From a Village Hut's Question to India's Right to Information Act

TV9 Hindi · politics

The Right to Information Act, a cornerstone of Indian democracy, originated from a simple question asked by villagers in Rajasthan's Devdungri. In the early 1990s, laborers suspected their wages were being siphoned off through corrupt bureaucratic practices. They demanded transparency, leading to 'Jan Sunwai' (public hearings) where accounts were read aloud. This movement, fueled by the question of why public money's whereabouts were hidden, grew over the decade. It culminated in the national RTI Act of 2005, empowering citizens to access government records and ensuring accountability.