Doubting Thomas;

Mumbai Mirror; Nalin Mehta; Monday, January 31, 2011,

Maybe, the gracious thing for Central Vigilance chief Polayil Joseph Thomas to do is step down, than be forced out.

Writing on corruption and probity in public life, ancient political theorist Chanakya started with a slightly banal observation in the Arthashastra: “Just as a fish moving deep under water cannot be possibly found out either as drinking or not drinking water, government servants may not be found out while taking money for themselves.”

Then, reflecting darkly on the mysterious opaqueness of the inner wheels of governance, he had a remarkable insight, “It is possible to ascertain the movement of birds flying high in the sky, but it is not possible to ascertain the movement of government servants or their hidden purposes.”

Historians still argue whether the Chanakya of the Arthashastra was really the same Chanakya who is said to have guided Chandragupta Maurya to the throne of the first truly pan-Indian empire but there is no question that his understanding of the sinister-sounding ‘hidden purposes’ of government servants sounds as true for Manmohan Singh’s government as it might have to Mauryan ears.

The Kerala cadre IAS
officer has been appointed
 Central Vigilance Comm.

Consider the knots the government has tied itself in over the curious case of Polayil Joseph Thomas. The Kerala cadre IAS officer was appointed Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) at the height of the hysteria over corruption in the Commonwealth Games, but at a time when telecom was clearly emerging as the next big scandal.

The Comptroller and Auditor General’s damning report on spectrum allocations by the Telecom Ministry was about to be made public and you didn’t need to be a rocket scientist to see that there could be a clear conflict of interest between his last job as Telecom Secretary and his new one as India’s vigilance czar.

The controversial 2G allocations were, of course, made before Thomas’ time but critics argue that he did not set Sanchar Bhawan on fire either with a clean-up or with action against 69 of the 122 telecom licencees who did not roll out services as they were required.

In fact, he presided over the Telecom Ministry at a time when it was vigorously questioning if CAG had any power at all to audit the allocation of 2G licences.

But so intent was the government in appointing him CVC that it scored a self-goal by over-ruling the Leader of Opposition who openly dissented. The resulting outcry and ongoing challenge in the Supreme Court has meant that we now have the irony of a Vigilance chief who not only has had to excuse himself from overlooking the greatest corruption scandal of the decade, but also a pending chargesheet against himself.

This is not a judgment on whether Thomas is innocent of the charges against him or not. Indeed, he must be held innocent on every count, unless proven otherwise. This is about propriety in constitutional appointments and upholding basic principles.

The government erred on two counts. First, the very rationale of including the Leader of Opposition in the CVC’s selection committee is to have bipartisan consensus on such a crucial appointment, and to check the government of the day from making a politically motivated choice.

By over-ruling Sushma Swaraj, the government exposed itself to the charge of blatantly fixing appointments when it should have been reassuring the public that it was serious about cleaning up. Why have an Opposition Leader on any selection committee when she will always lose in a majority verdict in any case?

Second, we now have a mea culpa from the Attorney General himself that Thomas’ service record presented before the selection committee did not list that he had decade-old chargesheet still pending in the palmolein oil import scandal. In fact, RTI records show that his service record presented by the Department of Personnel did not mention his tenure as Kerala Food Secretary, when the controversial purchase took place.

This is an astonishing revelation, especially when all personnel records are computerised. Manipulating files is known to be an old bureaucratic trick, but to not have them in order for such a high-profile appointment? Can anyone then be blamed for suspecting ‘the hidden purposes’ of government servants for such a huge oversight?

As the government response moved from an obdurate defence of its choice of CVC, to quiet behind-the-scenes implorations for a resignation, one thing has remained constant: PJ Thomas’ insistence that he is innocent, coupled with the argument that his chargesheet in Kerala was the result of being caught in a political crossfire between the Congress and the Left. May be. Maybe not. We won’t know till we have a judicial verdict.

Meanwhile, surely he can see that the institution he heads will continue to be clouded until he is cleared. Thomas did not appoint himself. The government did and politically speaking, this is a self-made mess. But perhaps the gracious thing to do now is for the CVC to step down, rather than being forced out.

CBI conducts raids on Adarsh promoters, Tiwari: Agency had filed an FIR against 13 people, including 7 bureaucrats

Deccan Herald; Mumbai; Monday 31 January 2011,

The CBI on Sunday conducted raids on the residential and office premises of three chief promoters of the controversial Adarsh Housing Society across Maharashtra and they also raided the home of suspended State Information Commissioner Ramanand Tiwari.

The CBI raids come a day after the agency filed an FIR against 13 persons including seven serving and retired state bureaucrats in the Adarsh scam.

The sleuths raided the premises of the Society’s chief promoter and former Defence Estates officer R C Thakur, the Society president Brigadier (retd) M M Wangchu and the former Congress legislator and one of the main players of the Society Kanhaiyalal Gidwani, who used his political contacts to get the Society file cleared by the state government.

Across cities:

The raids were conducted across Mumbai, Thane, Pune and Nagpur, the CBI sources here said, claiming that incriminiating documents, including files, laptops and even computer hard discs were seized.

While Gidwani's two flats and his office in Mumbai were searched, Thakur's two houses, one in Thane and another in Nagpur were raided. Wangchu's house in Pune was raided. Thakur's ancestral house at Madhuban in Bihar too was searched.

Late in the evening, a CBI team reached the house of Tiwari, who was the principal Urban Development secretary when the Adarsh file was cleared by his department, and began searches.

Tiwari was recently suspended by the governor from his high office and a reference has been made to the Supreme Court for his removal under the Right to Information Act (RTI) 2005.

He has been named in the FIR as being instrumental in reducing witdth of an adjacent road and increasing FSI (floor space index) of the Adarsh Society building.

The raids were also conducted at the Adarsh Society office in Colaba in south Mumbai.

“Searches are being conducted at Thakur’s residences in Bihar, Nagpur and Thane, Wangchu's house in Pune and Gidwani's house in Mumbai. Searches are also being conducted at the office of Adarsh society,” a senior CBI official said earlier in the day.

Questioned:

Gidwani, who owns three flats in the Adarsh building (one in his name and two in the name of his sons) was also questioned by the CBI officials, it is learnt.

These three individuals have been named as the main conspirators in the FIR filed by the CBI in the sessions court on Saturday.

Although the FIR contents have not been made public, it is learnt that the CBI has charged Thakur, who was a sub-divisional officer with Defence Estates Office, with playing a major role in identifying the plot and facilitating the state government's claim on it.

Gidwani helped use the Kargil rhetoric to push for clearances with the state government and change land rules to favour Adarsh. Brigadier (retired) M M Wanchu was instrumental in mooting the idea of the controversial housing society, sources said.

Gandhians on an indefinite hunger strike to fight corruption

DNA; Pankaj Sharma; Sunday, January 30, 2011,

Aggrieved at the failure of successive governments to curb corruption, five senior citizens launched a fast-unto-death in the capital on Sunday.

Their dream is Utopian a corruption free country and their demands: appointment of an effective lokpal, disqualification of election candidates with criminal backgrounds and seizure of properties illegally acquired by corrupt public servants and politicians.

Shambhu Nath Dutta, 93, who took part in the 1942 Quit India Movement, said, “Even after independence of 63 years, the situation hasn’t changed. In fact, it’s been deteriorating. But the government is not ready to do anything.

“Candidates participating in elections always spend more than the prescribed limit, but nobody asks them where the money comes from. I think if the government meets our demands, problems of every citizen will be solved.”

RS Devi, 84, said, “I am optimistic the government will listen to our demands and do something to weed out corruption.”

Youngest among the fasters, E James Rajasekaran, 51, said, “Not a single party has the courage to come forward and support us.”

But prominent people from different walks of life did walk from Ramlila Maidan to Jantar Mantar to support the fasting seniors, who also include social activists Amar Nath Khanna, 89, and Murari Lal Gupta, 90.

Among those who walked in their support were former IPS Kiran Bedi, RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal, Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Swami Agnivesh and lawyers Prashant and Shanti Bhushan and Fali S Nariman.

Brazen criminality

The Hindu: January 31, 2011,

The grisly murder of Malegaon Additional District Collector Yeshwant Sonawane in Manmad, Maharashtra as he confronted a gang pilfering fuel from tanker trucks has sparked widespread outrage. More than 1.5 million State government employees struck work for a day, among many other protests. The atrocity draws attention once again to the scale of the great fuel robbery going on in this country. By one reckoning, 40 per cent of kerosene is stolen during transportation from depots to retail outlets. Estimates of the value of this organised racket, which also sees quite a bit of the kerosene used to adulterate diesel, exceed Rs.10,000 crore a year nationally. The fraud seems to be growing in direct correlation to the rise in fuel prices. However, official responses have mostly been weak-kneed, even after the murder of Indian Oil Corporation employee S. Manjunath in 2005. There is no satisfactory explanation for why the Petroleum Ministry gutted, instead of revamping, its own 2006 ‘marker' scheme aimed at curbing adulteration.

The scale of organised criminal gangs in this sector in Maharashtra is much larger than earlier understood as the seizures and arrests in raids at more than 200 places reveal. Maharashtra's mafias in sand and milk are, by the very nature of those commodities, very much in the public eye. Organised crime in the petroleum trade is less easily seen. That could change with this horrible murder, as should official attitudes and responses to such racketeering. Hopefully, Maharashtra's law and order situation will also get the badly needed scrutiny. Several RTI activists and whistleblowers have been attacked and some of them murdered over the past three years. The State has also seen several atrocities against Dalits (of which Khairlanjee was just one that got any attention). A senior Member of Parliament from Marathwada stands charged with murder. In the present case of fuel diversion and adulteration, the opposition has alleged there is high political backing for the racket across the State. Generally speaking, if there is big money to be made in Maharashtra, there is a mafia that steps forward to make it. The crackdown that is on now and the arrest of all ten suspects in the murder of Mr. Sonawane are positive signs. The hope is that Union Petroleum Minister Jaipal Reddy's resolve to curb the adulteration menace will not prove short-lived. A great deal of work waits to be done on the ground, and a start can be made by acting on the Supreme Court's 2001 suggestion of an additional agency to carry out independent checks and actions in the fuel sector. Else Mr. Sonawane and others like him would have lost their lives in vain.

Priests to union leaders, all join hands for cause

TNN, Jan 31, 2011,

NEW DELHI: It is used to hosting party workers paid to put in an appearance at political rallies, but the Ramlila grounds in the capital witnessed a welcome change on Sunday.

Priests from the Chhattarpur temple shared platform with Muslim leaders and the Archbishop of Delhi while retired Army personnel joined several social organizations in demanding punishment for the corrupt. None was lured by promise of payment, most sacrificed the only Sunday they get to spend at home, to turn up at the anti-corruption march.

The participants were not just limited to Delhi but also poured in from places such as Noida and even Muradabad. The sector 18 Noida traders union turned up as it did a 'Nyay Yatra' from Muradabad, drawing everyone's attention to graft involving railway property. Students from Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University and even a business college came holding placards to register their protest.

"Everyday we hear about scams being exposed but despite years passing no one is punished or some lowly official is held responsible while the powers-that-be go scot free. We all are fed up with loopholes in the laws that permit this and want a change," Ritika, a DU student, said explaining why she turned up to participate in the march.

The entire exercise saw enthusiastic participation by various social and religious groups like the 'Art of Living' group of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Swami Ramdev's Bharat Swabhiman Trust, organizations like Jagrut Nagrik Manch, Jago Party, Lok Satta, NGOs involved in RTI-related activities such as Parivartan, ABYSA and many other religious, social and human rights organizations.

Muslim leaders like Mahmood Madani, Mufti Shamoon Qasmi and Maulana Syed Kalbe Rizvi emphasized the need to deal strongly with the corrupt and joined the march.

Nikhil Bhalla, a lawyer practicing in the Delhi high court, said he was hopeful the Jan Lokpal Bill would put an end to "money and corruption that is ruining the land while crooked politicians pocket profits and treat us as sheep".

Illegal constructions rock Agasaim gram sabha

TNN, Jan 31, 2011,

AGASAIM: Several illegal constructions being carried out in the village, especially in the Baixo-de-Igreja ward, dominated proceedings of the Agasaim gram sabha on Sunday.

At the outset, Agostinho Esteves pointed out to an illegal construction which is coming up in Baixo-de-Igreja ward and asked the sarpanch Piedade Fernandes who had given permission to construct the same. When the sarpanch replied that the issue was raised and passed during the panchayat meeting, Aires Fernandes, another gram sabha member, inquired as to how the construction work could be permitted without the written permission from the authorities.

George Gonsalves pointed out to the construction work being carried out during the night with the help of halogen lights and asked who issued the electricity connection to such individuals. He also said that many villagers who had legal documents could not obtain electricity connections for the last 8 years.

As the sarpanch had no answers to the queries raised by the members, Andrew Pereira demanded that the construction at Baixo-de-Igreja be demolished within two days and the licence be revoked immediately.

Rosario Rodrigues said that if the panchayat failed to resolve the issue, then he would file a suit against the panchayat.

Gonsalves alleged that the people who have taken up the illegal construction work, could have bribed the panchayat. He further said that if he had substantial proof, he would have dragged the panchayat to court.

Reacting to Gonsalves' allegation, the deputy sarpanch James Afonso asked him to leave the meeting hall. At this point Aires Fernandes objected to the deputy sarpanch.

Pereira also brought to the notice of the sarpanch that illegal constructions, including illegal gaddas, were mushrooming near the new bypass and demanded that they should be checked and removed instantly.

With information received through the RTI Act, Aires Fernandes questioned the secretary of the panchayat Thomas Fernandes about the development works carried out during the financial year and the budget prepared for the same. The secretary revealed that although the budget was prepared of around ` 25 lakh, only four developmental works were undertaken amounting to ` 5 lakh.

Rodrigues brought to the notice of the sarpanch that when Xavier Gracias was the sarpanch earlier, the Agasaim panchayat ranked second as far as utilising governmental funds were concerned.

AMC especially lethargic in walled city

Ankur Jain, TNN, Jan 30, 2011,

AHMEDABAD: Flouting the norms seems the order of the day for AMC's estate department. Be it posh CG Road or bustling Kalupur, the apathy is identical. Municipal officials, who have often been goaded into action by the HC, were caught napping on complaints of illegal construction in walled city areas.

Last year, AMC received 398 complaints of illegal construction in areas like Kalupur, Shahpur, Khadia and Dariapur, including that of the ill-fated building in lane number 16 of Saudagar ni Pol which came crashing down killing five on Friday.

Senior AMC officials and political leaders also accept that there is a visible disparity in AMC's action against those flouting norms in eastern and western areas. "Due to notorious elements active in areas like central zone areas, AMC's action gets delayed as more planning is required to crack the whip in areas where anti-social elements are rampant. However, AMC has been acting against illegal construction in these areas and in the coming days will get stricter," said city mayor Asit Vora.

AMC has also received 10 RTI applications on an average, every week from helpless residents of the walled city, seeking information on action taken on their complaints against illegal construction and encroachments. However, in west and new-west zone AMC has cracked the whip against illegal construction and those flouting construction norms.

In the last three months, AMC has served notices or sealed more than 70 residential and commercial buildings in west and new-west zones over fire safety. However, municipal officials have chosen to turn a blind eye to big commercial complexes in Sarangpur, Gheekanta and Panchkuwa that flout fire safety norms.

"Anand Cloth Market near Sarangpur overbridge has no fire safety system. This building saw a major fire accident a few years ago. Also, for a building with 250 shops there is no parking space as the underground parking area has been turned into shops," said a trader who has an office in the four-storey building.

Red-tape India's Swiss access ?

Times Now.tv; Monday, January 31, 2011,

With the pressure mounting on the government to recover India's black money, the Swiss once again put the onus on India. Speaking to TIMES NOW, Whistleblower banker Rudolf Elmer's lawyer said it's India that has not been proactive enough to get back it's loot stashed in Swiss banks.

Elmer's lawyer Ganden Tethong has clearly said that India has not been proactive enough and that even though a diplomatic MoU between India and Swiss exists from 1989, the Memorandum has been hardly utilised by India. But, the most interesting point made is that the Swiss bank secrecy clause is not absolute.

Speaking to TIMES NOW in a exclusive interview Tehong said, "The Swiss secrecy caluse is not absolute. Based on International and Mutual Assistance act on legal matters, India can seek access to Swiss account details. The Swiss can give out details on dirty money."

She added, "India is not utilising the MoU signed with the Swiss on the matter. Details on terror and black money can be sought using it. India needs to be more active on obtaining black money transactions."

An RTI accessed by TIMES NOW uncovers a shocking fact. The RTI reveals how it's almost been 6 years since a cabinet nod was given for ratifying the UN treaty which allows for information exchange between countries on corruption. The question now remains as to what is the cause of delay?

But, the bill is still stuck in red tape...RTI document with TIMES NOW has shown that Ministries have been sitting on it for five long years. If this treaty had been ratified, the Indian Govt today would have been able to access information which is denied to us.

The treaty in question ensures information exchange among countries on corruption. India had signed the treaty in 2005, but is yet to ratify the Anti-corruption pact. Close to 144 nations have ratified the treaty, using it to get information on black money stashed in tax havens.

What is the treaty ?

• Treaty signed to ensure information exchange among countries on corruption
• India signed the treaty in 2005, but is yet to ratify Anti-corruption pact
• India amongst 11 countries that haven't ratified the pact yet
• 144 Countries have so far ratified the treaty in their country

No steps on legislation for private medical labs

Express News Service; Monday, January 31, 2011,

KOCHI: More than a year after Health Minister P K Sreemathi announced that legislation would be enacted to monitor the activities of private medical laboratories in the state, nothing has been done in this regard.

According to information received under the RTI Act from the Health and Family Welfare Department, the government so far has taken no concrete steps to enact the legislation.

Earlier, information collected by a Kochi-based NGO, 'The Proper Channel', had revealed that there are no specified rules for issuing licences to private laboratories and monitoring of fees collected from patients.

Following this, the Minister had announced that legislation would be enacted to regulate the activities of laboratories. Though the announcement was made about a year ago, nothing happened after that.

Recently, the NGO again approached the Health and Family Welfare Department seeking details of the legislation. Answering the RTI query filed by M S Sreekumar Sharma of The Proper Channel, the Public Information Officer (PIO) of the Health Department said: "The government has been examining various aspects of framing legislation for monitoring private medical establishments, in the state including laboratories. Currently, no permission is needed from the Health Department for setting up a medical laboratory."

The licence is issued by the local self-government bodies. Also, there is no standardised fee for tests. That is why the minister promised to bring in legislation.

However, even a year after the announcement was made, the government is yet to do something to frame the legislation," M K Haridas, of The Proper Channel, said.

Delhi acts against corruption

Abhinav Garg, TNN, Jan 31, 2011,

NEW DELHI: The government of India and our "people's representatives" were put on notice on Sunday - either fundamentally reform the country's anti-corruption laws or perish.

Two former Union law ministers, India's first women IPS officer, a sitting information commissioner, a retired cabinet secretary, a current member of National Advisory Council (NAC) and leading social reformers joined thousands of citizens to give a powerful call to restructure India's anti-corruption laws so that they become effective.

Guided by Magsaysay Award winner and RTI pioneer Arvind Kejariwal, thousands converged at the Ramlila Grounds to exhibit symbolic defiance by tearing copies of the CVC Act, the Delhi Police Special Power's Act that governs CBI and the draft Lokpal bill proposed by the government. Kejariwal patiently explained to the crowd how the present laws flatter to deceive and therefore ought to be replaced.

A 'Vote Bank Against Corruption' movement was also launched that asks voters to blacklist a party or a candidate who doesn't work to implement the 'Jan Lokpal Bill', touted by the organizers as a better, more robust anti-graft law which will actually ensure that the punishment to the dishonest is swift, certain and severe.

'I pledge that I will not vote for the party which does not pass and support the Lokpal or Lokayukta Bill drafted by citizens, either in state or at the Centre,' is the oath that targets votebank politics established on caste, religious and regional lines.

Holding aloft banners and shouting slogans against rising levels of corruption in the country, thousands of people from all age groups poured into the grounds to demand an effective anti-graft law. Showing banners that proclaimed 'Corruption: Enough is enough' and 'Common people are raped in government offices', the protestors gathered at the Ramlila Maidan from where they later marched to Jantar Mantar to register their protest.

Former Indian Police Service officer Kiran Bedi, social activist Swami Agnivesh, noted lawyers Ram Jethmalani, Prashant Bhushan and his father Shanti Bhushan, IC Shailesh Gandhi, Medha Patkar, Prabhat Kumar and NAC member Harsh Mander were among the key participants in the rally, which coincided with Martyrs' Day, the death anniversary of the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi. Bedi joined veteran lawyer Jethmalani and others to exhort the crowd to chant to Mahatma's favourite song 'Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram', as each speaker underlined the need to exert outside pressure on the legislature to amend anti-graft laws.

The march was part of the 'India against Corruption' movement being build up by a few social organizations demanding passage of the Lokpal Bill in the budget session of Parliament with important amendments. Eminent lawyers and activists have teamed up to draft an anti-corruption legislation which seeks to create an independent, empowered, transparent and accountable anti-corruption agency called Lokpal; to which agencies like the CVC and CBI will be accountable, independent from governmental interference.

"The Lokpal bill prepared by the public is so effective that it will eradicate corruption in next two-three years. Political parties should support the passage of this bill as the Lokpal suggested by the government is only a showpiece," former law minister Shanti Bhushan said while addressing the rally. According to activists, the government wants to make Lokpal an advisory body, which will only recommend to the government to prosecute corrupt ministers and remain toothless.

MP wakes up to rural job plan corruption

Chetan Chauhan, Hindustan Times; New Delhi, January 31, 2011,

After an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) couple were found to have wealth of over Rs 300 crore, two more IAS officers in Madhya Pradesh are facing the heat for alleged corruption in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

The two officers were posted in district Sidhi in north-eastern part of Madhya Pradesh during 2008 when the alleged corruption took place.

The two had allegedly facilitated disbursement of money to non-existent Self Help Groups and payment for work on days, which did not exist such as June 31. There were also allegations of fabrication of muster rolls and paying less than mandated under the MGNREGA law to those enrolled in the scheme.

In addition, huge amount was spent on planting Jatrofa without taking approval of the competent authority, which was declared as failure.

"These are some of the findings of an inquiry done by district prosecution officer in 2008," said Ajay Dubey, RTI national award winner for 2009, and general secretary of NGO Prayatna, which exposed the corruption using the Right To Information (RTI) law.

Finally, the state government has woken up to the corruption in the world's biggest job guarantee scheme in January 2011. The state's Rural Development department has issued a chargesheet against the two officials, in-charge of the scheme in the district in 2008, two years after the state General Administration Department (GAD) asked it to initiate action.

The chargesheet has been sent to the GAD department for serving the officials, who are now serving as district collectors. As per the RTI information, the department has also asked recovery of about Rs 8 crore, which was allegedly siphoned off during the period.

Corruption in MGNREGA is not new. But for the first time explanation is being sought from IAS officers for facilitating the corruption. Dubey said corruption in the scheme has been exposed through RTI in as many as seven districts. "The corruption is over Rs 100 crore," he said. BK Sinha, secretary Rural Development Ministry has also asked officials of the ministry to conduct an inquiry into the allegations and submit a report.

Citizens decry assault on activist

Nitin Yeshwantrao, TNN, Jan 31, 2011,

MUMBAI: Hundreds of people came out on the streets of Thane on Sunday to protest about the attack on RTI activist Vikrant Karnik. They blamed the incident on the 'mafia rule' by a Mumbai-based builder and a local Shiv Sena leader.

The protest -a first-of-its-kind citizen's movement here in recent times-was organized by a group of civil rights activists and labour leaders. Citizens and social activists like retired judge B G Kolse-Patil also participated in the three-hour rally, which started from Ghantali and ended at Vartak Nagar.

Karnik, known for fighting for the rights of working class and urban infrastructure and environment issues, was assaulted by three persons outside his house last week. He is currently recuperating at Lok Hospital.

Earlier, Karnik had informed the Thane police about a threat to his life from the Sena leader. The Sena leader was upset with Karnik as he threatened to expose his role for stealing power, he had claimed. The MSEB had registered a case against the leader's social organization for stealing power from roadside electricity poles. Following Karnik's complaint, a counter-complaint was lodged under the Atrocities Act by a supporter of the Sena leader.

"It is a fight between the common man and his ideals versus this powerful politician-builder, who is using his clout to violate the rights of citizens. Karnik was only doing his duty as a citizen when he tried to expose the politician. He is paying a high price for raising his voice," said Nitin Deshpande, a city-based activist.

Labour leader Rajan Raje, who was at the forefront of the protest march, complained about the police inaction in the case. Raje had led a delegation of activists to police commissioner SPS Yadav recently and complained about the slow progress in the investigations in the Karnik case.

Kolse-Patil said the citizens should rise against the oppressive rule and expose those politicians who are responsible for the growing incidents of illegal activities.

White ants have destroyed documents

Sanjeev Shivadekar, TNN, Jan 31, 2011,

MUMBAI: White ants have destroyed documents submitted at the state election office to list names in the electoral rolls. Congress activist Mohammed Umar Shaikh had asked for information under RTI about documents submitted by 30 people from Goregaon to register their names in the voters' list.

Shaikh said Saleem Akthar, a madrasa teacher from Sunni Masjid at Scotter Colony, Malad submitted forged documents to help them. However, Saleem denied any role in helping them with forged documents. The documents required are bank passbook, ration card, electricity or telephone bill as proof of residence.

Shaikh said, "Last year, a certain Zakir Hussain was arrested in South Africa for staying illegally. A newspaper report said he was from Malad. We had information that one of the teachers of the madrasa helped people in arranging documents. A room in the mosque was shown as their residence." Shaikh informed the mosque's trustees about this matter.

Chief electoral officer Debashish Chakrabarty said, "I will ask my staff to report incidents of termites damaging documents. We will take steps to prevent it."

Ismail Shaikh, president of the Sunni Masjid wrote to the local police and anti-terror squad (ATS) to investigate the case. "They did not respond. We wrote to home minister R R Patil, but his office has not replied," he added.

Mohammed Shaikh then sought information under RTI. "If any one has information that a voter's name is included in the list without following the due procedure, then they can raise an objection before the election registration officer," Chakrabarty said.

He added, "If an official finds the names are wrongly inducted in the list, the names can be deleted."

Ismail Shaikh said the teacher declined to clear the doubts in the madrasa's log. "The teacher also could not explain how 30 people used the masjid's address to register,'' he said.

Akthar said that he helped students in getting ration cards on the madrasa address. "I'm teaching in the madrasa for the last 29 years. Once the students complete education, their addresses change," Akthar said.

He added, "There are some people who want to take control over the mosque. But I will not allow that. These are all baseless allegations."

R R Patil said he did not know about the letter. "The issue appears serious. I will direct the officials to investigate the trustees' allegations and take appropriate action."

Students take their battle against errant institute to Facebook

TNN, Jan 31, 2011,

GURGAON: After using the RTI Act to expose the irregularity in the degree offered by the Institute of Business and Research (IBMR), the whistleblower students have now created a page on the social networking site, Facebook, to continue their battle in cyber space.

The students had filed complaints against the institute alleging that it was not certified by the UGC and IGNOU, on the basis of which the Gurgaon Police had registered an FIR against the institute on January 21. The Facebook page, called 'Join Hands to Eradicate Education Corruption', has already been joined by a dozen-odd users.

On the initiative, Deepak Deswal, a student, said, "We decided to create the page for providing an interactive platform to all the MBA aspirants who have been planning to join the institute. After visiting the page, the reality of the institute will be known to thousands of students." Deswal, along with four other students, had left the institute last year after learning about the fact that the institute was not certified to offer an MBA course.

The Facebook page has several c newspaper clippings relating to the the institute. "Newspaper clippings, news report links and other documents which we have culled out from various sources have been uploaded to the page to add credibility to the issues we are talking about," said Deswal. The students had used the RTI Act to get documents from various sources including the UGC, IGNOU and the ministry of HRD last year. "We have uploaded the RTI application and the responses of the authorities too. In addition, the police's investigation report and the subsequent FIR have also been added," said Deswal.

The students said that every development in the case would be mentioned on the page.

'Bus depot on riverbed without DDA permission'

Avishek G Dastidar, Hindustan Times; New Delhi, January 31, 2011,

The contentious Millennium Depot of the Delhi Transport Corporation on the Yamuna riverbed has come up without permission from the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), the land-owning agency.

In an RTI reply last week, the DDA’s planning department said that “no permission for construction of depot at this location has been given.”

“We had given permission for temporary parking for some 600 buses during the Common-wealth Games,” said a senior DDA official on condition of anonymity.

The DTC has requested the DDA to change the land-use to make the depot permanent. The site was earmarked for the dumping of fly ash. The controversy over the bus depot started after the Common-wealth Games with the Delhi government’s reluctance to shift out of riverbed, where permanent construction is not allowed. The matter reached the high court recently.

Meanwhile, no department of the Delhi government wants to share the blame for the depot.

Even the DTC itself, in an RTI reply, put the responsibility of building the depot on the public works department. When the RTI query asked whether the Millennium Depot was a permanent or a temporary structure, the DTC said, “The depot has been constructed by the PWD; the information can be had from the Chief Engineer’s office of the PWD.”

The Prime Minister’s office (PMO) recently referred a protest petition on the issue from environmentalists to chief secretary’s office in Delhi. The chief secretary in turn referred it to the environment department, which then referred the matter to the Delhi Development Authority saying the issue pertained to riverbed, which was under the DDA’s jurisdiction.

In 2009, the office of the Delhi Lieutenant-Governor as gave Delhi government the permission for temporary parking of buses on the Ash Pond area for the Games.

Although no permanent structure was supposed to have come up there, the Delhi government went ahead and spent Rs 60 crore to develop the 61-acre area. In the petition to the PM, environmental groups called this an “open loot” of Delhi’s natural asset, the floodplains.

Everyone wants a piece of Manmohan Singh

DNA; Pankaj Sharma; Monday, January 31, 2011,

How much did the government spend to keep Prime Minister Manmohan Singh healthy since he first assumed office in May 2004? How much money did the exchequer release for his foreign travel since? Did Union minister MK Alagiri’s Maldives trip during the 2010 budget session have PM’s approval?

The year gone by saw the prime minister’s office (PMO) flooded with many such queries under Right to Information (RTI) Act.

In fact, during 2009-10, the year in which the UPA government was besieged by a host of controversies, the number of RTI queries to PMO rose substantially from 1,939 and 2,292 in the previous years - 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 - to 3,108, an immediate jump of 36%.

Sources said 3,108 are the most applications PMO has received ever since RTI Act came into force in 2005.

While PMO refused to reveal the spend on Manmohan’s health, it said Rs234 crore was spent on his foreign trips in the five years counting backwards from 2009-2010, much more than the Rs185.6 crore spent on then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s foreign tours during 1999-2003.

PMO also divulged that Alagiri’s Maldives trip, which had reportedly angered UPA chair Sonia Gandhi, did have its approval. To another RTI query, PM denies giving nod to putting his photograph on 1,500 billboards by National Highway Authority of India.

Other applicants sought former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri’s death documents and information regarding Manmohan and Shashi Tharoor’s meeting just before the then minister of state for external affairs resigned in the wake of the IPL controversy. Both applications were rejected.

With the number of RTI pleas increasing, rejections have also gone up steeply from 203 and 405 during 2007-08 and 2008-09 to 953 during 2009-2010, as also acceptances from 1,589 during 2008-09 to 1,396 during 2009-10.

The rise in the number of RTI applications fetched PMO Rs32,000 by way of fee during 2009-2010 as compared to Rs18,460 and Rs24,119 in the previous years.

No recording facility in CCTV, cops tell RTI applicant

DNA; Sunchika Pandey; Monday, January 31, 2011,

Though CCTV cameras across the city have helped the police in nailing culprits, Right to Information (RTI) applicant Sanjay Shrivastava, who had demanded recordings of DN Nagar police station, was surprised by the reply to his application.

It said that though the police station had CCTV cameras installed, there was no recording facility in it.

Shrivastava and his friends - Gaurav Chaurasia, Kamlesh Mishra and Nagesh Tiwari - who were arrested and brought to the respective police stations on October 18, had accused assistant inspector IM Gaikwad of assaulting them in the police station and manipulating their medical reports.

“We had filed a private complaint against Gaikwad in the Andheri magistrate court. It had issued a summons against him on November 7, 2010 and he has been out on bail since December 8. My clients are still being threatened by different people at different times. That’s why we filed an application for cancellation of his bail on January 25,” said advocate Avinash Dubey. “The CCTV footage will be the strongest proof of our assault and we suspect it’s been denied on purpose,” said Shrivastava.

The application for the bail cancellation is scheduled to be heard in the court on March 7.

Shrivastava had filed an RTI application to the additional commissioner’s (west region) office in December. After getting no response, he made another appeal to the deputy commissioner of police’s (Zone IX) office in January to get the footage of the inside of the police station recorded on October 18, 2010.

The reply, a copy of which is with DNA, reads, “CCTV is available but recording is not.” In response to an SMS pertaining to the reply, DCP KMM Prasanna also responded, “There was no recording facility.”

Making procurement socially accountable

Financial Express Bangladesh; Shafiul Alam; Saturday January 29 2011,

Public procurement, that accounts for over three billion US dollars a year, is an important area of governance in the country. Transparency, accountability, fair competition and equal treatment to all are the essence of public procurement. The use of public money in the process calls for strict adherence to the Public Procurement Act (PPA) 2006 and the Public Procurement Rules (2008).

The government is implementing some specific activities to improve governance in public procurement. The Central Procurement Technical Unit of the IME Division has been implementing the Public Procurement Reform Project-II with assistance from the World Bank to institutionalize capacity building, improve procurement management, introduce electronic government procurement and generate greater awareness in the community.

It is very heartening that the government is also trying to facilitate citizen engagement or independent monitoring of the procurement process and outcome. This will serve the purpose of social accountability in public procurement. The government has already formed a Public-private Stakeholders Committee (PPSC) in this regard. The PPSC has been in its activities for the last one year. Three of its quarterly meetings have been held, two newsletters published and a case study done.

Apart from placing appropriate recommendations on procurement practices, the PPSC will devise a third-party monitoring mechanism which, if the government wants, can have a legal coverage also.

The CPTU within the IME Division now monitors procurement performance as envisaged in the PPA and PPR. But for wider social accountability and transparency, facilitating citizen engagement and independent watch will ultimately enhance credibility and image of the government.

A vibrant and free press is now playing a good watchdog role to help the government improve the status of governance. The media is also highlighting anomalies and violation of rules in the performance of public procurement. The Right to Information Act is there. But the media people collect information through their sources they have developed and the full functioning of the RTI is yet to be in practice. Some limitations cannot be overruled here.

A major casualty, in many cases, of public procurement commonly evident is the poor quality of works (roads, bridges and dykes etc). In the capital city or in other areas of the country this has been a general allegation that roads built or repaired are damaged very shortly. It is certain that some lapses either on the part of the contractors or procuring entities take place in such cases.

If the community can be involved in the procurement process it may yield a better result as done in the Philippines, India and Argentina. In the Philippines, civil society organizations (CSOs) are allowed to monitor the whole process of procurement under the public procurement law. Under a modus operandi, the CSOs monitor the procurement plan and the implementation. If any violation of rules occurs they lodge complaints with the authorities and actions are taken upon investigations.

But in Bangladesh the community for this purpose has to be sensitized well and the CSOs need to have the required knowledge and capacity to perform the task of procurement monitoring as an independent watchdog. The Institute of Governance Studies (IGS) of the BRAC University has been providing technical and expert support to the PPSC in taking forward its activities and devising a third-party monitoring mechanism pursuant to the realities here.

The Minister for Planning heads the PPSC having as many as 27 members from the public and the private sectors. Since the government is on the supply side it has to initiate the process to meet the demand of the people. Once the mechanism is finalized and accepted formally, organized CSOs may come forward to do the job. Because, there is no harm in being open while delivering good to the public.

It is to be assessed and decided to what extent it should be open.

E-mail : shafiul_1966@yahoo.com

Rs 40 lakh spent, yet Aarey in dumps

Kunal Purohit, Hindustan Times; Mumbai, January 29, 2011,

The popular picnic spot at the Aarey Milk colony, one of the largest open spaces in the city, is crumbling.

Swings and benches are broken and children often hurt themselves playing here. The garden, spread across more than 15 acres, is unkempt, and is sometimes flooded with water overflowing from the pond; drinking water fountains have no taps.

Strangely, Aarey Milk colony authorities claim to have spent more than Rs 40 lakh in the past three years on beautifying and repairing this garden. Authorities say they even hired a private contractor for Rs 17 lakh to maintain the garden for three years.

Residents and activists have now come together to fight against official apathy to save the garden.

Activist Biju Augustine said, "A few days ago, my nephew had come here for a picnic with his schoolmates and got injured, thanks to the rusted edges of the slides. Teachers told us such incidents are frequent here."

Another activist Ashish Patil said, "Using the Right to Information (RTI), we asked for a break-up of the cost incurred on the garden. Shockingly, we found out that they had spent lakhs on drinking water posts, which have no taps."

Residents say according to the break-up, authorities spent Rs 4 lakh on 'spreading and sending sea sand'. Sunita Churi, a Goregaon resident, involved in the campaign, said, "Leave alone sea sand, there's hardly any sand in the whole garden. Vinod Gholap, a former teacher and a Goregaon resident, said, "The playground equipment, for which the authorities claim to have spent lakhs, is rotting and broken, and is dangerous for children. How can the authorities neglect all this?"

Aarey Milk colony chief executive officer, LR Bhosale, meanwhile, blamed the children for the state of the garden.

"Even when we beautify the garden, children come and damage everything. But, we have sent another proposal to the government about refurbishing the garden."

Augustine said, "Just because children don't have a voice, these authorities take advantage."

Murder at high noon: An official killed for photographing oil pilferage. If this isn’t Mafia Raj, what is ?

Mumbai Mirror; Ajit Ranade; Saturday , January 29 , 2011,

But he saw kerosene being stolen from a tanker, tried to stop it, and then as evidence took a picture on his cellphone. The culprits were caught red handed on camera, and hence they burnt Sonawane alive with that same kerosene.

A conscientious government officer paid with his life, for the simple act of trying to stop oil pilferage. He has joined the several martyrs who dare to expose the truth by either asking a simple question using right to information (RTI), or blowing the whistle on the nexus between contractors and politicians.

More than a dozen people have been killed for using RTI to expose various scams. Several others have been beaten up, and hundreds more threatened with dire consequences.

This gruesome murder of an Additional Collector in broad daylight for just confronting a thief, is pointing to utter lawlessness. The mafia doesn’t like interference and certainly no snoopers. If you are an onlooker, you risk your life.

The kerosene adulteration of diesel is a ten thousand crore rupee racket and hence a high stake game. Over the years, various means have been tried to plug loopholes in kerosene distribution.

But the biggest loophope is at the distributor end. Petrol pump distributorship often obtained with political patronage is where the leakage happens. Petrol, diesel, kerosene, jet fuel and LPG are all produced at the refinery at the same cost.

Hence they all should have the same price. But kerosene is sold at one third the price through PDS ration shops. It is meant for poor people, but half of the 4 million tonnes meant for ration shops never makes it. It gets stolen and then mixed with the much higher priced diesel and the sold in the black market.

This is an elaborate black market economy and needs complex coordination. It is true that this huge gap between kerosene and diesel price is the root cause of black markets and oil mafia. But you can’t blame the kerosene subsidy for Sonawane’s death. It was the oil cartel which killed him. The oil mafia, as also milk and sand mafia is used to doing their own thing with impunity. Maybe in Mumbai or Thane they may seek to use the cover of darkness. But just about hundred kilometres away in Nasik, there is no need to hide, or put on any charade. Unfortunately Sonawane stumbled into their cosy setting and spoilt their party.

Naturally he had to be punished most severely, so that it would be a deterrent not only to other senseless citizens but also government officers.

Forget about kerosene pilferage, under such circumstances, next time you see someone stealing water from a municipal pipe would you bother? It happens all the time in Mumbai. Whether it is the huge water pipeline from Tansa, or taps of municipal gardens. You can see pilferage everywhere. But most citizens just look away.

Why risk your life ? Or break a limb ? Remember, nobody killed Jessica ?

No, that won’t do. A true tribute to Sonawane, so that his death may not be in vain, is for us ordinary citizens not to be afraid to poke our noses. It could be traffic offenders, or queue breakers. No more tolerating lawbreakers, big or small. No more looking away. No more letting mafiosi rule.

Readers’ feedback:

Why Indian cat doesn’t catch the mice

This refers to the Ajit Ranade’s column “Game of Chinese Whiskers” (MM, Jan 22). If in China the colour of the cat doesn’t matter as long it catches the mice/pigeon, in India it does. And not just the colour – the genetic make, the owner (if any), the locality it comes from.

As a country obsessed with caste, religion, social status, and Gandhis, when the latter is busy achieving maximum kills in terms of growth and prosperity, the former is busy doing a census on cats based on their colour.

– Aparna Muktibodh

Public information campaign launched

TNN, Jan 29, 2011,

PANAJI: The Press Information Bureau (PIB) has launched a 3-day Bharat Nirman Public Information Campaign to create awareness of the central government schemes among the people of Goa.

Addressing a press conference, campaign co-ordinator Dilip Deshpande said the campaign will be held from January 28 till January 30 in Mandrem and Siolim. A special programme on media orientation regarding the central government schemes was organised by PIB, Panaji, on Friday wherein journalists were briefed by Deshpande.

Deshpande said although there are many central government schemes for the people, most people are unaware about them or how to avail of them and how and where to apply. Some of the central government schemes that will be explained include the Sarvashiksha Abhiyan, Mid-day meal scheme and a slew of rural schemes regarding housing, irrigation, roads, etc.

Although it is not a scheme, PIB will lay special emphasis on disseminating awareness about the central legislation called the Right to Information Act. The resource person who will give lectures on the RTI Act is senior journalist and president of the Goa Union of Journalists Prakash Kamat. Kamat said that RTI can be a very useful tool to the people to obtain information in the larger interest of the public. He said that during interactions with the public, he realised that many people would like to have information about various schemes, who are the beneficiaries, etc.

A rally of students will be organised to mark the Bharat Nirman campaign in Mandrem on Saturday. The campaign will be inaugurated at Mandrem high school hall at 10 am on January 29, 2011 at the hands of Mandrem MLA Laxmikant Parsekar, Zilla Panchayat member Shrimati Manjrekar, Sarpanch Raksha Kalshavkar and other dignitaries.

The campaign at Siolim will be launched on January 30, 2011at Kalika Kumbaleshwar temple hall. Later, lectures on the various central government schemes will be conducted by specially-invited resource persons. A cultural programme by the "Song and Drama division" will be held on all the days after the technical sessions.

Deshpande said this is the 8th such public awareness campaign on central government schemes conducted by PIB in Goa.

Task before CIC

GreaterKashmir.com; Saturday , January 29 , 2011,

For those aspiring to see accountable and transparent governance and an end to deep-rooted corruption in Jammu & Kashmir, it is time to cheer. After substantial delays, the appointment of the state’s Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) on Friday has evoked optimism. After months of lobbying by aspiring candidates and high political activity among the political parties, the choice of the present Chief Income Tax Commissioner (JK-Amritsar circle) Ghulam Rasool Sufi is seen as a positive message. This appointment is generally seen as symbolic of seriousness at the political level about this law.

Despite some differing perceptions among the ruling National Conference, the opposition PDP and the coalition partner Congress on who should be the CIC of this state, it is good that chief minister Omar Abdullah and opposition leader Mehbooba Mufti had a consensus on the final choice. It is good that we didn’t get to see a former police officer or a bureaucrat heading the State Information Commission something which could have possibly bred conflict of interests, like being seen in other states. At the same time, fingers are being crossed that the two information commissioners will be appointed soon and the individuals appointed will bring the same cheer.

Given the seriousness of the job the State Information Commission is supposed to do as an appellate authority, CIC’s job is a serious business. Its work could determine whether we would be in a position to expect people-friendly governance, which is just, accountable and transparent. That is a big need for the disempowered people of this state.

For empowering the CIC appropriately, there is a need to make certain amendments in the right to information (RTI) law itself. One such need pertains to the provision of penalty for government departments and agencies failing the requirements under the RTI law. For that it has been proposed by RTI advocates that where the State Information Commission at the time of deciding any complaint, appeal or reference is of the opinion that a department has persistently failed to publish its particulars, it may be empowered to impose a penalty of Rs 250 each day upon the concerned officer till the information is published; so however, the total amount of such penalty shall not exceed Rs. 25,000. This is an important provision.

Then there are issues related to the mention of “disproportionately divert resources”, file notings, etc. The former clause needs to be dropped. And ‘file notings’ provision needs to be included in the definition of information. One of the other serious handicaps of J&K’s RTI law is the exemption from disclosure of information which the state believes “would prejudicially affect seriously harm the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State or lead to incitement of an offence.” A lot of unnecessary secrecy in our state system comes from such provisions which bring in a large canvass of governance areas in its gambit. A time has come to review the provisions which encourage undue and unnecessary secrecy at the detriment of public interest.

Then is the issue of the fee for RTI application. In our state it has been kept at Rs 50 as against Rs 10 in the rest of India. Our RTI law needs to bring the fee down to enable common people access information pertaining to public good. The automatic exclusion of the below Poverty Line (BPL) category of people from exercising their Right to Information as a reason of this fees also needs a rethinking.

Apart from these changes that need to be made in the 2009 law, right to information activists have also desired the process of selection of CIC in itself be made more participative and transparent. Towards that, it has been recommended to have a 15-member search committee comprised of eminent citizens chosen by the committee itself and making the nominations public. This kind of participatory system will itself promote across-the-board transparency in government functioning.

SIC Important Milestone for Transparency in J&K: Omar

Outlook; Jammu; Jan 28, 2011,

Terming the State Information Commission as an important milestone in his roadmap for transparency, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said the Right to Information Act was an efficient device to check malpractices at all levels.

"We have made RTI more forceful and effective to provide ample room to general public for scanning the functioning of government departments at various levels," he said, adding, after a unanimous decision on the state's Chief Information Commissioner, the names of two Information Commissioners would be finalised soon.

Reviewing the progress of development works in separate district board meetings of Reasi and Samba districts here, the Chief Minister said judicious utilisation of finances at all levels was imperative to ensure better delivery on the ground.

Omar said performance of the district administration would be gauged by honest management of funds and timely completion of works.

"Attention has to be focused on successful implementation of schemes in consonance with norms and set procedures," he said.

The Chief Minister said third party monitoring of works put in place by his government was also an effective measure to check the quality, status and progress of various projects and schemes.

"We are also monitoring the schemes at the Secretariat level. The CM's grievance cell is receiving regular feedback of various works," he said, adding that the Cell will be further strengthened.

Omar directed the district administration to formulate a comprehensive programme for revival of water bodies and restoration of ponds and pools in the Samba and Reasi districts to store and harvest rain water.

"Wherever necessary, tanker service for supply of drinking water should be extended," he said, maintaining that revival of water bodies would be more beneficial in water scarce areas.

RTI activist shot at

Calcutta Telegraph; Saturday , January 29 , 2011,

Lucknow, Jan. 28: A right to information activist, who had uncovered financial irregularities in rural development schemes, was shot at in Sonebhadra in eastern Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday.

Amar Nath Pandey, 55, a practising homeopath, was hit by bullets on his hand and shoulder and is recovering in a nursing home.

Social workers and civil rights activists today came out in large numbers in Lucknow, Varanasi and Sonebhadra in protest against the attack and demanded security from the state government for RTI activists.

Late last year, Pandey had exposed that a brick normally sold at Re 1 a piece was purchased at Rs 24 a piece for the repair of a road in the Naxalite-affected Sonebhadra district under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA).

Expenditure statements that he obtained through RTI also revealed that payments of lakhs of rupees were made against the names of “dead” labourers under the scheme.

“Pandey was instrumental in exposing… that payments had been made against the names of people who had died or did not stay in that village,” senior police superintendent Deepak Kumar said today.

As a result of Pandey’s efforts, the NREGA monitoring agency had issued a recovery order of Rs 30 lakh from the officers concerned for misappropriation of funds.

Rajesh Dubey, the village development officer of Ghorwal block, block development officer Rajesh Yadav and village pradhan Chandrabhusan Yadav have been named in the FIR filed yesterday. No arrests have been made yet.

“There was another attack on me last week when a jeep tried to run me over as I was returning home on a scooter but I escaped miraculously with minor injuries,” said Pandey, who is also a Congress worker.

On Wednesday, he was walking down a road in Sonebhadra town in the evening when a man “came running up to me from behind, shot me and disappeared”, Pandey said.

The police later recovered the attack weapon a pistol.

Mangrol BJP MLA booked for murder attempt

Express News Service: Fri Jan 28 2011,

Rajkot : Madhavpur sarpanch says he and his family were assaulted for raising voice against illegal mining

BJP MLA from Mangrol, Bhagwan Kargatiya, and his aides have been booked for attempt to murder and rioting following a police complaint by Madhavpur sarpanch Ram Kargatiya, who alleged he and his father were assaulted by them for their complaint over illegal mining of limestone.

The police arrested two of the MLA’s supporters on Thursday and said further investigation was on.

According to the police complaint filed by Ram, Kargatiya and six others assaulted him, his father Devshibhai and an associate of theirs at the office of Porbandar Congress MP Vithal Radadiya in Madhavpur, on Wednesday.

Madhavpur sub-inspector and investigating officer in the case, A Ramanuj, said an offence under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including that of attempt to murder, has been registered.

As per the complaint, the MLA’s wife and Devshibhai had a heated exchange on January 26 morning following which the MLA allegedly threatened the latter and his supporters. He and his men then attacked the victims with pipes, sticks and knives.

MLA Bhagwanji Kargatiya has been under the scanner following Ram’s complaint about illegal mining at Madhavpur.

A preliminary survey was held at his mining site last week and mines and minerals department is said to have found illegal mining of limestone worth Rs 20 lakh.

Sarpanch Ram Kargatiya said they were attacked for exposing illegal mining by MLA. “They want to suppress our voice. I have also filed an RTI application to seek more details about mining activities,” he added.

CA site lease: Schools gain, BDA the loser

Deccan Chronicle; Friday January 28, 2011,

Jan. 27: The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA)’s largesse while leasing out its valuable Civic Amenities (CA) sites to private educational institutions has led to new controversy. Activists allege that even though the existing rules prohibit the BDA from leasing out land to the same organisation for the same purpose in different places, the rules are bent to help certain vested interests. Interestingly, the BDA has no clue about the lease amount of 61 schools.

According to information provided by the BDA under the Right To Information (RTI) Act that was filled by city-based activist and chairman of the Bangalore Schools Parents Association, Mr Shrikanth Adiga, around 279 educational trusts including a few government schools have been granted CA sites across the city but many of these institutions have availed of sites at different places citing the same purpose.

According to the information furnished by the BDA, education groups like the JSS society, the CMR Jnanadhara organisation, the Citizen Education Society, etc., have been granted sites at more than one place for the same purpose. “In many cases, schools are allowed to run even after the expiry of the lease period and this causes a heavy loss to the exchequer,” said Mr Adiga. He also informed that in the case of many schools, precious land is leased out for 30 years for a paltry 40-50 paisa per sq ft per year. The lease amount is also different for various schools even though they are situated in the same locality.

“I will file a complaint with the Lokayukta in this regard. The documents clearly reveal that something fishy is going on,” said Mr Adiga.

He also wondered why the lease amount of 61 schools has not been made public. “It is high time that the allotment guidelines of 1984 be implemented to check the corrupt practices of the officials and educational institutes,” said Mr Adiga.

Meanwhile, the president of the Jayaprakash Narayan Vichara Vedike, Mr B.M. Shiva Kumar, said that according to the Act, no institution shall be given land for the same purpose in more than one place. “The CA sites are precious property and there is no meaning in giving away all the available sites keeping in mind the needs of the future generation,” said Mr Kumar.

Whistle-blower case: 'It's a classic case of harassment'

Sukhbir Siwach, TNN, Jan 27, 2011,

CHANDIGARH: A central committee has termed the matter of Haryana's whistle-blower as a classic case of the state government which itself broke the law, protected violators and punished IFS Sanjiv Chaturvedi, who tried to uphold law. In its report of over 100 pages, the committee has suggested ways how honest officers can be protected in the country.

Taking the case of Chaturvedi as an example of harassment, the inquiry committee comprising inspector general of forests AK Srivastava and assistant inspector general of forests Shally Ranjan have recommended long-term actions to be taken by the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF).

''To prevent the misuse of powers under Rule 7 of All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969, regarding institution of disciplinary proceedings, it should be made mandatory for the state governments to get the chargesheet of major penalties, approved by the central government before serving to the officer concerned. This is judicially established position that the chargesheet for major penalty should be issued only after the approval of appointing authority, which in the case of All India Service officers, is the central government,'' said the committee in its report.

''One of the main reasons for a large number of cases pending in the courts in which government is litigant against its own employees, is that the authorities concerned never decide or pass speaking orders on the representations of the employees. The service rules should be suitably modified to ensure a time-bound decision by the competent authorities on the representations of the employees,'' suggested the committee.

Taking Haryana's case as an example, the panel said, ''The service rules should be suitably modified so that in case of any violation, the erring officials have to pay penalty either in the monetary form or otherwise. This can prevent situations like repeated violations of cadre rules in states like Haryana. Such cases should be brought in the ambit of the central vigilance commission for wholesome treatment and also for deterrence to the erring officers. The state vigilance bureaus should be given more teeth and immunity from the state machinery. The mechanism for the protection of the whistle-blowers should be strengthened at the state level.''

Notably, the strong recommendations came after the panel established that Chaturvedi, who had just joined the state cadre after completing his training was harassed for his attempts to prevent the destruction of a wildlife sanctuary and preventing the misuse or misappropriation of government funds in various plantation projects or schemes including that of developing a herbal park on private land belonging to politically influential persons at the cost of public exchequer. The committee has quoted a letter of the cabinet secretary, dated March 3, 2010, to all chief secretaries clearly reiterating the path which the civil servants must always endeavour to tread. However, the present case portrays a contrary picture, in which instead of showing zero tolerance towards corruption, zero tolerance was shown for integrity, honesty and lawful duty,'' the panel observed.

All powers available with the vested interests in the state government including suspension, issuing chargesheet and keeping it pending for more than three years, frequent transfers, slapping false cases were applied on the officer. Even the orders of central government, Supreme Court-appointed panel (central empowered committee), Central Administrative Tribunal, State Information Commission and even the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) could not deter the powerful vested interests in Haryana from harassing the officer,'' concluded the committee.

Interestingly, its unique case in the country when the President intervened twice; first to revocate illegal suspension of Chaturvedi in 2008 and recently when the first citizen of the country quashed the fabricated chargesheet issued against the whistle-blower. The panel has also highlighted how RTI Act helped the officer in challenging his illegal suspension and fabricated chargesheet before the central government.

Sofi Named Kashmir’s First CIC

Kashmir Observer; Friday Jan 28th 2011,

Srinagar, Jan 27, KONS; Chief Income Tax Commissioner for northern India, G R Sofi, was today appointed as the first Chief Information Commissioner of Jammu and Kashmir, six years after the state enacted the landmark Right to Information Act. The government made the nomination after a seven years' wait, and sent the selection of the 1976 batch IAS officer to the governor, NN Vohra for approval.

The members of the committee authorized to select CIC - Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand and opposition Peoples Democratic Party leader, Mehbooba Mufti met at Guest House Jammu where the decision was taken.

However, the posts of the two Information Commissioners will remain vacant for the time being. The meeting to appoint the state CIC was postponed twice earlier because Mehbooba had boycotted, once because names on the panel of shortlisted candidates had been leaked to the press.

Jammu and Kashmir was the first state to enact the Right to Information (RTI) Act in 2004.

According to the KNS, Sofi emerged as the consensus candidate in the meeting that lasted for one hour.

“The names of the incumbent chief secretary, S S Kapur, former DG CID, Ashok Bhan, were also in the panel. But Sofi emerged as the final choice due to his clean image,” the KNS quoted unnamed sources as having said.

“Kapur’s name was dropped because of his alleged involvement in out-of-turn promotions of some officials in various departments,” they added.

Sofi had served as chief IT commissioner of Jammu and Kashmir till last year.

Sources said that Sofi would be retiring from active service after six months.

Talking to the KNS Mehbooba Mufti termed Sofi’s appointment as a good beginning.

“He is a non-controversial officer and respected by all,” she said.

“J&K is a volatile state and people should have faith in the CIC. The appointment of a credible and honest officer was the need of the hour,” she added.

PDP and Peoples Democratic Front led by Hakim Mohammad Yasin had demanded appointment of a local from the majority community as CIC and with Sofi taking over, the demand has been fulfilled.

The two Information Commissioners for Jammu and Kashmir would be appointed by the CIC now. Sources said soon after Sofi takes over he will appoint his sub-ordinates.

Sources also disclosed that the government would appoint head of Accountability Commission in a meeting on February 8 in Jammu.

Jammu and Kashmir was the first to enact the Right to Information Act in 2004. But it took seven years for it to appoint the CIC. The state government was earlier hoping to appoint former chief information commissioner of India, Wajahat Habibullah, to the post. But it did not happen due to delay in acceptance of his resignation from the central post.

कश्मीर में सूचना आयोग का गठन होगा

नवभारत टाइम्स ; 27 Jan 2011

जम्मू।। जम्मू और कश्मीर में लंबे इंतजार के बाद सूचना आयोग के गठन की तैयारी पूरी कर ली गई है।

मुख्य सूचना आयुक्त और दो सूचना आयुक्तों के चयन के लिए मुख्यमंत्री उमर अब्दुल्ला, उप मुख्यमंत्री तारा चंद और विपक्षी दल पीपुल्स डेमोक्रेटिक पार्टी (पीडीपी) की नेता महबूबा मुफ्ती गुरुवार को बैठक करेंगे।

अधिकारियों ने विचाराधीन नामों का खुलासा करने से इंकार किया है लेकिन सूत्रों का कहना है कि 31 जनवरी को रिटायर होने जा रहे एक सीनियर अफसर, प्रदेश के एक पूर्व खुफिया प्रमुख और आयकर विभाग के एक रिटायर अधिकारी इस दौड़ में शामिल हैं।

Activists demand harsh punishment

Prajakta Chavan, Hindustan Times; Mumbai, January 28, 2011,

No one is safe in the state and the common man does not have confidence in the government, said social activists and Right to Information (RTI) activists, reacting to the murder of Nashik additional collector Yashwant Sonawane near Manmad on Tuesday.

“The outrageous crime is a result of the huge oil racket taking place in the state. Merely arresting Popat Shinde [the main accused] will not end it,” said social activist Anna Hazare. “The killing shows that there is no fear left among the criminals for law and judiciary. The accused in this case should be punished in full public view.”

Mayank Gandhi, an RTI activist from Vile Parle, pointed out that activists, who help reveal malpractices of the government and other agencies, have been attacked in the past.

“The Manmad incident indicates that even government officials can’t check corruption.”

Gandhi added, “Citizens have lost complete faith in the judiciary… At the most, the government sets up a departmental inquiry or committee, which comes out with a little result.”

Businessman Kishore Jagtiani said: “The innocent are being butchered openly because criminals are themselves… at the helm. The common man is left to the mercy of bureaucrats or politicians.”

City NGOs, too, demanded harsh punishment for Sonawane’s killers.

“Whistleblowers and government officials are killed and the accused are not arrested. And even if they are caught, they get released sooner or later. To gain the confidence of people, the culprits needs to be punished severely,” said AGNI coordinator Rajkumar Sharma.

NAC's suggestions on amendments to the RTI Act rejected

Tehelka; Arpit Parashar; Thursday, January 27, 2011,

Activists blame government babus of trying to complicate the processes and curtailing the aam aadmi’s rights

The rejection of suggestions made by the National Advisory Council, headed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, to proposed changes in the Right to Information (RTI) Act, by the Department of Personnel Training (DoPT) of the Ministry of Personnel has left activists fuming. They blame government babus of trying to complicate the processes and curtailing the aam aadmi’s rights.

Claiming that the Central Information Commission is not equivalent to a court, the DoPT said that it has put in place proposals to structure the commission like a court. Words like ‘Registrar’ and ‘Registry’ have been added in context of the commission to the proposed rules. At present, the secretary to the CIC is designated as the registrar, whereas under the proposed rules, he/she has been upgraded to chief executive officer and registrar-general to the CIC, a clever cadre upgradation.

Activists say that since the officer would be an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, this would lead to a clear conflict of interest.

In government offices the ‘Registry’ is a Central Cell/Section of the office/department/ organisation where in and out mails of the office/section are received, diarized and forwarded/dispatched as applicable. In context of courts, the Registry consists of Registrars who are from judicial background and a few officials and staff for administrative roles.

“Do we need such a rigid organisational structure that will make life difficult for people by enforcing rigid procedures under the pretext of legal jargon?” questioned Commodore (retired) Lokesh Batra, a noted RTI and social activist.

DoPT, the nodal agency that handles RTI in India, came out with a new set of rules on December 10, and asked for views and suggestions of various RTI users. A NAC's sub-group on transparency and accountability, headed by social activist Aruna Roy, had then sent a strong critique of the rules to the department, terming them against the spirit of the RTI Act. The department, in its 13-page reply to the council on its observations on the rules, has shot down the apprehensions raised regarding whether the poor and the illiterate would not be able to frame an application, saying, “Apprehension that people who are not well educated may not be able to write an application within 250 words is without any basis inasmuch as long applications are made by the people who are well educated and who try to seek explanation, etc., instead of seeking information as defined in the Act. The Act provides that if a person is not able to make a request, the public information officer would render him assistance in making the request. This provision takes care of the people who are not well educated.”

The new rules, which have received a lot of support from bureaucrats, however fails to take into account the fact that a person from a rural background cannot travel long distances to ask for assistance to word the application appropriately and stick to such a tight word limit. This is bound to put off many people from filing an RTI application. “Invariably, the applicants need to write the background with reference to which information is being sought as a prefix to queries or attach a document as a reference. At time the information requested is interlinked with more than one subject,” Batra said. The DoPT has also suggested that the petitioner should pay for the “the actual amount spent by a public authority on hiring a machine or any other equipment, if any, to supply the information.” Activists say that this would leave the petitioner open to harassment from the PIO, since he can demand that the applicant pay huge amounts on the pretext of obtaining the documents from a distant place.

Critics are also up in arms over the proposed changes to Rule 11(2) and (3) on the ‘Admission of Appeals’. This lays down that the CIC will have the power to accept or reject appeals if it feels that the RTI petitioner has availed of all the “remedies available to him.” Under the current rules, all the rejected RTI applicants can get a hearing from the CIC – allowing babus to not have their decisions bypassed and requests sent directly before the commission.

Some other “grave” sections include sections 13-15, which talk about allowing the appellant to withdraw an application on “prayer” and not allowing assistance of somebody else to file an application. “This clearly leaves the appellant with no choice but to lay himself open to harassment from people who do not want the information divulged,” Batra alleged, pointing out that the proposals instead allow the commission to appoint people who will assist the appellants, leaving the door open to hiding of information. “The commission cannot be fair to the appellants and bring in transparency when such widespread abuse is going to be allowed of the basic provisions of the Act,” Batra said.

Another suggestion of the council that stands rejected includes abatement of an RTI appeal or complaint. Rule 16 of the draft rules says, “The proceedings pending before the commission shall abate on the death of the appellant.” The NAC had demanded that this provision should be deleted because this could encourage or result in the murder of the appellant.

Kumaraswamy threatens to stage dharna tomorrow

Press Trust Of India; Bangalore, January 27, 2011,

JDS leader and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy on Thursday alleged that the Urban Development department had not responded to his query under the RTI act on payment to a housing society and threatened that he would go on a dharna on Friday.

Kumaraswamy, who has drawn the ire of the ruling BJP for releasing documents on alleged land scams involving Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa and his family members, said he was trying to get replies to a query from the Department for the past one month.

"I have been asking for information regarding payment of Rs 400 crore to the DLF Housing Society. The Urban Development Principal Secretary is also not responding to my phone calls for the document since a month... I will wait till this afternoon. If I do not get it, I will stage dharna tomorrow in front of his office," he told a press meet here.

Kumaraswamy, who had led the JDS-BJP coalition government, took a dig a Yeddyurappa for his announcement to earmark Rs five crore in the budget to reward those providing information on "benami" lands owned by politicians around Bangalore city. "Yeddyurappa family will be the first victims, because it is they who own benami lands", he said.

"The BJP leaders are shameless supporting the misdeeds of Yeddyurappa government," Kumaraswamy said.

He appealed to Lokayukta Santosh Hegde to accord top priority to the petition against him and and his brother H D Balakrishne Gowda and complete the investigations so that the people of the state get to know the truth.

Kumaraswamy dismissed as "baseless" allegations made by an advocate in his complaint that about Rs 167 crore funds were deposited in the bank accounts of Kumaraswamy's relatives after he became chief minister in 2006.

Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda slammed BJP for the Ekta yatra in Jammu and Kashmir and said "it is only to divide the nation and not to unite".

"Are Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley the only ones who unite the nation?, he asked.

JDS sources said the party's minority wing is organising a protest in the city against Yeddyurappa on January 29, on the eve of a Congress rally demanding the Chief Minister's resignation.