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Middle-class empowered | The rise
Published on Wed, Jan 17, 2007 at 08:50, Updated on Sun, Jun 17, 2007 at 16:09 in 
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The Justice for Jessica campaign, the battle for a long overdue judgement in the Priyadarshani Mattoo case,a strong Right To Information campaign, CNN-IBN's citizen journalists - India's middle class has amply proved over the past year that it is up and running for causes that matter.
Be it running around for radical reform, lighting candles for justice or garnering support for a long-term change, the great Indian middle class has been there and done it to all. CNN-IBN celebrates the spirit of the middle-class activism in a special series - The Rise Of The Radical Middle.
New Delhi/Mumbai: Information is power and the great Indian middle class has a new tool to wield it. The Right to Information Act - since it came into force last year - has been a driving force for many who now have the means to take matters in their own hands.
In the third installment of the special series – The Rise of the Radical Middle – CNN-IBN focuses on two men who have used RTI to make their and their society’s lives simpler.
For over eight years, a recycling factory in east Delhi played havoc with Kapil Jain's life.
"Because of the factory my wife had a miscarriage, my father's health got affected and my mother started getting high BP,” says Jain.
Jain did not shift out of his home, nor did he seethe in silence. Instead, this schoolteacher went against the grain of his middle-class sensibilities and decided to get the factory shut.
In 1995, he registered his first police complaint but nothing became of it. He then approached the Pollution Control Board, but in vain.
A desperate and isolated Jain then decided to go the Right to Information way. Just one application under this Act meant prompt action and the factory was sealed in just 26 days
“SDM said we made a mistake. Same day the factory was sealed," says Jain.
Jain still grieves his first unborn child, but with the sadness there is a satisfaction of a citizen who still got his due.
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URBANEYE
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Electronic media has played a very important role in the general awakening of Middle Class India, which is predominent in
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It is wonderful to see the results of the citizen journalist effort. Does anyone have an idea to solve neighborhood
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These incidents show public involvements in gaining success motivates some others to step into this way. In democracy, people protest
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