Case Analysis: Rajasthan and the Transparency Movement

7.1 MKSS and the Jan Sunwai Tradition

The Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), founded by Aruna Roy, Nikhil Dey, and Shankar Singh in Devdungri village (Bhilwara district, Rajasthan) in 1990, pioneered the jan sunwai (public hearing) format as a democratic accountability tool.

The core demand was simple: workers had a right to see the government documents that listed their employment and wages — the muster rolls. If a government document said Ramdevlal worked 30 days and was paid Rs 600, Ramdevlal had a right to verify this. Simple transparency, radical consequences: MKSS found pervasive fraud — names of fake workers, inflated quantities, dead people on payrolls.

Their campaign from Beawar (1994–96) — 40 days of hunger strikes demanding right to inspect records — forced Rajasthan's government to introduce state-level transparency rules. This grassroots Rajasthan movement ultimately produced the national RTI Act 2005.

7.2 Rajasthan's Transparency Initiatives

Rajasthan has been both a leader and a laggard in transparency:

Leadership:

• First state to have community-level social audits under MGNREGS institutionalised
• Jan Soochna Portal (launched 2019) — made Rajasthan first state to provide 100+ scheme data online without RTI
• MKSS jan sunwai model adopted as national MGNREGS social audit framework (Ministry of Rural Development)

Challenges:

• RTI implementation gaps — Central Information Commission and Rajasthan SIC have significant pendencies
• Journalists and RTI activists face hostility in some districts

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