Rape victims can get justice from RTI

DNPUN 4/18/2010

Author : Nadeem Inamdar

Improved public governance aimed at reforming the police and judiciary alone can guarantee justice to rape victims. This was among the views expressed by experts at a seminar on 'Rape victims and the Right to Information Act, 2005' held in the city on Saturday.

Experts, legal luminaries and prominent personalities attended the seminar organised by Public Concern for Governance Trust (PCGT), Pune chapter on the Sancheti Hospital premises.

Former Mumbai Sheriff and world chairman of Giants International Nana Chudasama stressed the need for enhancing governance quality and maintained that it alone could be a panacea for all the ills afflicting the Indian society.

"The Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 alone can guarantee strengthening of the democratic ideals," he said.

Lambasting minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor, Chudasama said, "Let the minister resign as he has no moral right to continue in the same position. Politicians should be completely banned from entering the sports arena and a law should be enacted for implementing the same," he added.

Managing director of Serum Institute of India Dr Cyrus Poonawalla said that he was ready to spend crores if the PCGT took up the case of reforming the government departments, especially the courts and the police.

Member of advisory council of PCGT Justice PM Dhakephalkar said there was a need for widening of the definition of rape. Trustee Narayan Varma's book Right to Information Act, A Route To Good Governance was also released on the occasion.

Disclose communication between President, PM on Padma Awards: CIC

PTI, Apr 29, 2010, 05.23pm IST
NEW DELHI:

The correspondence exchanged between the Prime Minister and the President on Padma Awards should be made public, the Central Information Commission has held rejecting the PMO's claim that such information cannot be given because of constitutional provisions.

The Prime Minister's Office had refused to disclose the correspondence saying it is "privileged communication" under the provisions of Article 74 (2) of the Constitution and is not to be disclosed.

The article says "advice tendered by ministers to President shall not be inquired into by any court".

Applicant S C Agrawal had sought the copy of the letter written in 2004 by the then President A P J Abdul Kalam to the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Padma Awards, action taken by the PMO and communication exchanged on the topic.

Failing to get a reply from the PMO, he had approached the Central Information Commission with the plea seeking disclosure of the information.

Ordering disclosure of the communication on Padma Awards, the commission ruled that the information which has been withheld is "well outside any application of Constitutional privilege under Article 74(2)".

It, however, exempted the disclosure of action taken by the PMO on the letter from the President giving it "benefit of doubt".

The PMO, in its submissions before the commission, had said the non-obstante clause contained in Section 22 of the Right to Information Act stipulates only that the Act would have overriding effect in respect of any other law.

"However, the Constitution is the basic law and such a non-obstante clause does not override the Constitution," it said.

"Respondents (PMO) do not need to labour the point as to whether in applying section 22 of the RTI Act, the RTI Act can be deemed to override the Constitution itself. This is obviously an absurd supposition," Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah said.

RTI brings MSUSU youth festival in dock

TNN, Apr 27, 2010, 11.11pm IST

VADODARA: Another controversy seems to be hounding the annual youth fest of M S University Students' Union (MSUSU). The event gathered a lot of attention for wrong reasons, both before and after the celebrations. And now an RTI filed by a final year commerce faculty student may raise several eyebrows in the varsity with MSUSU office bearers having to answer several queries.

The applicant Nitesh Gangaramani, a TY BCom student of MSU and resident of Godhra, had filed a RTI on March 30. He had asked MSUSU office bearers to give details of the money allotted by the varsity to host the fest and expenses incurred to host Kailash Kher night.

"I had asked 11 questions and the replies have thrown up some anomalies. As per their reply, the union incurred over Rs 19 lakh on hosting the fest while they had just Rs 17.89 lakh in hand. The question is where they managed to get the remaining Rs 2 lakh from," Gangaramani said.

The RTI revealed that Rs 3 lakh was sanctioned by the union and another Rs 4 lakh by the syndicate. The organisers managed to get four sponsors for the event. "Bank of Baroda was one of the donors and had promised to give Rs 50,000 for the fest. But, the university has not received this money from them till date as per the reply given to me," Gangaramani added.

The applicant is planning to file a second RTI to know the exact amount spent on organising the youth fest. "Many questions have emerged from the reply given for the first application. Even the reply given for first RTI is vague," he added.

The annual youth fest was hosted from February 4 to 14. One saw both MSUSU's general secretary and vice-president at loggerheads over fixing the dates of the fest as it was clashing with the internal exams. There were rumours that Kher would back off from performing at the fest and managing the fund for hosting such a mega event also raised suspicion.

No beef during Commonwealth Games: CWG Org Committee

30 Apr 2010, 1503 hrs IST,PTI
Economictimes NEW DELHI:

The organising committee of Commonwealth Games has made it clear that no beef would be served during the mega-event that begins October

The committee said "no" while replying to an RTI query which sought to know if beef is a compulsory item to be served in some dishes during the sporting event.

"Commonwealth Games Federation's requirement from the organising committee is to provide to a quality 24 hour catering service offering nutritious meals and snacks to the athletes and their team officials during Commonwealth Games Delhi 2010, taking into consideration cultural dietary requirements and the need for variety and rotation of menus," the reply said.

"The organising committee is duty bound to carry this out," it said.

The application was filed by S C Agrawal. The Delhi government has already clarified that there would be no beef served during the games.

PWD and Revenue Minister Raj Kumar Chauhan had made a statement to this effect in the Delhi Assembly, days after the issue of serving beef during Commonwealth Games rocked the House, with BJP MLAs disrupting its functioning.

"The Delhi Agricultural Cattle Preservation Act, 1994, prohibits the sale and storage of beef and will not allow serving of beef during the Commonwealth Games," Chauhan had informed the Assembly.

The issue was raised during discussion under special mention by Leader of Opposition V K Malhotra who said Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta had made a statement that beef will be imported during the event to serve athletes and officials.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had said that serving of beef was an issue between the Organising Committee of the event, caterers and MCD, adding, her government had nothing to do with it.

Co-op muck exposed through RTI by NYKS coordinator

Paul John  TNN

Ahwa (Dang district): It’s one of those rare instances in government service where an officer shows grit, remains discrete and diligently exposes the muck in public spending. For years together many were not aware as to how lakhs of taxpayers’ money entrusted with Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS), a central government body, whose function is to strengthen youth co-operatives across the country was slowly falling into the hands corrupt co-operatives in many pockets in Gujarat.

It took an RTI of district youth co-ordinator of NYKS, SS Paul, to blow the whistle on such fake co-operatives. These co-operatives would

forge documents, vouchers, bank accounts, register NGOs with fake credentials and then siphon off public funds under the garb of developmental works like water shed development, communication and self development events. For this these co-operatives even filed fake progress reports.

Paul’s struggle started in 2003 when he noticed serious financial irregularities in central and south Gujarat region regarding spending on programmes sponsored by NYKS. “The root to these irregularities

lay in district rural development

agency (DRDA) records and NYKS being a central government organisation had hard time procuring the proof. For three years I struggled amid allegations from local political parties and in DRDA that I was mentally unstable. But then I used RTI to turn the tables on them. Quite discretely through a series of applications I collected all proof from DRDA and finally prepared the case papers. I filed a police complaint as mandated and this initiated an inquiry against the defaulters,” says Paul.

For the last few months NYKS follows a stricter regime in Gujarat. Any NYKS sponsored event now requires names of participants and their signatures. Any purchase made requires genuine receipts. The credentials of co-operatives are checked by special flying squads. Impromptu phone calls are made to various NYKS offices in Gujarat to check whether officers are present on their seats. There has been a sea change in the overall functioning of the NYKS and I am happy today. The RTI I filed with DRDA helped me learn the nitty gritty of corrupt practices in Gujarat,” says Paul.

They Also Ensured That The Bank Registers An FIR Against The Fraudsters

Vijaysinh Parmar  TNN

Junagadh: If you too are among those victims whose bank drafts were stolen in transit and later encashed by dubious men, then this motley bunch of businessmen would show you the way. They not only got the bank pay up for the loss by using RTI, but also ensured that the bank register an FIR against the fraudsters.

It all began in May 2007, when a handicraft businessman, MK Goswami of coastal town of Prabhash Patan town, and his partners purchased two SBI demand drafts worth Rs 30,000 to pay their clients in Agra. After few months, the client replied that they have not received the payment in their accounts.

A troubled Goswami enquired with the bank only to be told that the payment has already been made. “The payment was encashed by someone else. We approached the bank and explained our case, but the bank raised its hand. The responsibility had to be fixed. For nearly two years, we wrote many letters and requested bank officials to investigate the case. But, that did not bear fruit. It was then that we decided to file an RTI application,” says Goswami.

Goswami and his partners were now sure that the drafts were stolen in transit.This could have been only achieved if the fraudster had changed the name of the payee. The local postal office and the local bank branch office was to made responsible for the loss.

“We filed at least six RTI applications and four first appeals and dug out all the information and papers relating to fraud. After accessing the information under RTI, we claimed the amount from bank for its negligence’’ says M K Goswami.

Goswami also corresponded with various offices of SBI at Prabhash Patan, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Agra and New Delhi. The matter was scaled up to chairman of SBI and RBI and ministry of finance,government of India.

“Ultimately, bank refunded Rs 30,000 to us in January 2010. The things which did not work for two years, it worked in just twelve months, thanks to RTI,’’ Goswami added.

Interestingly, his RTI compelled the bank to file FIR at Agra against the fraudsters. “If RTI had not been there, we would have lost our money,’’ Goswami added.

This whistleblower exposed powerful business lobby

Vijaysinh Parmar   TNN

Kodinar(Junagadh): He has been nicknamed hawk’s eye in his village. Since 2006, Bhikhabhai Gohil, 33, a resident of Gohil ni Khan village in Kodinar taluka, has been using RTI to blow the whistle on corrupt government officials, who submit to powerful business lobbies and at the same time undermine the collective interest of villagers.

It was through RTI that he showed how irrigation department under pressure of powerful cement factory lobbies allowed a private road right through a village pond. This fact was reluctantly admitted by the state government in the assembly last year.

Today, his RTIs prove how the same cement lobbies were planning to run a massive conveyor belt by bulldozing many BPL homes built under the Indira Awas Yojana.

Gohil again shamed the local panchayat officials recently by exposing as to how houses meant for the below poverty line (BPL) were clandestinely siphoned off to non-beneficiaries. “Despite being a panchayat member, I was not allowed access to files in the office. I had to use RTI to get around them. I was taken aback when the collectorate informed us about the conveyor belt project. People should have a say in developmental activities. Are we not part of a democracy. Besides, grants and programmes meant for the poor are being enjoyed by non-beneficiaries. I simply don’t understand what these powerful lobbies get by infringing on the rights of citizens,” says Gohil. Gohil painstakingly procured information under RTI of the list of beneficiaries under the BPL scheme in Kodinar taluka and then in a separate application demanded the names of people, who were allotted the BPL houses. Thousands of names were compared in both these lists and the nonbeneficiaries tumbled out of them.

“We found that the BPL homes were not made on village lands. Some beneficiaries built homes on government lands. In many cases, beneficiaries did not submit completion certificate of houses clearly indicating that the taxpayers’ money was siphoned off for some other purpose. The government’s house upgradation scheme in our taluka is another major can of worms,’’ Gohil added.

“RTI has empowered us as we get prior information on what is actually in store for us. I am helping others in the village too to use this tool. We have learnt not to take anything hands down,” adds Gohil.

He stripped to get PF, now uses RTI to get water for his village

Sachin Sharma  TNN

Vadodara: Two years ago, he stripped to his trunks much like the elderly character in the movie ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’ when his application for withdrawal of Provident Fund (PF) was being delayed unnecessarily. But today, he wields a pen, papers, files and RTI, and takes up issues that are not only personal, but for public good.

Indravadan Patel, a farmer, now fights against the callous attitude of government officials using RTI. The first issue Patel has taken up is that of an incomplete Narmada minor canal at Atali village in Karjan taluka where he stays and has farms. The canal was incomplete and despite repeated representations, no development took place. “Farmers need water and will earn a lot if things move fast. But, the officials had done little so far,” Patel said.

Matters were complicated as many persons had made illegal water connections to the canal. This fact was known to many, but no action was taken in this regard. Things changed when Patel filed an RTI application to know the number of illegal connections and why there was no progress in the canal work. Without wasting time, work started on the canal and officers came back for a re-survey. “Today, the process of legal connections to the canal waters has speeded up and corrupt officials are being nailed,” says Patel.

Patel says that the land of farmers was acquired for Atali minor canal about a decade ago. “But, there was no progress in the work on the canal in the last six years,” he says.

His RTI application has sought details and documents regarding various aspects of the canal including the officials, who served during the period when no work was done on the canal. He has also sought details of the contractors, who were granted contracts for construction of the canal during this period. Patel even wrote to senior officials and even irrigation minister Nitin Patel. “But that is not enough. The work on the canal has to begin and I will not stop till that happens,” Patel says. He claims that vested interests in Atali do not want the canal to be constructed. “They are eyeing huge tracts of land. If a farmer does not get water, they will get it at cheap rates. They are themselves stealing water using illegal connections even as we are forced to run from pillar to post to see the canal through,” he said.

India shows the way in RTI in South Asia

THE HINDU

Vidya Subrahmaniam

India's success with getting the Right to Information Act up and running came in for much praise on Wednesday at a regional workshop organised jointly by the Indian Institute of Public Administration and the World Bank-funded Governance Partnership Facility.

The workshop on ‘Towards more Open and Transparent Governance in South Asia,' first of its kind at the regional level, saw participants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bhutan and Maldives mingle with the international media and RTI experts. The Indian delegation was the star attraction, with India being seen as the natural leader of RTI in the region.

A surprise revelation at the conference was that Pakistan was ahead of India by three years in framing an RTI law. Pakistan first promulgated a freedom of information ordinance in 1997, which, however, lapsed for want of interest. In 2002, General Pervez Musharaff pushed the idea, resulting in a fresh presidential ordinance in 2002. It has since become part of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution and enjoys the status of law.

In February 2004, the Pakistan government promulgated the Freedom of Information Rules, 2004, which now applies to all public bodies.

Nepal passed the information law in 2007, followed by Bangladesh in 2009. Bhutan. Maldives and Sri Lanka have yet to pass an information law or implement any other instrument of transparency.

Talking to the media, delegates marvelled at how quickly India had adapted itself to an open information culture and lamented the comparative records of their own countries. The consensus was that there was very little RTI awareness among the common people in the region.

Sameer Hamid Dhondy of a Karachi-based advocacy group said though Pakistan had a head start on RTI, the Indian law was far more comprehensive and deserved praise for allowing access to file notings and including a penal provision to deter delay in providing information. He gave his own experience of not being able to appeal to the Wafaqi Mohtasib (ombudsman) in a case of unauthorised buildings regularised by the Sindh government.

Mr. Dhondy noted that while the Indian Act seemed to have emerged from the grass roots, which explained its wide appeal, its Pakistani counterpart was an executive initiative.

RTI activist sent notine in ’08 omb blasts case

expressbuzz.com

By Imran Khan

27 Apr 2010 08:27:16 AM IST

BANGALORE: Shaikh Shafi Ahmed, an Right to Information (RTI) activist from Gulbarga who has filed more than 500 RTI applications, has been summoned by the Bangalore police for investigations in the 2008 bomb blasts case.

According to Shafi Ahmed, he is being targeted by the police since they do not want to furnish information that would show the state’s police in poor light.

ACP HM Omkaraiah of Sheshadripuram served a notice on Shafi Ahmed under criminal procedure asking him to appear before him and give a statement regarding the blast cases. “We have information that Shafi Ahmed has some information related to the Bangalore blasts case,” said Omkaraiah.

Shafi Ahmed had filed an application under the RTI Act on August 22, 2009, seeking information on the communal incidents in Karnataka between 2006 and 2009.

Since no information was furnished by the police, Shafi Ahmed approached the Karnataka Information Commission on November 23.

The commission directed the government to furnish details sought by Shafi Ahmed within 30 days.

Subsequently, the commissioner of police ordered all information to be given to him.

Shafi Ahmed denied having any knowledge of any document related to the 2008 blasts. “It is a blatant attempt by the police to harass me and dissuade an RTI activist from seeking information, which is not to the liking of the police,” he said.

The RTI guru

By Gayatri Nair Bangalore Mirror TOI

Posted On Thursday, April 29, 2010

A techie empowers his neighbours by teaching them about the landmark act and how to file an application

Deveshwar has been conducting classes on Saturdays and Sundays since March 21 to educate people about the RTI Act and its uses.

"Basically, I have been extremely active in the affairs of my apartment, Fern Saroja, in L B Shastri Nagar. One of the main things that prompted me to start these courses was that whenever something went wrong, residents would have complaints against the corporation and other local bodies. But no solutions. That's when I thought RTI would help," said the 38-year-old techie.

NEVER TOO LATE

Soon, Deveshwar realised that residents didn't use RTI because of lack of awareness of the landmark act. That's where the classes came in. They last for about an hour and aim to answer all doubts regarding the act.

"During these sessions, I give a brief description about the act, examples of the act, I tell them how to find the Public Information Officer (PIO) and how to draft RTI questions. I also provide templates, and some examples of RTIs I've filed. The basic idea is to enable people to solve their own problems through RTI," he said.

"Each class has about three to four people. Around 10 to 15 people have attended the classes so far and of these, three have taken recourse to RTI," he said.

The classes will end on May 15 after which they will be revived only if there is a demand by residents. "Moreover, there is enough and more information on my website http://deveshwar.in/RTI. So even if about 10 people have attended the classes, there are a number of them who have benefited from the website," said Deveshwar, who shifted to Bangalore from Delhi in 1995.

AMENDMENT IN RTI ACT

Press Information Bureau Government of India,
Thursday, April 29, 2010

The Right to Information Act, 2005 provides that the State Information Commission shall consist of the State Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners, not exceeding ten, as may be deemed necessary. No amendment of this provision is under consideration

. The Act has an inbuilt system of monitoring of the implementation of the Act. It provides that the Central Information Commission and the State Information Commissions shall prepare reports on the implementation of the provisions of the Act each year which are to be laid before each House of the Parliament or each House of Legislature, as the case may be.

Re-survey: Little Rann to be mapped for first time

Express News Service

Posted: Wednesday, Apr 28, 2010 at 0254 hrs Ahmedabad:

It will take place in Ahmedabad, Anand, Sabarkantha, Rajkot, Kutch and Gandhinagar

The re-survey of land parcels across rural areas of Gujarat will survey the Little Rann of Kutch for the first time. As of now, Little Rann has no survey number.

Earlier, the state government had accepted that it has no data regarding the survey of the 5,000-sq km area in Kutch district, which is known for the Asiatic Wild Ass.

This came as response to an RTI query filed by an Ahmedabad activist, who said that the public information officers (PIOs) of the Revenue Department, Office of the Settlement Commissioner & Director of Land Records, and the office of the District Inspector of Land Records (DILR) were unable to give the survey number of Little Rann.

“We brought the order to the notice of Settlement Commissioner in Gandhinagar. The survey will provide them a chance to find out the number,” said Harinesh Pandya of Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel.

The state government has decided to re-survey almost every tiny land parcel in Gujarat, in order to determine encroachments, changes that have taken place over the years.

“We will survey each and every parcel in Kutch, including the Little Rann. Though it is up to the state government to take it on record, but it is our job to survey the area,” said an official from the Settlement Commissioner and Directorate of Land Revenue, on condition of anonymity.

The re-survey will take place in over 65,000-sq km area in Ahmedabad, Anand, Sabarkantha, Rajkot, Kutch and Gandhinagar, said an official in the department.

The project, which is being carried out under the National Land Records Modernisation Programme of the Government of India, was initially launched in 2008-09 in Jamnagar and Patan districts. Fifty per cent of funds for the project will come from the Centre.

SSNNL meets don’t discuss use of water: RTI reply

Indian Express

Anupam Chakravartty

Posted: Saturday , Apr 17, 2010 at 0132 hrs

Vadodara:

Since its inception in 1988, the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited (SSNNL) has never discussed in its meetings the optimum use of water stored in the reservoir of the dam, revealed a letter sent in reply to an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The application was filed by Vadodara-based activist Rohit Prajapati.

On the other hand, SSNNL Public Information Officer (PIO) N M Patel said the question asked in the RTI application was based on a presumption that “such things were discussed in the meetings”.

The recent report of the Comptroller Auditor General (CAG) had reportedly stated that only 26 per cent of the work has been completed on the planned water distribution system.

Prajapati had sought information about the completion of the canals till date and precise use of the water through canal network.

In one of the questions, Prajapati had enquired if the SSNNL authorities had kept an account of water in the reservoir which could not be put to optimum use due to slow progress of the construction of canals. He also wanted to know if the board discussed in any of its meetings, or any decisions, with regards to putting the water stored in the reservoir to its optimum use since 1988, the year of its creation.

While the reply given to Prajapati from SSNNL stated that all information regarding the use of water stored in the reservoir was in the Water Account maintained by the Narmada Control Authority, the PIO stated that no such decision or discussion had taken place.

“We cannot give the information based on applicant’s presumption. We do not have such kind of meetings to discuss usage of water. We have Water Account where everything is recorded under the Narmada Control Authority,” said Patel.

However, when contacted by The Indian Express, Prajapati, a qualified engineer, said that if SSNNL did not discuss the issue of optimum use of water in the reservoir, then on what basis the canal network was designed.

“The information given to me by the SSNNL is not satisfactory. Even a first-year engineering student would see the utility of project in achieving its goals before he plans it. This means the canals are not planned by SSNNL as there are no discussions about the use of the water stored in the reservoir,” said Prajapati.

In the badland, he makes sure people get info in black & white

Vijaysinh Parmar  TNN

Ranavav (Porbandar): This motely town in Porbandar has been infested with gangwars, godmothers and hooligans for years. Ranavav has always been in news for the wrong reasons. But, quietly and diligently the local taluka development officer (TDO) officer, Vikeshkumar Upadhyay, wishes to change this here.

Upadhyay is empowering people with RTI — getting a message across residents in 30 villages that in a democracy they are in charge of the goings and not some pack of headstrong men. To start with, Upadhyay roped in an NGO and earmarked villages in Ranavav taluka where he has already started making every government office disclose a lot of information on blackboards. Upadhyay’s efforts are being recognised by the Gujarat Information Commission (GIC) too.

“The first task is making government offices responsible to the people. This is done by making pro-active disclosures of all who work in the offices, their functions, their salaries, qualifications, stocks available of various goods or medicines, procurement costs of inventories and even a detailed list of beneficiaries of government schemes, BPL card holders and the benefits of holding an Antodaya card,” says Upadhyay.

Where there are no blackboards, sections of unused walls of old buildings and private houses are painted black for posting information.

He says, “A good democratic set up can only function properly if people know. These pro-active steps can help people participate in the decisionmaking process and in turn empower them and give them the confidence.”

Such is the meticulous planning for disclosure that Upadhyay is putting details of ration quotas of food grains in public distribution system (PDS) on the boards. In case of the health network, details of medicine stock, list of free treatment for below poverty line (BPL) card holders, qualification of doctors and nurses have been disclosed. In the panchayats, details of meetings held and agendas of gram sabhas will be disclosed shortly.

Upadhyay has made it compulsory that the attendance of government functionaries in villages is put on the board. “Everybody should know as to how long has the officer or a doctor been away from his place of work. Details of their phone numbers too would be put up on the board.”

Similarly, village schools will display information on the teachers, their qualifications, the number of children in each class and details of mid-day meal menu, the name of the cook, who prepares the food and the source of procurement of grains will also be declared everyday.

“ T h e s e disclosures are enlisted in the RTI Act. This process of disclosure would lead to less number of RTI applications being filed as most of the RTI applications seek only these basic

He forced govt to take notice of 56 illegal mines around Gir

Vijaysinh Parmar  TNN

Porbandar: The Asiatic lion census in Gir began on Saturday only to reaffirm the fact that lions enjoy a respectable stay in the state and need no other sanctuary anywhere in the country. But one would have to share this pride with Bhanu Odedara, a Porbandar resident who through his RTI applications forced the government to take notice of the 56 illegal mines surrounding the Gir sanctuary that were proving dangerous for the lions.

“Blasting in mining activity is a m a j o r threat to w i l d l i f e and has har mful e f f e c t s. When we talk of s av i n g our lions — this should be the first step towards that cause — providing a conducive environment for our wildlife,” says Odedara.

Last year, Odedara’s RTI brought out the issue of illegal mining activities within the 5 km periphery of Barda Wi l d l i f e Sanctuary. “Twenty-one permissions for mining around the forest area had been g r a n t e d since 2002 by state geological department, many of which were given without a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the state forest department. According to the Wildlife Protection Act (1972), mining is not permissible in the 5 km periphery of the sanctuary,’’ says Odedara.

Forest officials were forced to admit that mining was going on in villages of Kodinar and Una taluka of Junagadh district. The villages include Ghantvad, Harmadiya, Valadar, Pinchhava in Kodinar taluka and Jamwala, Kansariya in Una taluka of Junagadh district.

“Forest officials said that they have issued showcause notices to the mine operators in the area. But, they should take harsh actions against the illegal mine operators,” says Odedara. He is now following up on the issue through filing RTI application.

In February 2010, office of the assistant conservator of forests, Talala (Gir) range had assured Odedara officially that the details of mines that are live within the 5 km periphery of Gir sanctuary were being sought. A detailed report is now being prepared on the action taken by the forest department to stop illegal mining activities.

“ Fo re s t officials said that there are 56 s u ch mines active in Talala range area within the 5 km periphery of Gir sanctuary,” says Odedara.

Cup of info

Indian Express

Ranjani Raghavan

Posted: Sunday , Apr 25, 2010 at 2305 hrs

Indian Express Marathi film Ek Cup Chya tells story of a bus conductor who takes on authorities with the help of the RTI Act

Ek Cup Chya, a Marathi film screened by a group of activists in Andheri on Wednesday, had a unique subject — the Right to Information Act that gives the commonman the privilege to access government records. Made by national award winning directors, Sumithra Bhave and Sunil Sukthankar, and produced by Yeshwant Oak, it tells the story of a bus conductor from Konkan who uses the Act to question authorities after he gets an inflated electricity bill.

The film, which has made it to several international film festivals, is now in the race for the Maharashtra State Film Awards, to be announced later this month.

“After watching the film, an autorickshaw driver told us that he too had applied for information under the RTI Act. Even he had the same problem, an inflated electricity bill,” says Sumithra Bhave. “Viewers’ reactions have been extremely satisfactory so far. Many people in India and abroad told us that they liked the film very much.”

Over the last 20 years, Bhave and her co-director Sukthankar have made 10 feature films and several short films. They have won three international awards, six national awards, more than 45 state awards and several other film awards, including the Aravindan Puraskaram.

“Bhave who was a researcher wanted to give a feedback to her respondents, mostly Dalit women. Since writing to them was not an option, she decided to make a film. We were college students then and I decided to help her. The film Bai won a national award. Since then, we have been making films on socially relevant subjects,” says Sukthankar.

“The KS Wani Memorial Trust urged us to make a film on RTI. We had made a national award winning film Devrai in 2004 for the Trust... The beauty of this Act lies with a commonman picking up a pen and asking for information.”

Oak says the title Ek Cup Chya is an allusion to corruption in the government. “Chai paani has come to be synonymous with corruption.”

Oak’s Schizophrenia Awareness Association in Pune and the KS Wani Memorial Trust have spent Rs 62 lakh to make the film, but till now the returns have been negligible. “That may be because we did not promote the film in a big way. However, it has been very popular in the international film circuit. We have been able to successfully show how the RTI can help us solve small problems.”

After his retirement nearly two decades ago, Oak has been working on awareness on Schizophrenia in Pune. “Filmmaking is a way to spread message and vision.”

Ek Cup Chya will be screened at SP Jain Institute of Management and Research at 6 pm on April 28.

Scrap dealer saves poor’s pleas from garbage

Paul John TNN

Altaf Chichodra helps disseminate information on rights of the marginalised through RTI

Ahmedabad: This semi-literate scrap dealer’s has taken many a government official to task. Altaf Chichodra’s RTI applications are an eye opener when it comes to citizen rights, functions of government offices or even rights of mute animals.

Chichodra through his RTI applications has in a significant way helped disseminate information on basic rights of marginalised, and exposed the lies of police officials.

These days he collects information on the facilities available to a below poverty line (BPL) card holder and disseminates it among people in nearby villages and slums in Rajkot city. Altaf believes that unless the BPL facilities reach the beneficiaries, the marginalised would never rise above poverty line.

Altaf says, “Many senior citizens with a BPL card in Rajkot city did not know that they should be getting Rs 500 every month. Also that BPL card holders have to pay just Rs 1.50 for 30 units of electricity, Rs 100 for electric light connection, and that railways offers them free travel of up to 100 kilometres on a Rs 25 railway pass was not known to many. Besides health facilities like CT scan, chest Xray, dog bite vaccination are free for them.”

Altaf provides pamphlets with these information to people wherever he goes with his handcart. “Sadly, this should have been done by the government,” says Altaf.

Recently, he filed an RTI application to know as to what happens to the many memorandums that are presented to the collector by rape victims, oppressed communities, protesting local MLAs, MPs and municipal councillors. “The offices as I heard are trying to trace those applications which are normally dumped as garbage. There is no effective complaint redressal system.”

He has also demanded copy of all notifications that were issued across police stations following Supreme Court and high court judgements. Again the police has been grappling for answers. Such were his applications that the Rajkot police commissioner Geetha Johri in a letter had requested the collector to cancel Altaf ’s BPL card.

“Recently I got 17 FIRs registered against the killing of stray animals in road accidents. Besides my RTI forced the RMC to ban iron tongs to catch stray dogs and even start the dog vaccination drives which was in a limbo for a long time.” Altaf ’s first stint with RTI started in 2006 when he heard that stolen vehicles were being used to commit crimes in Rajkot city. In a detailed RTI application, he demanded an inventory of all abandoned vehicles that were there in the city. The police officials were forced to prepare a detailed list.

RTI helps Ram-Rahim duo keep eye on govt projects

Paul John   TNN

Ahmedabad: They are called the Ram-Rahim jodi of RTI in Baleshwar village of Songadh in Surat district. Mohammed Bilal and Hemant Patel, both 28-year-old, have made it a mission of their life not letting a single paisa of the taxpayers’ money go waste.

Last year, the duo made the state government coffers richer by Rs 1.28 crore after they noticed that a certain mining company was drawing minerals more than their approved quota. Recently, they even got their sarpanch suspended for illegally siphoning of village grants and now they are keeping a close watch on village development works, especially road construction and RCC paving of internal roads in neighbouring villages, and even ensure that a certain minimum balance is maintained in

the village accounts. They have even forced villages to ensure that gram sabhas are held at regular intervals.

In the case of the mining company, about two years ago Bilal and Patel came to know of the mining contract that a certain company had bagged and that the company was mining more than the approved amount. They filed an RTI to know the details of the contract papers of company. The RTI revealed some shocking details.

“The company had permission to mine just 2,000 metric tonnes of minerals. We lodged a complaint with the

Geology and Mining department and informed them of the theft. The investigation by officials revealed that the company had mined 3.21 lakh tonnes. The company was asked to pay Rs 1.28 crore and a case is being initiated against them,” says Bilal

“Corruption is deep-rooted in villages, more than in cities. Every year, mining contracts, village development works and irrigation works worth crores of rupees are approved but the benefits just trickle down to the actual recipients. We both use RTI just to ensure that the funds are spent for actual purposes, the beneficiaries get their due and the taxpayers’ money is spent logically. We want to prove that it does not take much effort to file RTI applications and yet one can make a huge change in the situation,” says Patel.

Through RTI, the duo even investigated village accounts of their taluka, especially the Sampurna Gramin Rozgar Yojana (SGRY) where each village had to award labour works for development activities to the villagers. The sarpanch would earlier engage bulldozers for the work. The payment to the contractor was made via the SGRY grant head. The duo exposed this scam and got the sarpanch suspended.

Today, Bilal and Patel ensure that the minimum balance in their village accounts is at least Rs 24 lakh, which earlier used to be Rs 1 lakh.

NGOs to come under RTI

India Blooms News Service

New Delhi, April 21 (IBNS) Non-government organizations (NGOs) getting govt fund will come under the purview of the Right to Information Act( RTI) and will have to comply with the 'duty to publish', section 4(1)(b) , which has 17 manuals incorporating various kinds of information relating to their functioning and management.

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday made these observations while passing an order on a petition filed by National Stock Exchange (NSE), challenging a Central Information Commission order which had directed it to disclose information under the Act.

RTI, the brainchild of activist Aruna Roy, has allowed NGOs to successfully expose bunglings in muster-rolls, maintained by the panchayati raj institutions making them more transparent. It is now the turn of NGOs , dealing with public fund and govt aid to be transparent and accountable themsleves.

According to Dr. RS Tolia, Chief Information Commissioner, Uttarakhand, as the state concern in various facets of rural and social development improved and expanded there was an unprecedented expansion of the NGO sector.

“In due course, it was but natural that the sector attracted those who were there simply to make a 'fast-buck', as an enterprise.”

To the extent the public funds they use and utilize, NGOs become amenable to public disclosure, just like any government department, informed Dr. Tolia.

(Reporting by Jayalakshmi Sengupta)

‘RTI Act provisions not implemented in HP’

Express News Service Posted: Thursday , Apr 22, 2010 at 0111 hrs Shimla

The state failed to implement the provision under the Right to Information Act (RTI), which enables an applicant to inspect the site of an ongoing public work and draw samples of construction material being used, said RTI expert and former state law secretary J N Barowalia.

He said the state had framed rules for the amount of fees to be charged and laid down a procedure to apply for information under the RTI Act and also the inspection of records. “However, there is no rule framed on the amount of fee to be charged from an applicant who wants to inspect a site of public work being carried out by the government or a government-funded NGO or take certified samples of construction material procured with public money. There is a need to fully implement the Act by specifically providing for these rules,” said Barowalia, during a seminar on RTI Act organised by the Public Relations Society of India (PRSI), Himachal Chapter, on the occasion of Public Relations Day in Shimla.

PRSI president B D Sharma said more seminars and workshops would be organised on the Act this year.

State Information Commissioner and former chief secretary S S Parmar said implementation of the Act was being done efficiently for which 140 public information officers (PIOs) had been appointed. Due to the hilly terrain, he said, a provision had been made to give information at the doorstep of the people by appointing additional PIOs at block and sub-division levels.

Barowalia said information on the proceedings of a departmental promotion committee — without the names of its members — points raised over examination of annual confidential reports could be given after declaration of the result.

RTI ended this widow’s 11-year struggle

Vijaysinh Parmar     TNN

Junagadh: Life had dealt her a raw deal. After she lost her husband and daughter to illness, this 40-year-old widow had also lost all hope of getting back the money she and her husband had kept in a bank deposit 16 years ago. Then two years ago, Chandrika Thakkar, discovered the Right To Information Act. Today, not only has she won part of her money back, she has won her confidence back.

“In 1993, my husband made a fixed deposit with the then State Bank of Saurashtra in Bhavnagar. We lived in East Africa where my husband worked as an accountant,” says Chandrika. But, the couple was in for a shock when they returned to India.

“The bank officials told us the FDs had been withdrawn. We tried in vain to tell them we had been out of the country and could not have withdrawn the money,’’ Chandrika recalls.

A year later, three fraudsters were booked for withdrawing the money by faking signatures. But, Chandrika’s troubles were far from over. The bank was not ready to give back the money till the criminal case pending before the court was over.

“We could not reason with them. Though our names were not in the FIR, the document was being used against us. My life worsened as my husband fell ill and I found it difficult to make ends meet. My husband could not get the best treatment and eventually died in 2003,” says a teary-eyed Chandrika, who had to go through the ordeal of losing her eight-year-old daughter to illness a year later. “I couldn’t help her either.’’

Today, Chandrika lives with her mother in Junagadh and works as an anganwadi worker.

After Chandrika was told about RTI,she walked in to the Central Information Commission office and sought all details. It took her five RTI applications and eight appeals before she won the battle and the bank repaid her Rs 2.29 lakh, which includes the 11-year interest. “My struggle is still on as there is a part of the deposit the bank has to pay. But, now I am not apprehensive for I have the power of RTI,” she smiles.

Can answer sheets be disclosed? CIC to review own ruling

Himanshi Dhawan, TNN, Apr 19, 2010, 03.54am IST
NEW DELHI: The Central Information Commission (CIC) will set up a seven-member bench to assess whether evaluated answer sheets can be disclosed to citizens. The commission will be reviewing its own decision not to make answer sheets public.

The move comes after a St Stephen's student approached the CIC demanding that she be able to access her answer sheets.

The student, Sarah Cyriac, alleged that Delhi University (DU) had inadvertently mixed up her answer script with someone else's.

Chief information commissioner Wajahat Habibullah said, "We have decided to set up a seven-member bench to review the decision to not disclose evaluated answer sheets." No date has been fixed yet. The case against DU, however, points to the apathetic state of affairs in public institutions.

In her submission to the CIC, Cyriac pointed out that she appeared for all six papers of BA (Hons) Economics final year exams held in April-May 2009 by DU. She was, however, marked 'absent' for one paper in which she had appeared and expected to score well.

The scores for the rest of the papers averaged about 50% and were at variance with her earlier academic record. Cyriac said in her submission that she was a CBSE Class XII topper as well as a nominee of the HRD ministry's Commonwealth Scholarship 2009.

As evidence, Cyriac produced attendance records that proved she had appeared for the exam. Within three days, university officials issued a fresh marksheet with a 50% score in that paper also.

Suspecting that there was a mix-up in answer scripts, Criac approached DU in July 2009 for her answer scripts under RTI but was denied information.

CIC's earlier decision said that with institutions having "an established system as foolproof as can be, and which, by their own rules, prohibit disclosure of evaluated answer sheets would result in rendering the system unworkable... We therefore decide that in such cases, a citizen cannot seek disclosure of the answer sheets under RTI Act, 2005."

HC tells govt to give info on withdrawal of case against 3

TNN, Apr 20, 2010, 05.36am IST

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has directed the state government to give information under the Right To Information Act to an applicant on why it dropped criminal proceedings against three officials of the Indian Rare Earths Limited for indiscriminate mining in Kanyakumari.

The state government had refused to part with the information. Even after the Chief Information Commission upheld the applicant's right to demand information relating to the withdrawal of the case, the government moved the Madras High Court against the order.

Justice K Chandru, dismissing the writ petition filed by the government, said the information would not be covered by the exemption clauses under the Act and that the exemption was available only when it is considered to be an impediment to the process of investigation.

Concurring with the submissions of senior counsel A L Somayaji, who appeared for the RTI applicant, the judge also held that the application had sought to know the details of the public prosecutor's opinion, only from the government and not from the prosecutor himself. Hence, the question of privileged communication from the client and counsel too does not arise, he said.

Right to Information helps CRPF man receive ‘invalidated’ pension

Indian Express

Syed Khaique Ahmed Posted online: Tuesday , Apr 20, 2010 at 0158 hrs

Ahmedabad : Arif Sheikh, a CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) personnel from the 37th Battalion ran from pillar to post for the last one year to get his invalidated pension, until the Right to Information (RTI) Act came to his rescue.

He was sanctioned his monthly pension of Rs 4,810 from CRPF headquarters in New Delhi within a month of filing a query under RTI with the assistance of city-based Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahal (MAGP).

Sheikh sent his application to CRPF principal information officer on March 25 and again a clarification on April 10. On April 16, he received a letter informing him that his invalidated pension had been sanctioned with effect from May 1, 2009.

Sheikh, who had joined CRPF as a constable in 1994, was diagnosed with schizophrenia/bipolar disorder with psychotic reactions. On March 6, 2009, a medical board at the Gandhinagar Composite Hospital declared him unfit for any permanent or temporary work in CRPF. On March 31, 2009, he was issued a notice and finally invalidated from service on April 30 the same year on grounds of disability. But he was not granted invalidated pension as given to paramilitary personnel.

Sheikh dispatched a query under RTI to CRPF headquarters in New Delhi. He asked if the headquarters had received his invalidated pension papers, and what were the rules for releasing such pensions, as also the maximum time taken for releasing such pensions. In his query, he also asked the reason for the delay in his case, the officers responsible for the delay and how much more time it will take to clear his pensions.

Meanwhile, Sheikh received a letter from the CRPF headquarters on April 16, informing him that his pension has been granted and he could claim it from restrospective effect from May 1, 2009, after his medical examination.

Since Sheikh joined CRPF in 1994, he was posted at eight different places like Jaipur, Manipur, Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Gujarat (Ahmedabad), New Delhi and Tripura.

During his posting at A D Nagar (Tripura) in 2007, he was declared a psychiatry patient.

Deputy Commandant (Administration) B N Sidh said his pension papers had been cleared and sent to the accounts department.

RTI helps to secure tribal village from floods in future

Yagnesh Mehta   TNN

Uchhal: Memories of the devastation caused by a flooded river Tapi in 2006 are still afresh in the minds of people living in the villages of Surat and Tapi districts.

Rajesh Valvi, a youth from Holipada village in Uchhal taluka of Tapi district, wanted to ensure that his village was never affected by the floods in future.

The irrigation department started to construct embankments alongside Tapi in Uchhal taluka subsequent to the floods. Valvi found at the site of embankment construction that only stone structure was being built.

“The panchayat officials did not have the exact construction details. I decided to seek the information under Right to Information Act (RTI). Initially there was no response, but later a few officials approached me personally and provided the detailed specifications of the construction contract,” says Valvi, who had filed the application in 2008.

Officials visited Valvi at his house in the village on Tapi riverbank. He took them to the construction site where only stones were used to construct the embankment. “They asked the contractor to improve the quality of work. Later, cement and sand were used to improve the embankment’s strength as per the construction specifications. It was a major achievement for a tribal youth like me to convince the government officials about the poor quality of construction,” Valvi adds.

“I then thought of creating awareness about RTI among others in my village. Soon, for the tribals in the region, RTI became an important tool to seek information from government offices,” says Valvi, who now works as RTI counsellor at Shakti – Legal Aid and Human Rights Centre, Songadh. He inspires tribals to seek information under RTI to protect their rights.

He gives power to people, literally

Paul John   TNN

Ahmedabad: He brings forth shocking truths about the four state-owned power companies using Right to Information (RTI) Act and stops them from squandering taxpayers’ money. Today, if your electricity company charges you Rs 100 to Rs 750 less as late fee, you should thank KK Bajaj, 72.

Bajaj is the most feared by

the electricity companies in the state. Having spent 35 years in the power sector working for private companies, Bajaj diligently files RTI applications to monitor transmission and distribution losses (T&D), monitoring metering of electricity connections and the number of electrocutions of humans and animals caused by high tension wires. Today, he is trying to expose alleged financial irregularities and squandering of taxpayer’s money by Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL).

In a case of late fee charges, Bajaj says, “The state electricity Act gives a customer 10 days grace period and another 15 days notice period for paying up the bill. One needs to just pay 0.5% interest for being a day late. It is only after the 25 days that companies are supposed to charge you re-connection charges which is anywhere between Rs 100 for residential, Rs 200 for commercial and Rs 750 for industrial connections. I asked all the four power companies as to how much re-connection charges were collected and also demanded the dates of collection. The truth came out.”

The Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) ordered all the four power companies to pay back Rs 7.2 crore to the customers.

Bajaj has been concerned about the safety of high tension wires too. “Every year, more than 400 humans and 600 animals die because of electrocution. A wire should go dead the moment it breaks away from the main line. Officials tell me wire tapping may be a cause, but what about animal deaths? Do animals tap electricity? My RTI revealed that vegetation growing around transformers invite animals that cause deaths. The compensation given to families for fatalities is a mere Rs 10,000. I will soon file a PIL in this issue,” says Bajaj.

He adds, “Every year crores of taxpayers’ money is lost due to distribution losses. Only 30% users have metered connections while 70% still pay much less. Many farmers have between five and 10 horsepower pump connections but operate 40-50 horsepower pumps. Metered connections just increase by a mere 3% every year.”

Naresh Parmar’s RTI query helped resurrect programme for girls in Patan. He put life back into defunct govt scheme

Paul John     TNN

Patan: This farmer was responsible for resurrecting a defunct programme — Balika Samruddhi Yojana (BSY) — which for the betterment of the status of girl child in Patan, one of the worst district in terms of skewed sex ratio in the state.

Naresh Parmar’s RTI proved to be a boon for 4,000 mothers of girl children who will get financial assistance from the government in the form of a fixed deposit between Rs 40,000 and Rs 50,000.

The fixed deposit can be encashed once the girl completes matriculation.

Envisioned to give girl child an incentive, BSY was announced in 1997, three years before the 2001 census declared Patan district as one of the worst affected by female foeticide problem.

Under the scheme, government deposited money every month in mother’s account to ensure education and development of the girl child.

But the village-level health workers failed to inform the locals of such a programme and the state health department did not bother to go ahead with the scheme.

Parmar, however, came to know of such a programme and filed an RTI to know whether the programme was in force.

“BSY was an election promise and once elections are over, the promises are forgotten. I wanted to ensure that the promises are met. I filed an RTI to know how many mothers in Patan availed benefit of the scheme. None — I was told,” says Parmar.

He later filed an RTI asking names of officers and departments responsible for overseeing the implementation of the programme in the district.

“The officer incharge immediately informed me that the programme would be implemented the following day. Also in the first lot, nearly 400 women were given the benefit,” adds Parmar.

After two years of struggle, he used RTI and got a job

Vijaysinh Parmar   TNN

Junagadh: This man smashed the walls of the charity commissioner’s office using RTI, paving the way for many unemployed commerce graduates in the state for a career as ‘authorised auditors’. After two years of persistent struggle Rakesh Shah, 32, found that it was on a mere suggestion by an outgoing commissioner that had led to the charity commissioner office in Ahmedabad turning down per-mission to audit minor trust bodies for qualified persons.

Any commerce graduates with five years experience in a chartered accountancy firm and having cleared the government diploma in co-operation and accountancy (GDC&A) exam, were eligible for this job.

After repeated refusals, Shah filed an RTI in February 2007, seeking reasons as to why applications are being denied. The rule was clear — under Section 32(2) of the Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950, persons who are not chartered accountants can also be approved by the charity commissioner as authorised auditors.

And, they can then audit accounts of trusts whose income is up to Rs 3,000. Shah wanted to know whether any amendments were made to this law and even sought a copy of the file noting (suggestions of bureaucrats) that may have affected the change and a copy of the notification if the amendment was made.

“There were no amendments to the law, there was no notification, but after an 18-month pursuit I was told that the previous commissioner had made a suggestion in the file noting that commerce graduate should not be allowed to audit accounts till their capabilities are thoroughly scrutinised. The charity commissioner’s office instead of scrutinising applications conveniently, threw them in the dustbin. This was pure denial of our right,” says Shah.

Armed with the copy of the file noting, Shah approached the legal department of the state asking whether the charity commissioner’s file noting affected change in the law. The legal department immediately contacted the charity commissioner’s office. In June last year, Shah was awarded authorised auditor for three years in two districts.

‘Since last July, I have earned at least Rs 40,000 through this work. Thanks to RTI. I today, advice many young unemployed commerce graduates to start applying for authorised auditorship.’’ Shah proudly says.

Shah had spent two years seeking a certificate for the GDC&A examination which was held in November 2003. Its results were announced in May 2005.

“But officials were not giving my certificate. Despite several calls and visits to Gandhinagar, I was told to come later. I needed this certificate to get a job as panel auditor in my district. It was then that I filed an RTI application in March 2006. Within 30 days I received this certificate. I owe my entire career to RTI,’’ says Shah.

He uses RTI to get water supply to 13 tribal villages

Yagnesh Mehta TNN

Uchhal: Though 67, Surji Vasava’s presence at any government office in Uchhal taluka is enough to send chill down the spine of the officials. He has helped 13 villages of Uchhal to get regular water supply by filing applications under Right to Information Act (RTI).

“I want to get young again. Despite working for so many years for the tribals, I could not do much. However, with RTI I can make a lot of difference,” says Vasava of Mohini village in Uchhal taluka. Vasava had asked in an RTI application to the water supply board about overhead water supply tanks in villages of the taluka. “The most important question was how many of them are working,” he adds.

“Like always, the government officials were reluctant to reply to the question and I had to appeal to the appellate authority at Vadodara. Fortunately before the hearing at the appellate authority, I got a response from the local office which informed that 10 tanks were operational and 13 non-operational,” says Vasava.

In his application, Vasava had also inquired by when the non-operational tanks will become functional. The office had replied that within two months all the tanks would be repaired which were not in use because of faulty electric pumps.

“The repair work started and majority of the tanks were operational,” says Vasava, who has studied till old SSC. Vasava throughout his life had fought for the rights of the tribals. Vasava had sought the information under RTI due to water scarcity in the region. The residents of the villages of Uchhal taluka have no source of regular water supply and the situation turns worse in the summer months.

“It is an issue affecting thousands of life in the tribal region of Tapi district. So Surjibhai thought of using RTI to fight for water and succeeded,” says Rajesh Valvi, an RTI counsellor at Shakti – Legal Aid and Human Rights Centre.

Maha receives more RTI queries than Britain, Mexico

STAFF WRITER PTI   11:59 HRS IST

Mumbai, Apr 18 (PTI) Maharashtra has outnumbered Britain and Mexico in receiving queries under the RTI Act, the State Information Commission has said.

"In 2009, Maharashtra received 4,40,728 queries of RTI while Britain received 90,000 and Mexico 1,25,000 under a similar legislation," the Commission said in a recent report.

The state got more right to information (RTI) applications compared to the national level. The Central panel got 3.5 lakh applications last year, it said.

Acting promptly on the huge number of applications, the panel provided the information to 4,39,061 applicants, the report said.

The maximum queries 1,25,418 were about Urban Development Department followed by 72,393 of Revenue Department. Also the Home Department and Rural Development received over 45,000 and 43,000 applications respectively, it said.

The Government has received over Rs one crore through the applicants excluding the fees from people below poverty line.

FOI law tests public transparency

Warief Djajanto Basorie , Jakarta        Mon, 04/19/2010 10:05 AM         Opinion

In September 2008, the Institute for Information Flow Studies (ISAI), a Jakarta-based freedom of information advocacy group, requested the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) be more transparent by providing its details on the salaries of its commissioners.

The NGO also asked the anticorruption body for information on its budget and on what it does with the corruption money it has recovered. The ISAI also wanted to know the specifications of the surveillance equipment the KPK has used successfully in its much publicized sting operations.

The KPK provided information on the first two items but not the third. For the specs of its bugging devices, the KPK said the details were confidential.

The ISAI’s purpose in the information-seeking exercise of public bodies, was to test the Access to Public Information Act (Keterbukaan Informasi Publik or KIP in Indonesian) that was enacted on April 13, 2008.

Two years after its passing, time needed to develop the necessary infrastructure, this 64-article freedom of information (FOI) law becomes effective April 30, 2010.

The FOI Act works on the MALE principle: maximum access, limited exemption. The major aim of this law, stated in Article 3, is to assure citizens of their right to know about public policy making, demanding transparency of public bodies.

Under this law, all public bodies are obliged to disclose the public information they keep. Public bodies are public offices as well as NGOs that receive funding from the state budget and donations from community and foreign sources.

However, Article 17 of the law lists at least 10 types of exempted information. This includes disclosing information that may obstruct law enforcement, negates protection of intellectual property rights, endangers state security and defense, revealing Indonesia’s natural wealth, that may harm national economic resilience, be detrimental to foreign relations, reveal authentic deeds such as inheritance papers of a personal nature, exposes a secret of a private nature, that is confidential memoranda between and within public bodies, and also information deemed not for disclosure by law.

Despite these exemptions, much latitude is still open for a call to disclosure for information to prevent impropriety in public offices. The current tax broker scandal involving prosecutors and police officers is one example.

Investigators, the press and members of the public who seek such information may not be initially successful in procuring the information. The office that keeps the information may resist.

The ISAI has faced such resistance from the Health Ministry, the Indonesian Military (TNI) and BPMigas, the oil and gas regulatory agency.

The Health Ministry refused to provide data on its health insurance for lower-income people for 2007.

The TNI rejected the ISAI’s request for the findings of the inquiry of the Officers’ Honors Council (Dewan Kehormatan Perwira) on the disappearance of human rights activists in 1997-1998. And BP Migas denied access to the work contract details on the oil-rich Cepu mining block in Central Java.

In such a situation, the Information Commission plays the role of arbiter. Established under Articles 23 to 34 of the FOI Act, the seven-member Central Information Commission is tasked to deliberate and rule on public information disputes.

Five-member provincial, city and district level commissions have also been created for the same purpose. The independent Commission also has the function to form a general policy and implement directives in serving public information.

If the Information Commission rules in favor of the information seeker but the public body that holds the information refuses to release it, the latter will have to face the full weight of the law.

Under Article 52, a public body can face a one-year jail sentence and a Rp 5 million (US$550) fine for refusing to release lawfully requested information.

In the two-year period before the public information act became effective, preparatory measures taken included developing the Information Commission at the national and local level, the drafting of implementing regulations, designing an information service system, and opening a public information unit in public bodies manned by officers tasked with storing, documenting, and serving the information.

One regulation that should be considered relates to charges for information requests.

This is to preclude any illegal levies for such requests, says Notrida G.B. Mandica-Nur, director of the Indonesian Research and Development Institute (IRDI). Notrida has authored a 177-page Access to Public Information Manual for the use of information and documentation officers. The IRDI has been conducting training of trainers’ workshops on the new law.

According to Central Information Commission chairman Ahmad Alamsyah Saragih, only seven public bodies have developed internal mechanisms to implement the FOI law.

They are the National Police, the Health Ministry, the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court, the government of Central Java province, the State Comptroller’s Agency (BPKP), and the Financial Transaction Reports Analysis Center (PPATK). The Communications and Information Ministry, however, has also set up a Public Information Agency.

The National Police has undertaken detailed preparatory work. In November 2009, public affairs chiefs at all 31 provincial police headquarters gathered in Jakarta for a workshop with the theme, “Opening Space for Public Transparency”.

One major output of the workshop was a draft on police procedures in servicing public information.

How well the procedures work and how much transparency the National Police is willing to offer is being tested with the pile of scandal-prone cases now in its in-tray. All public bodies are now on notice.

The writer teaches journalism and has conducted workshops on development reporting at the Dr. Soetomo Press Institute (LPDS) in Jakarta.

Accidents happen but lift inspectors sit idle

Gitesh Shelke / DNA

Monday, April 19, 2010 1:35 IST

Mumbai: Six assistant lift inspectors, appointed last year, are sitting idle, despite the increasing number of complaints and accidents involving lifts and the lack of maintenance.

A few PWD officials had recently accused a few from the top brass to be hand-in-glove with private contractors. They do not want new recruits to inspect the lifts, an official said.

The matter came to light when Atul Nadkarni from Pune filed an application under the Right to Information Act, 2005.

State lift inspector NE Patil, whose office is in Andheri, responded, saying the department recruited six new assistant inspectors (lift) in April last year.

The pay scale ranges between Rs31,000 and Rs33,000. The six were appointed to inspect the lifts in Mumbai, Konkan, north Maharashtra, western Maharashtra, Marathwada, and Vidarbha.

Before the new appointments, there was just one lift inspector for the entire state besides six assistant inspectors.

Officials had pointed out it was impossible to physically check all lifts regularly due to shortage of manpower.

The lack of timely inspection by PWD led to an increase in number of unauthorised fly-by-night contractors. The lifts are installed according to various norms specified in the Bombay Lift Rule, 1958.

Mumbai has more than 70,000 lifts. There are more than 18,000 lifts in western Maharashtra, and 12,000 lifts in other parts of the state.

According to PWD rules, each assistant lift inspector is supposed to inspect at least 100 to 150 lifts a year.

RTI for the road

Indian Express

Pranav Kulkarni

Posted: Sunday , Apr 18, 2010 at 0032 hrs

It is noon and the mercury has crossed the 41-degree mark. But in Bhilwara, Rajasthan, the villagers stand huddled, waiting for “RTI wale”. Soon, a yellow-and-black Tata Sumo trundles into the village, trailed by a group of excited children shouting, “RTI wale aa gaye.” It comes to a halt in front of the village panchayat and out pops a mike and one of the two men in the vehicle begins to speak. “This is Right to Information on wheels. And we are here to show you the path to justice,” says Harinesh Pandya, a volunteer of Mahiti Adhikar Gujarath Pahel (MAGP) that initiated the movement.

Started in March 2008, RTI-on-wheels is an initiative to take the message of the Right to Information Act, 2005, to remote villages of the country. And what started in Gujarat has moved on to 34 districts, 88 gram sabhas and 93 public authorities in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

Based out of Ahmedabad, MAGP is a forum that promotes RTI and motivates people to obtain and use information as a means to develop and empower.

The van, pasted with banners and posters, comes with a laptop with over 143 films on RTI, a sound and mike system, television and CD player. There is also a help desk to draft the applications for the villagers.

At least five days a week, the car visits remote villages in the three states, spreading the message of RTI. Besides using lectures and films to drive home the message, the volunteers interact with people and fill RTI application forms for them. “Many of the problems are common to most villages. Watershed developments initiatives, road construction, NREGS and so on. For these, we have ready applications. For individual concerns such as property disputes and pension issues, we help them fill the applications,” says Pankti Jog, volunteer, MAGP.

“We started India’s first RTI telephone helpline to provide prompt guidance to citizens about the Act. So far, the RTI helpline has responded to more than 47,000 phone calls. The RTI-on-wheels takes it one step further, reaching out to remote villages,” says Jog.

In the two years of its journey, the RTI-on-wheels has been part of a number of life-changing stories. Ratna Ala’s is one of them. Ala is a visually challenged, middle-aged man who lives in Rangapur in Rajkot district of Gujarat. The rough, kachha road leading to his village made it impossible for him to walk. One day, he dialled the RTI helpline and with their help filed an application to enquire about the funds allotted for the road. The impact? “Not only did he get details of the funds allotted, even the fraud that the block administration was involved in came to light. The road was constructed and Ala was given the Rahul Mangaonkar Award for the use of RTI. Today, Ala is our activist,” says Pandya.

Magsaysay Award winner Aruna Roy’s foundation Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) was so impressed with the concept that they invited the vehicle for a demonstration in parts of Rajasthan. The visit to Bhilwara was part of this demonstration. “It is a great initiative. RTI is the second most important movement after the freedom struggle and it is important that every Indian knows and utilises it effectively,” says Lal Singh, member, MKSS.

That means a long ride for the RTI van. “Having covered 1,45,000 km, the RTI-on-wheels has reached over 3,50,000 villagers in two years,” says Pandya.

RTI query leads to Balco report ‘leak’

Chetan Chauhan, Hindustan Times

Email Author

New Delhi, April 13, 2010

A Union government body is in the dock for allegedly conducting improper tests in the Balco chimney collapse case, in which 40 people died, and providing the report to a citizen under the Right To Information Act before it was submitted in a court hearing the case.

Chhattisgarh police have arrested three top officials of the Faridabad-based National Council for Cement and Building Material on the charge of destroying evidence and hampering the process of natural justice.

“…Facts and evidences show they (NCCBM officials) were fully aware and confident that it is a false report, and on the basis of which the accused (Balco officials) can save their skin,” said Korba district SP Rattan Lal Dangi in a reply to the Central Information Commission.

The commission has issued a notice to Dangi after the council’s director-general M. Vasudeva alleged that three scientists had been arrested for providing the test report to a citizen in January under the RTI Act and supposedly helping Balco.

The council later withdrew its allegation, but the police took objection, saying it was the “moral responsibility” of the council to inform the person seeking the information to collect it from the police. “Not doing so brings the organisation under doubt,” Dangi said.

An apparent reason for Dangi’s claim was Balco’s advocate telling a court in February that the tests were not done according to Bureau of Indian Standard specifications and, therefore, they could not be treated as credible evidence. This was before the police could present the report to the court.

IIT Roorkee had examined the test report for Balco, whose findings were corroborated for the police by the National Institute of Technology, Raipur.

Dangi said no one except the investigating officer and the court were allowed to inspect any document related to an ongoing probe.

The police have charged three scientists for causing disappearance of evidence and giving false information. Dangi said the arrests would “defy the habit of giving recommendations not based on tests reports and creating hindrance in impartial justice”.

India-Pakistan 1963 talks: CIC to see if files must stay secret

IANS

Wednesday, April 14, 2010 2:01 IST

New Delhi: The Central Information Commission (CIC) will "revisit" the material regarding talks between the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan in 1963 to decide if it can be revealed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

The decision came on an application filed by veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar who had sought information from the external affairs ministry about the talks between the then foreign ministers of India and Pakistan — Swaran Singh and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto — in the wake of the India-China war in October 1962.

Nayar approached the CIC after the MEA denied the information, stating that it is in "top secret" files and cannot be revealed.

Considering the "sensitivity of the information, in view of the ongoing talks between the two nations, the said information could not be divulged at this point of time", the ministry told the CIC.

"After hearing the detailed arguments of the parties, the commission is of the considered opinion that the contents of the files (in the eight volumes) need to be revisited to decide whether all or part of the information contained in the said files is sensitive enough to be kept confidential or whether the same can be disclosed under provisions of the RTI Act, 2005," the bench of CIC chief Wajahat Habibullah and information commissioners Satyanand Mishra and Annapurna Dixit ruled on Monday.

"More important, if an exercise has indeed been undertaken for declassification as contended by respondent in the hearing, whether a conscious decision has been taken not to declassify the information sought at a sufficiently responsible decision-making level of government and if so, the reasons for arriving at such a decision," the order said.

"For this purpose, the commission decided that the records containing the information sought by the appellant need to be perused by the commission and the same be produced before the commission on April 29," it said.

During the hearing on March 17, Nayar contended that when he sought the same information from the authorities in Pakistan, he had been denied it simply because of the absence of any such agreement between India and Pakistan to disclose the information to an Indian national and only a Pakistani national could have access to the information.

Nayar wondered that when Pakistani authorities "had no objection to parting with the information, which contained Pakistan’s viewpoint", why the same information was treated as top secret here.

Experts say RTI's user base should be broadened

DNA

Thursday, April 15, 2010 9:51 IST

Ahmedabad: Though the Right to Information (RTI) law is being implemented comparatively faster than other laws in the country, the user base of the law needs to be increased. This is what experts opined on at a public meeting here on Wednesday.

The meeting was organised by NGO, Prashant, on “The Right to Information: Challenges in making it more effective” at Loyola golden jubilee auditorium at St. Xavier’s High School Loyola Hall.

The speakers included chief information commissioner (Centre) Wajahat Habibullah and Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (MAGP) founder Harinesh Pandya. They talked about the effectiveness and challenges of RTI. Father Cedric Prakash, director of Prashant, and human rights activist Teesta Setalvad were present.

Habibullah quoted some figures from a study of RTI users. “Nearly 40% of RTI users are not very educated. 10% people in rural areas and 30% in urban areas are aware of the Act and using it.

Surprisingly, only 2.5% and 2% of young people in rural and urban areas respectively know and participate in the RTI activity. As the RTI is for the future generation, we should make young people aware about the Act and its power,” he said.

The CIC further said, “RTI Act of India is one of the strongest Acts on the disclosure of information mechanisms in the world. Though the speed of implementation of RTI is slow, it is faster than many other laws. However, there is a lot to be done for RTI Act in terms of awareness.”

Pandya said, “How to broaden the user base of RTI is one of the challenges to this Act. The Act is in the fifth year of its implementation and nearly 4.5 to 5 crore people in the country have filed RTI applications. Out of this, 3.5 to 3.75 lakh are in Gujarat, yet the common people are not much aware about it. In Gujarat, out of total RTI users 70% are from rural areas and 30% are from urban areas.”

He further said, “Public Information Officers (PIOs) are feeling victimised by the Act as they have to face pressure from their bosses, from the RTI applicants and from the state information commission. There is a need for capacity building of PIOs.”

Checking Corruption

morungexpress

The social audit carried out by YouthNet recently in Kiphire district under the Right to Information Act (RTI) has thrown up quite a number of anomalies. This is not surprising because it is a fact that the government system is in disarray. The RTI audit in Kiphire has focused on education and health sector—both vital areas of social development. Such initiative by YouthNet is a step in the right direction and must be encouraged so that corrective measures can be put in place especially with regard to the functioning of our public service utilities. As brought out by the social audit exercise, our government system is marked by pilferage of goods or siphoning of funds besides other illegality such as forgery, bogus appointments, ghost employees etc. Such corrupt practice has an adverse impact on government run programmes. The end result is that fruits of development do not percolate down to the common people. Fund utilization and achievements remain only on paper and in reality it is all empty. The public cannot escape blame either. For instance it was revealed during the social audit that members of the Village Education Committees would come to collect the food materials and sell it off from Kiphire town itself. Such kind of illegal practice being carried out by the so called ‘enlightened’ public leaders is contributing to the large scale corruption taking place in our society and State. It is not just the politicians or bureaucrats who are involved in corruption. While a corrupt system no doubt exists, the public cannot absolve itself of blame themselves.

As far as Nagaland goes, the departments that make up the State machinery and those who run them will have to wake up from their lethargic functioning. Likewise the ruling government in the State should also not always ridicule the facts brought out by the Opposition. For instance, the government cannot run from the naked truth that irregularity exists with regard to public food supplies. The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) has asked the Chief Minister, who is also looking after Food & Civil Supplies, to explain the diversion of Public Distribution (PDS) rice for sale in the open market. Since the issue is a matter of public importance, the concerned authorities should give proper explanation on the points raised by the Congress. It is a known fact that PDS commodities continue to be generously doled out to ‘ghosts’ or people with bogus names. The Chief Minister should ensure that the PDS is made transparent and efficient. Whether it is rice, sugar or kerosene, the poorer section of society must get its due share of their entitlement. At the end of the day, the problem of corruption will have to be fought at various levels and through a multi-pronged approach. Further, one should not be under the illusion that the problem will be solved over night or that our society will be completely healed from the ills of corruption. As mentioned, tackling corruption will require a concerted effort of all stake holders. If we are able to at least control corruption to some extent, we are on the right track. Public awareness, education and in turn good governance are required to put a check on the evils of corruption.