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Right to Information Archive
Articles on the right to information, it’s uses, challenges, opportunities and major campaigns using the right to information
The right to information has become a major tool in the hands of poor and marginalised people in the quest to make governments accountable. With the development of social audits, it has been used successfully in combating corruption in many parts of the world. This section presents a few articles on this subject. You will also find links to a few documentaries, talks and other materials on the right to information campaign in India. For an extensive collection of links on right to information, click here.
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Rights based approach & the Human development approach: Exploring linkages
Posted on June 1, 2008 | No CommentsThe rights based approach to development and the human development perspective have both become popular in the recent past. Despite a similar philosophical base, they were both developed in distinctly different communities and so they have different strengths and weaknesses in practice. One of the major strengths of the human development approach is that it has a lot of statistical techniques that have been developed by economists involved with the approach over many years. The rights approach always had a legal-political leaning and so it did not have the same kind of statistical tools for planning and for assessment. Rights... -
Fighting corruption using right to information: Arvind Kejriwal’s talk
Posted on May 19, 2007 | 1 CommentGood introductory video on using right to information to combat corruption by Arvind Kejriwal Arvind Kejriwal has been at the heart of an inspiring campaign to combat corruption by using the right to information. He spearheaded a campaign in Delhi along with many other groups that popularised the use of right to information. Arvind got the Magasassay for his work. The videos below contain a talk he gave on using RTI, which I think is a good introductory material for people with an interest on how it could be used, and what it means. -
Right to information call centre in Bihar: Video clip
Posted on May 19, 2007 | No CommentsIt looks like Government of Bihar has launched a Right to information call centre. Personally, I think this is a great idea, though I dont know how it works at this point. If found a video about it in You Tube that has been widely televised. This is a eight minute clip about that appeals to different groups of people to use it, and gives an idea about how it could be done. -
Documentary on MKSS and right to information campaign
Posted on February 7, 2007 | No CommentsThis documentary by Jan Madhyam Productions gives a very good introduction to the right to information campaign in India and on how RTI is used with social audits to combat corruption. In case you have trouble viewing it, please go to the permanalink by clicking the title above, or here http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3238128636848285898 -
A Message of Hope
Posted on September 9, 2006 | No CommentsI wish to share with you a message of hope in this anniversary issue of Humanscape. As a recent entrant in the world of social action, I have been asking myself whether people’s campaigns are effective at all. Are they capable of bringing the concerns of people into the political centre-stage and affect the way government works? In two short years of my association with such campaigns, I have gained hope that a well-organised and sustained campaign can indeed bring meaningful changes to the lives of poor and marginalized people. I have drawn inspiration from campaigns on several issues; but...
