Beawar, in central Rajasthan, likes to call itself the “RTI City”. Today, it stands at a crossroads of historical significance for India’s democracy. On October 12, the RTI Act completed 20 years, and Beawar marked 30 years of its struggle for the path-breaking legislation. It was a moment when people could, with justification, say they created history.

This sense of accomplishment led the municipality of Beawar to unanimously, and across party lines, resolve to build a memorial at the Chang Gate — where a protest was held in 1996 to demand transparency in information — to mark Beawar’s contribution to the RTI movement and the powerful law that followed.

When Beawar became a district in 2023, the municipality passed a resolution to set aside land for an RTI Museum to document and exhibit

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