A corruption box in Ladakh, India. Photo: watchsmart (flickr)

A 2005 Right to Information Law is slowly changing the tide for the victims of government corruption in India.

In a country where the poor rarely see the money they're entitled to through grants and public programs, the Right-to-Know law provides greater transparency around public funds in India, explains the The New York Times.

Basically, the law is intended to give citizens a course of action when they feel like they've been excluded from a government services or programs. To explain the law, the New York Times gives the example of a impoverished mother of three who applied to a grant program to help the poor build houses. This woman fit the grant criteria perfectly, but waited for word about her application while her wealthier neighbors got grants to build new houses. So she filed a complaint, requesting to know who had gotten the grant in her community by using the Right to Information Law. Her grant was approved just a few days later. In another example given by the Times, a woman filed a request when health-care workers weren't showing up the local clinic, prompting the employees to rethink skipping work. With a responses like these, it's no wonder the law is so popular.

But it has now become clear that India’s 1.2 billion citizens have been newly empowered by the far-reaching law granting them the right to demand almost any information from the government. The law is backed by stiff fines for bureaucrats who withhold information, a penalty that appears to be ensuring speedy compliance.

So far, the law has been successful at guaranteeing the poor the money they deserve ... eventually. But the law hasn't curbed corruption. Still, an activist for the law explains to the Times that greater transparency is a good first step. "Our main objective was to empower citizens ... this law has done that — given the people the power to challenge their government. That is no small thing."