Bihar's programme of filing RTI applications through a call center is a novel one. The question is whether the model is effiicient enough to be replicated in other states like Karnataka.
If you are in Bihar, you can get electronic goods repaired, phone numbers, buy things through call centres — and also file an RTI application. Zafar Hassan has filed two applications in the past two years through call centres, without having to do the rounds of Public Information Offices (PIO).
A novel idea introduced by the state government in 2007, Jankari is a call centre in Bihar where RTI applications can be filed over the phone. The call centre’s team leader, Pramod Kumar, informs that since its inception, 16,500 applications have been filed through this call centre, and every year the number keeps increasing. Applications have increased from 500 to 1,000 per month on an average.