Meeting with Sri Vijay Anand of Fifth Pillar Topic: Freedom from Corruption and RTI Act
Date: 17th September, 2007 Venue: Dhatri Ayurvedic Hospital, Apt. No: 5, Sarada Apartments, Lane. Besides Sri Krishna Sweets, Ameerpet, Hyderabad. Ph: 39104638. URL to the Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/prasanthi.uppalapati/MeetingWithSriVijayA nandOfFifthPillar Duration: 7:00 pm to 9:30 pm  Members Arrival: 7:00 pm to 7:15 pm  Round of Introduction: 7:15 pm to 7:30 pm  Interactive communication with Vijay Anand: 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm  About Fifth Pillar, Activities, RTI Act, Experiences of their Fight against Corruption, Success Stories  RTI and Salient Features: 9 pm to 9:30 pm  Vote of Thanks and Photos: 9:30 pm to 9:45 pm Participants: 11 members  Fifth Pillar Vijay Anand  Sahaaya Group- Balaji, Naresh, Praveen  Saayam Cheddaam Group- Kiran  First Ray Foundation - Dr. Suresh Reddy, Surender, Narender  TMAD Group - Dr. Sundar Raj Perumal, Prasanthi  USRK Murthy Brother of Prasanthi. Sri Vijay Anand explained about Fifth Pillar and his experiences. Later every member introduced themselves and their group. AIMS India is formed to unite all likeminded groups and work for the greater good and on common causes that affect us. They began mobilizing funds for social work/developmental activities in rural villages of Tamilnadu. Then they began to think on a larger scale on how many schools and hospitals that they can reach and what is the core problem that should be addressed in order to serve the cause. They identified Corruption as the root cause and understood that if it is not addressed, there is no hope for development in society. Fifth Pillar is founded by Mr. M.B. Nirmal, who earlier worked for http://www.exnorainternational.org/ for nearly 17 years. Vijay Anand was appointed as President in March 2007. >From Aug 4th to Sep 14th, volunteers of 5th Pillar travelled the length and breadth of Tamilnadu, covered all the 30 districts, campaigning for freedom from corruption. This movement has been very successful in Tamilnadu and Vijay Anand wants to replicate the success in Andhrapradesh too with the help of likeminded groups. For details and success stories, visit the url: 5thpillar.org Salient points to note: 1. RTI act is a national level act and States are allowed to customize the act. 2. It was in force since 1997 in Chennai but hardly anybody knows about it. 3. Only in 2005, it gained national exposure 4. Three persons are mainly responsible:  PIO - Public Information Officer -- Level 3  Appellate Authority -- Level 2  State Information Commissioner / Central Information Commissioner -- Level 1 Details: Age and Eligibility: There is no age limit to file the RTI. Any person can ask any question. Reason for Filing the Application: No need to give any reason on why particular information is being requested. Address of the applicant has to be mentioned. Application Forms? There is no application be bought to file. We can write an RTI in a white paper. What to write? We are seeking information but not making a complaint. Success depends on how well you draft the questions. What if we don't know whom to address a question? We need not know to whom to address an application. It is the duty of PIO to forward any application related to RTI to particular department. Can we file an RTI on behalf of others? We can file petition on behalf of other people. Issue need not be a personal one to file an RTI. Assistant Public Information Officer (APIO) is supposed to write on behalf of an illiterate person, if such a person comes to file an RTI. Duration Details (From the date of receipt) 60 days to 90 days.  PIO is responsible for providing the necessary information.  An RTI application must be answered within 30 days. In case of mailing to another department, 5 days are allowed to send it to the correct department.  If we do not get a response in 30 days (ideal case), we should consult Appellate Authority (preferably with a copy of our first appeal to PIO). Ideal/Maximum response time is 30 days.  If not, we should approach SIC. The maximum response time is 30 days. URL: For more information on RTI Act of AP, visit this url: http://www.apic.gov.in To start 5th Pillar in any place, seven members are required. To be precise, there are seven roles. 1. DCC- District Chief Coordinator 2. RVC -RTI/Vigilance Coordinator 3. MSC Membership Services Coordinator 4. SC/DC Sponsors/Donors Coordinator 5. BSC Boy Students Coordinator 6. GSC Girl Students Coordinator 7. PRC Public Relations Coordinator Decisions: Rakesh is selected as DCC and RVC. Prasanthi is selected as PRC and SC/DC. Once we get more members and we are successful in motivating people, the additional roles will be given to particular volunteers. Immediate Action Points: 1. Rakesh will talk to Captain Satyaprasad and also to forum of RTI members. 2. Decided to conduct a meeting where Rakesh will explain about RTI and share his experiences. We should first let the members in our likeminded groups know the basics of RTI act, its necessity and the impact. 3. Meeting would be on next Sunday. Timings and venue will be decided by Wednesday. Duration would be three hours. 4. Prasanthi is responsible for publicizing about the meeting and arranging the venue. Future Course of Action: 1. Form a team of interested members who wish to be the trainers. 2. Train the willing-to-be-trainers 3. Start filing RTIs in a very strategic manner 4. Create awareness among the youth and students
