The Mighty Fall

Dear  Friends,

Sorry for not blogging for so long but was caught up with several commitments that left me panting at the end of the day. Now I am a bit free and promise to get back to blogging. I am delighted to inform you that my second book `The Mighty Fall' is ready for release at the hands of Rajdeep Sardesai and Medha Patkar on the occasion of the 5th Prakash Kardaley Memorial lecture being held in Pune on September 8. Following is the synopsis of the book which is priced at Rs.200 and would be available on flipkart.com Sepat 8 onward, cheers and warm rgds vinita

The Mighty Fall reflects the ongoing silent social revolution of citizen

empowerment and participatory governance sweeping across India, thanks to the

Right to Information Act (RTI), 2005.

Mirrored in this book are two sterling examples of how RTI proved to be mightier

than the mighty in power.

The outgoing President of India, Pratibha Patil, was caught in a whirlpool of

controversy over her post-retirement home in Pune. Information procured under

RTI revealed several irregularities, sparking nationwide media uproar. Despite

stiff initial resistance, the President had to finally give up the land.

Dow Chemicals, the giant multinational company, was allotted a whopping

100 acres of land in village Shinde Vasuli, Pune, ostensibly to set up a ‘research

centre’ at a throw-away price. RTI exposed that the company had been

given permission for ‘manufacture’ (and not ‘research’) without stringent

environmental clearance certificates as required. Unable to withstand the

escalating heat, Dow abandoned the plan and quit.

In both cases, the author’s journalistic writing forced the desired result as she

employed the RTI tool with great elan. This book provides an insight into the

chronology of those events.

Besides providing an overview of the RTI Act for common knowledge,

the book also highlights select cases where citizens have used RTI to

get their personal problems solved.

Read on, get empowered!