Rina Sinha. Picture by Amit Kumar

Jamalpur (Munger), Feb. 6: The Right to Information (RTI) Act has helped 32-year-old Rina Sinha fight a two-year-old battle since her husband’s death and emerge victorious.

Rina lost her husband, Kishor Kumar Sinha, on June 3, 2009. He was a Grade C employee (driver) of Eastern Railway, Sahebganj. After Kishor’s death, she bravely confronted her in-laws and Eastern Railway officials for compensation. The RTI Act and a Bhagalpur-based rights group, Human Rights Organisation, came to her help.

Rina, who married Kishor in 2000, was his second wife and has two stepsons. She is now a Group D worker (aaya) at Jamalpur Railway Hospital under Eastern Railway.

Recounting her ordeal, she said: “After being driven out of my husband’s house, I returned to my parents’ house in Sabour. I have two children.”

Rina, who has studied till Class IX, applied for a job to the divisional railway manager (DRM), Malda, Eastern Railway, on compassionate ground.

The first step on her way to run her family was obtaining Kishor’s death certificate. Rina said: “The Sahebganj municipality refused to give my husband’s death certificate and I could not collect necessary documents for compensation from the DRM’s office on July 11, 2009.”

She alleged that some family members on her husband’s side had played foul with her and helped her then minor stepson, Chandan Kumar, procure Kishor’s death certificate in 2009. With the help of the voluntary organisation, she got the information through the RTI Act, Rina said.

Rina invoked the act to know if she was entitled for the job. When the welfare inspector, Eastern Railway, Sahebganj, allegedly sought a bribe of Rs 80,000, the rights group lodged a complaint with the central public information officer-cum-DRM, Malda, on October 25, 2010.

The railway took a suitability test of Rina on November 11, 2010 for a job. Declared unfit for Group C job, Rina was cleared for a Group D post. On December 1, 2010, she was called for pre-appointment formalities. As Rina’s joining was delayed, the rights group sought the reason for it through RTI in November last year. Eastern Railway finally ordered her appointment with effect from January 11, 2012.