RTI Awareness on Radio

The fruits on the converge of Bangalore citizens coming together for spreading the message of RTI beared today.

Radio Awareness was done by

1. Vikram Simha on Radio Mirchi-8 am to 10 am
   
2. Anil Kumar and Kathyayini Chamaraj took part in a programme on RTI on FM Rainbow from 1.00 PM to 2.00 PM called Lunch Box today
3. Navendu on Radio City- 10.45 to 11 am.

The message by me was crisp and simple.

On 12 October 2005, 2 years ago, The Right to Information (RTI) Act was institutionalized, RTI is an ac that is powerful enough to revolutionize governance with more transparency.

Many sensitive citizens crib about the traffic system, bad roads, power cuts, bad infrastructure, rising pollution etc. But never convert these feelings into actions by questioning the government system. Every one of you has a question to ask the government about its mismanagement.

In pursuit of asking questions, the government department becomes more accountable and takes action much faster.

For example: You see a mud road in the Bangalore with no sign of development, you can apply for RTI asking when this road will be developed, witness the tendering process, be part of the inspection team once the road is being made. For making the system better, we have to better citizens first. If there is a traffic police absent at a major junction, you can now ask for his attendance register using RTI.

Because of RTI act, there is now a transition from a secretive system of governance to one of openness, where citizens can demand access to information held by the government. Using RTI, there has been growing number of successful stories where people have actively taken up the charge to fight corruption and injustice.

Laxmi Hariharan, who stays near Magadi Road, missed her convocation as well as her degree, for 9 years she was moving from one desk to another asking for her degree. She applied for RTI application asking where her degree is, in 17 days she was given her degree.

In Belgaum, poor slum dwellers used the RTI Law to see what stocks had come to their local shop and how these have been distributed. They demanded to see the records of receipt, sale and distribution of their items. After reluctance the shop owners disclosed the information. The stock books are now regularly available for inspection.

Every citizen has the right to know how the government is spending the tax payers money. Without people questioning how money is being spent, there is always a temptation for the government to misuse it. In Maharashtra, retired General Sudhir Jathar used RTI Act to access log books of cars being used for official purposes. He found that the cars were used to visit tourist resorts at Nasik, Shirdi, Lonavala and Khandala. The log book also showed that an official was present at two places at the same time.

As I said, For making the system better, we have to better citizens first.

Remember AS I AM, SO IS MY NATION

Jai Hind

Special thanks to Radio Mirchi- Bijoy and Vineeta to arrange for this. Radio City-Vasanti and Preeti.
Looking at the response of callers, i believe and hope this becomes a weekly event.

Sachin on Power of Mind

THE POWER OF THE MIND

"And then, suddenly, it was all happening. The centuries in my Ranji, Duleep
and Irani debuts took me to Pakistan and a whole different world. Pakistan
was a unique experience, one in retrospect, I was too young to fully fathom
at 16. I was just so excited to be part of the Indian team. But even then,
cricket-wise, I was very focussed on being there, knowing that once I was
there, I had to stay there. This is where my years of preparation and early
training in visualisation, a concept introduced to me by my brother, helped
infinitely. It wasn't something that I was formally trained or told about
specifically but even during school games, I used to prepare by letting my
imagination take over. I would imagine situations, plan out things, try and
get into the opposition's head. Somewhere, in those early years, I had
begun training my subconscious mind. I've always believed in the power of
the mind, it goes way beyond imagination, in its ability to push itself
beyond what you might think is its limit, in its ability to readjust,
realign and refocus. It is something incredible, the mind, and if you
focus, there is no limit to one's imagination and what the mind can
accomplish. I've tried to bring that power of the mind to my game. For
instance, when I walk into the middle, it is my fourth or fifth walk, as I
have already done so several times in my head. It gives one an edge"

DMA- Being the Change

Over the last 1 year, our team of Initiatives of Change has been instrumental with joint initiative of IAS heads of District Municipal Administrative (DMA) , to organize Ethical Leadership based Weekend Programs.
In todays world, Ethics is so commonly used that perhaps it has lost its value. In this weekend residential workshops, we were able to make the hard and tough employees of DMA, bring a change towards listening to their inner voice, having self correction mechanism, vow to fight corruption and more.

Over the last 3 months, we have conducted 3 such workshops, over 100 employees of DMA have been trained in listening to their inner voice, the leadership training has made them more sensitive to their office members and citizens of India.
In their personal sharing, stories of their personal fight against favoritism and corrupt practicing is an inspiring experience. Every workshop though starts with participants cribbing about problems from political interferences to low pay, corruption at all levels, etc, initially it seems like there is no hope about the existing system.

Just in 2 days, the atmosphere mixed with Guided Introspection, Personal Sharing, Group Activities, Leadership Sessions, Interaction with NGOs all result in powerful combination to transform the the negative attitude towards a power of positive thinking, where the same employees give inspiration of better India, a better system to work in.

More pics at Gallery

Jai Hind
Navendu