Activist sets up first Right to Information library

Chandigarh: In a first of its kind initiative, a library of RTI documents has been set up in Chandigarh. It aims at becoming a repository of RTI documents that have already reached the public domain and need not be applied for again.

So, if you have filed an RTI application in Chennai or Guwahati, Hemant Goswami in far-flung Chandigarh is its safe-keeper. He has been diligently spending hours formulating a unique classification system for documents gathered by RTI activists and ordinary citizens.

He says, "We have to step in when governments fail. Section 4(1)(a) of the RTI Act mandates that the authorities should maintain their records duly catalogued, indexed and wherever possible, computerised and connected through a network all over the country. Nothing has been done on this."