Discovering the power of RTI!
Pearl Majithia – civic club member, CMCA Mumbai

Pearl Majithia (a student of class VIII A Jankidevi Public School ) 's maternal side of the family had a court case pending regarding a piece of land for the past 23 years in the High court of Punjab and Haryana.During the CMCA class on RTI she was curious to know whether it could help resolve a court case ,I suggested that she contact Mr.Nikhil Desai an RTI activist.  After taking his contact details she  suggested to her mother that they should take his help and file an RTI. Mr.Desai in turn put them on to another person in Chandigarh who helped them file the RTI on 5th of Dec'09.They received the reply on 17th Dec.'09, following which the case was resolved in the same week.

Get Involved...Make a start now!
Priya Nambiar, Design Consultant -CMCA Bangalore

My first act of Active Citizenship was when I made a call to the Indiranagar police station about this hoarding that was put up right in front of the traffic light blocking the view for the commuters. When I dialled the number I was pretty much sure that I will hear the usual rude voice of a policeman on the other end of the line. But the officer proved me totally wrong. He heard me out and very politely said that he would check it out right away and do the needful. The next day on my way to office I noticed that the hoarding was removed. It work, yes it does. Just imagine if a billion people transform to active citizens, nothing can stop us from making this country a true democracy. I have taken a pledge to not give up. I resolve to do my bit.

After a letter from the civic club of this school to the BBMP chief engineer a year ago, requesting him to arrange for the removal of debris of the demolished school compound wall on Hosur road, all the debris was cleared  

The kids of this civic club wrote a letter to the principal requesting him to instruct the canteen to stop the use of plastic cups and use steel glasses instead. The Principal obliged

The civic club members of a school wrote to the Chief Health Officer of BBMP and listed down a few complaints and suggestions for her to act on:

• The surroundings of the schools especially the Johnson Market area  to be kept clean
• Requested the garbage clearing lorry to avoid coming inside the school premises during the morning peak hours (28 to8.30am) so as to reduce the traffic congestion,
• Requested not to park the lorry at the junction as its a sharp curve which can cause accidents.,
• Also to not allow dumping of garbage on the road corners and junctions close to the school.

A campaign was launched in the school with Saahas, a solid waste management organisation, installing a separate bin exclusively to collect the tetrapaks. During the sports day, the civic club members went around educating the fellow student about the tetra pack campaign.

Based on certain findings of the assessment, the school also requisitioned services of SAHAS for garbage disposal management.  Members of the school are voluntarily assisting in improving tea arrangements in the school during tea break.They are using steel glasses in the canteen  

This club ensured the school switched from collecting garbage in plastic bags to installation of proper dustbins

Placing bins near the water tank so that the girls will not throw the leftovers all over the ground was this clubs initiative.

The school ground had a lining of terracotta tiles all around the ground. The civic club members noticed that few of these tiles had come out and since the younger class children play around there, it could have lead to some accident. The club members brought this to the notice of the PT master and they raised the issue with the Principal. It was rectified promptly.

Civic club members were chosen to be trained on the traffic management, to manage the heavy traffic soon after school.

The teacher coordinator while visiting her class found that kids are not switching off lights and fans in the class room, after repeated reminders it still did not work. The civic club members then took it upon them to make sure that the light and fans are switched off at end of each day, setting an example to the others.

The 15 civic club members took it on them to check if all the staff members have the voters ID card and are registered voters. Then they got the Form 6 i.e. the application for voter registration. They also gave the BBMP helpline number to these teachers and have asked them to gather information about their ward, their constituency etc. Many teachers have started the paper work.