Crusader against injustice

NDTV Correspondent, Wednesday June 24, 2009, New Delhi

A crusader against injustice who has successfully raised his voice against some unscrupulous LPG dealers, Devendra Kumar lives in a slum in south Delhi where some gas dealers would refuse a new connection if the customer did not buy a stove from them. Worse, they would even charge nearly four times the price of the stove. Two years ago, Devendra who was 20 then, filed an application with the Indian Oil Corporation under the Right to Information Act. Within a month, he got a response that came as an eye-opener. It said customers cannot be forced to buy the stove from the dealer and that there is no provision to wait for 21 days to get a cylinder refilled. "When the RTI Act was passed, I wasn't fully aware of it. But in 2007, when I got to know the provisions, I realised that it was equivalent to the powers of an MP or an MLA," says Devendra Kumar, RTI Activist. Devender and his friends circulated copies of the RTI response among slum dwellers, educating them about their rights. They got threats from the gas dealers but Devendra didn't budge - a move that finally paid off. "Now when I go, then they all stand up and all the work is done in minutes but I want the same treatment to all," observes Devendra. Devendra refurbishes designer shoes for a living. Now that he knows the power of RTI he's trying to make lives easier for many others.