The Right Information

On a Friday afternoon,Raut sat studying documents in his house in Sataras FT Colony,his bed strewn with papers. He had recently filed an RTI application on a land acquisition case at Kaas Pathar in Maharashtra and was waiting to lay his hands on the information. I work on land and PDS-related RTIs, he says.

Raut is just back from school and sits down to work,again. Over the last few years,Raut has learnt to strike a balance between his profession and his passion.

Raut is up at 5.30 a.m. every day and is in school from 7 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. Other than administrative work in the school,I make it a point to put up newspaper articles of national relevance on the notice board. I also ensure that the mid-day meal is distributed among all children and none of it is wasted, he says.

Post-lunch is when he starts his RTI work. He starts with tracking pending RTI applications in various departments. That takes him to various government offices,where he submits various documents and tracks the RTI. Since most of the government offices in Satarathe collectorate,Zilla Parishad and other buildingsare located near his house,he usually walks down to these offices. He says he is still following up on his six-year-old RTI application on wind energy projects in Satara.

Follow-up involves taking the results of an RTI application to its logical end. Sometimes,I submit my findings to the authorities for them to take action, says Raut.

Rauts RTI findings that the Satara additional collector had never visited the 11 godowns in the district resulted in a departmental inquiry against the officer.

In 2005,he got muster rolls of 43 villages under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. The papers revealed that the muster rolls were fake and that people who could sign were shown as having put thumb impressions. Another application filed in 2006 revealed that on March 12,1999,the then Maharahstra chief minister Narayan Rane had issued a Government Resolution to extend leases in Mahabaleshwar at throwaway prices,a decision taken without sanction from the state Cabinet.

On some afternoons,Raut analyses the replies to his RTI applications,sitting with heaps of photocopied papers. It requires a lot of focus and attention and afternoon is the best time to do so, he says.

There are days when he is invited to address RTI literacy camps. Spreading the word on RTI is an important aspect of RTI activism. I go to these camps with sample RTI applications and RTI appeals to make it easy for the audience, he says.

Raut says his evening walk is a crucial part of his routine. During these walkscuriously,without footwearhe meets people who seek his help in filing RTI applications. People approach me with various doubts about RTI. Since I cannot spare any other time of the day,I meet some of them during my one-hour walk and try to clarify their doubts, he says.

Dinner at 9 p.m. is followed by night-time reading. Raut subscribes to three newspapers,three magazines and also splurges on books. All this reading helps me in two ways. I find new subjects to put up on my school notice-board. Secondly,it gives me ideas for new RTI applications, he says.

Raut,who has been working in the school for the last 24 years,took up RTI activism in 2002. Though I think I have learnt effective time management over the years,I miss listening to classical music and dont spend enough time with my family, he says.

Rauts wife Nalini is a law graduate and a homemaker,while his elder son Satyajeet is studying mass media in Mumbai. His younger daughter Shrutikirti is in class XI.

Over the last nine years of RTI activism,Raut has received threats from builders and corporates a couple of times. But I choose to ignore them as it rarely affects me or my determination, he says.