, if marginal reason, is the birth of the RTI activist. From 2005, the country &mdash; from its villages to its towns and cities &mdash; has seen a new kind of civic activist. He or she uses information procured from government files to insist its functioning is more transparent and accountable. </font></p><p align="justify"><font >V Madhav, 30, has filed more than 250 applications and been the trigger for landmark change. He believes the Act is meant more to ensure transparency than good governance. &ldquo;There are many obstacles to utilizing the RTI Act, but it is the only legislation that had given power to the people,&rdquo; says the activist who quit his job with a IT firm and joined an NGO. </font></p><p align="justify"><font >But there is a decided nuisance value about RTI petitions that seek information about silly things. Some government officials say this is the &ldquo;misuse of the RTI&rdquo;. It is noteworthy that a Principal Information Officer (PIO) makes the case on an internet discussion portal for the RTI to be made more &ldquo;responsible. If India has to progress, RTI has to be reformed. There must be some control over what can be asked under RTI,&rdquo; the officer argues. &ldquo;Also there must be some limit over the number of questions one can ask. If a citizen asks something beyond the Act, there must be some provisions to punish him,&rdquo; says the anonymous officer, calling the RTI a tussle between &ldquo;working and non-working people&rdquo;. </font></p><p align="justify"><font >It is true that there have been recent instances of estranged wives attempting to put a figure on their husband&rsquo;s salaries using the RTI. Neighbours have tried to use RTI to settle scores with each other. In UP, a group of RTI activists asked chief minister Mayawati to set-up an expert committee to investigate &lsquo;Gumnami Baba&rsquo;, whom a retired Supreme Court judge purportedly identified as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in a documentary. <br />But Agrawal says frivolous cases do not make a nonsense of the RTI. &ldquo;Even educated people don&rsquo;t really know about the RTI or how to use it. That&rsquo;s why there are some frivolous cases, but that&rsquo;s no reason to make any amendments to it.&rdquo; </font></p>               </font>
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<br />
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">The Facebook page on the <a href="http://im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=58">Right to Information</a> challenges the government with some provocative questions. </font>
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">&ldquo;We all pay taxes. Even a beggar on the street pays sales tax when he buys anything from the market. This money belongs to us. But where does this money go? Why are there no medicines in the hospitals? Why are people dying of starvation? Why are the roads in such pathetic conditions? Why are the taps dry?&rdquo; says the page&rsquo;s opening lines. Most of the 1000-odd members of the online community agree that a &ldquo;good government is an open government&rdquo;. </font>
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">India has been a democracy since 1947, but the process of good governance &mdash; strengthening the link between citizens and the state &mdash; began only in 2005, with the enactment of the RTI. Before that it was next to impossible for an ordinary citizen to get any information from the government because of &lsquo;confidentiality&rsquo; and the Official Secrets Act. </font>
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Subhash Chandra Agrawal, who has caused much disquiet with RTI applications on a wide range of issues from judicial reforms to Padma awards, laments that &ldquo;the babu mentality is still a big stumbling block in getting real information. The government officials neither know the RTI nor are they ready to share information with us.&rdquo; </font>
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<p align="justify">
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">One, if marginal reason, is the birth of the RTI activist. From 2005, the country &mdash; from its villages to its towns and cities &mdash; has seen a new kind of civic activist. He or she uses information procured from government files to insist its functioning is more transparent and accountable. </font>
</p>
<p align="justify">
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">V Madhav, 30, has filed more than 250 applications and been the trigger for landmark change. He believes the Act is meant more to ensure transparency than good governance. &ldquo;There are many obstacles to utilizing the RTI Act, but it is the only legislation that had given power to the people,&rdquo; says the activist who quit his job with a IT firm and joined an NGO. </font>
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">But there is a decided nuisance value about RTI petitions that seek information about silly things. Some government officials say this is the &ldquo;misuse of the RTI&rdquo;. It is noteworthy that a Principal Information Officer (PIO) makes the case on an internet discussion portal for the RTI to be made more &ldquo;responsible. If India has to progress, RTI has to be reformed. There must be some control over what can be asked under RTI,&rdquo; the officer argues. &ldquo;Also there must be some limit over the number of questions one can ask. If a citizen asks something beyond the Act, there must be some provisions to punish him,&rdquo; says the anonymous officer, calling the RTI a tussle between &ldquo;working and non-working people&rdquo;. </font>
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<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">It is true that there have been recent instances of estranged wives attempting to put a figure on their husband&rsquo;s salaries using the RTI. Neighbours have tried to use RTI to settle scores with each other. In UP, a group of RTI activists asked chief minister Mayawati to set-up an expert committee to investigate &lsquo;Gumnami Baba&rsquo;, whom a retired Supreme Court judge purportedly identified as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in a documentary. <br />
But Agrawal says frivolous cases do not make a nonsense of the RTI. &ldquo;Even educated people don&rsquo;t really know about the RTI or how to use it. That&rsquo;s why there are some frivolous cases, but that&rsquo;s no reason to make any amendments to it.&rdquo; </font>
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The Facebook page on the Right to Information challenges the government with some provocative questions. 


&ldquo;We all pay taxes. Even a beggar on the street pays sales tax when he buys anything from the market. This money belongs to us....',
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<br />
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">The Facebook page on the <a href="http://im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=58">Right to Information</a> challenges the government with some provocative questions. </font>
</p>
<p align="justify">
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">&ldquo;We all pay taxes. Even a beggar on the street pays sales tax when he buys anything from the market. This money belongs to us. But where does this money go? Why are there no medicines in the hospitals? Why are people dying of starvation? Why are the roads in such pathetic conditions? Why are the taps dry?&rdquo; says the page&rsquo;s opening lines. Most of the 1000-odd members of the online community agree that a &ldquo;good government is an open government&rdquo;. </font>
</p>
<p align="justify">
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">India has been a democracy since 1947, but the process of good governance &mdash; strengthening the link between citizens and the state &mdash; began only in 2005, with the enactment of the RTI. Before that it was next to impossible for an ordinary citizen to get any information from the government because of &lsquo;confidentiality&rsquo; and the Official Secrets Act. </font>
</p>
<p align="justify">
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">Subhash Chandra Agrawal, who has caused much disquiet with RTI applications on a wide range of issues from judicial reforms to Padma awards, laments that &ldquo;the babu mentality is still a big stumbling block in getting real information. The government officials neither know the RTI nor are they ready to share information with us.&rdquo; </font>
</p>
<p align="justify">
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">One, if marginal reason, is the birth of the RTI activist. From 2005, the country &mdash; from its villages to its towns and cities &mdash; has seen a new kind of civic activist. He or she uses information procured from government files to insist its functioning is more transparent and accountable. </font>
</p>
<p align="justify">
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">V Madhav, 30, has filed more than 250 applications and been the trigger for landmark change. He believes the Act is meant more to ensure transparency than good governance. &ldquo;There are many obstacles to utilizing the RTI Act, but it is the only legislation that had given power to the people,&rdquo; says the activist who quit his job with a IT firm and joined an NGO. </font>
</p>
<p align="justify">
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">But there is a decided nuisance value about RTI petitions that seek information about silly things. Some government officials say this is the &ldquo;misuse of the RTI&rdquo;. It is noteworthy that a Principal Information Officer (PIO) makes the case on an internet discussion portal for the RTI to be made more &ldquo;responsible. If India has to progress, RTI has to be reformed. There must be some control over what can be asked under RTI,&rdquo; the officer argues. &ldquo;Also there must be some limit over the number of questions one can ask. If a citizen asks something beyond the Act, there must be some provisions to punish him,&rdquo; says the anonymous officer, calling the RTI a tussle between &ldquo;working and non-working people&rdquo;. </font>
</p>
<p align="justify">
<font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="3">It is true that there have been recent instances of estranged wives attempting to put a figure on their husband&rsquo;s salaries using the RTI. Neighbours have tried to use RTI to settle scores with each other. In UP, a group of RTI activists asked chief minister Mayawati to set-up an expert committee to investigate &lsquo;Gumnami Baba&rsquo;, whom a retired Supreme Court judge purportedly identified as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in a documentary. <br />
But Agrawal says frivolous cases do not make a nonsense of the RTI. &ldquo;Even educated people don&rsquo;t really know about the RTI or how to use it. That&rsquo;s why there are some frivolous cases, but that&rsquo;s no reason to make any amendments to it.&rdquo; </font>
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The Facebook page on the Right to Information challenges the government with some provocative questions. 


&ldquo;We all pay taxes. Even a beggar on the street pays sales tax when he buys anything from the market. This money belongs to us....'
$disp = '<p align="justify"><br /><font >The Facebook page on the <a href="http://im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=58" title="http://im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=58">Right to Information</a> challenges the government with some provocative questions. </font></p><p align="justify"><font >&ldquo;We all pay taxes. Even a beggar on the street pays sales tax when he buys anything from the market. This money belongs to us. But where does this money go? Why are there no medicines in the hospitals? Why are people dying of starvation? Why are the roads in such pathetic conditions? Why are the taps dry?&rdquo; says the page&rsquo;s opening lines. Most of the 1000-odd members of the online community agree that a &ldquo;good government is an open government&rdquo;. </font></p><p align="justify"><font >India has been a democracy since 1947, but the process of good governance &mdash; strengthening the link between citizens and the state &mdash; began only in 2005, with the enactment of the RTI. Before that it was next to impossible for an ordinary citizen to get any information from the government because of &lsquo;confidentiality&rsquo; and the Official Secrets Act. </font></p><p align="justify"><font >Subhash Chandra Agrawal, who has caused much disquiet with RTI applications on a wide range of issues from judicial reforms to Padma awards, laments that &ldquo;the babu mentality is still a big stumbling block in getting real information. The government officials neither know the RTI nor are they ready to share information with us.&rdquo; </font></p><p align="justify"><font >One, if marginal reason, is the birth of the RTI activist. From 2005, the country &mdash; from its villages to its towns and cities &mdash; has seen a new kind of civic activist. He or she uses information procured from government files to insist its functioning is more transparent and accountable. </font></p><p align="justify"><font >V Madhav, 30, has filed more than 250 applications and been the trigger for landmark change. He believes the Act is meant more to ensure transparency than good governance. &ldquo;There are many obstacles to utilizing the RTI Act, but it is the only legislation that had given power to the people,&rdquo; says the activist who quit his job with a IT firm and joined an NGO. </font></p><p align="justify"><font >But there is a decided nuisance value about RTI petitions that seek information about silly things. Some government officials say this is the &ldquo;misuse of the RTI&rdquo;. It is noteworthy that a Principal Information Officer (PIO) makes the case on an internet discussion portal for the RTI to be made more &ldquo;responsible. If India has to progress, RTI has to be reformed. There must be some control over what can be asked under RTI,&rdquo; the officer argues. &ldquo;Also there must be some limit over the number of questions one can ask. If a citizen asks something beyond the Act, there must be some provisions to punish him,&rdquo; says the anonymous officer, calling the RTI a tussle between &ldquo;working and non-working people&rdquo;. </font></p><p align="justify"><font >It is true that there have been recent instances of estranged wives attempting to put a figure on their husband&rsquo;s salaries using the RTI. Neighbours have tried to use RTI to settle scores with each other. In UP, a group of RTI activists asked chief minister Mayawati to set-up an expert committee to investigate &lsquo;Gumnami Baba&rsquo;, whom a retired Supreme Court judge purportedly identified as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in a documentary. <br />But Agrawal says frivolous cases do not make a nonsense of the RTI. &ldquo;Even educated people don&rsquo;t really know about the RTI or how to use it. That&rsquo;s why there are some frivolous cases, but that&rsquo;s no reason to make any amendments to it.&rdquo; </font></p>'
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Army of activists a boon or bane? by Shobhan Saxena

The Facebook page on the Right to Information challenges the government with some provocative questions. “We all pay taxes. Even a beggar on the street pays sales tax when he buys anything from the market. This money belongs to us. But where does this money go? Why are there no medicines in the hospitals? Why are people dying of starvation? Why are the roads in such pathetic conditions? Why are the taps dry?” says the page’s opening lines. Most of the 1000-odd members of the online community agree that a “good government is an open government”. India has been a democracy since 1947, but the process of good governance — strengthening the link between citizens and the state — began only in 2005, with the enactment of the RTI. Before that it was next to impossible for an ordinary citizen to get any information from the government because of ‘confidentiality’ and the Official Secrets Act. Subhash Chandra Agrawal, who has caused much disquiet with RTI applications on a wide range of issues from judicial reforms to Padma awards, laments that “the babu mentality is still a big stumbling block in getting real information. The government officials neither know the RTI nor are they ready to share information with us.” One, if marginal reason, is the birth of the RTI activist. From 2005, the country — from its villages to its towns and cities — has seen a new kind of civic activist. He or she uses information procured from government files to insist its functioning is more transparent and accountable. V Madhav, 30, has filed more than 250 applications and been the trigger for landmark change. He believes the Act is meant more to ensure transparency than good governance. “There are many obstacles to utilizing the RTI Act, but it is the only legislation that had given power to the people,” says the activist who quit his job with a IT firm and joined an NGO. But there is a decided nuisance value about RTI petitions that seek information about silly things. Some government officials say this is the “misuse of the RTI”. It is noteworthy that a Principal Information Officer (PIO) makes the case on an internet discussion portal for the RTI to be made more “responsible. If India has to progress, RTI has to be reformed. There must be some control over what can be asked under RTI,” the officer argues. “Also there must be some limit over the number of questions one can ask. If a citizen asks something beyond the Act, there must be some provisions to punish him,” says the anonymous officer, calling the RTI a tussle between “working and non-working people”. It is true that there have been recent instances of estranged wives attempting to put a figure on their husband’s salaries using the RTI. Neighbours have tried to use RTI to settle scores with each other. In UP, a group of RTI activists asked chief minister Mayawati to set-up an expert committee to investigate ‘Gumnami Baba’, whom a retired Supreme Court judge purportedly identified as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in a documentary. But Agrawal says frivolous cases do not make a nonsense of the RTI. “Even educated people don’t really know about the RTI or how to use it. That’s why there are some frivolous cases, but that’s no reason to make any amendments to it.”