These days, many advertisements are being show on television, which are thought provoking. One such advertisement is advising people to exercise their franchise so as to elect the correct representative, while another is of a corrupt official demanding bribe to issue a license. The Constitution gives us many Rights, but how many of us have fought for it.

Thanks to the Right to Information Act (RTI), many skeletons have fallen out of the cupboard, like the Adarsh housing scam. Many rights activists have put their life in danger to gather information. In the middle of January, Right to Information activist Arvind Kejriwal and seven others were taken into custody for protesting at the sub-registrar’s office at NOIDA, UP, for failing to register a complaint against a government employee for demanding bribe.

Ramon Magsaysay Award winner Kejriwal was leading a protest after the authorities failed to take cognizance of a police complaint filed by an NRI that he was manhandled when he had gone to the sub-registrar’s office to lodge a complaint against a corrupt government employee.
  
The Union government in a bid to fight corruption is planning to bring forward the Lokpal Bill, 2010, but civil rights activists have called it eyewash. Kejriwal feels that the Bill would effectively kill all existing procedures and any punishment to erring politicians would be impossible under the new mooted law. The activist said that the proposal gives no powers to the Lokpal to entertain any complaint directly or initiate any action in any case suo motu.

Explaining the loopholes, Kejriwal said that the new proposal made it mandatory to seek the approval of the Speaker and Chairman of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for launching action against the corrupt. The activist was of the opinion that since the Speaker and Chairman belonged to political parties, this could be used as a tool to settle issues on party lines. Charging the government of ‘spreading’ corruption, the activist wondered whether the presiding officers would take action against the Prime Minister if a need arose. Comparing the Lokpal with CVC, Kejriwal said that the former too lacks teeth to lodge an FIR against an accused.

Talking about the Right to Information Act, Kejriwal feels that the citizens are struggling to get information as penalties are not imposed. He is of the view that it is not enough to give people rights, but essential to empower them too. However, there is a ray of hope as RTI is bringing in transparency as one can easily access the government programmes, which were earlier impossible.

Kejriwal said that as a child, he wasn’t an activist, but a bookworm. Fighting for people’s rights came in later and to begin with, he and his supporters began advising customers not to pay bribes to officials at the Delhi Vidyut Board and Income Tax Department. Instead, they asked them to contact them to get their job done free of cost. They gathered people’s grievances and brought it to the notice of the higher-ups.

Fighting for the rights of the underprivileged children, Kejriwal has been able to make a difference in education in government schools. He calls upon the students to seek information, if need be, in higher education too. Praising the courage of some students in seeking RTI in the conduct of State Civil Service exam in Chattisgarh and exposing corruption, Kejriwal calls for more such fights for a just society. One group of students who filed the RTI and sought the answer sheets were aghast to know that some students had been given 306 marks out of 300, which finally led to the cancellation of the exam.
He reminded the role of the students in the Quit India movement that was instrumental in the country’s independence movement.
 
The rights activist says that anyone can seek RTI from any government department. For this, one just has to write an application on a piece of paper on the information required from the concerned government department. For this there is a fee of Rs 10 and the government is supposed to give the information in 30 days. He says that in case the government fails to provide the information then one can appeal and penalty clause for officers comes into force. 

Kejriwal’s organization guides the students in drafting letters and anyone wishing to seek help could call 9718100180.

Kejriwal, an IIT alumnus and former Indian Revenue Service official, has been in the forefront of the RTI movement in the country and has established his own institution called ‘Parivartan’. Through this organization he has been able to awaken the people and has successfully streamlined the Public Distribution System (PDS) in the national capital. Using the RTI, Kejriwal brought out the fact that FPS shopkeepers and officials drained off 87 percent of wheat and 94 percent of rice meant for the poor. Using the Satyagraha form of protest, Kejriwal pressurized the government to appoint Public Information Officers (PIOs) and also fought for transparency. He is also backing the citizens for better public utility services and forcing the local and state governments to share the information on these.

Winner of the prestigious Ramon Magsasay Award in 2006, Kejriwal is happy that the world is recognising the country’s contribution in the RTI movement. Born in 1968 in Hissar, Haryana,
Kejriwal, a Mechanical engineer from IIT Kharagpur joined the Indian Revenue Service (IRS), in 1992, and was posted at the Income-tax Commissioner’s Office in Delhi. At his first job, Kejriwal found out that there was corruption in the corridors and began his fight against it. Staying in his job, he made sure that changes took place at the IT office.

After working for eight years, the Ramon Magsaysay award winner took time off from work in January 2000 and established Parivartan, a Delhi based citizens’ movement, which works for transparency and accountable governance. Six years down the line, he quit his job to devote more time to the Rights cause. Along with Aruna Roy, he was instrumental in enactment of the Delhi Right to Information Act in 2001 and Right to Information Act (RTI) by the Parliament in 2005.

Awards
2004: Ashoka Fellow, Civic Engagement.
2005: ‘Satyendra Dubey Memorial Award’, IIT Kanpur for his campaign for bringing transparency in Government.
2006: Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership
2006: CNN-IBN, ‘Indian of the Year’ in Public Service
2009: Distinguished Alumnus Award, IIT Kharagpur for Emergent Leadership
2010: Policy Change Agent of the Year, Economic Times Corporate Excellence Award along with Aruna Ro