Express News Service Posted online: Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at 2234 hrs
Vadodara : The Right to Information Act (RTI) helpline started by the NGO, Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (MAGP), completed its third year of working, on Tuesday.
According to the details of the call records collected by the NGO, the helpline has received the maximum number of calls from farmers across Gujarat and some neighbouring states, wanting to know the procedure of filing an RTI form, and other related information. So far, the helpline has answered 38,269 phone calls on RTI-related issues.
Pankti Jog, co-ordinator, MAGP said: “An analysis of people calling up the helpline revealed that most of them were farmers who had questions related to their land. Teachers, Public Information Officers (PIOs), differently-abled people, social workers and small entrepreneurs also formed a sizeable number of callers.”
According to an analysis, the major part of the calls involved complaints about receiving partial or misleading information (15 per cent), followed closely by those about receiving information about the stipulated period of 30 days (12 per cent).
Other complaints included applications being rejected, applicants being threatened and denial of information by the PIOs.
According to the NGO, Gujarat has been one of the top performers in the implementation and provision of information under the RTI Act.
Harinesh Pandya from MAGP said: "The preliminary data of the National Campaign for People's Right to Information ranks Gujarat second after Meghalaya in the implementation of RTI.”
The study further showed that while the RTI helpline has been largely successful in spreading awareness, a lot still needs to be done to increase the understanding of services and to ensure honest and speedy delivery of information.
Jog said: “Rural people know more about RTI. We also receive more queries from them as compared to the urban population. Panchayat members too use the helpline to get answer to their queries. In fact, the helpline has been so successful that even PIOs and appellate organisations contact us to ensure transparency in processing of the applications.”
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Thursday, June 04, 2009
RTI applies to JNMF, say 3 commissioners
3 Jun 2009, 2331 hrs IST, Abhinav Garg, TNN
NEW DELHI: Going against the legal opinion rendered by their chief, three information commissioners of CIC have declared Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund (JNMF) a public authority under the RTI Act.
"In the interest of justice, transparency and accountability, the Commission declares the JNMF to be a public authority under the RTI Act,'' observed a bench of IC's Annapurna Dixit, M M Ansari and Satyananda Mishra on Tuesday, giving the trust 15 days' time to put in place a mechanism to receive and dispose of RTI pleas.
The CIC's stand is contrary to that adopted by chief information commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, who in a separate legal opinion sent to the Trust in 2007, had concluded that it was not a public authority so the RTI Act wasn't applicable to it.
The case stemmed from an RTI filed by B R Manhas, a senior citizen in JNMF in November 2006. Manhas's plea was a modest one, asking "year-wise financial grant given by HRD ministry and its purpose.''
JNMF shot off a letter to CIC wanting to know if "charitable trusts set up in memory of national leaders come within RTI Act''. In response, Habibullah replied the RTI Act didn't apply to the fund so it wasn't bound by it.
But it was Manhas's argument that was upheld by CIC in its latest ruling since the trust received government funds and was housed within government property Teen Murti House it was accountable to the public.
Infact, Manhas had taken the battle to the Delhi HC alleging "judicial indiscipline' ' on behalf of Habibullah because he first gave an opinion on his RTI plea, then was also a part of CIC bench that heard his appeal against JNMF's refusal to disclose information.
HC had then asked Habibullah to "consider the appropriateness of his participation' ' in hearing the appeal, suggesting the CIC convene a three commissioner bench to reconsider the case.
Now, apart from appointing a PIO, the trust will also have to furnish the information asked by Manhas in the RTI.
NEW DELHI: Going against the legal opinion rendered by their chief, three information commissioners of CIC have declared Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund (JNMF) a public authority under the RTI Act.
"In the interest of justice, transparency and accountability, the Commission declares the JNMF to be a public authority under the RTI Act,'' observed a bench of IC's Annapurna Dixit, M M Ansari and Satyananda Mishra on Tuesday, giving the trust 15 days' time to put in place a mechanism to receive and dispose of RTI pleas.
The CIC's stand is contrary to that adopted by chief information commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, who in a separate legal opinion sent to the Trust in 2007, had concluded that it was not a public authority so the RTI Act wasn't applicable to it.
The case stemmed from an RTI filed by B R Manhas, a senior citizen in JNMF in November 2006. Manhas's plea was a modest one, asking "year-wise financial grant given by HRD ministry and its purpose.''
JNMF shot off a letter to CIC wanting to know if "charitable trusts set up in memory of national leaders come within RTI Act''. In response, Habibullah replied the RTI Act didn't apply to the fund so it wasn't bound by it.
But it was Manhas's argument that was upheld by CIC in its latest ruling since the trust received government funds and was housed within government property Teen Murti House it was accountable to the public.
Infact, Manhas had taken the battle to the Delhi HC alleging "judicial indiscipline' ' on behalf of Habibullah because he first gave an opinion on his RTI plea, then was also a part of CIC bench that heard his appeal against JNMF's refusal to disclose information.
HC had then asked Habibullah to "consider the appropriateness of his participation' ' in hearing the appeal, suggesting the CIC convene a three commissioner bench to reconsider the case.
Now, apart from appointing a PIO, the trust will also have to furnish the information asked by Manhas in the RTI.
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