As the Right to Information Act (RTI) enters its 13th year today, its impact can be felt in a remote corner, 30 kms from Mumbai. Sunita Gimbhal and her family, along with 20 other families in Pendhripada, Akloli village in Thane district, now live with dignity thanks to the toilets constructed next to their homes. Around the same time last year, they were struggling to keep ants from biting their legs as they conducted their bodily functions in the open.

Most members of these families are labourers or engaged in self-help groups. These families dipped into their meagre savings and got a toilet constructed next to their homes in November, but the inordinately long wait for the money to be reimbursed by the government, under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, put them under financial strain.

An application was filed under RTI by an NGO seeking details of eligible beneficiaries under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

It was only after this that the local administration was forced to speed up the process and reimburse Rs 12,000 to each of these families from February onwards.

"The gram sevak (a government officer) would not take things seriously when the villagers would plead their case," says a project manager (Community Development) with PRASAD Chikitsa, an NGO that works for the benefit of children and communities in the region. "Only when we filed an RTI application, did he came over to meet me and even disbursed after a photograph was taken of the toilets."

"We helped construct the toilets by providing materials such as cement. To ensure that they use the toilets, the villagers were encouraged to put some money from their own pocket as well," says a field officer of Chikitsa. "Most of the toilets were constructed by November last year, yet there was no help from the government. We asked the sarpanch, gram sevak and also other members to come for a meeting in December. While the sarpanch came, the gram sevak and other members did not turn up. We gave her (the sarpanch) the list of people who have made toilets in December. But nothing moved."

The project manager then filed an RTI application asking for details of benefits under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and the list of people in the village who are eligible for the scheme. "The reimbursement did not cover all the expenses incurred, but we managed to get something back," says Viju Harvate, who spent around Rs18,000 for a larger toilet.

Harvate and her family would suffer stomach ailments because they could not go out to relieve themselves when they spotted an animal or a snakes. Defecating in the open during the monsoons also exposed the villagers to many diseases.