Media Houses come together for a social cause

Leading print publications and news channels in India have come forward to educate the consumers about their right to information. In fact, it is one of the rare instances when the Indian media is working together towards the mission of launching a ‘Drive against Bribe’.

This drive will spearhead a movement for the consumers to make them aware that they have the right to information on their pending issues with the Government, in an ethical manner. To materialise this, media houses such as NDTV 24x7, NDTV India, NDTV Profit, Hindustan Times, Hindustan, Prabhat Khabar, Deshonnati, Andhra Jyothi, Raj Express, Dharitiri, and The Hindu have joined hands in support of the 700 self-help groups operating across the country under the leadership of Parivartan, an NGO on RTI activities.

To communicate the message to the consumers, Vishaka Communication, a Delhi based ad agency has designed a few campaigns, for no cost, that have been carried in the newspapers supporting the cause.

In addition, Prabhat Khabar, with the help of Parivartan, has released a book called ‘Soochnaadhikar’ in Hindi, to impart the necessary knowledge to the masses about the Right to Information.

Through this campaign, which has been launched in 48 cities, people will be able to seek help from the media houses (through SMS, websites etc) and self-help groups to resolve their grievances with the Government effectively, through the Right to Information Act, without paying any bribes or waiting endlessly to get their work done.

This campaign came in to being because of the lack of awareness among consumers about the power of the Right to Information Act. This was supported by the keenness shown by the media houses to spread the message for free to broadbase this drive across the country in major Indian cities. NDTV Network’s channels are regularly featuring updates from the camps which are set up across the country to serve as platforms to share the grievances of the public.

The drive has received about 2,500 applications and 1,150 calls by consumers, till date. The NGO had planned to start the movement on the August 15. But it was the interest and eagerness shown by supporters such as NDTV, that kick started the drive from July 1 itself. The Drive against Bribe will continue till the July 15.

© 2006 agencyfaqs!