Right to Know, Right to Live

This notebook from the New Tactics in Human Rights Tactical Notebook Series shares how the Indian organisation Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) has been deeply involved in a collective process which has shaped and influenced the campaign for the Right to Information. The MKSS is a part of the "non-party political process" in India. MKSS makes the case that without access to information and transparency there can be no genuine participation of all members of society, particularly the economically poor, in democracy. The right to know and actual transparency of information provide the ability to demand and access rights.

From the Introduction: "Access to livelihood, wages, medicine and other essentials inspired the workers and peasants in central Rajasthan to protest against the opaqueness of the local government. The Right to Information (RTI) campaign of MKSS is symbiotically connected to an understanding that without information and transparency there can be no genuine participation of the poor in democracy, no ability to demand and access their rights. The Right to Information Act is the result of a collective effort of organizations and people who battled at the grassroots, in the villages and in urban areas. Many helped draft the law, some helped with critical input or provided the space and infrastructure, and yet others gave monetary contributions. So the credit is shared by a large group. The contribution of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan is one of many.

This notebook describes the origins of the right to information campaign in India from the perspective and experience of MKSS. You will see how MKSS began with a strategy of advocating for minimum wage payments for local labourers, but subsequently shifted to mobilizing local populations to demand access to public records that exposed extensive corruption and abuse of power in our state of Rajasthan, India. More recently, MKSS's strategy has again changed to engagement with the political process, as they have joined a national lobbying effort to change legislation governing the right to information and supporting transparent, accountable candidates for electoral office. Throughout these changes, MKSS deliberated to define the appropriate strategy for their goals, and to identify creative, inclusive tactics to further their strategy. You’ll see how the tactics and strategies they selected helped them build a mass grassroots movement for change and influence all levels of the Indian government."