Ahmedabad:
Right to Information has a unique helpline - courtesy Harinesh Pandya, a known activist in Ahmedabad who started this service, the first of its kind in the country.
''When we started it 30 per cent of the calls used to come from PIO (Public Information Officer) and appellate authorities. Even they did not know the finer points of the act. They used to take our suggestions on the applications on what to do with them, whether to reject or accept. But now such calls have gone down to about 14 per cent, meaning that the awareness has increased,'' says Harinesh Pandya, Activist and Member, Mahiti Gujarat Adhikar Pahell.
In the last 3 years, the helpline has received 40,000 calls, mostly from rural Gujarat, where lack of literacy and awareness means people want to reach out to somebody who can show them the way.
''Maximum issues are land related in villages. So, a good number of calls on those issues come. Also complaints related to police, the atrocities. Also a good number of calls from villages are related to banks and financial institutions, complaints that they have been shown outstanding loans despite having paid for it,'' he says.
Harinesh Pandya became famous as an RTI activist three years ago when he raised the exploitation of a crucial area in Rann of Kutch that the government had left unaccounted for in its land surveys.
Today, his mission is much more focused: To steer and guide people through the RTI revolution, people who need it the most.