We owe the Right to Information Act of Maharashtra to Shri Annasaheb Hazare. It was because of his relentless pursuit, occasionally resorting to agitations, that the Government of Maharashtra enacted Right to Information (RTI) Act in 2000.But soon it was realised that the act was fully of flaws. At the insistence of Annasaheb, the government agreed to overhaul the legislation.
Annasaheb Hazare:
" I am not a compulsive agitationist. I drew inspiration for construction action from Swami Vivekanand when I was 25. I returned to my village Ralegan in Maharashtra after serving the army for 15 years and devoted myself in making it self-reliant. Mahatma Gandhi wanted villages to be the focus of our development. We concentrated on cities instead. Our economic activity is based on exploitation of humans and the nature. Mahatma Gandhi had cautioned us that if our so-called development is based on exploitation, it will lead us eventually and inevitably to disaster. "
I was convinced that we cannot make our villages self-reliant if we make them dependent on foreign aid and external assistance. Our own land, development grants from our own government and loans from our own cooperative banks are enough to elevate our economic status.
I gave this background to explain that waging agitations is not my nature. I am for constructive work. But when I saw that thousands of crores of rupees allocated for rural development do not reach villages at all, that barely 12 paise of a sanctioned rupee are actually spent on development work, I took up cudgels against corruption.
In 1989, I launched an agitation against the corrupt practice of 42 high level officials in Maharashtra. An enquiry was conducted and charges proved, but no action was taken. In protest I returned the gold medal and award of Vrikshamitra given to me by Rajiv Gandhi. It stirred up the people but not the government. So I returned my Padmashri to the President. This created a mass awakening, but the government did not move. Then I went on indefinite fast at Alandi (where Sant Dnyaneshwar took samadhi). This roused the society. Nearly 1.25 lakh people came to Alandi to express their solidarity and in the events that followed, the government had to go. A new government came in power. I asked the new government to take firm steps to root out corruption and waited for a year and a half, but while the previous government merely graduated in corruption, the new government took a doctorate in it! I had to launch a movement again. You are aware, as a result, couple of ministers had to resign and among officers nearly 250 heads rolled.
However, I realised that unless we transform the system, the omnipresent corruption cannot be checked.
We have to change the system. Make stringent rules on prompt movement of files. Punish those who delay.
People are the rulers. They send their representatives to the state and the centre. Government's funds are people's funds, because people are the government. Elected representatives have been sent there as trustees. Just as the IAS and IPS officers are public servants, the elected representatives too are servants of the people. Have you ever heard of a servant denying information to his master? People are master. Yet in our democracy, the master has no access to the information on the government he appoints. This is absurd. Yet masses were not aware of their right and those in power exploited their master's ignorance.
The government talks about people's participation in government. They were talking of people's participation in government. I said, it is the other way round. It should be government's participation among people.
Until there is total transparency in the government spending, there is not going to be any progress.
This bill when enacted will curb corruption to a large extent. I don’t say corruption would be eliminated, but surely its incidence will be reduced to a half.
People must be made aware of these developments. We have distributed lakhs of leaflets. I have ploughed in nearly Rs 80,000 from my pension in this movement and have diverted the money I received from various awards, so have veterans like Govindbhai Shroff and Prof G P Pradhan. A large number of sympathisers made small contributions. Now people have begun to know about their right to know.
To conclude, corruption will not be curbed until we change the system. I have spent several years agitating against corruption. But has it been eliminated? No. At best, some sense of fear has been instilled among government employees, but corruption goes on surreptitiously. System overhaul cannot be one man's mission. Everybody has to join in. Recall the immense sacrifice made and untold torture suffered by patriots during the struggle for your freedom. Join in to make ours a true freedom. We owe it to those patriots many of whom scarified their lives for you. Time has come for everyone to fulfil one's obligation to the society.
…My appeal to all individual and citizens' groups to rally round to bring in the Jan Lokpal Bill.
( Information Collected from internet...,posting to support Anna's cause)
Annasaheb Hazare:
Village: Ralegan Siddhi,
Taluka: Parner
District: Ahmednagar (Maharashtra)
District: Ahmednagar (Maharashtra)
Ph: +91 - 02488 - 240401,
02488 - 240581
info@annahazare.org annahazare@hotmail.com " I am not a compulsive agitationist. I drew inspiration for construction action from Swami Vivekanand when I was 25. I returned to my village Ralegan in Maharashtra after serving the army for 15 years and devoted myself in making it self-reliant. Mahatma Gandhi wanted villages to be the focus of our development. We concentrated on cities instead. Our economic activity is based on exploitation of humans and the nature. Mahatma Gandhi had cautioned us that if our so-called development is based on exploitation, it will lead us eventually and inevitably to disaster. "
I was convinced that we cannot make our villages self-reliant if we make them dependent on foreign aid and external assistance. Our own land, development grants from our own government and loans from our own cooperative banks are enough to elevate our economic status.
I gave this background to explain that waging agitations is not my nature. I am for constructive work. But when I saw that thousands of crores of rupees allocated for rural development do not reach villages at all, that barely 12 paise of a sanctioned rupee are actually spent on development work, I took up cudgels against corruption.
In 1989, I launched an agitation against the corrupt practice of 42 high level officials in Maharashtra. An enquiry was conducted and charges proved, but no action was taken. In protest I returned the gold medal and award of Vrikshamitra given to me by Rajiv Gandhi. It stirred up the people but not the government. So I returned my Padmashri to the President. This created a mass awakening, but the government did not move. Then I went on indefinite fast at Alandi (where Sant Dnyaneshwar took samadhi). This roused the society. Nearly 1.25 lakh people came to Alandi to express their solidarity and in the events that followed, the government had to go. A new government came in power. I asked the new government to take firm steps to root out corruption and waited for a year and a half, but while the previous government merely graduated in corruption, the new government took a doctorate in it! I had to launch a movement again. You are aware, as a result, couple of ministers had to resign and among officers nearly 250 heads rolled.
However, I realised that unless we transform the system, the omnipresent corruption cannot be checked.
We have to change the system. Make stringent rules on prompt movement of files. Punish those who delay.
People are the rulers. They send their representatives to the state and the centre. Government's funds are people's funds, because people are the government. Elected representatives have been sent there as trustees. Just as the IAS and IPS officers are public servants, the elected representatives too are servants of the people. Have you ever heard of a servant denying information to his master? People are master. Yet in our democracy, the master has no access to the information on the government he appoints. This is absurd. Yet masses were not aware of their right and those in power exploited their master's ignorance.
The government talks about people's participation in government. They were talking of people's participation in government. I said, it is the other way round. It should be government's participation among people.
Until there is total transparency in the government spending, there is not going to be any progress.
This bill when enacted will curb corruption to a large extent. I don’t say corruption would be eliminated, but surely its incidence will be reduced to a half.
People must be made aware of these developments. We have distributed lakhs of leaflets. I have ploughed in nearly Rs 80,000 from my pension in this movement and have diverted the money I received from various awards, so have veterans like Govindbhai Shroff and Prof G P Pradhan. A large number of sympathisers made small contributions. Now people have begun to know about their right to know.
To conclude, corruption will not be curbed until we change the system. I have spent several years agitating against corruption. But has it been eliminated? No. At best, some sense of fear has been instilled among government employees, but corruption goes on surreptitiously. System overhaul cannot be one man's mission. Everybody has to join in. Recall the immense sacrifice made and untold torture suffered by patriots during the struggle for your freedom. Join in to make ours a true freedom. We owe it to those patriots many of whom scarified their lives for you. Time has come for everyone to fulfil one's obligation to the society.
…My appeal to all individual and citizens' groups to rally round to bring in the Jan Lokpal Bill.
( Information Collected from internet...,posting to support Anna's cause)
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