Visually impaired person opens panchayat's eyes

He cannot see but was determined to open the eyes of administration. More than his poverty, 26-year-old Ratna Al, it was authorities turning blind eye to development works in his village that pained him.

A native of Rangpar, a dusty hamlet of 750 people in Wankaner taluka, Ratna used Right to Information (RTI). Ratna has put the village on development track. A neat two-km road has replaced the stony path connecting it to highway. The thorny gando bawal shrubs that dotted the roadside are now being cleared regularly and Rangpar is getting the facelift.

But, getting all this done was not at all easy for Ratna, whose family lives below poverty line. Besides all the paper work, he even had to suffer humiliation by officials whenever he raised questions about development.

"The documents I got using RTI showed that many works registered as completed in the papers were actually never taken up. In 2008, I used RTI to know how many schemes had panchayat implemented and how much money was spent on each work," said Ratna.

Though I did not get accurate information, it helped them realize that their inefficiency would be exposed.

Now, everything is falling in place, thanks to RTI.

"If RTI Act, was not there, we would never have known the irregularities in local administration'' said Ratna, a farmer studied till class X.

"I can't see but I can sense the relief among villagers," he said

"His work is truly praiseworthy. People support him but not openly as no one wants to confront local authorities. But, Ratna stands firm and results are there," says villager Bhurabhai Barot.