Over five thousand people, most of them tribals living in the remote parts of Jajpur and Keonjhar districts of Orissa, are no longer ignorant about their rights and entitlements. Nor are they in the dark about the various socio-economic welfare measures launched for them by the state and Union governments.
They are now an awakened lot, thanks to the efforts of the Orissa Information Commission which, in association with the Tata Steel Rural Development Society (TSRDS) and CYSD, a leading non-governmental organisation, conducted series of awareness programmes in those areas.
“Today, we are well aware about various government schemes formulated for us and our areas. Previously, we did not know even about our basic rights and entitlements. The RTI campaigns have not opened our eyes but also given us new a lease of life,” says Bhimsen Mahant, a tribal resident of Sukinda.
The 42-year-old Mahant adds that after the RTI awareness drive, the local people are asking for what they deserve from the local government.
“You ask people of our locality, they can easily tell you what they deserve to get from Panchaayti Raj institutions (PRIs) or for that matter from any other government agencies. You can no longer deprive them of their rights and entitlements, including monthly ration quota or 100 days of work under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS),” says Mahant.
During the first phase of the six-month period that ended recently, RTI awareness workshops were organised in the Tata Steel’s peripheral areas, like Sukinda, Bamanipal and Joda. More than 5,000 villagers of Jajpur and Keonjhar benefited from the process through women self-help groups, youth clubs and civil society organsiations.
Further, around 100 PRI members of Keonjhar and Jajpur districts also participated in the RTI awareness programmes.
State information commissioner Mr Jagadananda, expressing his happiness over the awareness drive, said the move was synonymous with exemplary values and practices in corporate social responsibility in global corporate environment.
“This initiative of creating RTI awareness at the village level by the TSRDS will take the highest principles of corporate social responsibility to the next level. It will be both an example and inspiration for the corporate sector in India,” he added.
The main objective behind mainstreaming Right to Information is to broaden its use among the beneficiary communities, project staff, corporate social responsibility (CSR) unit staff, PRI representatives and local youths, thereby ensuring that they build up knowledge and confidence to utilizse it with appropriateness and also enable them to participate in the decision making process at local governance institutions,” informed a senior TSRDS official.