RTI gets a memorial in Rajasthan

May 28, 2016 04:35 am | Updated 04:36 am IST - JAIPUR

CHENNAI, TAMIL NADU, 27/05/2016:Photo to accompany story 27JPIQB02 from Jaipur.
Caption: The RTI memorial unveiled at Chang Gate in Beawar on Thursday. Photot: Special Arrangement

CHENNAI, TAMIL NADU, 27/05/2016:Photo to accompany story 27JPIQB02 from Jaipur.
Caption: The RTI memorial unveiled at Chang Gate in Beawar on Thursday. Photot: Special Arrangement

Ironic though it may sound, a unique memorial celebrating the Right to Information has come up in the Beawar town of Rajasthan — where the RTI movement had started 20 years ago — at a time when the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the State has opted to delete chapters on the evolution of RTI campaign and law from its school textbooks.

Hundreds of people from all walks of life, who gathered at Chang Gate in Beawar on Thursday night to commemorate the historic 40-day dharna of 1996 for RTI, witnessed unveiling of the aesthetically-built memorial and demanded restoration of chapters dealing with common people’s contribution to RTI in the textbooks.

The dark blue memorial, is perhaps the only structure of its kind in the country, giving recognition to peasants and labourers who launched the campaign for their right to know about the way the government functioned and spent the public money.

40-day dharna

“I can never forget those 40 days when we sat on a dharna organised by the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) at Chang Gate. I was preserving every moment of it through my camera without a clue that we were making history,” said Ashok Sain, an activist.

The dharna, which lasted 40 days, went on to become a movement for transparency, accountability and participatory democracy and led to the establishment of the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI).

A strong movement

The movement forced the Rajasthan government to pass the State RTI Act in 2000, after which Parliament enacted the RTI Act in 2005. Justice S.N. Bhargava, former Chief Justice of Sikkim High Court, who unveiled the memorial, dedicated it to the people.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.