Govt to go textbook on RTI, extol its virtues in school

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Govt to go textbook on RTI, extol its virtues in school
Chetan Chauhan, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, August 20, 2012

First Published: 00:09 IST(20/8/2012)
Last Updated: 01:00 IST(20/8/2012)

On the very day the central government notified new rules diluting the
Right To Information Act (RTI Act), the HRD ministry decided to make
the ironical decision of telling school children that the transparency
law was an effective tool for fighting corruption and effecting good
governance.



The National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT) has
decided to print an RTI message in textbooks for classes from VI to
VIII, stating that the law combats corruption and "promotes
transparency and accountability" in the government machinery.

The message - to be displayed on the inner side of textbook back
covers - is expected to reach nearly one crore students in 2012.

Besides creating awareness, the initiative will encourage children to
use the tool for seeking information from the government. "You can
seek necessary information about various activities of the government
through an RTI application," the message reads, before detailing the
information-seeking process.

Schoolchildren, however, are no strangers to the RTI Act.

They have used the tool to gain access to their answer sheets, and
even seek information on facilities available to them. Aishwarya
Parashar, a class VI student from City Montessori School, Lucknow,
made headlines when her RTI application revealed that the government
had not notified Mahatma Gandhi as the Father of the Nation.

The message tells students that the RTI application can be filed on
plain paper, even though several government ministries have prescribed
a particular format for using it. The application can be sent from a
post office too, it adds.