RTI restores people’s right to water in Keolari
In the more developed countries of the West RTI is often understood as a civil liberties issue closely connected with people’s right to freedom of speech and expression. In many countries of Eastern Europe it is connected with the freedom of the print and electronic media to report on the actions and decisions of government bodies. While there is no gainsaying this position, experience in developing countries like India shows how crucial RTI is for the realisation of fundamental economic and social rights for the underprivileged. The International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) ratified by more than 150 countries including India recognises every human being’s fundamental right to food, water, education, housing, health and gainful employment and makes it mandatory for signatory States to take steps to make these rights available for their citizens. The Supreme Court of India has on more than one occasion declared that the rights to food, water, shelter, health and adequate housing are implied within the meaning of the fundamental right to life and liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. They have the same constitutional status as other fundamental rights explicitly mentioned in the Constitution and any person who is denied these rights may move the courts seeking redress.
Over the decades judicious interpretation by international human rights bodies has expanded the scope of these fundamental rights beyond mere physical access to basic amenities and services such as food, water, housing, health and education. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), set up under the ICESCR to monitor compliance of signatory States on a regular basis, recognises information accessibility as an inseparable component of these rights. For example, the CESCR declared in 2002 that the right to water includes every human being’s right to access information about water related issues that affect him/her. “Individuals and groups should be given full and equal access to information concerning water, water services and the environment, held by public authorities or third parties” the committee said. (for a complete text of CESCR’s General Comment on the right to water click on http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/a5458d1d1bbd713fc1256cc400389e94?Opendocument) The experience of the residents of Keolari demonstrates how information accessibility can protect and restore people’s right to water.
Keolari village situated within the jurisdiction of Katni janpad panchayat in Katni district, Madhya Pradesh, is home to about 2,500 people. Munnalal Patel is an elected Pancha (member) of the Keolari gram panchayat. His father had donated an open well to the panchayat in 1997 hoping that it would be maintained by them for people’s use. This well situated on the edge of the public road that leads to the panchayat office is one of the only two sources of potable water available within Keolari. The second is a tube well sunk for the use of the government run middle school situated nearby. A third source – another open well – is situated on the outskirts of the village at a distance of more than 1 km from the panchayat office. Except for a handful of rich families which own private tube wells on their property, most of the residents of Keolari depend on the well located in the middle of the village.
In December last year (2006) Munnalal began constructing a house on a small plot of land adjacent to this public well. On the 11th of the same month he encroached upon almost 10 ft of land belonging to the panchayat and constructed a boundary wall around the well in a bid to claim it for himself. Villagers whose access to the well was cut off tried to reason with Munnalal, in vain.
Later the same day, about 65 villagers drafted a complaint letter against this encroachment and submitted it to the Sarpanch. The Sarpanch Smt. Panchhibai Patel maintained that there was no case of encroachment and that Munnalal had acted within his rights on his own land. Not willing to be cowed down by the inaction of the Sarpanch the complainants posted copies of their complaint to the Tehsildar and the chief executive officer of the janpad panchayat praying for remedial action. Neither officer bothered to respond to the complaint.
On 9th January (2007) a samsaya nivaran shivir (public grievance redressal camp) was held in Keolari. Such camps are routinely organised by the district administration to help resolve problems of villagers on the spot. This camp was attended by senior officials various departments. Villagers filed their complaint about the encroachment of panchayat land and the illegal take over of the public well by Munnalal. No action was taken on this complaint. It seemed like the entire administration was colluding with the wrongdoer.
Two days later the disappointed villagers sent their complaint to the District Collector. No action was taken at this level either. Meanwhile Munnalal began threatening the families of villagers who had signed on the complaint. Fed up with the inaction of the gram panchayat and janpad panchayat officers the villagers managed to get the local editions of popular hindi newspapers like Dainik Bhaskar and Navbharat to publish this story. Even this move did not have any effect on the administration. Deprived of access to the common well, residents began drawing water from the tube well situated at the village school. Munnalal and his henchmen began troubling the women relatives of the complainants who walked up to the tube well to fetch water. When authorities refuse to take action against wrongdoers they only end up providing a cloak of impunity to the latter.
Ravi Patel, one of the complainants heard about RTI at an awareness camp organised by the Madhya Pradesh Suchana Adhikar Abhiyan in a nearby village. On 21st February he visited the office of Sandhan, the secretariat of the Abhiyan situated in Katni, seeking advice for solving Keolari’s problem. Volunteers of the Abhiyan coached him in the uses of the RTI Act and helped him draft an information request. In his application Ravi Patel asked the following questions –
1) Name and designation of the officer who was responsible for taking action on the complaint filed by the 65 signatories.
2) Daily progress report of action taken to investigate the complaint.
3) Name and designation of all officers who are empowered to take action on the basis of such complaints.
4) What action would be taken by the administration against officers who were negligent to take action on the complaint?
5) The period within which action would be taken to clear the illegal encroachment on panchayat land and end illegal custody of the public well.
Ravi Patel and Vishwajeet Maity, an Abhiyan volunteer managed to submit the application at the janpad panchayat office on 22nd February. However when they visited the Tehsildar’s office to file a similar application they met with resistance. The Tehsildar reasoned that the information they sought was exempt from disclosure under Section 8, so there was no point to accepting the application. Dr. Rakesh Ranjan, Convenor of the Abhiyan visited the Tehsildar’s office the next day to find out why he had refused to receive the information request. He demanded that the Tehsildar record his refusal in writing as requestors had a right to know the reasons for refusal. The Tehsildar, hard pressed by the persistence of Ravi Patel and the Abhiyan, assured them that he would investigate the complaint and that there was no need to file the RTI application.
Not to give up easily, the requestors and the Abhiyan volunteers demanded that he reply to the RTI application first instead of acting upon the complaint. They also warned him that they would write to his senior officers about his lack of compliance with the RTI Act. Fearing the possibility of a penalty and disciplinary action under the RTI Act, the Tehsildar agreed to receive the information request and advised the applicant and the Abhiyan volunteers to come back to his office on 10th March for a reply. He also summoned the Deputy Tehsildar and the Revenue Inspector in their presence and rebuked them for not acting upon the complaint.
Meanwhile Ravi Patel wanted to strengthen their case with documents to show that the disputed well was indeed common property. He filed an RTI application with the secretary of the gram panchayat seeking copies of the gift deed signed by Munnalal’s father and details of any funds spent by the panchayat on the maintenance of the well. Ravi Patel received the requested information within two days. The documents showed that Munnalal’s father had indeed gifted the well to the panchayat in 1997. The panchayat had spent Rs. 11,608/- in July that year for strengthening its platform and walls.
Armed with this information, volunteers of the Abhiyan visited Keolari on 23rd February to collect photographic evidence of the encroachment and the illegal occupation of the well. They were pleasantly surprised to see the Revenue Inspector and the village patwari taking measurements of the disputed property. They categorically told Munnalal that he had illegally encroached on Panchayat land and taken custody of the well. They served a notice on him requiring him to demolish the wall within a week. If not the panchayat would demolish the wall and realise the demolition related expenses from Munnalal.
Ravi Patel visited the office of the Abhiyan on 28th February with the good news that Munnalal had begun demolishing the wall. Villagers were able to collect water from the well as before. Ravi Patel is waiting for 10th March to collect the information from the Tehsildar’s office
Meanwhile Munnalal’s brother continues to threaten people for complaining to the authorities. But the villagers are not so scared like before because they have realised they have the power of RTI with them now. They have learnt that when nothing else succeeds, RTI will help them force the public authorities to work according to the established rules and norms. They have succeeded in protecting their fundamental human right to water using their right to information as a tool.
{Dr. Rakesh Ranjan is Convenor and Vishwajeet Maity, an active volunteer of the Madhya Pradesh Suchana Adhikar Abhiyan – a network of advocates and activists working to spread awareness about RTI in more than 20 districts. CHRI works with the Abhiyan to build capacity of civil society to use RTI to improve governance in Madhya Pradesh.}
In the more developed countries of the West RTI is often understood as a civil liberties issue closely connected with people’s right to freedom of speech and expression. In many countries of Eastern Europe it is connected with the freedom of the print and electronic media to report on the actions and decisions of government bodies. While there is no gainsaying this position, experience in developing countries like India shows how crucial RTI is for the realisation of fundamental economic and social rights for the underprivileged. The International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) ratified by more than 150 countries including India recognises every human being’s fundamental right to food, water, education, housing, health and gainful employment and makes it mandatory for signatory States to take steps to make these rights available for their citizens. The Supreme Court of India has on more than one occasion declared that the rights to food, water, shelter, health and adequate housing are implied within the meaning of the fundamental right to life and liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. They have the same constitutional status as other fundamental rights explicitly mentioned in the Constitution and any person who is denied these rights may move the courts seeking redress.
Over the decades judicious interpretation by international human rights bodies has expanded the scope of these fundamental rights beyond mere physical access to basic amenities and services such as food, water, housing, health and education. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), set up under the ICESCR to monitor compliance of signatory States on a regular basis, recognises information accessibility as an inseparable component of these rights. For example, the CESCR declared in 2002 that the right to water includes every human being’s right to access information about water related issues that affect him/her. “Individuals and groups should be given full and equal access to information concerning water, water services and the environment, held by public authorities or third parties” the committee said. (for a complete text of CESCR’s General Comment on the right to water click on http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/a5458d1d1bbd713fc1256cc400389e94?Opendocument) The experience of the residents of Keolari demonstrates how information accessibility can protect and restore people’s right to water.
Keolari village situated within the jurisdiction of Katni janpad panchayat in Katni district, Madhya Pradesh, is home to about 2,500 people. Munnalal Patel is an elected Pancha (member) of the Keolari gram panchayat. His father had donated an open well to the panchayat in 1997 hoping that it would be maintained by them for people’s use. This well situated on the edge of the public road that leads to the panchayat office is one of the only two sources of potable water available within Keolari. The second is a tube well sunk for the use of the government run middle school situated nearby. A third source – another open well – is situated on the outskirts of the village at a distance of more than 1 km from the panchayat office. Except for a handful of rich families which own private tube wells on their property, most of the residents of Keolari depend on the well located in the middle of the village.
In December last year (2006) Munnalal began constructing a house on a small plot of land adjacent to this public well. On the 11th of the same month he encroached upon almost 10 ft of land belonging to the panchayat and constructed a boundary wall around the well in a bid to claim it for himself. Villagers whose access to the well was cut off tried to reason with Munnalal, in vain.
Later the same day, about 65 villagers drafted a complaint letter against this encroachment and submitted it to the Sarpanch. The Sarpanch Smt. Panchhibai Patel maintained that there was no case of encroachment and that Munnalal had acted within his rights on his own land. Not willing to be cowed down by the inaction of the Sarpanch the complainants posted copies of their complaint to the Tehsildar and the chief executive officer of the janpad panchayat praying for remedial action. Neither officer bothered to respond to the complaint.
On 9th January (2007) a samsaya nivaran shivir (public grievance redressal camp) was held in Keolari. Such camps are routinely organised by the district administration to help resolve problems of villagers on the spot. This camp was attended by senior officials various departments. Villagers filed their complaint about the encroachment of panchayat land and the illegal take over of the public well by Munnalal. No action was taken on this complaint. It seemed like the entire administration was colluding with the wrongdoer.
Two days later the disappointed villagers sent their complaint to the District Collector. No action was taken at this level either. Meanwhile Munnalal began threatening the families of villagers who had signed on the complaint. Fed up with the inaction of the gram panchayat and janpad panchayat officers the villagers managed to get the local editions of popular hindi newspapers like Dainik Bhaskar and Navbharat to publish this story. Even this move did not have any effect on the administration. Deprived of access to the common well, residents began drawing water from the tube well situated at the village school. Munnalal and his henchmen began troubling the women relatives of the complainants who walked up to the tube well to fetch water. When authorities refuse to take action against wrongdoers they only end up providing a cloak of impunity to the latter.
Ravi Patel, one of the complainants heard about RTI at an awareness camp organised by the Madhya Pradesh Suchana Adhikar Abhiyan in a nearby village. On 21st February he visited the office of Sandhan, the secretariat of the Abhiyan situated in Katni, seeking advice for solving Keolari’s problem. Volunteers of the Abhiyan coached him in the uses of the RTI Act and helped him draft an information request. In his application Ravi Patel asked the following questions –
1) Name and designation of the officer who was responsible for taking action on the complaint filed by the 65 signatories.
2) Daily progress report of action taken to investigate the complaint.
3) Name and designation of all officers who are empowered to take action on the basis of such complaints.
4) What action would be taken by the administration against officers who were negligent to take action on the complaint?
5) The period within which action would be taken to clear the illegal encroachment on panchayat land and end illegal custody of the public well.
Ravi Patel and Vishwajeet Maity, an Abhiyan volunteer managed to submit the application at the janpad panchayat office on 22nd February. However when they visited the Tehsildar’s office to file a similar application they met with resistance. The Tehsildar reasoned that the information they sought was exempt from disclosure under Section 8, so there was no point to accepting the application. Dr. Rakesh Ranjan, Convenor of the Abhiyan visited the Tehsildar’s office the next day to find out why he had refused to receive the information request. He demanded that the Tehsildar record his refusal in writing as requestors had a right to know the reasons for refusal. The Tehsildar, hard pressed by the persistence of Ravi Patel and the Abhiyan, assured them that he would investigate the complaint and that there was no need to file the RTI application.
Not to give up easily, the requestors and the Abhiyan volunteers demanded that he reply to the RTI application first instead of acting upon the complaint. They also warned him that they would write to his senior officers about his lack of compliance with the RTI Act. Fearing the possibility of a penalty and disciplinary action under the RTI Act, the Tehsildar agreed to receive the information request and advised the applicant and the Abhiyan volunteers to come back to his office on 10th March for a reply. He also summoned the Deputy Tehsildar and the Revenue Inspector in their presence and rebuked them for not acting upon the complaint.
Meanwhile Ravi Patel wanted to strengthen their case with documents to show that the disputed well was indeed common property. He filed an RTI application with the secretary of the gram panchayat seeking copies of the gift deed signed by Munnalal’s father and details of any funds spent by the panchayat on the maintenance of the well. Ravi Patel received the requested information within two days. The documents showed that Munnalal’s father had indeed gifted the well to the panchayat in 1997. The panchayat had spent Rs. 11,608/- in July that year for strengthening its platform and walls.
Armed with this information, volunteers of the Abhiyan visited Keolari on 23rd February to collect photographic evidence of the encroachment and the illegal occupation of the well. They were pleasantly surprised to see the Revenue Inspector and the village patwari taking measurements of the disputed property. They categorically told Munnalal that he had illegally encroached on Panchayat land and taken custody of the well. They served a notice on him requiring him to demolish the wall within a week. If not the panchayat would demolish the wall and realise the demolition related expenses from Munnalal.
Ravi Patel visited the office of the Abhiyan on 28th February with the good news that Munnalal had begun demolishing the wall. Villagers were able to collect water from the well as before. Ravi Patel is waiting for 10th March to collect the information from the Tehsildar’s office
Meanwhile Munnalal’s brother continues to threaten people for complaining to the authorities. But the villagers are not so scared like before because they have realised they have the power of RTI with them now. They have learnt that when nothing else succeeds, RTI will help them force the public authorities to work according to the established rules and norms. They have succeeded in protecting their fundamental human right to water using their right to information as a tool.
{Dr. Rakesh Ranjan is Convenor and Vishwajeet Maity, an active volunteer of the Madhya Pradesh Suchana Adhikar Abhiyan – a network of advocates and activists working to spread awareness about RTI in more than 20 districts. CHRI works with the Abhiyan to build capacity of civil society to use RTI to improve governance in Madhya Pradesh.}
