Awareness About Right To Information

By Digital Empowerment Foundation

Published on: June 15, 2023

Just designing good welfare schemes would be of no use if they don’t reach those in need for reasons that require just a little bit of extra attention and proactiveness from someone from the community itself. Soochna Adhikar Kendras serve as platforms to enable this.

Soochna Adhikar Kendras are designed to proactively provide the necessary information to those in need who are usually not even aware of the welfare schemes that they can benefit from. This stems from the fundamental principle of ensuring the well being of the society on the whole by taking care of the basic things that a citizen would need to lead a comfortable life. So far, such centres have been vital in filling the gaps of having such schemes and people actually benefiting from such schemes. 

One such instance is that of Vijay Kumar Ram’s who is a resident of Mohvyatpur of Bihar, “My son, Ankush Kumar, has a hearing disability in one ear and is undergoing treatment in AIIMS, India’s premier medical hospital. While getting treated there, we learned that we needed to get a disability card for him from our home state or apply online. 

I searched for information on how to obtain the card in many places, but none provided a satisfactory response. Eventually, I visited the Soochna Adhikar Kendra in Deoria’s old market area after seeing a banner on a bus advertising it. The staff at the centre were incredibly helpful and informative, explaining the process of obtaining the disability card in a simple and easy-to-understand manner. They provided me with a list of all the necessary documents, and within an hour, my son filled out the form and submitted it. The staff informed me that it would take between 45 to 60 days to process the card. 

I gained a lot of knowledge and information from the Soochna Adhikar Kendra and recommended it to people in my village. I am now returning to the centre to inquire about other digital services and how they can assist me with any work that needs to be done online.”