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Saturday, May 15, 2010

Common man and RTI Act

AD Bhavaser and his friend Partish Parekh prevented communal violence  during the high voltage Gujrat assembly elections in Dec 2007.They filed RTI application  and forced Election commission to take note of ill -intentioned moves.
A month before elections , municipal councillors had issued instructions that the board of housing societies in Ahmedabad be painted saffron and green according to type of community living.Besides there were banners announcing "Welcome to Hindu Rahtra". Fearing another round of communal violance during the elections, both Parekh and Bhavsar filed RTIs to know the reason behind the sudden decision to paint society boards.They sought details of budget earmarked for the purpose and file noting of officers responsible for the decision.They also demanded money spent by individul counsillors on preparing banners.

Within minutes , the banners were removed and the officers concerned were issued showcause notices.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Generous acts

Nandan Pandya distributes footwear among the barefoot poor at traffic signals in Mumbai .70-year-old man who attends every wedding in his locality in Navi Mumbai to collect leftover food and feed the hungry kids in his neighbourhood.

A real estate builder, Narulla and his friends set out on mini trucks every evening with potable water tanks to distribute drinking water in the shanties of west Delhi.
Mrs Chheda unflinchingly delivers five litres of buttermilk everyday for the three summer months at a nearby milk booth to be distributed amongst the thirsty vendors, watchmen and taxi drivers.
R Kumar, a Delhi-based journalist, never leaves home without packets of glucose biscuits in his car. He hands them to poor kids and cops stationed at traffic lights. Kumar feels, “It’s better than giving them money. As for the cops, they are just grateful that someone even stopped by to think of them!”
Rohan Solomon, lead vocalist of rock band Cyanide. Little girls at Khushi Home in Delhi call him ‘guitar wale bhaiyya’. He drops in during his free time and shares some music with the kids. He also gets them Tom and Jerry DVDs. “What most people don’t realise is that these kids have the right to have fun as much as they have the right to food, clothing, shelter and education.”
“Engineering student Pradip Ugra from Pune, who spends his birthdays with the elderly in an old age home.
Delhi-based businessman Nitin Gupta’s family doesn’t make offerings to priests on shraadh ceremonies. The entire family shares food and spends the day playing antakshri with blind kids from an orphanage in Vikaspuri, Delhi on such occasions.
Five-star hotels like the Taj Palace Delhi gives away surplus food to Father Agnel Bal Bhavan, a hostel for lepers. The Le Meridien gives excess food to Asian Food Bank and other leftovers to People for Animals. Meridien regularly gives wilted flowers to an NGO for women and children where natural colour is turned into dye.
Prasad Dhume, a former engineer, gave up his job to dedicate full time to the cause of those who have their upper knee amputated, by providing them low-cost artificial limb accessories.