On the orbit of training and capacity building for Access to Information, YASHADA has been nominated as State Implementing Agency (SIA) for the state of Maharashtra by DoPT, Government of India.

In Maharashtra, two districts were selected for capacity building for RTI. This task was something more than training the Government officers. Only training programmes or details and intricacies of the Act could not have been the focus in these districts because it was for total capacity building. Chandrapur and Nandurbar are that way underdeveloped districts in Maharashtra and if the model used in these districts is successful, then it can be used all over Maharashtra.

The methodology was different. In both these districts, Maharashtra's official language Marathi isgenerally understood, however, colloquial languages are different. In Chandrapur, ‘Zadi Boli’ is used and in Nandurbar, being the Adiwasi prominent area, 2-3 Adiwasi languages are in use.

YASHADA decided to take help of local artists in this regard. A creative workshop was arrangedin YASHADA in July 2006 for about 30 artists from these 2 districts and from Pune. The motto was to discuss on various methods – ways to reach to the people in these areas and to know about their fairs and festivals to have a clear insight about their lifestyle and beliefs to make the penetration effective. Sessions were arrangedfor these artists to make them aware about the fundamentals of the Act. The thrust was on the 'message to be delivered.'

The results were fantastic. Street plays, Songs, Songadya scripts (local folk art in Nandurbar), puppet shows, posters, etc. were developed on sample basis. Ideas and experiences were shared from artists from all these different schools. This exercise for the same cause and from the same platform of YASHADA, enrichedevery participant in the workshop including YASHADA’s staff. This was a pioneering effort of using art and artists for building Awareness of an Act.

Using the material so created specially for the two districts, 7 training programmes were conducted covering 424 participants including Govt. officials as well as NGOs Media and social workers in the field of RTI.