Responsibility is Dignity…

Terrorism is an issue too... Ask RTI about the security lapses during 26/11, it is important to now where we made mistakes in order to improve them.

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I open the morning’s news paper, and brace myself for the headlines that I know will upset me. A daily dose of a rape case here and a murder there is becoming a habit for us Indians. The crime rates rise with the sun, but refuse to set with it. Just like the warming climate, they soar and threaten to go high, higher than our imagination can reach. A girl gets stabbed 15 times because she protested against an eve-teaser to the police, another 16 year old girl kills family to elope with a ten year older lover. A news reader is found dead in her car, early in the morning for no apparent motive. Each case becomes a level more disgusting, but some don’t even come to sight, ones that are committed by the more “sane” crowd of people, us.

The poor foetus that is sadly destined to be a girl is slaughtered inside the supposedly “secure” womb, and the reason? She is a girl. Abortion is a ban in India, but nobody even glances in the direction of the parents, they have bribed the officers after all. The driver manages to escape the fatal accident scene by passing a green note to the cop. A case file is submitted but never touched again. The lights go off in a village. What happened to the earnest promises of bright nights by the minister? They sit in his pockets in the form of Indian currency, his hands itching to fritter them.  The vibrant cities of India are reprimanded as India flaunts its priceless tag of corruption. The hard earned money of respectable citizens stinks in the hands of the ungrateful government. But is the government to be blamed at all? Why, was it not us that encouraged the behavior? We commit the accident, we kill the girl, we choose the minister, and we blame the government.

                Isn’t India the biggest democracy? Then why does more than 70% of population believe that the politicians protect the criminals? Most of us don’t feel UNsafe at home and outside, and feel that criminals are hardly scared of the law or the police. The police are easy to bribe hence easy to escape, hard to awaken, and good at lying. Where does that get us? Nowhere. Even though the government is by the people, of the people for the people, most of us are confused about what goes on. We can never be sure about how much is promised and how much we will get. Next, we hear everybody bad mouthing the government. The usual, “Indian government is of no use, yaar…”, and the occasional, “Those idiots!”, and the sarcastic, “Have they learnt how to be corrupt in a Corruption University?” One would say, “Why do you give money to them then? If YOU don’t give, they won’t ask!” But all is not that simple, corrupt officers are more stubborn than a coffee stain. You have to give up and fish out the money… So what can we do?!

                Ironically, the government itself gave us a solution. The Rights to Information Act. The right of every Indian citizen to access almost all governmental records. The government officials are compelled to answer each valid question within a time frame, the consequences being a HUGE fine or unemployment.  It is the delight of our country to have been granted with this power. A government officer troubles you with the signs of bribe-asking, what do you do? You stay calm, go to concerning governmental office and apply for an RTI application. Ask the questions necessary for the work at hand. When you receive the governmental document, show it to the officer that is troubling you, and viola! He has to do your bidding! You have a governmental document after all…

                Of course you have to be persistent. You have to deny bribery, or else you are the equal offender. You have to believe that such actions are incorrect, that it is your responsibility for the well being of your city and country. It is a democracy after all. Unless you have the “good thoughts” and the “superior thinking” you won’t be able to sustain the pressure of the officer, resulting in the weight-loss of your own pockets. Be true, and be right. You have the power use it. Or else it is like a man pretending to be blind even though he has the most powerful eyesight in the world.

RTI is a source that we have which will help us demolish the nonsense that has accumulated in the drains of India. It will provide us resources that will help us prove the guilt of the wrong and the innocence of the right. It is a run against the enticing devil called Corruption. It is the power that we hold that can change the face of a country. Being a democracy, the government is our employee, they serve us. We chose them and they need prove themselves. Why should we let them be in power when they don’t own it? Don’t employees need a time to time reminder to perform their job well? Be a responsible employer; remind the government who the boss is. Use RTI.