The foundation stone for a people’s Right to Information museum was recently laid at Beawar in Rajsthan. It is the birthplace of the RTI movement.
- The Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) had organised a prolonged dharna in Beawar in April-May 1996 demanding an RTI law. The MKSS has been waging struggles for people’s rights relating to land, minimum wages and forests.
- The dharna, which lasted for 40 days, went on to become a movement for transparency, accountability and participatory democracy and led to the establishment of the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI).
- The movement forced the Rajasthan government to pass the State RTI Act in 2000, after which Parliament enacted the RTI Act in 2005.
