These govt offices get it all wrong in helping commoners use RTI

Vijaysinh Parmar TNN /28 July/Rajkot: It would be a nightmarish experience for those who want to seek some information from some important government establishments in Rajkot, like regional transport office, civil hospital and railway station. Even four years after the Right to Information Act (RTI) was formed, several government offices are completely passive about helping people get information under the Act. TOI visited many offices only to find that RTI seekers were facing difficulties, right from searching for the public information officer. As per RTI Act, public authority should make all the facilities available to citizens for obtaining information that includes names, designations and other particulars of PIOs. Some of the offices visited by this correspondent included regional transport office, railway station, Rajkot Civil Hospital, Rasulkhanki Janana Hospital and taluka panchayat. There was information put in public display to guide RTI applicants about PIO and nowhere was the manual of RTI Act seen. Regional transport officer. M K Bhoj was also unsure of the facilities. “I think we have put all the things in place but still, I need to check it out,” he said.

Sujata ensures education to tribals

Vijaysinh Parmar , TNN 25 March 2009, KHADKI (Valsad district): For her age, Kamu Bhoya (15) should have been taking her class X exams just now. But, this tribal girl is in class VI only. However, don't mistake her to be a repeater and dud student. She has a burning desire for education. Firstly, she was not enrolled at a proper time and even after joining Chaura village school, she did not learn anything. Finally, she got enrolled in class I in Khadki, a remote hamlet in Dharampur taluka on Gujarat-Maharashtra border, in an informal school run by a gold medalist in physics from M S University Sujata Shah, who runs Sarvoday Parivar Trust's centre at Khadki village.
. There are nearly 99 students like Kamu, which includes 45 girls, at this hostel-cum-school, who failed to get enrolled at proper age as their parents were illiterate or failed to get admission in ashramshalas (residential schools for tribals). Nestled on a hill, where phone and road connectivity is scarce, Shah has introduced an interesting concept called zero class', by which children study for a year and learn basic things. "Here, the local language is similar to Konkani, but being in Gujarat, the medium of instruction in schools is Gujarati. So, children do not get to learn to read or write at home as parents are uneducated. As a result, they face great difficulties when they go to class I in the school. Therefore, we decided to start zero class," Shah says. Shah, who taught physics in a school in Vadodara, left her job
and decided to take path less travelled. "I wanted to do something different and concrete for people who are really deprived of education," she adds. "Many children do not get enrolled even at the age of nine or 10. In our informal school, we first enrolled those who were not drop-outs, but had not gone to school ever. Many children, who even though studied in their village primary school, had to be enrolled again from class 1 as they did not learn anything there," Shah says. Presently, 100 children from class I to VI are given informal education by trained teachers appointed at this centre.

This tribal village never runs out of gas

Vijaysinh Parmar/TNN 31 March 20BHITBUDRAK: Ilesh Valvi of Bhitbudrak, a remote village in Uchchhal taluka of Tapi district, has eight family members. But, he is never worried about fuel for cooking. In fact, he gets gas supply almost free of cost. And, for this, he has only to give dung to his village's community-based biogas plant. "Daily, we give at least 35 kg dung of cows and buffaloes to biogas plant at 25 paise per kg. And, we get four hours gas supply daily from the plant. For this, we pay just Rs 150 per month. For my family, this gas supply is almost free as we get more money from giving dung to the plant," Valvi says. Presently, there are 121 household gas connections here. This was established two years ago with the help of Sumul Dairy, district panchayat and villagers by spending Rs 20 lakh. Sumul officials claim that this is India's first pressure system based community biogas plant. The plant can produce 170 cubic metre bio-gas daily. Bhitbudrak village milk co-operative manages this plant. "We collect 4 tonnes of dung daily from villagers and pay them 25 paise per kg," says secretary of the village milk co-operative Chunibhai Naik. Interestingly, there are more than 20 such families who have no gas connection, but come to sell dung to the plant as it earns money for them. "I earn at least Rs 300 a month by selling dung," says another villager Dabid Valvi. The plant has also generated employment for the villagers. The vermicompost is being made by the plant's biogas slurry for which at least five people are required to work. Till date, nearly 400 bags of vermicompost have been sold at a price of 130 per bag. "We don't need to rely on other sources of funds to manage and run this plant. We want to establish biogas-based refilling station in the village. But, this requires more capital investment with the help of government," Naik adds. Sumul Dairy chairman Manubhai Patel says, "Through this project we wanted to show how we can adopt environment-friendly technology and ensure self-reliance of villagers." 09,

Irrigation project for Tapi tribals awaits forest land acquisition

Vijaysinh Parmar/TNN 31 March 2009, SONGADH: The thirst of Saurashtra's barren land has been quenched by Narmada water, which displaced hundreds of tribal families. Ironically, now the
future of parched land of the tribals in Songadh and Mandvi talukas depends on land in Surendranagar district. The proposed 36-km Ukai-Gordha right bank link canal project was given administrative approval by government in 1997 for which Rs 44.36 crore was also sanctioned. However, the project to irrigate 9,700 hectare land in 10 villages in Songadh and 52 villages in Mandvi is yet to commence because of forest land
acquisition issue. According to sources, as the canal is to pass through forest land, central government approval is needed to acquire the forest land. Executive engineer of Weir-2 (Yojna Vibhag) Vyara BS Chaudhary wrote to Surendranagar district collector urging allotment of 52.27 hectare of compensatory land from the land bank' for afforestation, which would ensure commencement of the proposed project in tribal area. "We need to acquire 52.27 hectare of forest land in project area. We have reserved land bank in Surendranagar. Surendranagar district collector has been asked to take necessary step so that the project could commence at the earliest. The collector's response is awaited," Chaudhary said. "Mandvi and Songadh are tribal-dominated. Majority of people in these talukas have to depend on rain for agriculture. Many a time they have to migrate along with their families in search of livelihood. Irrigation facility will help them to harvest two crops a year. In most of the cases in developmental projects, the tribals are the ones who suffer. If this project is completed, the tribals will benefit from it. We plan to launch an agitation to speed up the process," said Manshing Chaudhary, convener of Ukai Jamna Kantha Naher Adivasi Adhikar Samiti.

They fought limestone mafia to save forest

Vijaysinh Parmar/TNN/Madhavpur (Porbander): They are neither conservationists nor do they know what green activism is. But they took the dangerous limestone mafia in Porbander head on to ensure that Madhavpur regains its lush green forest. They are a group of servicemen, doctors, engineers and other professionally-employed persons staying at Osho Ashram in Madhavpur who took upon themselves to conserve the fast diminishing forest, especially the rayan (khirnee, manilkara hexandra) trees that had borne the brunt of limestone mining as well severe salinity ingress. Today as one drives on the coastal highway from Porbander to Mangrol, the very sight of this forest ‘Madhuvan’ spread over 35 acres is refreshing to the eyes. “It was a matter of life and death for all of us to save the forest from the mafia. We were able to save some part of the forest that has centuries-old rayan trees,” says Govind Vekaria, an employee of State Bank of Saurashtra, living at the ashram. Nearly half of this 35-acre land belongs to the state forest department and the remaining has been purchased by some of the nature lovers in Porbander and Mangrol. “The purchased land has been donated to the ashram to maintain and conserve it as a forest by planting different species,” says Bharat Shah, who also lives at the Osho Ashram. Around six years ago, the ashram residents notice that the rayan trees were fast diminishing. So they roped in Rasik Bhatt, a botanist and retired scientist from Junagadh Agriculture University, to study its reasons. “Salinity was one of the main reason for the death of rayan trees. Moreover, there was a dense growth of gando baval (prosopis juliflora) in the area that used to consume away the nutrition from these trees,” said Bhatt. Rayan is very slow-growing tree that can survive in very harsh conditions. Of the 300 rayan trees, Madhuvan has many that are over 150 years old. “So, we recommended that the ashram give nurture these with pure water to fight salinity and give them an organic mulching,” he added. Today, gando baval has been totally eliminated and all rayan trees have been protected with a concrete wall so that water seeps in properly to its roots. People of the region are savouring the fruits of these efforts. For the first time, poor children sold Rs 50,000 worth rayan fruits collected from this forest.

Dalit Express to chug out from Nano country

Vijaysinh Parmar/TNN/Nani Devti (Sanand): Even as Nano is gearing up to roll out of Sanand, a unique ‘Dalit Express’ aimed at igniting scientific and rational thinking in young minds, is preparing to embark on a new journey against caste discrimination at this village just 7 km away from Sanand The brainchild of Dalit S h a k t i Ke n d r a (DSK), run by Navsarjan Trust that works towards Dalit human rights in the state, the unique Dalit Express will be a stationary train that will run from ‘Natjat na Junction thi Navsarjan’ (from caste discrimination to a new society). The Dalit Express, which will cost nearly Rs 2.5 crore, is expected to be ready for visitors before Nano rolls out with one compartment already ready. “There has been serious thinking within Navsarjan on doing something to bring about a revolutionary change in mindset and inculcate rational and scientific temper. That’s how the new idea of setting up a science museum and learning journey programme came up,” says Dalit rights activist and DSK director Martin Macwan, explaining that the objective was to give children a life demonstration of science and create an atmosphere that textbooks cannot. In addition to the science museum, a museum on Dalit history too will be set up to link history with the fut u re. While the train will d e m o n - s t r at e n ew types of toilets as alternative to manual scavenging, there will be a prototype of a space toilet too. The museum will also be equipped with NASA space models as well as robotics, solar and biotech technologies. The museum will also have a science bazaar offering scientific experiment equipment at reasonable rates to enable students to perform experiments at home. “We plan to start bus services to bring children from villages to the museum to ensure that science reaches the masses and is not restricted to a privileged few. For DSK students, the train will bring employment opportunities,” explains Macwan.

US-returned couple teaches tribal girls

Vijaysinh Parmar/TNN/Surat: If you happen to be in the hilly area of Dharampur in Valsad district, don’t be surprised if you hear tribal girls singing famous Pocahontas’ song, “You think I am ignorant savage and you have been to many places”, in English. US-returned couple Aparna and Pankaj Kadikar and friends set up a residential school for tribal girls three years ago. Interestingly, in this ‘kedi’ school, priority for admissions is given to those girls who are rejected by other high schools or whose parents do not want their girls to study due to socio-economic reasons. Moreover, this school’s methods of teaching are different from conventional ones. “We decided not to encourage students traditional education which students cannot relate to their lives. We want to chart a new path,” says Aparna, who is an architect and worked in US for 20 years. Her husband Pankaj worked in corporate management sector in the US. Apart from studies, girls are also taught to operate computers, nursing, agriculture, sewing and zardosi work. “We want to build a strong foundation for them so that they can become independent,” says Jayant Desai, 74, a retired English teacher from Mumbai. English is compulsory in this school. So, from next year many girls will appear in class X board exams with English as subject.

For Dholakua villagers, donating is in their blood

Vijaysinh Parmar/TNN/Dholakua (Mansa taluka): In Dholakua village, just 17 km from the state capital, Gandhinagar, a unique tradition thrives. That of giving life to others by donating blood. Every year, villagers of Dholakua start their new year with donating blood. There are more than 300 blood donors in this tiny village. On October 31, Red Cross Society, Ahmedabad, collected 85 bottles of blood from this village on the third day of Gujarati new year. “Blood donation is in our blood. Everybody in this village donates blood and they are happy that he or she is a regular blood donor. It is a matter of great honour. Even women are encouraged to donate blood. There are 30 women blood donors in this village,” says Raman Patel, a farmer-turnedbusinessman who has donated blood 103 times till date. Patel, 57, started donating blood way back in 1982 and still continues. An SSC passout, Patel has been source of inspiration for villagers as he has played a major role in organising blood donation camps in the village. His wife Kantaben and 10 other family members have also been donating blood. “Earlier, we used to go to Ahmedabad to for blood donation. But from 1985, we started organising blood donation camps in village itself as more people joined us in the movement. People from neighbouring villages have also seen us donating blood. So, now they know that there is nothing wrong in this and it has helped to erase people’s misconceptions about donation,” adds Patel. “Every time, I donate blood I feel very happy that I have done something which helps during emergencies at hospitals. Even during the agricultural season, I do not miss blood donation. In a way, we are part of saving others’ lives,” says Amrut Patel. Patel has donated blood 25 times. His two sons also donate blood. Getting inspired by the gesture of Dholakua residents, people from neighbouring villages have also joined hands. “We counsel our relatives and friends to donate blood. So, when we organise blood donation camps they come to our village,” says Iswarbhai Patel, 63. Villagers also encourage people to donate blood by giving gifts to the donor every time. Like on October 31, Iswarbhai gifted shawls to every blood donor. “Blood donation is allowed only up to the age of 60. So, I can’t donate blood anymore. But, I can surely encourage by gifting to blood donors,” adds Patel.

This teacher gives students a haircuts

Vijaysinh Parmar/TNN/Sanath (Deesa taluka): Rabindranath Tagore did it in a poem for kids now famous for its innovative approach. In faraway Deesa in north Gujarat, Bhavesh Pandya has made it to the Limca Book of World Records for penning 874 stories in Gujarati that do not have ‘jodakshar’ or compound consonant, making it simple for children learning the language. In his village Sanath, 18 km from Deesa on the banks of Banas river, the one bright spot amidst poverty is the primary school where Pandya teaches. From cutting the hair of children who cannot afford to go to a barber to taking care of picking a student as the head boy so that he learns to be responsible, Pandya has made the school a very different place of learning. He has converted the whole school campus into a learning process, using every wall, door, window and floor for educational purpose. “My first aim was to make children interested in coming to school. I created an atmosphere so that they would like to stay on even after school,’’ says Pandya. “In our school, there are no laws which hamper kids’ liberty, creativity. Children decide what they want to learn. If children say that we want to learn mathematics the whole day, we do it’’ adds Pandya. Every Saturday, Pandya gives students a haircut and clips their nails. “The nearest barber is about 20 km from the village. This would mean children would miss classes and their parents their daily wage. And, most of them can’t afford the cost of a haircut. So, I do it myself,” says Pandya.

80 years ago, she got girls to school

Vijaysinh Parmar/TNN/Ahmedabad: She played badminton and was a champion swimmer. What’s new? She did this 80 years ago, in pre-Independence India. But, that’s not just what we remember Sarla Joshi for today. In Junagadh, she single-handedly got girls enrolled in schools. And soon, there were so many girls that Ladlibibi Kanyashala fell short of classrooms. Sarla Tai, as she was fondly called, re-interpreted the story of Dronacharya and Eklavya in her own way and said the great guru should not have asked for the thumb of his shisya Eklavya, as a teacher’s duty is to give and not ask. The twist moved his grandson Abhijat Joshi to write his film ‘Eklavya: The Royal Guard’ in 2007. Joshi also wrote the script for ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’. “She used to say a teacher should see that more Eklavyas are born. She was a true teacher,” said Joshi. Way back in 1939, Sarla Tai, one of the first few women post-graduates in the country, went from house to house, asking parents to send their daughters to school. “Your efforts in girls’ education created a revolution,” said a memento Ladlibibi Kanyashala, where she taught, gave her. Sarla Tai, who died at 93 in 2002, graduated in 1933 from Nagpur University in Marathi and Sanskrit and did her post-graduation in 1935. She joined Ladlibibi Kanyashala in Junagadh in 1936 and taught until her death. Her husband Raghunath Joshi was a professor in Bahauddin College in Junagadh. “Sarla Tai wrote a drama on the theme that girls want to learn and we should provide them the opportunity. She invited prominent people of Junagadh, including the nawab’s wife, to come and watch. The result — donations poured in instantly and a new building came up,” says Sarla Tai’s son Jayant Joshi.

Driving the science express in rural Gujarat

Vijaysinh Parmar/TNN/Chulla village (Sabarkantha): He goes where no man has been before to set up science labs. Armed with special kits and models, primary school teacher Prakash Suthar from Chulla village in Vadali taluka, Sabarkantha district, spends his weekly offs and holidays travelling to remote villages on his bike. He has been on this mission for last eight years. Many of the schools he visits are in tribal pockets. Suthar calls his journeys ‘Vignan ni Tirthyatra’ (pilgrimage of science). The aim of these ‘yatras’ is to simplify the subject and spread awareness among children in rural areas. These children have no access to science labs where they can understand in practice what they learn in textbooks. In the initial part of this drive, he wrote postcards to all village primary schools in the taluka saying if teachers were ready to spare time on Sundays or holidays, he would come to their schools and make a presentation using experimental models. “I will not even charge for travel expenses,” he said in the card. In order to make science easy, Suthar has developed many models for classes V, VI and VII. With them, children can perform more than 100 scientific experiments which cover their entire syllabus. When a teacher or student asks him for models, he makes another kit for them. “I let students experiment as they want. Even if they break a model, I don’t mind. After all, the models are not meant to be showpieces.” Teachers now ask him to establish science labs in their schools. So far he has set up 20 in the district. “My aim is to simplify teaching of science in village schools. Teachers can do this too,” he says. Earlier, if a teacher was unable to communicate science effectively, there was a chance that students would drop out. Experimental models prevent this by serving as teaching aids. Suthar has also broken the myth that science models are unaffordable. He makes them using waste material and inexpensive stuff. As a result of his efforts, students from remote villages have started taking part in state science fairs. “Prakash’s dedication is commendable. It’s because of him that our students have started participating in science fairs and have also won prizes. He was with our school for five years. Now, he is with Chulla primary school,” says Geeta Sagar, principal of Kesharganj Primary School, two km from Chulla village. Before he joined Chulla school, children from that village used to come here to study, but not any longer, she adds.

Pied piper of Modasa

Vijaysinh Parmar/TNN/Khambhisar (Modasa): If there’s one man who has done a great deal for education of girls in the state, it’s Motibhai Nayak. And, he’s done it with bhungal (musical instrument), harmonium, poetry, songs and puppetry. In this village, education was low priority, but due to his efforts Khambhisar Primary School achieved 100 per cent girls’ enrolment way back in 1980. “Khambhisar is dominated by Patels, Thakardas and Dalits. Demand for education was low when I joined as a teacher. Most of the children were engaged in farm labour and other work. I was determined to change this situation,” says Nayak. There are more than 100 women teachers of this village who have been students of Motibhai. The 61-year-old retired three years ago, but his passion drives him on. “I recollect days in the 80s when Motibhai used to come to every home in our village with his bhungal and harmonium to convince parents to send their girls to school. In my case, I would not have studied if not for him,” says Usha Patel, primary school teacher in Khambhisar village. She was the eldest daughter in the family and had to look after three brothers. Her mother didn’t want her to go to school. “He created a kind of movement for girls’ education in our village. Otherwise, at that time, parents were not even contemplating sending their daughters to school,” she adds. Currently, Motibhai performs Bhavai to spread message of ‘Kanya Kelavani’ in the region. He has written many ‘halardas’ (children’s songs) for girls to convey the message that girls should be educated. When he joined as a teacher, the condition of the school building was very poor and infrastructure minimal. That’s when he used his background in folk theatre to raise money for the school. He found out that one of the reasons for high dropout rate among girls was that there were no toilet facilities for them. “So, I decided to raise money through Bhavai to build urinals in schools,” he says.

Scrap vendor turns RTI crusader

Vijaysinh Parmar, TNN 20 July 2009,RAJKOT: Altaf Chichodara, 42, a scrap vendor in the city is known as Arjiwalo Altaf' in various government departments. Reason: Chichodara has filed over 85 applications under the RTI Act, covering a range of issues. "RTI is a weapon for common people like me. I use it for common good," said Chichodara, who propagates the use of RTI even when he is collecting scrap. Also an animal rights activist, Chichodara makes it a point to inform the police control room whenever he finds an abandoned animal or even vehicle. He, then, follows up by filing RTI applications to find out what action has been taken. "In an application regarding abandoned vehicles in the city, I was given incorrect information by the police. I took up issue with the information commissioner, who directed the then police commissioner to provide the accurate and full details," he said. After receiving answers under the RTI, he gives this information to people who are likely to benefit from it. "Three months back, I obtained information about concession in electricity bills for BPL category. There is a government scheme that those living under BPL are entitled to get electricity per unit at Rs 1.50 for 30 units. Most of these BPL families did not know about this. So, I go to people and try to educated them about such things," he said. But, alleges Chichodara, that due to his RTI mission he was recently charged by police under Sections 186 and 114 of Indian Penal Code for disturbing police work. "I fear that because I am using RTI extensively to seek information from police department they (police) might harass me," he added. Two years back, a contractor was fined Rs 27,000 for delaying work at police commissionerate.

RTI fought off hunger for these BPL families

Vijaysinh Parmar/TNN/Rajkot: The written word can’t fight pangs of hunger, but a Right to Information (RTI) application can. If some of the poorest families of Fulzar village in Jasdan taluka of Rajkot are not living a desperate hand-tomouth existence today, it is largely because one among them filed an RTI application and exposed loopholes in the Public Distribution System. Farmer Laxman Chauhan, 25, has ensured that his family, and others like him, don’t have to live a desperate hand-to-mouth existence any more by demanding to know his right under RTI. In the last few months, the families have started receiving the ration entitled to them under the Central government’s Antyodaya Anna Yojana, a specific scheme for families who are the poorest of the poor even among those living below poverty line (BPL). Chauhan filed the RTI application five months back to know the amount of ration entitled to BPL, above poverty line (APL) and Antyodaya families. He sought all details including the number of BPL, APL and Antyodaya families in his village, how much ration (wheat, rice, kerosene and sugar) was distributed in the village and how much ration should reach beneficiaries of the Antyodaya scheme. “When we received the reply under RTI, we came to know that Antyodaya card holders are entitled to 16.5 kg wheat at Rs 2 price per kg every month. Also, each Antyodaya card holder is entitled to 16 kg rice at Rs 3 per kg every month from fair price shops. But the ground reality was Antyodaya families in our village barely got five kg rice and 5 kg wheat every month. After the RTI application, everyone gets the full ration,’’ says Chauhan. “We accepted whatever was given under the scheme as we had no idea what was entitled to us. Now that we know and ask for it, we get it,” says Vallabha Sarviya, an Antyodaya card holder and casual laborer in Fulzar. “There are 318 ration card holders in our village. Of them, 12 are Antyodaya card holders, 32 BPL card holders and the rest of holders are APL. A single RTI application has given them their right on their doorstep,” says Chauhan.