Women in Delhi Use Open Information Law to Get Services

 

A law that permits Indians to get information about their government is helping¹ a group of women in Delhi get needed services.

The women have led a successful campaign demanding that city officials improve access to water, waste removal services and transportation.

The women live in Savda Ghevra, a slum² resettlement colony for people who have been moved from extremely poor areas. It is the largest such colony outside of the city of New Delhi.

The success of the women is a rare example of poor people in India using the Right to Information Act to change their community.

Access to basic services

When they hear the water trucks arrive, residents of Savda Ghevra rush out of their homes to fill their containers. Doing this can be difficult. But after living without access to tap water for many years, residents are pleased that the water truck comes every day.

"We used to bring water from such a long distance," said Urmila Devi. "We could not even offer anyone a glass of water; we had to keep it for our children."

Devi was among the 30,000 people who were moved to a place outside the city when India's capital was preparing for the 2010 Commonwealth³ Games.

However, the people in the colony have been struggling to get services they need, such as clean water.

But the situation started to change when women like Devi learned how to use the law to get basic services.

The women filed applications under the Right to Information Act. They learned that trucks that were supposed to bring water to their area were going to other places. This is a common problem in Delhi where there is not enough water. Often, the trucks would go to places where residents could pay for the water.

The requests led officials to place tracking devices on the water trucks. In addition, a device was installed in Savda Ghevra to supply water in case home supplies become low.

The Right to Information Act became law in 2005. Since then, citizens have filed tens of thousands of applications through it. They have sought information about things like damaged roads.

The success that the women had with accessing water moved them to demand other services, such as public toilets and a health center. A community center also is being built.

Few public buses used to serve the area, but that has recently changed, too.

Learning how to file the documents was not easy for these women, many of whom have difficulty reading and writing.

At first, their writing was not very good, Devi said. But, it slowly improved, especially with the help of younger boys and girls involved in the project.

A nonprofit group provides help

The community learned to file the applications and to deal with city officials through a project led by a nonprofit organization called Marg.

Devi and the other women remember traveling for long distances to attend the meetings. After believing for their whole lives that they did not have legal rights, it was hard for them to believe that they did.

It took the women almost one year to learn how to petition⁴ officials.

Mohammed Noor Alam is the program manager at Marg. He says women were the most willing to learn because they are the most affected⁵ by lack of services, especially water.

Alam says filing the application for water taught the women that they could claim other rights. He also says this has created lasting⁶ change.

Women like Nazra Khatun are now turning their attention to social problems such as safety for women and young girls.

She said that the women feel empowered after their efforts. Now, they would like to end domestic⁷ violence in their community.

The power of activism has turned these women into community leaders, Alam said. “They are like hawks⁹ keeping watch on everything.” When women lead such a holistic¹⁰ change, all of society can progress, he said.

I'm Lucija Millonig.

And I'm Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

access – v. a way of being able to get or use something

slum – n. an area of a city where poor people live and the buildings are in bad condition

tap – n. a device for controlling the flow of a liquid or gas from a pipe or container

file – v. to give something, such as an official form or a document, to someone in authority so that it can be considered

install – v. to make a machine ready to use in a certain place

toilet – n. a large bowl attached to a pipe that is used for getting rid of bodily waste and then flushed¹¹ with water

petition – v. to ask a person, group, or organization for something in a formal way

domestic violence – n. violent behavior in the home, commonly involving the violent abuse of a spouse¹² or romantic partner

hawk⁸ – n. a kind of bird that kills other birds and animals for food

holistic – adj. relating to or concerned with complete systems rather than with individual parts

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 slum   

n.贫民窟，贫民区；vi.（因好奇而）逛贫民区

参考例句：

• These children came from a slum area.这些孩子来自贫民窟区。
• What a wretched existence the people in the slum lead!这个贫民窟里的人们过着多么令人悲惨的生活啊！

3 commonwealth   

n.共和国，联邦，共同体

参考例句：

• He is the chairman of the commonwealth of artists.他是艺术家协会的主席。
• Most of the members of the Commonwealth are nonwhite.英联邦的许多成员国不是白人国家。

4 petition   

n.请愿书，申请书，诉状；v.请愿，正式请求

参考例句：

• Thousands of citizens subscribed the petition.几千名公民在请愿书上签名。
• The number of signers of the petition for a new school snowballed.要求增设新学校而签名的人像滚雪球似的越来越多。

5 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

6 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

7 domestic   

adj.家里的，国内的，本国的；n.家仆，佣人

参考例句：

• This is domestic news.这是国内新闻。
• She does the domestic affairs every day.她每天都忙家务。

8 hawk   

n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员

参考例句：

• The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it.鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来,并把它杀死。
• The hawk snatched the chicken and flew away.老鹰叼了小鸡就飞走了。

9 hawks   

鹰( hawk的名词复数 )； 鹰派人物，主战派人物

参考例句：

• Two hawks were hover ing overhead. 两只鹰在头顶盘旋。
• Both hawks and doves have expanded their conditions for ending the war. 鹰派和鸽派都充分阐明了各自的停战条件。

10 holistic   

adj.从整体着眼的，全面的

参考例句：

• There is a fundamental ambiguity in the use of word "whole" in recent holistic literature.在近代的整体主义著作中，“整体”这个词的用法极其含混。
• In so far as historicism is technological,its approach is not piecemeal,but "holistic".仅就历史决定论是一种技术而论，它的方法不是渐进的，而是“整体主义的”。

11 flushed   

a.(～with sth.)兴奋的，充满喜悦的

参考例句：

• She flushed with anger. 她气得涨红了脸。
• Her face was flushed with anger. 她的脸气红了。

12 spouse   

n.配偶(指夫或妻)

参考例句：

• Her spouse will come to see her on Sunday.她的丈夫星期天要来看她。
• What is the best way to keep your spouse happy in the marriage?在婚姻中保持配偶幸福的最好方法是什么？