Data

General Issues
Human Rights & Civil Rights
Law Enforcement, Criminal Justice & Corrections
Governance & Political Institutions
Specific Topics
Government Transparency
Citizenship & Role of Citizens
Public Participation
Location
Jaipur
Rajasthan
India
Scope of Influence
Regional
Links
https://factsreports.revues.org/3551
http://cuts-international.org/pdf/EvaluationReport-RTIinIndia-Oct2008.pdf
Start Date
Ongoing
Yes
Facilitators
Yes
Face-to-Face, Online, or Both
Face-to-Face
Decision Methods
Opinion Survey
Communication of Insights & Outcomes
New Media

CASE

Empowering Civil Society and Combating Corruption through Right to Information Act in Rajasthan, India

17 de noviembre de 2018 Jaskiran Gakhal, Participedia Team
5 de julio de 2016 Rohan Seth
24 de abril de 2016 Rohan Seth
General Issues
Human Rights & Civil Rights
Law Enforcement, Criminal Justice & Corrections
Governance & Political Institutions
Specific Topics
Government Transparency
Citizenship & Role of Citizens
Public Participation
Location
Jaipur
Rajasthan
India
Scope of Influence
Regional
Links
https://factsreports.revues.org/3551
http://cuts-international.org/pdf/EvaluationReport-RTIinIndia-Oct2008.pdf
Start Date
Ongoing
Yes
Facilitators
Yes
Face-to-Face, Online, or Both
Face-to-Face
Decision Methods
Opinion Survey
Communication of Insights & Outcomes
New Media

The innovative ‘Consortium of Groups for Combating Corruption' model implemented in Rajasthan, India at the local level successfully curbed corruption and generated transparency via citizen workshops on effectively seeking information on entitlements using existing legislation.

Problems and Purpose

Corrupt government officials in India deprive the population of their monetary entitlements on a daily basis, forcing them to live on the very fringes of poverty. In a society where food and income are ideally supposed to reach this starved population, bribes have proven to be a very costly intermediary. The ‘Consortium of Groups for Combating Corruption’ is a novel idea that aims to enable people to raise their voice and demand their entitlements back by teaching them to use the ‘Right to Information’ Act as a tool to combat corruption. 

Background History and Context

During 2006, the Government of India launched a scheme called the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), which guaranteed rural population employment for 100 days [1]. While the idea behind the initiative is a noble one, it’s impact on the situation turned out to be far from satisfactory.

Consider the case of rural mason Jai Kumar Bakliwal. Mr Bakliwal was successfully enrolled under MGNREGS and was enjoying the benefits of the scheme. However, he accidently misplaced his job card and was thus, denied benefits of the scheme. Interestingly, even though he was entitled to a new one, the corrupt Gram Sachiv (village leader) refused to help him out.

This was by no means a rare occurrence. The population living below poverty line in India paid bribes that have amounted to a staggering total of $18.5 million, just to obtain basic services and fundamental entitlements that were theirs to begin with [2]. Moreover, all the beneficiaries of MGNREGS paid a bribe at least once, to obtain the benefits of the scheme [2]. As a result of this rampant corruption, the amount of bribes in Jaipur and Tonk alone was over Rs. 14.9 crores (approx. $230000) [3]. While the number itself is huge, it is even more astounding that such a huge sum was amassed by individuals who do not even have enough money to make ends meet. With such high levels of corruption, it is hardly surprising that schemes such as MGNREGS have proved to be inefficient.

The Government of India identified this as a problem and to counter it, came up with the ‘Right to Information Act’ (RTI). According to this act, every citizen possesses the right to demand information about government processes, without having to provide any justification for the enquiry. While the idea appears to be powerful on paper, existence of the act alone has not proven enough to counter corruption [4]. This is so because, awareness, as well as practice of the act, has been minimal [4].

Consumer Unity Trust Society (CUTS), a non-governmental organization in Rajasthan, realised this and with the help of Partnership for Transparency Fund (PTF), came up with a novel solution to counter this problem. CUTS proposed to start an ‘intervention’ to empower the civil society organizations in the area and group them into two ‘consortiums’, one each in Jaipur and Ajmer, for the purpose of spreading awareness about RTI and enabling people to fight corruption. This unique proposal gave rise to the ‘Consortium of Groups for Combating Corruption’ (CGCC) model, which was implemented as a prototype in Rajasthan, India [2].

Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities

The organizing entities were the Consumer Unity Trust Society (CUTS), a non-governmental organization in Rajasthan in collaboration with the Partnership for Transparency Fund (PTF).

Participant Recruitment and Selection

Know how participants were recruited? Help us complete this section!

Methods and Tools Used

CUTS implements a unique approach to eradicate corruption. However, it does use workshops as a teaching tool so that participants could learn how to apply the RTI act and file applications.

Deliberation, Decisions, and Public Interaction

The structure of the intervention, as defined by CUTS, was divided into three phases, each phase with a more intensive approach than the last. Initially, the intervention was implemented in nine districts between Jaipur and Ajmer and tackled all government schemes [2]. By the end of the intervention, it had narrowed down to just six blocks (sub-divisions of districts) and one scheme (MGNREGS) [2].

Phase 1

The first phase of the intervention had two major aims. Firstly, it was focused on creating a suitable and enabling environment to battle corruption. Secondly, it aimed to spread awareness about the Right To Information act.

In order to begin the process, all the civil society organizations (CSOs) in the area were invited to attend a selection process. 42 of them were selected on the basis of their potential outreach, interest and capacity to mobilize and educate people [2]. CSOs were then divided into two ‘consortiums’ and trained in the provisions of RTI and the application filing process [2]. The organisations were finally spread across the nine districts.

Additionally, before executing the process, CGCC conducted a survey with the aim of mapping the perceptions of people towards governmental anti-corruption institutions, such as the Vigilance Commission [2]. Post-survey, members of the CGCC conducted various activities such as consultations where they met with citizens face-to-face in order to help them in important matters regarding corruption at the individual as well as community level.

These activities not only helped the CGCC identify individual and community problems as well as needs, but they were also instrumental in spreading awareness about RTI. It was later recorded that by the end of phase 1, awareness about RTI had increased by as much as 45% [2]. Moreover, CGCC members had successfully helped 779 citizens in filing RTI applications [2]. The majority of these applications were related to cases where benefits from various government schemes had not reached the intended citizens. Gradually, an enabling environment was created where the citizens of the district, with the help of members of the CGCC, felt confident in filing RTI applications and battling corruption.

Phase 2

Phase 1 provided CGCC with excellent results as a significant number of citizens lent a hand in fighting corruption by filing RTI applications. However, by the end of phase 1, CGCC concluded that the scope of the initiative was too vast and thus, had reduced the impact of the intervention [2]. With the limited amount of funding available, there was a need to intensify the process and use RTI more rigorously. In order to do so, the geographical scope of the programme was narrowed down to two districts and just three schemes, namely, MGNREGS, Swarn Jayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojna (SGSY), and Indira Awaas Yojna (IAY) [2]. The CGCCs also decided to support two Gram Panchayats (local level governments) in the region and enhance their level of transparency, essentially shaping them as ‘models’ for similar institutions.

In order to ensure rigorous usage of RTI in phase 2, the CGCCs deemed it necessary to identify the points of government schemes where the citizens were most vulnerable to paying bribes. Thus, beneficiaries of the three government schemes were urged to take a ‘Corruption Vulnerability Survey’. Analyses of the survey revealed that 21% had paid bribes to obtain jobs under MGNREGS while 53% of them did so just to register. Moreover, 43% of them had also paid substantial bribes to obtain their wages [2]. These findings provided CGCC the basis for engaging in dialogue with officials and policy makers.

CGCCs met government officials, policy makers, and the media in order to present their findings to them and also lay out a set of recommendations to improve the transparency in the process. The findings were also made available to the population in the districts in order to generate awareness.

Members of the CGCC then used the findings to educate citizens better as they began to file RTI applications. The rigorous filing of RTI applications led to the emergence of two major problems. Firstly, it became evident that the citizens in the districts did not possess a complete understanding of the various procedures of the government schemes. Secondly, a significant amount of the population was not prepared to file RTI applications as they feared retribution from the officials.

To counter these problems, the CGCCs organised multiple workshops which focused on the practical aspects of filing an RTI application. Doing so also resulted in networking within the members of the consortium who had the experience of filing applications themselves. Moreover, CUTS also established a cell phone service which would prove instrumental in expanding the reach of phase 2. According to the report, over 200 phone calls were received where majority of the people on the other end were facing situations where they had to bribe officials to obtain their entitlements [2]. Over 43 of these complaints were successfully resolved with the filing of a simple RTI request [2].

While there was considerable focus on the ‘demand’ side of the issue, CGCC also started to pressure the ‘supply’ side. Conducting various meetings at the grassroots level with the policy makers helped the officials to better understand the policy implications of RTI and grasp the need to make changes.

The end of phase 2 saw, over a total of 450 applications filed from just two districts [2]. Additionally, the established ‘model’ gram panchayats were successful in teaching the RTI application process to more than 90 people, playing their part by empowering individuals with the ability to combat corruption, making phase 2 successful [2].

Phase 3

Assessing the impact made by phase 2, the CGCC modelled the next phase in the image of the previous one, intensifying the process even further. The geographical area was narrowed down to just six blocks (spread across the two districts of Jaipur and Tonk) and only MGNREGS was the scheme taken into consideration. Phase 3 aimed to enhance the functioning of the MGNREGS by ensuring that all intended beneficiaries were included, enhancing the efficiency of the delivery of entitlements as well as motivating people to fight corruption by demanding what was rightfully theirs. In order to facilitate this process, 128 volunteers, trained in the provisions of RTI and MGNREGS, were also recruited [2].

While the people filed RTI applications with the help of the volunteers and CGCC members, four major gaps were identified in service delivery. Firstly, several intended beneficiaries were unregistered for the scheme and excluded from availing the benefits. Secondly, even if the families were registered under the scheme, many of them had not obtained their job cards and were thus, ineligible to participate. Thirdly, filing RTI applications also revealed rampant corruption in the process of wage payments. Several beneficiaries were found to be victims of delayed, reduced, or even denied wage payments. Finally, in many cases, the worksites were not supplied adequate facilities.

In response, CGCC set up frequent meetings between the beneficiaries and service providers. Approximately 1050 cases of grievances were put forward in these meetings and over 300 of them were resolved by the authorities concerned, making phase 3 largely successful [2].

Influence, Outcomes, and Effects

The effects of the intervention can be summed up into four major categories, with the first being improvements in the nature of entitlement distribution. Before the intervention, grants under the IAY scheme were given out in cash. This process facilitated corruption. Post-intervention, this practice was largely finished and grants were provided to the intended beneficiaries via their respective bank accounts. Secondly, there was better implementation of RTI. During the intervention, a total of 11 acts were passed by the state government, which enhanced the effective implementation of the Right to Information act. Thirdly, increased awareness of RTI resulted. Although research has not been conducted on this post-intervention, it is predicted that the actions of members of the CGCC led to an exponential increase in the awareness of RTI among the population and thus enhanced their capacity to use it to battle corruption. Finally, it is assumed that the intervention also played an instrumental role in helping members of the CGCC enhance their professional skills and capabilities. 

Analysis and Lessons Learned

The purpose as well nature of this innovation makes it very different from many other democratic innovations, such as mini-publics or e-democracy; unlike those, this ‘intervention’ does not aim to provide a new platform for the public to engage. Instead, it aims to use a ‘modern’ law (RTI) and the population involved, as tools to eradicate corruption from government schemes. Thus, the ultimate aim is to make the process more efficient. Interestingly, CUTS implements a unique approach to reach this goal. Its proposal to use civil society organizations as ‘enablers’ and ‘watchdogs’ makes the initiative peerless as far as concepts in the module are considered. Because of this unique approach, many existing concepts are unable to provide any assistance.

The little literature that is available on this approach argues against replicating the model. The ‘Model Framework for Replication’ states that replicating the structure might be a recipe for disaster if the model is not adapted to unique national laws and situations.

As far as ‘lessons learned’, it is evident that RTI is an act ahead of its time. This, in turn, has it’s own positive and negative effects. On the positive side, if implemented properly, the idea has immense potential to increase transparency. However, it is clear that the potential has not been unleashed yet.

The factors that restrict this potential are present in both the ‘demand’ side and the ‘supply’ side. During the multiple interactions, with the demand side, the members of the CGCC, came to realise that the population in the region wasn’t fully aware of the RTI act and its provisions. As a result, they were unable to use the same to their advantage [3]. For example, when members of the community were asked to pay bribes to obtain entitlements such as wage payment, they saw no choice but to do so. Had they been aware of the power of RTI, they would not have had to surrender to this corrupt practice. On the other hand, the ‘supply’ side was far from prepared to deal with the situation either. Government officials often purposely refused to interact with both, members of CGCCs and the masses. They also displayed behaviours that made evident that their mentality was set in favour of hiding information rather than providing answers to the public. Furthermore, in several cases, the information requested wasn’t available in the departments themselves [3]. As a result, gathering information from different sources resulted in much-maligned delays. 

Thus, it is clear that in order to unleash the full potential of RTI, it first has to be accepted by both the intended beneficiaries as well as the government officials.

Challenges with Data Collection

Data on the intervention proved to be scarce, bar two comprehensive documents, namely ‘Model Framework for Replication’ and ‘Transparency in Delivery of Entitlements through Empowered Civil Society Organizations’. Majority of the content available online was already included in the two texts and thus, the case has been based largely on those two documents.

Moreover, while it is true that contacting/visiting CUTS could have served as a good opportunity for further research, it was not possible as well as feasible to accomplish, given the short timeframe and lack of funds.

See Also

Workshops 

References 

[1] Department of Rural Development, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. 2012. Web. Available at http://www.nrega.ap.gov.in/Nregs/. Accessed on 16 November 2018.

[2] Arya, Om Prakash, and Madhu Sudan Sharma. Transparency In Delivery Of Entitlements Through Empowered Civil Society Organisations (Csos): The Consortium Of Groups For Combating Corruption (CGCC) Model In Rajasthan, India. 1st ed. Jaipur: CUTS, 2014. Web. Available at: https://factsreports.revues.org/3551. Accessed on 10th April, 2016.

[3] Mehta, Pradeep. Model Framework For Replication: Usages Of RTI In Rural Rajasthan, India Enhancing Transparency And Reforming The Processes. Jaipur: CUTS, 2010. Web. Accessed on 11th April, 2016.

[4] Simi T.B., Madhu Sudan Sharma & George Cheriyan. Analysing the Right to Information Act in India. CUTS International, 2017. Web. Available at https://vdocuments.mx/analysing-the-right-to-information-act-in-india.html. Accessed on 16 Nov 2018. 

External Links

Anti-Corruption Bureau - Government of Rajasthan 

Evaluation of Combating Corruption in Rajasthan State 

Notes

Lead Image: Right to Information/BBC https://goo.gl/dfhKgU

Secondary Image: Rajasthan Artists File 80 RTI Pleas on Irregularities/Getty Images https://goo.gl/ThfB8s

Tertiary Image: Transparency in Delivery of Entitlements through Empowered CSOs: CGCC Model in Rajasthan, India https://goo.gl/YXrTfh

Quaternary Image: Corruption in India https://goo.gl/4PCGjm