Laid-off dairy workers get their dues

Vijaysinh Parmar/TNN/2 September 2009:KHAMBHA: For Jagatsinh Rathod and three others in Khambha village of Amreli district, Right to Information (RTI) Act played an important role in their getting justice.
Rathod and the other three were part-time workers of Chalala Dairy, which was run by Gujarat Dairy Development Corporation Ltd, Government of Gujarat, at that time. "We were laid off by the management in 2002. We approached Amreli Labour Court for recovery of money we were entitled to from the Dairy. The order came in our favour in September 2008," relates Rathod. Subsequently, the court issued four revenue recovery certificates under the Revenue Recovery Act, 1890. Another clause ordered district collector to recover the amount from MD of Gujarat Dairy Development Corporation Ltd and Chalala Dairy. "After this verdict, we approached the mamlatdar's office in Dhari to find out the progress in the case. We wrote applications to officials and personally visited them. But, we didn't get a satisfactory response. Then, we filled an RTI application to know exact progress of the court's order in the first week of March 2009. Within two weeks, we received all our entitlements in our bank accounts. It was unbelievable," says Rathod.
The three other workers were Pratap Solanki, Yunus Bareval and Ramku Khuman. The four workers recovered Rs 32,525 each. "RTI Act worked wonders. It empowered a common citizen like me to exercise my rights,'' he added.

Thanks to RTI, he was compensated for dead cow

Vijaysinh Parmar TNN/1 September/Khambha(Amreli): Invoking the Right To Information (RTI) Act has helped this 53-year-old retired truck driver, not only to bear fruits of four years of struggle, but also to fight for rightful entitlement of money as a below poverty line (BPL) citizen. Nagji Parmar, a resident of Khambha village in Amreli district, today proudly tells his story and inspires many to do the same. Four years ago, his cow, the only means of his livelihood, fell pray to a lion attack. “In December, 2004, a lion killed my cow in Khambha. After the incident, I wrote many applications to officials concerned but in vain. After running from pillar to post to get compensation, I came to know about the RTI Act through Mahiti Adhikar Nagrik Mandal in Khambha. It was then that I used it and sought details for my entitlement.” Even the RTI application process was not smooth for Parmar, as initially, forest officials denied having records of such an incident. “I continued my efforts and even submitted a written application, which I sent to the forest department. Later, officials found records of my case after tallying it with my RTI application, they agreed to grant me compensation,” says Parmar. He got Rs 3,000 compensation. His confidence boosted by this success, Parmar filed another RTI application after both his daughters-in-law had to go through tubectomy operations. “The local government hospital officials were packing us off with a meagre Rs 200 for each case. But, I refused it and used RTI to know my entitlement. After the RTI, I was given Rs 610 for each case,” says Nagji Parmar. The government officials, after being given the RTI order, made excuses of not having grants earlier, Parmar added.