The Road Less Travelled

In the 64 kms that he drives each day, Uday often has to manoeuvre through large stretches of pot-holed roads in Delhi and Noida. Take for instance the stretch from Panchscheel to Chirag Delhi flyover in south Delhi—the road had started chipping off within 20 days of its being relaid. Uday wanted to know why this had happened and how the taxpayer’s money was being spent. Using the RTI, he drafted his first application to the PWD in February ’05. A local NGO, Parivartan, guided him through the process.

On submitting the application, the same afternoon he got a call from the assistant engineer (AE), asking about the issues that he needed information on. He was even keen to meet Uday. He told Uday why such lapses occur. Soon, the road was repaired. In fact, a few days later, a PWD inspection team sent to the site found that the stretch had been resurfaced and the contractor himself had borne the cost.

Uday has undertaken a joint survey of the Outer Ring Road with the AE and suggested improvements. For instance, he thought an auto stand between Khelgaon Marg and iit in south Delhi was imperative. Finally, one day he found an auto stand had indeed come up in the area. Uday has filed three complaints about bad roads and action has been taken in each case.

"Roads move the country, and in order to make Delhi an international capital, we have to start at the basics—roads," says the twentysomething. Towards this end, he has started a club of about twenty members called Delhi Roads Improvement Club (DRIC), consisting mostly of law student volunteers from Indraprastha University and others. Uday feels we can better our lot with a little initiative. "People are enthusiastic only as long as youpush them," he says. The members keep track of whether the roads in their area are being prepared according to the required specifications and file complaints. According to him, there are two things that India lacks—proper implementation and quality. The basic motive of DRIC is to raise the quality of work in Delhi. The group has till now filed twelve such complaints, of which two have been addressed and the rest are being appealed.

Not all government departments are cooperative. On most occasions, the questions mentioned in the application are avoided and palmed off onto another department. At other times, departments drag their feet or outright refuse to acknowledge the existence of the RTI. NDMC, they say, functions surprisingly well for a government organisation. It has a separate department for such applications, perhaps spurred by the thought of its vvip ‘clientele’.

This DRIC is funded by its members. The cost of the entire procedure—from submission of the application, which costs Rs 25, till the point where one has to pay for the documents the government offers in reply to queries, is paid for by this band of enthusiasts. "Roads are passive and people are active, therefore there should be a conscious effort by the people to understand the system and not abuse it. There is a need to re-educate the educated," he says.

This is just the beginning. Next Uday wants see how funds are used in government schools.Contact: D-7, 7174 Vasant Kunj, New Delhi—110070. Tel: +91 9818266471, E-mail: uday_gosain@yahoo.com