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Information law lifts Indian poor
By Mark Dummett
BBC News, Delhi

The law helped Noshe Ali discover that no development was planned
For two decades the people of Sunder Nagri, on the north-east edge of the Indian capital, Delhi, had to make do without sewers.

As the alleyways and backyards of their slum festered, local officials kept making and breaking promises to clean things up.

Then, local businessman Noshe Ali decided to take matters into his own hands.

Using a new law that forces the authorities to disclose information, he discovered what everyone in Sunder Nagri had already guessed - that there were no plans to dig any sewers.

Armed with this knowledge, he persuaded the Indian capital's chief minister to authorise a budget, and work started within a year.

"This place used to be really dirty. There were lots of mosquitoes and many people caught disease. Now things are quite different," Noshe Ali said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6124898.stm