[HumJanenge] Surviving the skirmish

A story on how activists can avoid being targeted when seeking
information under RTI (it's a summarised version, for full story visit
http://www.goimonitor.com/story/getting-informed-and-surviving-skirmish)

Shehla Masood is the latest of the activists who have fallen to
revengeful attacks against those who seek to reveal corruption by
using the RTI Act. Last year, 28 attacks on RTI activists were
reported from across the country which included 10 murders. And while
all this goes on, authorities perform lip service promising strong
action against the guilty and better security to whistle blowers.
Needless to say the going is getting tougher for those fighting to
make official information public.

What can be a government's policy is such a situation? Earlier this
year, Advocate H.C. Arora, the president of RTI Activists' Federation
Punjab, filed a PIL in the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the issue
of protection to RTI activists. In response, the Punjab government
formulated a policy under which a whistle-blower activist can approach
the concerned District Magistrate or Commissioner of Police who will
make an inquiry into the threat perception with help of intelligence
wing and district police within 48 hours of receiving the application
and provide security in case the request is found to be genuine.

It still needs to be seen to what extent this policy can help.
However, Arora feels there could not be a better response from the
state government. "I think the policy drafted is quite reasonable
since high-level officials have been given the task of inquiry. I hope
it serves the purpose well," he says. Till then self-protection as
suggested by Harinesh Pandya, an RTI activist from Gujarat, can be of
good help. Pandya feels it's the individual action of RTI activists
that cost them dear. "When you know your RTI application has a
potential to expose a scam, it's better to have more than one person
submitting identical applications. It's easier to target a single
person but the vested interests won't be able to deal with a group. No
police can provide security to each and every RTI whistle blower and
hence we need to devise such self-protective methods," he says.

Pandya also has a suggestion for the government: disclose the
information suo moto. "The information sought by any RTI petitioner
can be put in public domain by the authorities. This way applicant is
not the sole bearer of the information and hence can escape the
pressure tactics," he adds. Pandya's non-profit group, Janpath, runs a
helpline for RTI whistle blowers that voice records their complaints
and forwards them to the state information commission. While the
complainant is encouraged to lodge a complaint or FIR at nearest
police station, the information commission also asks the concerned
district DSP to look into the matter. "The involvement of information
commission in the whole process ensures prompt action by the police,"
explains Pandya.

The project has done well in Gujarat but involvement of local groups
and RTI activists would be required for the concept to succeed in
other states. As is true for any battle, defence is the best attack
when it comes to ensuring information disclosure.