1) RTI

RTI stands for "Right to Information". Right to Information is a fundamental right that every
citizen has! Basically, the RTI gives you all the information that you want about the Govt. and
what they are doing with your tax money!

You have the right to ask our Government, why the roads outside your house are not fixed?
Why have you not received your “ration card” as yet? Why is there so much garbage in your
area that is not picked up etc.

It comes into force on the 12th October, 2005 (120th day of its enactment on 15th June, 2005).

The Act extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.

It includes the right to -

i. Inspect works, documents, records.
ii. Take notes, extracts or certified copies of documents or records.
iii. Take certified samples of material.
iv. Obtain information in form of printouts, diskettes, floppies, tapes, video cassettes or
in any other electronic mode or through printouts

Application procedure:

1. Apply in writing or through electronic means in English or Hindi or in the official language of
the area, to the PIO, specifying the particulars of the information sought for.
2. Reason for seeking information are not required to be given;
3. Pay fees as may be prescribed (if not belonging to the below poverty line category).

One or more officers in every Government Department have been made "Public Information
Officers" (PIO). If you want some information, you need to file an application with the PIO. The
PIO’s are responsible for collecting information wanted by you and providing that information
to you.

Success stories – RTI

RTI paves the way

A road was dense carpeted in the year 2001 in Patparganj area in East Delhi but some portions
were left undone. The residents suspected foul play. In the year 2002, when Right to Information
Act came, they sought a copy of contract of the road. Within a week of filing the application, the
Executive Engineer called up the applicant and promised to complete the job. The undone
portions have been done since then
 Payment of salary started, arrear of 6th pay commission submitted

Submitted by shital nigam

I am a medical officer in state govt. My salary was not been fixed & paid
even working, I filed a RTI application then the the authorities started
paying my salary. Some other issues are to be resolved by RTI tool.

2) Right to education act

Main features of Right to Education 2009 act
The salient features of the Right of Children for Free and Compulsory Education act
are –

 Free and compulsory education to all children of India in the six to 14 age group;

 No child shall be held back, expelled, or required to pass a board examination until
completion of elementary education;

 A child above six years of age has not been admitted in any school or though admitted,
could not complete his or her elementary education, then, he or she shall be admitted in
a class appropriate to his or her age; Provided that where a child is directly admitted in a
class appropriate to his or her age, then, he or she shall, in order to be at par with
others, have a right to receive special training, in such manner, and within such timelimits,
as may be prescribed: Provided further that a child so admitted to elementary
education shall be entitled to free education till completion of elementary education even
after fourteen years.

 Proof of age for admission: For the purposes of admission to elementary education. the
age of a child shall be determined on the basis of the birth certificate issued in
accordance with the provisions of the Births. Deaths and Marriages Registration Act,
1856 or on the basis of such other document, as may be prescribed. No child shall be
denied admission in a school for lack of age proof

 A child who completes elementary education shall be awarded a certificate;

 Calls for a fixed student-teacher ratio;

 Will apply to all of India except Jammu and Kashmir;

 Provides for 25 percent reservation for economically disadvantaged communities in

admission to Class One in all private schools;

 Mandates improvement in quality of education;

 School teachers will need adequate professional degree within five years or else will lose
job;

 School infrastructure (where there is problem) to be improved in three years, else

 recognition cancelled;

 Financial burden will be shared between state and central government

3) Right to equality
The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or
any of them. 

No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them, be subject to any
disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to access to shops, public restaurants, hotels and places of
public entertainment; or the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and places of public resort maintained
wholly or partly out of State funds or dedicated to the use of the general public. 

Nothing shall prevent the State from making any special provision for women and children. 

Nothing shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and
educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. 

4) Right to freedom
The right to freedom is one of the most important fundamental right that have been granted to us by the founders
of Indian Constitution. This right allow every citizen of India to be free from the ancient form of slavery. This
fundamental right is described in the constitution as:

All citizens shall have the right-

 To freedom of speech and expression;

 To assemble peaceably and without arms;
 To form associations or unions;
 To move freely throughout the territory of India;
 To reside and settle in any part of the territory of India;
 to practise any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business.

5) Right to religion
The right to freedom of religion allows Indian citizens to choose any religion that he / she wants to choose. This
fundamental right was chossen after lot of thought regarding the process of person chossing his / her own religion.
This fundamental right is described in the constitution as:

The right to freedom of religion is a fundamental right guaranteed under Article 25 of the Constitution of India. Article
25 reads as follows:-

Article 25. (1). Subject to public order, morality and health and to the other provisions of this Part, all persons are
equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion.

Article 25. (2). Nothing in this article shall affect the operation of any existing law or prevent the State from making
any law: -

(a) Regulating or restricting any economic financial political or other secular activity which may be associated with
religious practice; 
b) Providing for social welfare and reform or the throwing open of Hindu religious institutions of a public character to
all classes and sections of Hindus. 

This Article guarantees that every person in India shall have the freedom of conscience and shall have the right to
profess, practise and propagate religion, subject to the restrictions that may be imposed by the State on the following
grounds, namely:-

(1) Public order, morality and health; 

(2) Other provisions of the Constitution; 
(3) Regulation of non-religious activity associated with religious practise; 
(4) Social welfare and reform; 
(5) Throwing open of Hindu religious institutions of a public character to all classes of Hindus.

6) THE RIGHT AGAINST EXPLOITATION

The right against exploitation allows Indian citizens to stand up against any kind of exploitation
that he/ she might be going through. This fundamental right is described in the constitution as:

Article 23. Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour.- 

(1) Traffic in human beings and begar and other similar forms of forced labour are
prohibited and any contravention of this provision shall be an offence punishable in
accordance with law. 

(2) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from imposing compulsory service for
public purposes, and in imposing such service the State shall not make any
discrimination on grounds only of religion, race, caste or class or any of them.

Article 24. Prohibition of employment of children in factories, etc.- No child below the

age of fourteen years shall be employed to work in any factory or mine or engaged in
any other hazardous employment.

7) Cultural and educational Rights

The Cultural and Educational Rights is one of the six fundamental right that have been granted to us in the
Indian Constitution. This right allow every citizen of India to have a cultural and education upto where that
person wants. This fundamental right is described in the constitution as:

Any section of the citizens residing in the territory of India or any part there of having a distinct language,
script or culture of its own shall have the right to conserve the same. 

No citizen shall be denied admission into any educational institution maintained by the State or receiving aid
out of State funds on grounds only of religion, race, caste, language or any of them.

All minorities, whether based on religion or language, shall have the right to establish and administer
educational institutions of their choice.
 In making any law providing for the compulsory acquisition of any property of any educational institution
established and administered by a minority, referred to in clause (1), the State shall ensure that the amount
fixed by or determined under such law for the acquisition of such property is such as would not restrict or
abrogate the right guaranteed under that clause.

The State shall not, in granting aid to educational institutions, discriminate against any educational institution
on the ground that it is under the management of a minority, whether based on religion or language.

8) THE RIGHT TO CONSTITUTIONAL REMEDIES

The right to constitutional remedies allows Indian citizens to stand up up for their rights against
anybody even the government of India.

The Right to Constitutional Remedies empowers citizens to approach the Supreme Court of

India to seek enforcement, or protection against infringement, of their Fundamental Rights.
Article 32 provides a guaranteed remedy, in the form of a Fundamental Right itself, for
enforcement of all the other Fundamental Rights, and the Supreme Court is designated as the
protector of these rights by the Constitution.[

The Supreme Court has been empowered to issue writs, namely habeas

corpus,mandamus, prohibition, certiorari and quo warranto, for the enforcement of the
Fundamental Rights, while the High Courts have been empowered under Article 226 – which is
not a Fundamental Right in itself – to issue these prerogative writs even in cases not involving
the violation of Fundamental Rights.[74]

The Supreme Court has the jurisdiction to enforce the Fundamental Rights even against private
bodies, and in case of any violation, award compensation as well to the affected individual.
Exercise of jurisdiction by the Supreme Court can also be suo motu or on the basis of a public
interest litigation.[72] This right cannot be suspended, except under the provisions of Article 359
when a state of emergency is declared.[73]

9 ) Right to Health (Assam)

Assam has become the first state in the country to enact a legislation seeking to ensure right to
health for everyone in the state.

The Assam Public Health Bill, 2010, which was passed unanimously by the Assam Assembly
yesterday, made it mandatory for all government and private hospitals and health centres,
including nursing homes, to provide free health care services to a patient seeking emergency
treatment.
The hospitals would have to maintain appropriate protocol of treatment for an emergency patient
for the first 24 hours as per provisions of the legislation.

During discussion of the bill, health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the Centre had assured
the government of providing required corpus funds for emergency treatment with private sector
healthcare establishments having to bear only 10% of the total fund.

The Act will come into force from January next as framing rules for recovery of the expenditure
would take some time, Sarma said.

The legislation also sought to guarantee people's right to appropriate and efficacious medicines
and right to effective measures for prevention, treatment and control of epidemic and endemic
diseases.

The minister announced that children with holes in hearts would be flown to and from Bangalore
for surgery at the Narayan Hrudayalaya Hospital with the government bearing the entire
expenditure of Rs 2.5lakh per child.

National health bill

Important Features of the National Health Bill

 Right to Healthcare - The recently drafted health bill 2009 seeks to legalize the 'right
to healthcare', along with other issues associated with health rights

 Good treatment - It will strive to ensure that good treatment be made available to the
vastly neglected groups such as those affected by HIV/AIDS.

 Collaborations between the Center and the State - The bill demands a broad legal
framework (that involves cooperation/ collaborations between the Center and the State)
for providing essential public health services and to monitor its functions, such as
responding to public health emergencies.

 Emergency Care - According to the National Health Bill 2009 ‘Patient's Right’ includes
emergency care. No individual should be denied emergency treatment because of his
inability to pay fees or due to the requirement for police clearance

 Patient Complaints - The new bill also seeks to make it mandatory for the hospitals to
address patient complaints, on a 24 x 7 basis.

 Name of doctor involved in treatment- Every patient has the right to know name of
doctor / nurse involved in his treatment.

 Summary & Second Opinion - Each patient has the right to avail of a summary of their
condition and also to seek a second opinion.
  Cost of Treatment- A patient may protest against overbilling, transferring elsewhere
without valid reasons and for denying medical records

 Rights of healthcare providers - The rights of healthcare providers is also likely to get
legal recognition

10) Right to employment/ work

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) is an Indian
job guarantee scheme, enacted by legislation on August 25, 2005. The scheme provides a legal
guarantee for one hundred days of employment in every financial year to adult members of any
rural household willing to do public work-related unskilled manual work at the statutory
minimum wage of 100 (US$2.17) per day. The Central government outlay for scheme is
40,000 crore (US$8.68 billion) in FY 2010-11. [1]

This act was introduced with an aim of improving the purchasing power of the rural people,
primarily semi or un-skilled work to people living in rural India, whether or not they are below
the poverty line. Around one-third of the stipulated work force is women. The Bihar government
has established a call centerfor MGNREGA, which has been operational since October 2009.[2]
The law was initially called the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) but
was renamed on 2 October 2009.[

One way to enforce the crucial public investment is to legislate the right to work. The National
Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) is one attempt in this direction.

The original act was based on the principles of universality and self-selection, which allowed all
households to apply and an extension of the Act to the whole of rural India within a five-year
period. The NREGA promises to provide legal guarantee for at least one hundred days of
employment, to begin with on asset-creating work programs every year at minimum wages.

It was open to adult members of every rural household who would volunteer to do casual manual
work. Under the act there should be no gender discrimination in the “provision of employment or
the payment of wages”. Every applicant should be offered employment within 15 days of
registration. If this were not the case an unemployment allowance would be paid.

11)Right to food
Foundation statement: The right to food campaign is an informal network of organisations and
individuals committed to the realisation of the right to food in India. We consider that everyone
has a fundamental right to be free from hunger and undernutrition. Realising this right requires
not only equitable and sustainable food systems, but also entitlements relating to livelihood
security such as the right to work, land reform and social security. We consider that the primary
responsibility for guaranteeing these entitlements rests with the state. Lack of financial resources
cannot be accepted as an excuse for abdicating this responsibility. In the present context, where
people's basic needs are not a political priority, state intervention itself depends on effective
popular organisation. We are committed to fostering this process through all democratic means.

How it happened: The campaign began with a writ petition submitted to the Supreme Court in
April 2001 by People's Union for Civil Liberties, Rajasthan. Briefly, the petition demands that
the country's gigantic food stocks should be used without delay to protect people from hunger
and starvation. This petition led to a prolonged; public interest litigation (PUCL vs Union of
India and Others, Writ Petition [Civil] 196 of 2001). Supreme Court hearings have been held at
regular intervals, and significant "interim orders" have been issued from time to time. However,
it soon became clear that the legal process would not go very far on its own. This motivated the
effort to build a larger public campaign for the right to food.