Summary:

In India, Various groups and individuals are using Right To Information Act 2005 as a tool to fight against corruption, in very innovative ways. It’s encouraging to see how ordinary people, who usually do not have access to government officials and machinery, are forcing governments to respond. There are numerous examples of the empowerment of people in this way. But still these examples of using RTI were isolated and not too frequent. A large number of people were not even aware of the existence of such a law and it’s impact on the lives of other people like them. To motivate people, these success stories need to be spread. People would also need to be educated on how and where to use RTI Act.

Kabir, being a communication initiative aims to bridge this gap by getting all relevant information out to the masses. One of the key operations of Kabir has been the collection of positive examples of implementation of the RTI Act from across the country. This information is then disseminated amongst the masses (both rural and urban) by using conventional and non conventional media. Kabir produces short films & documentaries, and publishes booklets based on the success stories of RTI Act – which are then disseminated to the masses through mainstream media, workshops, campaigns and other NGOs. Apart from these initiatives, Kabir also organizes media-community partnerships, so as to ensure the even progress of India’s urban and rural areas, and to widely publicize the current problems being faced in any given area of using RTI.

As a result of our efforts, we create and broaden the scope of a repetitive cycle of people’s learning about the effectiveness of the RTI Act in their life from examples of other people, and gradually becoming an inspiration for others.