Salute the RTI Activists – modern-day heroes, defenders of the Real India, keepers of the faith
May 17, 2011, Mumbai: After our world-cup victory, our government awarded each member of the cricket team one crore rupees, and the coaches and others Rs 50 lakhs each. Overjoyed though I was at our team’s achievement, my heart sank. Rs 16 crore — roughly what the government gifted to the team — is the annual budget of our cash-starved Maharashtra State Information Commission. Over 13,000 RTI appeals are languishing because our SICs don’t have funds and stenographers. And my heart sinks every time the government announces Padma awards for people like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar. I have no malice towards celebrities, but isn’t it absurd to hand out Padma awards to screen heroes and play-field heroes while there are thousands of real-life heroes out there? People like Subhash Chandra Agarwal and Prashant Bhushan, for instance, who have taken on the heroic task of making the Supreme Court answerable to the common man? Must the government ignore such merito...