An unusual case of an RTI activist
29 Mar, 2012
RTI Act has given birth to activists of different hue and shade and one such case is of Kalyanasundaram of Tamilnadu. Immediately after the legislation was passed in 2006, Kalyanasundaram filed his first Right to Information (RTI) application wherein he questioned the logic behind the RTI Act. He asked "The government was short of 1,50,000 people, so on what basis the legislation was passed. How can overworked officials provide information and then be fined Rs 25,000 for delays?"
Seventy-year-old Kalyanasundaram of Chennai is popularly known as 'Thagaval Thaatha', and is a veteran of over 300 applications under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. His RTI application filed five years ago was instrumental in getting drinking water and bathroom facilities in every sub-registrar office.