More and more residents are discovering the power of the Right to Information Act and how it can change their lives.
And the latest to join the list is Madhu Bhaduri, former Indian ambassador to Portugal. Bhaduri filed an RTI application last Thursday asking for the list of works undertaken by the MCD in Mayur Vihar Phase I.
She has asked the engineering division, maintenance and projects, to provide her with details of the contractors, the date on which the projects were initiated, the date of completion and the status of the projects undertaken from 2000 to 2004.
Amita Joshi, a coordinator with the Institute of Social Studies (that deals with slum children), also filed an application on August 26 with regards to works undertaken by MCD in Patparganj. This was her second RTI application and she is disappointed with the government response.
Twenty five-year-old Suchi Pandey, who works as a project coordinator with an NGO, used the RTI Act to ask the Municipal Corporation why a park near the Harijan Basti in Laxmi Nagar area was being used as a dumping ground.
She wrote an application to the MCD’s Horticulture Department on February 16 and met Assistant Commisioner of MCD, Shahadra zone, M.U Sarwar who assured her that he would look into the matter. However, she got a reply after almost two months, on April 12. She was asked to accompany MCD officials during inspection of the area.
After the inspection, she got another letter from the MCD saying that the area wasn’t under the horticulture department but the MCD’s Slums and JJ Department. Thereafter Pandey filed an application to the MCD Slums and JJ Department who refused to take any responsibility of the park except constructing a boundary wall. Pandey, however, is happy of the fact that she was able to get information out of the civic body under the Right to Information Act.
‘‘When I went to the MCD officials, they refused to take in more than two questions out of the 14 I had asked. At this, I showed them the Act which had no such section. They ultimately agreed to take all my questions,’’ said Pandey.
Shankar Musafir, who works with NGO Pravah, had had enough of the state of affairs in Munirka. He was appalled by the potholes on the road and the lack of sanitation. ‘‘I learned about the power of RTI at a workshop conducted by Parivartan,’’ he said.
He filed an RTI application on August 27 with the South Delhi District Commission but has not yet recieved a reply. He has sought information regarding all development works by the MCD in the area and plans to take action once he receives more information.