There was a time when apart from the Upper castes, no other person had the right to know. In case the dalit or the lower caste ever dared to learn, they were severely punished. The Manusmriti prescribed the punishment of pouring molten lead into the ear of a dalit who heard the Gita! From those black days of our society, we have atleast come to the new horizon of knowledge. The Right of Information Act does, to some extent, empower the people as the law now permits, to a limited extent, his/her right to know.
But just the right to know alone does not benefit the poor unless the information is converted into a powerful tool of struggle. Two members of Jan Sangharsh Manch, Bharat Zala and Vinod Pandya have demonstrated the strategy of converting information received under the new law into actual benefits for the struggling masses. Bharat used the information received in relation to the flood affected farmers whereas Vinod successfully used the information received regarding the primary teachers to reach help to the cause of the farmers and primary education. As a recognition of their effort they have been chosen from Gujarat for the RTI award by NDTV which carries with it a cash award of one lakh rupees. On behalf of NSM, we congratulate our activists and urge them to continue their good work.
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