In a move to educate Indian citizens on the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the Bombay Chartered Accountant Society (BCAS) announced the launch of a special clinic yesterday.

The clinic will be held on alternate Saturdays at Jolly Bhavan No 2, ground floor, New Marine Lines. Hema Sampat, an RTI specialist, will run the clinic with the assistance of Advocate AK Asher. RTI activists Kewal Semlani and Shailesh Gandhi will be advisors to the BCAS clinic.

Speaking on behalf of BCAS, Narayan Verma, a trustee, said, "The RTI Act is more important than freedom of the press. This Act can be used to fight corruption. It can act as a deterrent to corrupt officials."

BCAS has also published a guide on the RTI Act, which tells citizens how to fill up an application for obtaining information under the Act. 
 RTI act means

 You have access to information held by or under control of any public authority. It includes the following:

    - Inspection of work, documents, records
    - Taking notes, extracts, or certified copies of documents or records
    - Taking certified samples of material
    - Obtaining information in the form of diskettes, floppies, tapes, video cassettes or in any other mode or through printouts