Himadrish Suwan, a second year student of Political Science, Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, has been presented the RTI Awareness Award 2015 by the RTI Institute of India on 28th September, 2015 (International Right to Information Day), for his contribution in the field of RTI activism.
Himadrish has filed over a 100 RTI petitions. The very first petition he filed was to replace the old, outdated coaches of the Ranchi Rajdhani with safer Linke Hofmann Busch coaches that will not turn turtle in the event of a collision. The Indian Railways swung into action and replaced 16 of the old coaches with LHB ones. Himadrish has also addressed several other RTI petitions to the Delhi Police, Central Board of Secondary Education and the Prime Minister’s Office.
On what it feels like to be the youngest to be honoured with this award, he says that it is a matter of pride. “If you have your question ready, it takes only a few minutes to file an RTI online. I consider the RTI to be a tool for social change and the day to day problems prevailing in the society inspire me to work,” he says. He feels that, rather than wasting time on social media, time may be spent on such constructive work, keeping in mind the larger interest of the society.
Himadrish also writes for various dailies and magazines and is the National Convener and founder of Mission E-Safai, a contribution of DU students to the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan initiative.
Abhinaya Harigovind
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