This Tea Stall Owner From UP Holds Sessions At His Shop To Help People File RTI

It has been twelve years that the Right to Information has come to being in India. When this Act came into existence, it was treated as a welcome move by everyone except political parties. But as time passed, dejection has set in for most of RTI activists who have seen the seamy side of the story.

However, optimism is still out there when we see people like K.M. Yadav making RTI as the weapon against the rampant corruption in the country. He has used the RTI act to gain more transparency about the way government policies work.

Yadav has been working as a RTI activist since 2010.

Since 2013, Yadav has been running a tea stall in Chaubepur village in Kanpur district of Uttar Pradesh. His tea stall is the place from where he works and makes the villagers aware of the government welfare schemes.

Yadav’s ‘chai pe charcha’

When people come to Yadav’s tea stall it is not just to have tea but also to be aware of the various beneficial schemes that the government has been planning for the downtrodden but are yet to reach them.

The major issues that are taken care of are that of queries regarding ration, construction of roads, funds that go into schools etc.

The people who come are not just made aware of the schemes – their queries are also settled while they are sitting at Yadav’s tea stall.

Yadav does his best to help the villagers, who cannot read and write, to file RTIs.

In 2016, the BBC had featured Yadav in its series called #unsungindians.

Speaking to the BBC, Yadav had humbly said, “I am nothing but an activist who is trying his best to help those who are in need.”

Till date Yadav has filed around 800 RTIs. Every day, he inspires more people to file RTIs so that corruption in the country is curbed and transparency surfaces in the governance.

The Logical Indian appreciates the work that K.M. Yadav has been carrying out all this time. We wish him all the best on his journey forward and hope that a lot more people are inspired to follow his footsteps.