Road to RTI

BANGLADESH

Monday, March 29, 2010                    
Sanjida Sobhan and Shazzad Khan

TODAY is March 29, 2010 -- on this day last year the first session of the Bangladesh 9th Parliament adopted the Right to Information Bill. The precondition of basic democracy in a country is to ensure participation of the people in its development process. One of the core determinants of participatory democracy is that the government proactively recognises its people's right to information and takes measures to implement this right.

The preamble of Right to Information Act 2009 says that "all powers in the republic belong to the people, and to ensure the empowerment of the people it is imperative to implement Right to Information Act." This progressive act also proclaims that "the right to information shall ensure that transparency and accountability in all public, autonomous and statutory organisations and in private organisations run on government or foreign funding shall increase, corruption shall decrease and good governance shall be established."

By adopting the Right to Information Act, the present government has demonstrated its commitment towards transparency and accountability in public functions. The act will pave the way for people to be aware of their entitlements and to enjoy their entitled opportunities and services to be provided by the institutions concerned. The uniqueness of this act is that it is binding on everybody equally.

Article 2 of the act defines the bodies, which are responsible for providing information as "authorities." These authorities include institutions that are directly or indirectly financed by the government and also the institutions, which receive foreign donations. Under this act, both government and non-government institutions are accountable to disclose and provide information of their activities and services.

The RTI Act 2009 has been influenced by other similar acts of different countries, especially India. The Information Disclosure Law 2000 of South Africa has played a commendable role in conceiving right to information act of many countries. As per this law, anyone can have access to any document of any private institution in South Africa.

As per the Right to Information Act of Bangladesh, common people have been given absolute authority to enquire about the welfare activities promised or committed by the non-government and private institutions. Moreover, if required, the government can also ask for information from these institutions. Very recently, the honourable law minister requested people to provide information to the tribunal formed for the trial of war criminals of 1971.

At present, citizens of 88 developed and developing countries enjoy the legal frameworks for free flow of information. In most of these countries the government and the people have successfully implemented the right to information law to strengthen their democratic system by ensuring transparency and accountability.

If the Right to Information Act is properly implemented, people will easily come to know about the opportunities and services which the government is accountable to provide to the people and, in turn, the people can utilise those for participating in the governance of the country and bringing about positive changes in their lives.

We know that a big portion of our budget is allocated for social safety-net programs targeting the poor. However, if they are not aware of these programs, it will not be possible for them to benefit from these and government poverty reduction programs will remain unutilised. On the other hand, if the government empowers poor people by providing required information, it can help meet the development targets.

Free flow of information can ensure proper and transparent distribution of old-age allowance, widow allowance, VGD, VGF, etc among those who really need them. If people are deprived of these services, they can seek information under the RTI Act and enjoy their entitled opportunities and services.

In this manner, RTI can ensure the rights of the marginalised population, like women, children, disabled people and the poor. A day labourer can learn whether his contractor is paying him/her fair wages as per contract. A small business firm can seek redress if the tender of an influential person is entertained instead of his/her tender with competitive quotation.

If there is free flow of information, the residents of any locality can examine the quality of an under-construction road in terms of its proposed design and materials as mentioned in the contract paper. If the government has information of the total number of migrant workers working abroad and the number of migrant workers going abroad, then it can address many problems of the migrant workers and their families.

All the sections of the RTI Act of Bangladesh took effect from July 1, 2009. Earlier, in 2008, the RTI ordinance was passed leaving aside three sections. These three sections -- encompassing the provisions of request for information, appeal against the refusal of providing information and lodging complaints against information authority -- also took effect from July 1, 2009.

In both developed and developing countries having RTI acts, all the sections were not brought into force at a time. This was because they needed preparatory time to finalise the contents of the information to be provided and the system and process of providing information. Once these had been done, the full set of the act was put into effect. In India, the RTI Act was adopted in May 2005, but was fully enacted in October 2005. Similarly, in South Africa the act was adopted in February 2000, but enacted in March 2001.

In Bangladesh, a 3-member Information Commission was formed just after the RTI Act was passed in parliament. While developing a draft information act in Bangladesh, involved civil society members consulted the Right to Information Act 2005 India, considering its wide usage and implementation strategies. In India, the finalisation of rules for RTI was done within 120 days of adoption of the act.

The preparation of our RTI rules is at the final stage. Meanwhile, the information commission has already organised introductory meetings on RTI at divisional and district levels. The information ministry has also organised introductory meetings with the information officers. Preparation of enlisting the point-persons responsible for providing information on behalf of different institutions and finalisation of a database of these point-persons is still underway. It is expected that this database will be published once it is completed.

So far the information providing organisations or institutions and the general population are not well aware of the RTI Act and its application. In this regard, along with the government, the non-government organisations should come forward in awareness-building activities on RTI. The non-government organisations, which come under the jurisdiction of the RTI Act, should also on their own accord take up steps to disclose the names of the point-persons responsible for providing information.

It is learnt that in spite of the High Court order concerning the disclosure of seven types of information, (academic qualification, criminal suit, occupation, source of income, personal property, debt and bank loan) of the candidates taking part in the Union Parishad elections, the Election Commission is seriously considering reforming the rules of Union Parishad elections. If provisions are not in place to disclose the information concerning the candidates of Union Parishad elections, the voters will not be able to apply their rights in selecting the appropriate candidates.

This year, on February 6, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in a speech to the nation to commemorate the first anniversary of her government's assumption to power, said: "We want to ensure free thinking, freedom of expression and free flow of information. To uphold freedom of expression the cabinet has already approved the proposal for amending Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) 1898. On the basis of RTI 2009 the rules for RTI have already been enacted."

Inspired by the speech of the prime minister, all relevant institutions should take up measures to implement RTI and make their efforts open to people. Otherwise, the spirit that RTI is the means for empowerment, good governance and protecting human rights will be lost gradually.

‘Threat’ to whistleblower IIT teacher

The Telegraph
CHARU SUDAN KASTURI

New Delhi, March 28:
An IIT Kharagpur administrator has warned a professor who revealed discrepancies in the 2006 admissions that he was “cutting” his hand by challenging the institutes, triggering charges of threatening the whistleblower.

The “threat” was made before the Central Information Commission (CIC) as it heard Right to Information appeals by the professor, Rajeev Kumar, and has been recorded in the CIC’s order — a copy of which is with The Telegraph.

It is extremely rare for the CIC — India’s apex RTI Act umpire — to record specific comments made by parties during hearings.

“By doing this, you are cutting your hand,” IIT Kharagpur officiating registrar T.K. Ghoshal told Kumar at the March 19 hearing at the CIC here, according to the order.

The case is being heard by information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi.

The admission discrepancies revealed by Kumar — a computer science professor at IIT Kharagpur — denied at least 994 deserving students seats at the IITs in 2006, as was exposed by this newspaper.

Ghoshal claimed that his comment was not intended as a threat, and merely represented his defence of the IITs. “I believe that if I am a part of an institution, I am hurting myself if I tarnish the image of that institution. It was with that meaning that I made the comment,” he later said.

Kumar, who has repeatedly said he is merely pointing out problems with the JEE with the aim of “improving the system”, however, argued that the statement was very much a threat. “This was a very direct threat suggesting that I would be harmed if I continued to challenge wrongdoing that is hurting the IIT system. The threat is a result of fear because many more dirty secrets could spill out,” Kumar said.

The IITs in 2006 violated their own stated procedure for determining subject cut-offs — for physics, chemistry and math — and instead used cut-offs that were starkly different and which they could not explain.

As a consequence, at least 994 students, who would have got seats had the IITs followed their own stated admission procedure, were denied the opportunity to study in India’s premier engineering schools.

Grilled by the CIC, Calcutta High Court and the media, the IITs repeatedly changed their version of the cut-off determining procedure after it was pointed out that the calculation did not yield the cut-offs that were finally used. After presenting one procedure to Kumar in response to his RTI application, the IITs gave the CIC a second, different procedure.

Next, the IITs gave a third procedure, different from the first two, to Calcutta High Court as part of a signed affidavit. But even the commitment in the form of the affidavit to the high court did not deter the IITs from changing their account of the claimed procedure once again before a review bench of the court.

India suggests RTI for climate change bodies

Priscilla Jebaraj               NEW DELHI, March 25, 2010

Introduce the “Right to Information” to the U.N.'s climate change system, India has suggested to the body (Inter Academy Council) charged with bringing credibility and accountability to the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), the climate science panel which has been in the eye of a storm over the last few months.

India wants the IPCC to make greater efforts to enhance the participation of developing country scientists to improve the geographical balance of its reports. Every IPCC report should include a separate chapter including all divergent views. In fact, the entire draft report should be sent to all known “climate sceptics” during the review process, says the Indian note.

It also suggests an extra tier of scrutiny to review the “conclusions” emerging from the facts, in order to ensure objectivity, especially with regard to the influential Summary for Policymakers.

These are some of the suggestions contained in a note prepared by the Union Ministry for Environment and Forests, and sent to the co-chairs of the Inter Academy Council, a group of eminent scientists who have been asked to review the IPCC's processes. This independent review was commissioned after the IPCC came under severe fire for inaccuracies in its Fourth Assessment Report, including a false prediction that the Himalayan glaciers would melt by 2035.

“While IPCC cannot be blamed for misuse of its findings by political leaders with their own agenda or by the media in search of headlines, there certainly are areas relating to the IPCC's working in which improvements can and should be made,” wrote Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh in the letter accompanying the note, dated March 22.

The IPCC should ensure that “grey literature” — information published in reports by governmental, global and non-governmental agencies — does not to carry the same weight as peer-reviewed scientific papers, says the note. Last-minute ideas that did not go through the comprehensive review process of the original draft should not be pushed through at the final draft stage.

India called for complete transparency. Everything — from the CVs of the scientists selected and rejected as experts, to all the literature cited in the reports, to all data and assumptions used for running climate models and projections — should be made available in the public domain on the IPCC website.

“[The] Need for confidentiality on contents during the IPCC report preparation is appreciated, but [the] need for extensive confidentiality on the process is not warranted. Maybe introduce a “Right to Information” system in whole IPCC and UNFCCC processes,” suggested the Ministry's note.

The Ministry also noted that data collection needs to be expanded from regions where information is lacking.

PEOPLE POWER AT RISK

The Telegraph
Wednesday , March 24 , 2010

The government is mulling amendments to the Right to Information Act, but these may weaken the law, says V. Kumara Swamy

When Sunil Kumar Mahto, a Ranchi-based right to information (RTI) activist, filed an application asking for the reason for what seemed to be an inordinate delay in laying a metalled road to a village in his district, he received a reply that shocked him. “The public information officer (PIO) gave it in writing that according to the documents, the road had been laid two years ago and that a sum of Rs 28 lakh was spent on the project,” recalls Mahto.

What followed was a flood of RTI applications from Mahto and others to unmask the people responsible for the irregularities. “Ultimately, we were able to establish who the government officials responsible for the bungling were, and a few were suspended too,” says Mahto.

Mahto and thousands of citizens like him may be benefiting from the Right to Information Act, 2005. But a central government move to carry out some amendments to the Act could seriously compromise the people’s power to hold government functionaries accountable for their actions.

Some controversial amendments that are reportedly under consideration include refusal of “frivolous or vexatious” applications, non-disclosure of “discussions/consultations that take place before arriving at a decision” (file notings) and also exempting certain functions of the judiciary from the ambit of the RTI.

Although President Pratibha Patil in her address to Parliament in June 2009 had announced that the government would “strengthen” the Act, activists say that the amendments proposed would only weaken the law and reduce transparency.

“Some of the amendments have been proposed purely because of the inability of the bureaucracy to handle the pressure from citizens filing RTI applications. Government officials can’t believe that they are being held accountable for their actions,” says Shekhar Singh, founder member, National Campaign for People’s Right to Information, New Delhi.

One of the most hotly debated points relates to the amendment proposed to Section 8 of the RTI Act that deals with “exemption from disclosure of information”. The government is said to be keen to add to this section the “discussions/consultations that take place before arriving at a decision”, or ‘file notings’.

“Officers are scared to register their frank opinion while passing or rejecting a file since they know that it can be accessed by a vengeful person in the future. This is why we want the file notings to be exempted from the purview of the RTI Act,” says an official of the department of personnel and training (DoPT), which handles the administration of the RTI Act.

But those opposing the move claim that it is only the corrupt who would benefit if file notings were exempted from the right to information. “Why would an upright officer fear anything? Only corrupt officials don’t want their opinion to be known publicly. In fact, it is through file notings that we can unmask the corrupt,” says Arun Bhatia, a Pune-based former IAS officer-turned-politician, who filed a case in the Supreme Court against any changes to the RTI Act.

Another proposed amendment that has been under discussion for a long time relates to the rejection of “frivolous and vexatious” applications. In fact, the Second Administrative and Reforms Commission had suggested an amendment to Section 7 of the RTI Act by inserting sub section (10) that would state that the “PIO may refuse a request for information if the request is manifestly frivolous or vexatious. Provided that such a refusal shall be communicated within 15 days of receipt of application, with the prior approval of the appellate authority.”

To be sure, there are plenty of “frivolous” requests for information and there is no doubt that addressing them does amount to a waste of government resources. However, activists say that a clause allowing PIOs the right to label this or that petition as frivolous would lead to misuse. Even now PIOs do reject some petitions because they are deemed nonsensical but, say critics, the amendment would encourage them to reject many more which may not be quite so irrelevant or frivolous. “A labourer of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme wanting to know the exact amount of wages due to him could be interpreted as frivolous by a PIO. But for the labourer it is a matter of his livelihood,” says Singh.

Besides, any rejection by the PIO on the grounds that the application is frivolous can be appealed to the Central Information Commission (CIC). “An amendment like this would lead to the CIC being flooded with an unmanageable number of petitions,” says Subash Aggarwal, one of the most active RTI applicants in the country.

Yet another issue that is being hotly debated relates to the judiciary. “There is talk of exempting the judiciary from the ambit of the Act to a great extent. But the Act is the only tool to induce at least a measure of accountability in an otherwise non-accountable judicial system,” says Aggarwal.

After a full bench of the Delhi High Court rejected the Supreme Court’s plea to exempt the Chief Justice of India’s office from the RTI Act, the Supreme Court has appealed to itself and an order is expected soon.

“The Supreme Court appealing the case to itself is a very peculiar situation. We already know what the apex court thinks about the RTI’s provisions. But let us wait for the final judgement,” says Singh.

According to Singh, the Act and its implications are yet to be understood by government officials and the public at large, and hence it should be examined only after it has been implemented fully. “It is by no means a perfect law. And it is still a very young law. First, let the government implement it sincerely, and then we can think of amendments,” he says.
According to Aggarwal, if the government is indeed serious about making some changes to the Act, it should be in the form of amendments to Sections 27 and 28 of the law that give the “power to make rules by appropriate government”. Aggarwal says that this provision should be repealed to make the law uniform for all states and public authorities. “At present many states and public authorities have drafted their own RTI rules which are contrary to the basic sections of the Act itself,” he points out.

The government has of course said that it will consult all stakeholders before making any amendments to the RTI Act. The impending Supreme Court decision could hold the key here, some say. “I think the government will try and bring in the amendments based on what the Supreme Court says, but we should be very vigilant against any dilution of the Act,” says Singh.

Information on ‘cash-at-judge's-door' case confidential: Supreme Court

PTI                                                   New Delhi, March 23, 2010

In the midst of a raging controversy over closure of the “cash-at-judge's-door” case, the Supreme Court says the information is “confidential.”

The Court's reply came on an RTI petition seeking details whether the Chief Justice of India was approached by the CBI wanting permission to prosecute Justice Nirmal Yadav of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in the case.

“I write to inform you that the information sought by you... is confidential and is exempted from disclosure under the Section 8 (1) (e) and (j) of the Right to Information Act, 2005, [and] you have no right to access the said information.”

“Further as the information is not held by or under the control of the CPIO, Supreme Court India, your request cannot be acceded to...” Raj Pal Arora, Central Public Information Officer of the Supreme Court said in his reply.

Earlier, the Court's Secretary General M.P. Bhadran said that the CBI did not approach the Chief Justice of India in the case.

Justice Yadav's name figured in the alleged scam after the recovery of a mysterious bag containing Rs. 15 lakh at the door of another Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Nirmaljit Kaur, which was said to have been delivered there due to confusion over names.

Justice Kaur reported the matter to the police. Later, the probe was given to the CBI on the orders of administrator of Chandigarh.

The CJI had also appointed a three-judge committee to look into the matter. The then Attorney General, Milon Banerji, reportedly advised the Law Ministry that there was not enough material to proceed further in the matter.

A CBI court observed that the probe agency filed the closure report after it failed to get sanction from the Chief Justice of India to launch prosecution against her. Meanwhile, Justice Yadav was transferred to Uttarakhand High Court after the decision of collegium.

Applicant Abhishek Shukla had sought a reply from the Supreme Court whether the CJI was approached by the CBI seeking permission to prosecute Justice Nirmal Yadav.

Need to set up state-level panel to promote RTI use

By Megha Bhatt
Posted On Thursday, March 18, 2010

Participants of RTI meet said district-level citizens’ bodies will be established in April but state-level set-up is necessary to take up policy matters with govt

Over 350 RTI users from 25 districts shared their experiences

The need for a state-level citizens’ organisation was voiced by users of the Right to Information (RTI) Act at a convention held by the Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel in the city on Wednesday. Arvind Kejriwal, who had won the Magsaysay award for his contribution to the RTI movement, and Jagdeep Chhokar, founder of Association for Democratic Reforms in India, were the guests of honour.

More than 350 RTI users from 25 districts shared their experiences. They lamented how it took years to lay hands on time-bound information. “The first appeal mechanism is weak due to which cases are piling up at the Gujarat Information Commission office in Gandhinagar. Authorities still feel reluctant to release data,” said a participant.

The users wanted the state-level organisation in place to increase awareness about RTI among masses and take on anyone who threatened RTI users. District-level citizens’ organisations will be established by April. But participants insisted on a state-level set-up that would take up policy matters with government authorities.

Hike in wages

Sabarkantha resident Natubhai Barot used RTI to get workers their rightful wages under the National Rural Employment Act, 2005. “The workers were paid Rs 4 per day instead of the minimum wage of Rs 50 per day. I filed appeals with the district panchayat but they went unheard.

I also approached state officials but my plea was ignored. Finally, I filed an RTI with the programming officer of Prantij block regarding the work, wages and time limit specified under NREGA. Armed with the information, workers got minimum wages of Rs 50. And if they worked more, they could earn more too.”

More officials

The Information Commission, which was functioning only with a chief information commissioner so far, got two new information commissioners this week. This happened on the basis of an RTI filed by Amit Jethwa, president of Gir Nature Youth Club, with the GAD eight months ago. He sought to know how many posts for information commissioners were sanctioned.

He also wanted to know about the procedure for appointment. “We found that two years ago, two posts for information commissioners had been sanctioned. There were around 6,000 pending cases and just one man to deal with it. Based on this data, we filed a PIL in the high court. Couple of days ago, retired IAS officers Netra Chinoy and Arvind Shukla were appointed to help out Chief Information Commissioner R N Das,” said Jethwa.

Directory delivery

Vastrapur resident P K Joshi filed an RTI to get hold of a telephone directory that had been promised to BSNL landline holders. “The BSNL had published an advertisement in a newspaper in February 2009, promising home delivery of telephone directories to its landline customers.

I waited for five months, but the book never arrived. I then visited its customer care centre, but was not given the book. So, I submitted an RTI application along with the press cutting at the BSNL office in August. The next day, the book was delivered at home. The employee said recession had forced the contractor to stagger the supply of copies.,” he said.

2008 Delhi encounter is no dead matter

Parikshit Luthra
CNN-IBN

New Delhi: The country's human rights watchdog has absolved the police in the Batla House encounter in Delhi but the controversy over the death of two alleged terrorists refuses to end.

Alleged Indian Mujahideen militants Mohammed Atif Ameen and Mohammed Sajid were killed in a gunfight with the police at Batla House in Jamia Nagar on September 19, 2008, five days after serial bomb blasts in Delhi.

Friends and relatives of the dead men allege police faked the encounter. Now, the post mortem report--accessed by activists with the help of a Right to Information (RTI) Act application--on the two men raises nagging questions about the encounter.

The post mortem report says that Sajid had three gunshot wounds on the top of his head and one on his right shoulder.

Ameen had 10 bullet entry wounds--eight of which were on his back. He also had multiple abrasions on his lower back.

Both men had injuries from a blunt object and the reason for these wounds hasn’t been satisfactorily explained.

Manisha Sethi, a member of the Jamia Solidarity Teacher's Association, alleges Ameen and Sajid were shot dead in cold blood.

"In which natural crossfire would have an instance where these two boys don't sustain any injuries in the front, "said Manisha Sethi.

The RTI application for the post mortem report was filed Jamia Milia Islamia University student Afroz Alam, one of the several people who allege that the authorities are not interested in investigating the encounter.

"Things which should have been with us in 30 days...takes two years. Most of the hearing is over but applicanst don't get a copy of it. It raises question on the role of CIC and also the Delhi Police," said Afroz Alam.

The Delhi Police refused to comment on camera about the post mortem report but senior officials told CNN-IBN that that each and every aspect of the encounter had been explained to the courts and to the National Human Rights Commission, which gave them a clean chit last year.

Human rights activists though say they will use the post mortem report and the Right to Information (Act) to renew their demand for a judicial probe into the encounter.

RTI helps senior citizen get post back after 11-year-long legal battle

Viju B, TNN, Mar 22, 2010, 05.25am IST

MUMBAI: Qamar S Qazi’s story could be representative of what may happen to some state charitable trusts that are mired in litigation as trustees fight to retain powerful posts.

The Right To Information (RTI) Act came to the rescue of the 76-year-old Panvel resident who was ousted from the trust after he fought a 11-year-long legal battle. A former assistant commissioner of customs and central excise, Qazi was removed from the post of general secretary of Anjuman Tanzeem Achra, a charitable education trust, through a no-confidence motion in 1999.

But the original papers of the trust’s no-confidence motion, which were kept in the charity commissioner’s office, were substituted with forged papers in alleged collusion with office staff. Following this, the charity commissioner’s office passed an order to oust Qazi.

It was only when Qazi applied to the charity commissioner’s office for a copy of the no-confidence motion that he discovered, to his horror, the documents were substituted. It was found that the attendance lists also had serious discrepancies; many members were dead or their names were fictitious and some were abroad when the ‘alleged’ election took place. “We found out that 80% of the signatures were fake. This was later confirmed by the additional chief state examiner of documents,’’ Qazi said.

On discovering the forgery, Qazi lodged a criminal case against the existing trustees at the additional magistrate’s court, Mazgaon, in 2000. The court directed the Dongri police to investigate the case and the police report established that a forgery had been committed. The court then ordered the police to file a charge sheet. However, despite directives from the magistrate, the charity commissioner’s office did not subsequently take any action on the forgery committed by the existing trustees.

Qazi then filed a query under the RTI Act, asking about the status of the case and it got rolling after 7 years. “Within a month, I got a reply from the charity commissioner, stating that the earlier fake no-confidence motion passed by the trust had been set aside and a fresh inquiry had been initiated against the trustees,’’ he said.

Qazi also filed a writ petition, asking that the inquiry be completed within 30 days. The court directed the petition to be withdrawn, giving him the liberty to approach the appropriate forum.

He then approached the charity commissioner’s office. The deputy charity commissioner set aside the erroneous order of the assistant charity commissioner and again directed another inquiry be initiated. Further, the joint charity commissioner in his February 22 order stated that some members who ‘allegedly’ took part in the no-confidence meeting were not, in fact, present and quashed the earlier order passed by the assistant charity commissioner in 1999. Qazi, who has now regained the post of the general secretary of the trust, said that the RTI Act exposed the fraudulent methods used by the members to remove him from the trust. The RTI Act can bring about positive changes even in the way charitable institutions function in the country, he added.

People-centric RTI applications on the rise

TNN, Mar 18, 2010, 01.30am IST

AHMEDABAD: Over 250 RTI activists from across the state participated in the Mahiti Adhikar Conference' held in city on Wednesday.

The conference was organised by Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (MAGP) to discuss the challenges ahead for RTI Act and also for having a single umbrella organisation for RTI activists in the country.

The data collected through RTI helpline (09924085000) shows most of the RTI applications are regarding panchayat, welfare schemes, retirement dues, land entitlements, education and pending police cases.

Harinesh Pandya of MAGP said, "The RTI Act has emerged as an important and effective tool in democracy. The idea is to create more awareness among masses to increase its effectiveness."

Pandya was, however, critical of individuals using RTI Act for vested interests. He said, "There is need to discourage and check people who use the act for serving petty interests and in some cases using pretext of BPL families to get information free of cost. This is not in the right spirits of RTI."

On the challenges faced by RTI applicants in the state, Pankti Jog of MAGP said, "The RTI applicants have complained of long delays, huge postage stamp expenditure, unavailability of information in local languages, and denial of information by PIO among others."

"The good part is that there has been a steady increase in qualitative RTI applications on a range of issues affecting the common people," she said.

Magsaysay award winner and RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal and Jagdeep Chhokar, the founder member of Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and former dean of IIM-A, were also present at the conference.

Call for state level RTI users’ forum

Express News Service Posted online: Thursday , Mar 18, 2010 at 0124 hrs

Ahmedabad : Vasant Brahmbhatt-a resident of Ahmedabad-had filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act in 2005 in connection with the Sabarmati riverfront project. He had asked for information on the project report, the cost, whether the tenders were issued before allotting the work or not, and who all were assigned work of more than Rs 25 lakh. He is yet to receive any reply from the State Information Commission.

Vishram Laxman Dodiya had filed an application under RTI to get details about the illegal electricity connection by Torrent Power. He could not get any information. On February 11, 2010 he was found murdered. He had met the company officials the same day. Three people were arrested in the case. His son is yet to receive the information under RTI.

Gandhinagar resident Vishal Parikh had sought information under RTI in 2007-08 to know who all had made a false entry in the document 6 relating to ownership of land. The land belongs to him, but is now owned by a builder. He has gone for an appeal in the state commission but is yet to receive any information.

Over 100 RTI users across Gujarat, who met in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, had similar stories to tell.

Organised by the Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (MAGP), the state level meeting for RTI users concluded that it was necessary to get organised to build pressure on the information commissioner.

The idea of having a district level forum was mooted before the RTI users, which was readily accepted.

Explaining how the state level RTI forum will work, well-known social activist Arvind Kejriwal said: “The objective of setting up a forum is to make our voices heard in making important decisions. For instance, the government doesn’t ask the RTI users before appointing the information commissioner. Once we are organised, they will be required to do that.”

The RTI users were also of the view that a state level forum needs to be formed.

Vasant Brahmbhatt, an RTI activist from Ahmedabad said: “The group can pressurise information commissioners and also support information seekers when they are threatened by the officials if the information is against them.”

He said: “I am fighting a lone battle to get information under the RTI Act for the last five years. I hope the forum will help me get the required information.”

Most queries relate to land

In 2009, Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (MAGP) received 11,755 calls, mostly from farmers seeking information on filing as also appearing for the appeal. The survey of the phone calls received by the NGO revealed that most of the calls made were related to “land entitlement.”

Around 13 per cent of the calls were related to filing RTI for checking land entitlement followed by retirement dues (9.8 per cent). In 2010, MAGP has received over 2,000 calls till March.