It has been a year since the Right To Information Act became law and people are starting to see its positive impact in their lives.

Mazloom Nadaf, a 70-year old rickshaw puller in Bihar has built his own house after exercising his right to know.

But he spent a long time to get his home under the Indira Awas Yogana - the country's national housing scheme.

Five years after he applied, authorities demanded Rs 5000 to process his application.

But he refused to given in and instead fought back with the help of the Right To Information Act in his success story.

NGO role

Nadaf approached the legal aid centre of an NGO working in Madhubani district and sought their assistance in drafting and filing a RTI application.

In his application Mazloom asked for the daily progress report made on his application to avail of the Indira Awas Yojana.

He filed his application with the Circle Officer for his block who forwarded the same to the block development officer (BDO).

The BDO on receiving the RTI application sent for Mazloom and treated him like a VIP and with a lot of respect handed him a cheque of Rs. 15,000 (first installment payment) under the Indira Awas Yojna.

Mazloom's house is now under construction. He has also been assured by the BDO that all his other requests will also be taken care of.