Power to the people

Jamila, a widow living in Jagdamba camp was a beneficiary of the Widow Pension Scheme of the Women and Child Welfare department of the Delhi Government. However, after her pension was transferred once to her bank account in 2008 by the department, she stopped receiving her pension. She was completely dependent on the pension for her survival and made several visits to the department to find out why her pension had been stopped. Each time the department would send her away saying that their records showed that her pension had been transferred to her bank. Queries to the bank also went unanswered. Fed up with the unresponsiveness of the system and having no resources to even afford adequate food for herself, she filed an RTI application under the life and liberty clause demanding information on the status of her pension and why her pension payment had been stopped. She also asked for the name of the official responsible for ensuring that her pension is sent on time. Although she did not receive the information she had sought, several officials of the department began contacting her to say that they had transferred the funds to her account. When Jamila filed a complaint to the Central Information Commission in 2011 to state that she had not received any information, the department immediately transferred Rs. 12,000, the pension amount for 1 whole year (2009) to her bank account. While the money provided much needed relief to her, she is undettered and is filing another application to demand information about her pension for 2008 which has not been given to her.

Somveer, a resident of Jagdamba Camp had applied for his caste certificate 2009. Submitting the caste certificate in his school would enable him to avail of a fee waiver. Despite numerous visits to the Government office, there was no sign of the certificate even months after her initial application. Somveer learnt about the RTI Act at one of SNS’s weekly community meetings. Inspired by stories of people who had successfully used the RTI Act to get their rightful entitlements from the Government, he sought assistance from SNS to file an RTI application seeking information about his caste certificate. He filed an application under the RTI Act in June 2010 to find out the status of his application for the caste certificate. Under pressure to provide information in response to his RTI application, the department officials got in touch with him and immediately prepared and delivered his certificate to him.

Similarly, Shehrunisha a resident of Soami Nagar camp had applied for her daughter’s registration under the Ladli Scheme of the Delhi Government in 2009. She did not receive any response to her application for over 1 year. She also sought assistance from SNS to file an RTI application seeking information about her daughter’s certificate. Within days of filing her RTI, the department sent her a letter informing her that her daughter’s name had been registered under the Ladli Scheme and that she would receive benefits under the scheme.