National RTI helpline migrates to Bangalore

Bangalore, Apr 30: The National RTI helpline launched by Parivartan and The Manjunath Shanmugam Trust (MST) on Nov 19, 2006 - Manjunath's death anniversary - has now been migrated to another centre.

The new number will be (080) 666-00-999. This will be operational from May 1st, 2007.

As earlier, the Helpline offers information in three languages: English, Hindi and Tamil. It is open 7 days a week, from 8 am - 8 pm. Agents are trained to:

· Provide information about the RTI Act;

· Guide as to how the Act can help resolve specific issues;

· Guide the caller through the application, first and second appeal process;

· Provide list of Public Information Officers and APIOs; as also provide contacts of RTI Activists across the country.

The Helpline has received over 7500 calls to date from across the country.

The Right To Information Act has been hailed as probably the most significant legislation enacted since independence, allowing the common man to seek - and receive within 30 days - information on most aspects of Government functioning. This includes individual issues such as pension applications /ration card/tax refunds/police investigations/, and also broader issues such as the poor state of roads.

MphasiS, a global IT and BPO services company, has come forward to support the initiative by running the Helpline at a highly subsidised cost. Hence the migration to Mphasis.

Parivartan is a Delhi based citizens' movement working to ensure just, transparent and accountable governance. It was started in January 2000 by Arvind Kejriwal, 2006 Magsaysay Award winner and IIT Kharagpur alumnus.

MST is an international IIM alumni initiative set up to improve governance in Indian public life. Manjunath Shanmugam, a sales officer with Indian Oil Corp (IOC) and an IIM-Lucknow alumnus, was murdered on November 19th 2005 in Lakhimpur Khiri, UP, following his efforts to curb oil adulteration. A petrol pump dealer and seven accomplices were found guilty by the Lakhimpur Khiri Sessions court on 23 March 2007.The prime accused has been awarded the death sentence, and the others life imprisonment.

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