Satellite RTI: answer to probability of assault or threat by corrupt officials

In response to the threats that an RTI activist is exposed to in case of revelation of his identity while exposing any kind of corruption in the government, a Chennai based NGO, Fifth Pillar, has come out with a unique solution. The RTI Act stipulates that information can be obtained from any part of the country. Keeping this provision of the act in mind, the NGO with its pool of volunteers across the country, is providing an option, which as per their co-founder Vijay Anand, is ‘satellite RTIs’.

With the experience of nearly 20 ‘satellite RTIs’ filed so far by them, Mr. Anand explains the simple fundamental behind the process. As per him, it is really difficult for a government employee or any other functionary hypothetically functioning in Chennai to track down an appellant in Guwahati, nearly 3,000 km in distance, due to whose application some mala-fide has been found in the working of the said functionary. Using this technique the NGO emails the RTI needed to be filed to some volunteer in a distant location, who files the RTI in his/her own name and emails back the findings to the NGO, thus keeping the actual beneficiary out of harm. The safety of RTI applicants and whistleblowers is important and using this simple way, the organisation claims that the identity of the original key person can be kept as a secret.