RTI activist exposes fraud, ends up losing daughter-in-law

Haryana Mahabir Singh, a Right to Information activist had to pay a heavy price for exposing a pension scam in Chandrawal village of Fatehabad district, Haryana.

After the graft exposé, Dharamvir Malik, the village sarpanch allegedly crushed Singh's daughter-in-law Sonu under his car on Friday.

Singh along with his friends had filed an RTI to expose the misappropriation of funds carried out Malik.

“A case of murder has been filed against Malik,” said Subhash Saharan, a senior police officer.

Singh and others had first complained to the district officers, but after receiving no response they approached the court and filed a case against Malik.

“Pension fraud was going on in the village to which a list was demanded, which didn’t go down well with Malik.

A TV grab shows the victim, inconsolable relatives and police in Haryana village

He kicked Sonu and her head was hit by a rod. Mahabir and Sonu were dragged by Mailk’s car. There were five to six people in it," alleged Mahinder, Singh’s elder brother.

Locals demanded immediate arrest of Malik and his associates soon after the incident. Yashpal, a local said that the villagers had demanded arrest of Malik and his aides. “People who had filed the RTI are in danger till the other accused free,” he said.

According to latest sources, the villagers came on the streets with batons to protest the killing.

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/3/2011021420110214040837806886fa2e/RTI-activist-exposes-fraud-ends-up-losing-daughterinlaw.html

Murder of RTI activists threat to transparency

Every citizen has a right to know how the Government is functioning. Right to Information empowers every citizen to seek any information from the Government, inspect any Government documents and seek certified photocopies thereof. Some laws on Right to Information also empower citizens to official inspect any Government work or to take sample of material used in any work. This act is applicable to the whole of India except Jammu and Kashmir. The act can be used against all constitutional authorities, the executive, legislature and the judiciary. Initially, private bodies were excluded from this act by the Supreme Court. But privatised public utility companies fall under the purview of this act.

After 5 years passed the act,10 RTI Activists killed. You can put your hands in this sectors(Govt.,industry etc.) and you find corruptions and in this situation Rti act feels good. But Corrupt Persons cannot stop the law but they can stop those persons who use the law. When you release the corruptions, one by one Rti activists are killed.here are the details;

1.Datta Patil,47 age, an activist from Ichalkaranji in the Kolhapur district, was found dead on May 22. This is the latest among the increasing number of attacks against activists in Maharashtra. Patil who was well known in his hometown Ichalkaranji in the Kolhapur district for taking on administrators via the RTI act was attacked with a sword.

Friend and activist Appa Patil said, "He was involved in a lot of social causes. He exposed corruption amongst several politicians and bureaucrats." Patil had made several enemies due to his activism.

2.Amit Jethwa , With the cold-blooded murder of Right to Information (RTI) activist Amit Jethwa near the Gujarat High Court in Ahmedabad this past Tuesday(Amit Jethwa was shot dead in front of the Gujarat high court.), the number of such killings of whistleblowers has gone up to eight just this year alone. The Congress-ruled Maharashtra tops the list with four killings, followed by the BJP-ruled Gujarat with two. He was in his thirties, a caring, law-abiding citizen, committed to the environment, humanity and animal life. And like most dedicated souls, he believed that he could stem the rot in the system and make a difference by diligently using democratic tools of empowerment. He relied heavily on the Right to Information (RTI) Act to plug the holes in the system. Till the holes got him.Amit Jethwa was fighting against illegal mining in the Gir forests, which hosts the world’s last Asiatic lions. But he was up against the mining mafia, the forest department and politicians involved in the racket. Not an easy fight for a lone ranger. Besides, he had made enemies by campaigning against corruption. He had even got a Lokayukta placed in Gujarat.

3.Vitthal Gite , an RTI activist who had exposed irregularities in a Maharashtra village school has been killed in a clash between two groups. The activist was seriously injured when the rival group, led by the son of the educational society that runs Sainath Vidyalaya at Waghbet villager in Beed, attacked him on Sunday. He died on Tuesday. He was a farmer and a flour-mill owner. Gite, along with another activist, Brijmohan Mishra, had sought information under RTI Act and exposed irregularities in the functioning of a few other schools in the village as well.

4.Sola Ranga Rao , an RTI activist, in Krishna district. The activist was found murdered near his house earlier this month and his family members had alleged that he was killed because of the RTI application he had filed with a district office regarding funding of the village's drainage system. The 30-year-old activist, resident of Sitaram village, had filed various RTI applications seeking information from the mandal parishad development office (MPDO) on the fund sanctioned and utilised for the village's drainage system. Family members of Sola Ranga Rao alleged he was murdered by miscreants who were involved in siphoning of funds allocated for the drainage system.

5.Satish Shetty, an RTI activist age 39, was hacked to death in Maharashtra. The activist had been battling land scams and government corruption, had received death threats and asked for police protection — which he didn’t get — and was killed while taking his morning walk.

6.Arun Sawant, an RTI activist was shot dead near the Badlapur Municipal Office in Thane for fighting administrative corruption. Meanwhile in Bihar, RTI activist Shashidhar Mishra was gunned down in front of his home in Begusarai.

7. Shashidhar Mishra, Unidentified motorcycle-borne criminals shot dead one, Shashidhar Mishra, a local RTI activist, at his Phulwaria village residence under Bararuni-Phulwaria police station on Sunday night. Sources said Mishra had just parked his bicycle and was about to enter his house when criminals riding a motorcycle came and shot him in his head. Mishra died on the spot. Mishra was also popularly known as ‘Khabri Lal’ in the area for his knack to expose scams in the welfare schemes through RTI at the local panchayat and block level. He even earned the wrath of some local body representatives for using the RTI against them. Mr. Mishra, a local RTI activist who worked tirelessly to expose corruption at the panchayat and block levels, was shot dead by unidentified men on motorcycles near his residence in Phulwaria village on the night of February 14.Village sources revealed that Mr. Mishra, had been proactively using the RTI as a tool for exposing scams. “He incurred the wrath of some local body representatives in the process,” a villager disclosed.

8. Vishram Laxman Dodiya,50 age, was killed on February 11 following his refusal to withdraw an RTI application seeking information on illegal electricity connections in the city. Shetty (38), a noted Pune-based activist, refused to give up exposing land scams using RTI, despite repeated threats to his family. He was murdered on January 13.

"On the day of his murder, he (Dodiya) was called to the police station and
officials tried to persuade him to withdraw his application. He refused. He
was shot dead on his way back home," Dodiya's son said.

9.Satish Shetty who had blown the whistle on a series of land scams in and around Talegaon, Lonavala and Pimpri-Chinchwad near here, was brutally murdered by some unidentified assailants near his residence at Talegaon-Dabhade on Wednesday morning. Shetty was on his morning walk around 7am when he was attacked with swords and sharp weapons. He was rushed to hospital but was declared dead on arrival.

10. Ramdas Ghadegavkar ,43-year-old Ramdas Ghadegavkar, a local Shiv Sena leader, died are shrouded in mystery. The death of Ramdas, who used the RTI Act, adds another name in the victim list of whistleblowers in the country.

Another Manjunath Shanmugam, an IIM graduate, was killed while trying to expose corruption in petroleum marketing.

The Cabinet Monday cleared a bill to protect whistleblowers ( Who is a whistleblower?)
The one who exposes corruption or a fraud is known as a whistleblower.)And it is likely to be tabled during the ongoing monsoon session of parliament, official sources said.

The approval for the Public Interest Disclosure (Protection of Information) Bill, 2010, was given at a cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

As per the bill, the onus will be on the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) to protect the identity of the citizens who provide information about the misuse of governmental authority and funds.

The CVC will be empowered to take action against those who reveal the identity of the whistleblowers or those who threaten the whistleblowers while those who make frivolous complaints will also be liable to punishment.

India is working on such a law. The proposed legislation called the Public Interest Disclosure and Protection to Persons Making The Disclosure Bill, 2010, gives the Central Vigilance Commission the power to hand down harsh penalty to people who reveal the identities of whistleblowers. The CVC will also be empowered to act against those who reveal the identity of a whistleblower and those who threaten them

My question is is this bill really protects Rti Activists ?

http://www.lawyersclubindia.com/forum/Murder-of-RTI-activists-threat-to-transparency-24306.asp

MGNREGS: Women RTI activists threatened for seeking information

mphal: Four women human rights defenders affiliated to Apunba Nupi Lup (Women Human Rights Group) of Manipur have received threats for seeking information about Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in their locality that falls in Thoubal district.

The Centre for Organisation Research & Education (CORE), a Manipur-based organization, on 16th April issued urgent appeal following life threat to indigenous Meitei women human rights defenders in Mamang Leikai village under Pallel police station in Thoubal district.

The appeal says that four Indigenous Meitei Women Human Rights Defenders namely Mrs. Takhellambam Ongbi Ibempishak Devi W/o Takhellambam Ranjit, Mrs. Sagolsem Ongbi Memcha Devi w/o Sagolsem Benoy, Mrs. Mayanglambam Momon Devi w/o Mayanglambam Kullabidhu, Smt. Konjengbam Anita Devi w/o Kangjengbam Samungou, all residents of Pallel Village Mamang Leikai, PO & PS Pallel, Thoubal District, Manipur sought information under “Right To Information Act, 2005” (RTI) from the State Public Information Officer (SPIO), Block Development Officer, Kakching (BDO) & Gram Panchayat (GP), on September 20, 2010 regarding developmental works undertaken by Pallel Gram Panchayat under the national MGNREGS (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) and wages and welfare schemes implemented in Pallel Gram Panchayat. However, they were not provided with the information sought within the stipulated time frame under the RTI Act. In the mean time, two unidentified persons showed up at Konjengbam Anita Devi’s residence threatening four of them to withdraw their application or else face the dire consequence on April 2, 2011. They also received threatening phone calls on their mobile phones. They tried to lodge a First Information Report (FIR) at the Pallel Police Station, and the Officer in-charge, Kakching Police station for immediate necessary action but they were refused.

According to CORE, the women are still feeling insecure and their lives are at risk with no support from the local police. They have also filed appeals to the Deputy Commissioner, Thoubal District and the State Information Commission under the RTI Act. The threat is from unidentified persons believed to be connected to the Pallel Gram Panchayat and Block Development Office.

CORE has appealed to ensure freedom of movement, physical safety and security to the RTI activists and to provide requested information to the applicant under the Right to information Act, 2005. A prompt impartial inquiry into the case according to law and penalty for the SPIO and necessary action should be taken up on neglected police officials are also prayed in the appeal.

http://twocircles.net/2011apr17/mgnregs_women_rti_activists_threatened_seeking_information.html

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Complaint regarding threatening RTI Activists by landline no. 28546090.

To,

The Chief Information Commissioner.

Central Information Commission, B-Wing,

2^nd floor, August Kranti Bhawan, Bhikaji Cama Place, New Delhi-1 10066.

Subject : Complaint regarding threatening RTI Activists by landline no. 28546090.

Respected Sir/Madam,

I would like to bring your kind notice that I had filed two RTI applications for public interest on dated 03.05.2011 to Directorate of Education seeking some information regarding Education Officer, Zone-18 & Directorate of Education (West-B).

On dated 25/05/2011 at 10.58 a.m., I have received two calls from landlines numbers 28546090 since a day, when answering the calls the caller lady voice, and using very rough & highly objectionable language, she is threatening me that unless I withdraw the RTI applications. Due to this I am very much disturbed mentally. I know form Telephone Exchange for above telephone no. address that this telephone installed Directorate of Education (West-B), Vikash Puri, Delhi. It appears the sole motive is to stifle the voice of RTI Activists.

In the circumstances I Would politely but urgently humbly request you as Head of Central Information Commission to make enquiries and investigate by fair and independent agency, look into the matter seriously, and take the proper legal action.

Thanking You.

Yours sincerely,

(Mahinder Saini)

D-5/247, Sultan Puri, Near Jagdamba Mkt.,

New Delhi-110086.

Ph. 9818198156,9015064603

Copy to :-

1. The PIO (H.Q.), Dte of Education, GNCT of Delhi, Old Secretariat, Delhi-110054.

2. The Police Commissioner, Delhi Police Head Quarter, ITO, New Delhi.

3. The Director, Human Right Commission, New Delhi.

4. RTI Forum, New Delhi

The Man Who Dares to Bare

On the fifth anniversary of India’s Right to Information Act, it’s time to ask: does it work? Judge from the story of one of India’s bravest RTI activists, Kheemaram, who has filed nearly 400 applications, shaken up his village and suffered a series of attacks and death threats

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37-year-old Kheemaram was still in his teens when he became part of Rajasthan’s RTI movement. (Photo: ASHISH SHARMA)

The India that is recorded in its official documents is not the country that exists on the ground. Official India builds castles in the air as a matter of routine. It puts in place grand laws that espouse grand ideals. But out there in the heat and dust, it takes audacity to actually try and enforce them.

So when the Government decided to declassify its long-running top secret mission called governance, by passing what can only be called a miracle, the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, it wasn’t without an unstated disclaimer: ‘We can tell you, but it could kill you.’

In the past ten months alone, ten RTI activists have been murdered for exercising their right to know. The Union Law Minister, describing them as “martyrs”, has promised a law to protect whistleblowers. On the ground, meanwhile, reality continues to play itself out unhindered by the laws of the land. This is a story of a man, a Dalit from rural Rajasthan, who has dared that reality.

WHERE LIFE IS GRIM

About 600 km from New Delhi is a village in Rajasthan called Sangawaas, located between Jaipur and Udaipur, in the district of Rajsamand. It is home to Kheemaram, a 37-year-old father of three, who has been camping for a fortnight in Jaipur under a pandal, with 150 workers from villages around Rajasthan. He and his fellow campers have a question to ask of the government: how is he to feed his family when wages under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) have stayed unchanged for three years even as the cost of living has only gone up, up and up?

But that is another struggle. Kheemaram was placed at the frontline of myriad struggles by his very birth—as a Dalit. To grow up as one in rural India, particularly, is to experience India at its harshest. But 2010 has been his most harrowing phase yet. His relentless pursuit (that began with the implementation of the Rajasthan Right to Information Act, 2000) to expose corruption and misgovernance in his village has made him some very bitter enemies.

In the mid-1990s, when Kheemaram was only a teenager who had to drop out of school to fend for his family, he became part of Rajasthan’s RTI movement led by the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS). And with it, he discovered an India envisioned in its Constitution, an India that contradicted almost everything he’d faced in life. Kheemaram had found his purpose in life.

His first successful RTI exposed corruption in the cooperative bank in his village, leading to the arrest of the bank’s manager for siphoning off over Rs 7 lakh of public money. What he hadn’t bargained for was the intimidation that would follow. In taking on a system, he had taken on a fellow villager, a neighbour, Shanti Lal Garg. On being released, Garg went after Kheemaram with threats of killing himself and implicating the activist for it.

“When you expose corruption, you will invariably antagonise those involved,” says Kheemaram, “When I filed an RTI that implicated the postman from my village, who was encashing money orders of people long dead, his wife came to meet me. She asked me what enmity I had against her husband. The money is not your own, it is the government’s, people said. But then, isn’t this democracy ours?”

Kheemaram talks about a movie he watched recently called Well Done Abba. Set in a village, it is a brilliant satire on how a government loan for a water project ends up being used to line the pockets of corrupt officials to push through the paperwork for the loan. “You will find hundreds of stories like that in our villages. Loans get sanctioned and everyone in government gets a cut. But on the ground, there is nothing to show for it.”

For his courage in taking on powerful forces in his village, Kheemaram has ended up losing the popular local support he had when he first started off. “Most people wouldn’t dare rub members of their village the wrong way,” says Parasharam Banjara, an MKSS activist, “But not Kheemaram. He has made his village the centre of his struggle. Even though he has had to counter personal attacks, he has never compromised his position.”

WHERE THE ARC OF JUSTICE BENDS

Not surprisingly, Kheemaram has been shaking up the caste hierarchy in his village as well. He enlisted his wife to provide drinking water to workers at NREGS worksites—rebellious behaviour in a setting where ‘higher’ castes are conditioned to reject water served by a Dalit. Kheemaram created a still bigger stir by using a series of RTIs to expose the use of false Scheduled Caste certificates by village higher castes to gain government promotions. Enough was enough, some concluded. It led to death threats and attacks on his family.

When Kheemaram talks about RTI, he is like a man possessed. He has filed some 350–400 RTI applications. One to the district’s education officer ensured that every school in Rajsamand was painted with a chart of RTI regulations, as the law demands. Another RTI that he filed on behalf of workers in a village in Devgarh not only led to the release of wages due to them for two years, but also ensured equal pay for women labourers being paid Rs 10 less at the time.

The genius of Kheemaram, says Nikhil Dey of MKSS, is his fearless and tireless use of opportunities within India’s democratic framework. “There are few people who understand the value of documents,” he says, “Kheemaram has an uncanny knack of pulling out the right order at the right time.”

At home in Sangawaas, sitting amid a heap of paper, Kheemaram pulls out file after file, digging out document after document that nails corruption, prejudice and malpractice. Little wonder that he has been attacked over a dozen times and his family repeatedly victimised. “They abuse us. They throw stones at us. At night, when my father is not home, they come knocking on our doors,” says Devi, his 14-year-old daughter who is studying in class VIII. His second daughter Durga is 12 and his son Aman is six.

His wife, Shanta, has never been to school. Kheemaram jokes that had she known how to read, she would have divorced him. Even after much coaxing by her husband, Shanta cannot bring herself to talk about what she and the children have gone through over the past couple of months. Every now and then, her eyes well up. Asked again, this time when he is not around, she says, “Even when I am scared, I have nowhere to run.”

WHERE LEGAL EAGLES DON’T DARE

In 2010, Kheemaram filed his most explosive RTI yet. One that, by his own admission, shook him up. He took on the police. “When I was at Devgarh police station, I saw that a temple had been built on its premises,” he recounts, “I then filed an RTI seeking information from the office of the Superintendent of Police on how many police stations in the district had religious shrines—be it a temple, mosque or church. I requested their photos and asked for information on who had built these shrines.” After that, he adds, breaking into laughter, “I asked for details of any government official I could approach if I too wanted to build a temple in memory of my recently deceased father.”

And then he abruptly sobers up: “I knew this would have consequences and that I would have to suffer them.”

He was summoned to the SP’s office and asked to deposit Rs 1,000 as a ‘cost of photographs’, subject to which he would be given the information. “I received six photos of temples from five police stations and one police chowki in the district. The covering letter had responses to my queries. It said that no mosque or church had been built in any of the police stations, and that permission could not be given for the construction of a religious shrine on government property. And so, with one RTI, I had made enemies of six police stations.”

Not long after, Kheemaram was chargesheeted by the police for misbehaving with a woman of his village. Nothing had quite prepared him for this kind of slander. “Had I not filed the RTI about the temple, this FIR would not have been lodged. It upset me deeply. When the newspapers reported it, people called me and said they didn’t expect this of me. For the first time in ten years, I didn’t stir out of the house for two months. I considered giving it all up and starting a business or working in the fields,” says the RTI activist.

Kheemaram kept his phone switched off for two months. Unable to sleep or eat, he found himself pushed to the brink of sanity. “RTI activists are not safe anywhere,” he sighs, “And when you take on multiple forces, it can cost you dearly. Since an attack on my house two months ago, I have become even more scared. When I read about activists being murdered, I realise how dangerous this can get. I have slowed down now.”

For the last four months, Kheemaram has not filed any new applications. But he is back to being a full-time activist with MKSS. His latest campaign: wage hikes for NREGS workers. “Wrong information always spreads like wildfire. But the truth takes time to spread. To get justice in one case, you need two lifetimes.”

DELHI RTI ACTIVISTS LIST

Delhi1.Arvind Kejriwal
Phone: 01120507339
Address: 403L, Girnar, Kaushambi, Ghaziabad-201010
Email: parivartan_india@rediffmail.com
Organisation-Parivartan,
G-3/17, Sundernagari,
Nandnagari Extn.,
Delhi-110093
India

Ph: +91-11-22119930, +91-11-20033988 (mobile), +91-11-20507339 (mobile)

E-mail: parivartan@parivartan.com, parivartan_india@rediffmail.com
2. Neeraj Kumar
D-59, third Floor, Pandav Nagar, Delhi-110092
mob- 9891427991 neeraj.com@gmail.com
Kabir
3.Mayank Aggarwal
Phone: 9891440452
Address: A-43, Anand Vihar, Vikas Marg, Delhi 110092
Email: mayank_agg2004@yahoo.co.in

4. Nur Mahammad
383/E, B.H. Nizamuddin, Near tata dairy, Delhi 9871123902 9313144157

011-32556561 nurmahammad.ali@yahoo.com
Islamic Relief India A-15, Nizamuddin west, New Delhi-13
5. Mohit Goel F-14/32 Model town- Delhi 011-27431519 9350287203 mohitgoel@hotmail.com
6.Raaj mangal prasad Room no-7, Ramesh Park, Pusta Rd., Delhi-110092 011-22527259, 22058718 afdngo@rediffmail.com Association for Development / Pratidhi
7. Soham Sen
D707, 2nd Floor, CR Park, Delhi 9910204314 ssen.rti@gmail.com RTI- Accountabilty Assessment Group
8.Swati Maliwal
C-302, Kartik Kunj, Sector-44, Noida, UP livingpositive@gmail.com Parivartan
9. Anil Heble
Plot 339, Shahabad, Mohamadpur,
New Delhi 011-24505129 9899629598 anilheble@gmail.com
10. Amit Kumar B-2-D/285, Janak Puri, New Delhi 9868925515
11. Vikas Jha
42, Tughlakabad industrial Area, New Delhi 011-29960931 vikas@pria.org PRIA
12. Javed Khan
D-59, third Floor, Pandav Nagar, Delhi-110092 011-22485139 09968450971 javed.rti@gmail.com Kabir
13. Santosh Jha D-59, third Floor, Pandav Nagar, Delhi-110092 9868476576 santjha2020@indiatimes.com Kabir
14. Ashok Kumar B-76, SFS Flat, Sheikh Sarai-1, New Delhi 9811420295 ashok.sns@gmail.com SNS
15.Bhagirath Srivastav D-59, third Floor, Pandav Nagar, Delhi-110092 9891495205 bhagirathsrivas@gmail.com Kabir
16. Abid Khan G-3/5, Sunder Nagri, Delhi 9910106206 Delhi.rti@gmail.com Parivartan
17. Ashutosh Kumar
188-C, First Floor, RIO Rajeshwar Tokas, Munirka Village, New Delhi-110067 9971063244 ashucreative@gmail.com, editboard@gmail.com, jawabrti@gmail.com Jawab Mohan Kothi, Gaya, Bihar (Ph-09939468254, 09939921140)
18. Sohini Paul B-117, Sarvodaya Enclave, New Delhi 9810758222 sohini@humanrightinitiative.org CHRI
19. James Ferguson B-117, Sarvodaya Enclave, New Delhi 9818930437 james@humanrightinitiative@org CHRI
20. Namrata Yadav B-117, Sarvodaya Enclave, New Delhi 9811702651 namrata@humanrightinitiative.org CHRI
21. Arjun Kumar D-59, third Floor, Pandav Nagar, Delhi-110092 9211769303 arjunbasak@gmail.com Kabir
22. Saran Rao ICDP, Delhi 9213881385 Intigrative Community Development Programme A-95, Vivek Vihar, Delhi-110095
23. Hemant Kumar ICDP, Delhi 011-43012397-98 9213237609 haha_chris@yahoo.com Intigrative Community Development Programme A-95, Vivek Vihar, Delhi-110095
24. Pramond Kumar Sharma ICDP, Delhi 9891156884 Intigrative Community Development Programme A-95, Vivek Vihar, Delhi-110095
25 Ramashray G-3/5, Sunder Nagri, Delhi 9818634255 Parivartan
26. Hasmat Ali R-8-117/23, Tuglakhabad Ext. Delhi 9958932154
27.Mahabir Singh VPO Khasa Mahajnan, Hisar, Haryana 9416796985 mahabir@gmail.com, mahabir09123@rediffmail.com Vaastavikta 188, Lajpat Nagar, Hisar, Haryana
28. Rakhi Gupta 23/343, T.P., Delhi-110091 9868301049 rakhigupta06@yahoo.co.in Blessing Society B-8, Gurunanak market, Lajpat nagar, Delhi
29. Shaoor A. Khan B-8, Gurunanak market, Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi-110024 9868301049 shaoorakhan@yahoo.co.in Blessing Society 12/89, Trilokpuri, Delhi-110092
30. Rakesh Kumar Gupta 159, SFS Flat, 69D Block, Shalimar Bagh, Delhi- 9811079436 snehcs@gmail.com
31. Naripinder Nath Kalia 9868141598 nnkalia@gmail.com DADI-MAA 14/6, Sewa Nagar, Railway Colony, New Delhi
32. Ramesh Datt Misra 251-D, J&K, Dilshad Garden, Delhi-110095 011-20302223 gandhi_times@yahoo.co.in
33 Santosh Koli G-3/8, Sunder Nagri, Delhi Parivartan
34. Dhirendra Krishna c-4,usha niketan, safdarganj , Delhi 9871440814 dhirendra.rti@gmail.com yahoo group rti implement rti 4 ngo do
35 Aftab alam siddiqui s-III, KV-II, shanwan garden, eXtn-I,Lahibakaj 9999329667 siddiquiaftabalam@gmail.com Parivartan
36. Radhika Arora F-9/35, Krishana Nagar, Delhi 990987396 radhika81arora@gmail.com PCRS G-139,F2 Dilshad Garden,Delhi
37 Neeraj Kumar 105,106,Mukhari nagar, Delhi-9 011-27654184,85 Nalanda memorial foundation do
38. Divya Jyoti Jaipuriar G-3/8 sundar nagri, Delhi 9868002365 divyajyoti@jaipuriar.com Public Cause Research Foundation G139/F2 Dilshad Colony, Delhi 110095
39. Snehansu bhaduri 189, munirika vill, New Delhi 9211957730 snehansu.bhaduri@gmail.com SWA
40 Binod kumar G-6, Navin sahdara, Delhi 9213817677
41. Md Anees 32/415, Trilok puri, Delhi 9898074001 anees.hasmi@gmail.com Kabir
42. Chandar G-3/8, sundar nagari 9958487636 chandar_parivartan@rediffmail.com
43. Sumanta kumar Bhomick
B-601, Ashiana Apartment, mayur vihar, Delhi 9971369909 bhowmicksk@yahoo.com
44. Bipin kr. Rai F-74, JMD stationnnary & gift, ladosarai, MB road , Delhi 9999046469 bipinr123@gmail.com youth for social action
45. H.R. Vaish S-19, Panchshila park, Delhi 011-260115000 hrvaish@gmail.com
46. Amita Joshi 32, Kurmanch niketan,115 IP extn Partanganj, Delhi 9810782143 isst_field_office@yahoo.co.in institute of social studies trust Core gt. Indira Habitat centre , lodhi road, New Delhi
47 S.A. Azad
G-12, 462 A, sangam vihar, Delhi 9811914329 prasar21@gmail.com Prashar
48. Afroz Alam Sahil F-56,Ist floor, sir sayed batraHouse , N. Delhi 9891322178 afroz.alam.sahil@gmail.com
49 Amar 29/73, Trilok puri, Delhi
50. Madhu bhadhuri Mayur Vihar, Delhi-110092
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Parents protest against denial of school admission under RTE

While on the one hand the Right to Education (RTE) Act is meant to ensure that nobody is denied education, around 50 children and their parents from colony number 4 staged a protest at the Government Model School, Sector 29, against the school authorities when they were denied admission. The reason cited by school principal Kusum Lata was that she was following the directions from the UT Education Department that instructs schools to first accommodate children from the neighbourhood areas of the school and only after from other areas.

The residents and children of Colony number 4, Sanjay Labour Colony and Kabari Market Labour Colony, along with the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee Colony Cell members, got together to hold a dharna outside Government Model School, Sector 29, seeking implementation of the Right to Education Act.

The parents of the affected children gathered to express their outrage and protest against the non-availability of seats for admission to students of various neighbouring colonies. They were protesting against the indifferent and casual attitude of the Principal in responding to their queries regarding the same. Later the Principal, while addressing the issue, assured the parents that admission would be given to all these out-of-school children.

“It has been so many days that we are running from one school to another to get our children admitted in the government schools. We are not educated and do not have much knowledge so the school authorities make us come again and again for one reason or the other. We have heard that now nobody can deny a child admission in a school but it is not true here,” said Ram Kumar, a labourer and resident of colony number four.

Addressing the public, CTCC Colony Cell Chairman S S Tiwari expressed his concern. “Education is a fundamental right for all the children but the adamant nature of the principal had led to this situation that common people had to fight for the same. Also he commented that the education department is biased towards the colony children and assured that if the problem persists, the stir would continue.”

Later, the parents also had a meeting with the Director Public Instructions (schools) Sandeep Hans on the issue. He assured them that the matter would be looked into and their problems addressed.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/parents-protest-against-denial-of-school-admission-under-rte/782103/0