|
Right to Information in Purulia |
 My visit to Purulia opened my eyes to the life and struggles of people facing exploitation, deprivation, and prejudice. One tool which people are using to break through the exploitative system is the Right to Information Act.
25 years ago, Mandra Lions Club (MLC) started working on various development projects in Baghmundi, Purulia District, West Bengal. Sometime down the years, they were running numerous schools in Purulia; people started looking up to them as a parallel education system. Stepping back, they moved towards a rights-based model, helping people realise that they are entitled to get quality education. Together, they aim to make the Government schools work. Till that happens, MLC will help voice people's concerns and also try to bridge the gap in education.
My visit to Purulia opened my eyes to the life and struggles of people facing exploitation, deprivation, and prejudice. One tool which people are using to break through the exploitative system is the Right to Information Act. With support from AID Boston, people have taken up an RTI drive, challenging corruption and malfunctioning in the Public Distribution (PDS) and Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS). The District Magistrate has followed up; the PDS and the ICDS are now distributing food rations to the eligible families. This is a huge success! With the monetary corruption exposed, the MLC now aims to make the education component of the ICDS function as well.
Back in the office, Sandeep-da, an MLC activist and I talked about the RTI project and went through 20 RTI case studies. We plan to post the data of their work and develop a website for RTI campaign in West Bengal. Discussing RTI and all the other issues with various MLC activists left me with a strong sense of hope, and greater clarity on the work to be done.
On our return, Laltu-da noticed a leakage in the brake-oil. A small cylinder with a tiny rubber capping, was leaking. We replaced the capping. I thought this was metaphorical of many of the issues we work on. A small unnoticed puncture in a rubber cap somewhere can lead to a huge accident on a highway. Adding extra brake oil into a punctured oil-bag is not a solution. This is where knowledge plays its part. In the middle of a highway, where there is no garage within miles, one would need to know the mechanism of the automobile in order to keep going. Similarly, we need to have the knowledge about how societal mechanisms function. Once the question is well posed, the answer cannot be far away. Our role should be to ask the right question, and prepare grounds for people to devise the solution themselves. Jumping into a solution ourselves could be like adding brake oil into a leaking cylinder.
On our way to Murshidabad from Purulia, Somnath-da told me that Santosh-da belongs to the local zamindar family of Baghmundi, who gave up their possessions to the people, and work with the communities now. With such people around, an organisation can not fail!
--Tathagata Sengupta studies mathematics at Brandeis University and volunteers for AID in Boston |
