CIC Asks the C.M.D. of the State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur

Press Information Bureau; 30 June 2011

Central Information Commission (CIC) has drawn the attention of the CMD of the State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur to the issue of sanctioning of applications under Pradhan Mantri Rozgar Yojana (PMRY) and to revisit the matter and direct branch managers of all branches of the bank in the state of Rajasthan and outside the State to review the reasons for turning down applications made under PMRY. Information Commissioner Smt. Deepak Sandhu gave this instruction to the Bank in its decision dated 27 June, 2011on an appeal filed against the State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur regarding the refusal by the Kishangarh Rainwal branch to give reasons for the rejection of 38 applications (out of 80) made under PMRY. These applications were made during the period of 5 years prior to 10 October 2007. During the hearing respondent bank stated that each branch was given a target under this PMRY and it was possible that once the target had been achieved, the other applications were not considered.
Taking serious note of such a casual approach of the bank’s branch the Information Commissioner directed the respondent bank to put in special effort to locate the information sought by the appellant regarding the reasons for rejection of applications received by the branch and provide the same to the appellant within one month. The Commission said that this RTI application has thrown up an important issue regarding the implementation of the PMRY. The Commission says that it cannot accept as valid the argument made by the respondent bank that in the implementation of this national programme, a target bound approach is followed by the bank which limits the implementation and scope of this important social sector programme. The Commission has drawn the attention of the bank to the fact that there are several statements made by the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister, as reflected in the national media, to the effect that there is no paucity of funds for the social sector national programmes; and as such this does not support the case for a target bound approach. Therefore, it is all the more imperative that there be transparency in the processing of applications under these social sector programmes by the banks.
The Commission said that the CMD of the State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur should revisit the entire issue so that the information can be used to educate target groups on how to make wholesome applications which can be favourably considered by the bank. Also, the bank can do an internal review regarding obtaining additional funds for meeting the requirements of applicants beyond the stipulated target for each branch.

Delhi High Court stays order of CIC against CBI

Hary M. Pillai ,Law Et Al News, 30 June 2011

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Wednesday stayed an order passed by the Central Information Commission on 11 May 2011 in a writ petition preferred by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) seeking to quash the impugned order. The bench of Justice ML Mehta also issued notice to the respondent in the matter.

One Krishnanand Tripathi had filed some Right to Information (RTI) applications, in September 2010, seeking from the CBI details regarding the bank fraud cases the agency had filed against Sant Singh Chatwal, including the opinion and recommendations of the Director of Prosecution (DoP).

The agency refused to provide the details on the ground that apart from the two cases in which Chatwal was an accused and was later discharged by the court, two more cases which are inter connected with the cases already disposed off were pending before the same court and thus they are exempted from providing details under section 8(1)(h) of the RTI Act.

Section 8(1) (h) of the Act exempts disclosure of, "information which would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders."

The Commission after hearing the arguments had directed the Public Information Officer (PIO) to provide the complete information to the applicant before 30 May 2011.

CBI provided the chargesheet and the judgments concerning the cases against Chatwal, but refused to provide the opinions and the recommendations of the DoP on the ground that it intends to challenge the decision of the Commission in a writ before the High Court.

The commission had fixed the next date of hearing on June 29 on which date the PIO was to present his arguments.

The CBI instead filed a petition before the Delhi High Court today seeking the stay of the proceedings being conducted before the CIC as well as quashing of the order of the commission.The case will come up for hearing next on July 28.

Nearly 35k cremated as 'unclaimed' in last 10 yrs.

Times of India; Neha Shukla; Thursday, June 30, 2011,

LUCKNOW: In 2010, nearly 2,000 persons died 'unidentified' in the state. The ever-inflating number of 'unidentified and unclaimed' bodies has been a cause of concern. More than 35,000 persons died and were cremated 'unidentified and unclaimed' in UP in the last ten years.
Who they were? Where they lived? How they died? are some questions which remained unanswered in most of the cases.The State Crime Record Bureau ( SCRB), UP says that it has figures but no details about the postmortems conducted, the police stations and districts where they were found and the year of the death.
The public information officer of the bureau, in response to an RTI query, has denied that bureau compiles any such information. "I have filed an appeal in the state information commission and asked for the complete details,"said an RTI applicant Salim Baig.
The website of National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) and even of state bureaus in Kerala and Haryana provide information about districts, police stations, date of report, sex and age apart from other details with respect to the 'unidentified' bodies.
However, UPSCRB does not provide any such information on its website. When TOI contacted some police officers, they shared that given the resource constraint, identification of each and every 'unclaimed' body was not a priority.
There have been cases in the past where people declared as dead and cremated or buried had resurfaced.
"It is only in important cases like murder or bodies of suspected terrorists, that identification becomes important. Bodies are kept preserved in AC boxes for some time," sources said.
The bodies are otherwise disposed of after postmortem. "Whatever 'unclaimed' bodies we find, we take a photograph of them, wait for the claimant and try to find out the basic details about them. After postmortem, they are disposed of,"said AK Jain, ADG, railways. Lot of 'unidentified' bodies are found in and around rail premises every year. Railways give Rs 700 for disposal of every unclaimed body.
Though police maintain that a descent burial is given to such bodies, the fact may be otherwise. "It was disturbing to see bodies being thrown away into the Ganga or some ponds," said Dhani Ram, president of an NGO in Kanpur which has taken to disposal of 'unidentified and unclaimed' bodies since 2009. Kanpur police have allowed the NGO to perform the last rites of such bodies.
The state certainly provides for 'respectful' last rites of unclaimed and unidentified bodies. The government pays Rs 1,500 for performing last rites of an unclaimed and unidentified body. "Bodies are cremated after deciphering their religion," said DK Thakur, DIG, Lucknow. The body might be kept for three days by the police to wait for the claimant to turn up after which it is disposed of.

Concern shown over holding back of Kharotabad incident report.

Pakistan Daily Times; Thursday, June 30, 2011,

LAHORE: Individualland Pakistan (IL-Pakistan) and Right to Information (RTI) Committee Balochistan have expressed their shock and displeasure over decision of the Balochistan government to hold back report prepared by a tribunal on Kharotabad incident.
IL-Pakistan has been working on promoting freedom of information in Balochistan. The decision by the provincial government to keep contents of the report secret, out of fear of exploitation by the media, has been criticised by the organisation. In a statement issued by IL Pakistan Director Gulmina Bilal Ahmad, she conveyed her disapproval of the approach adopted by the Balochistan government.
She said, “The decision of the provincial government to keep findings of an inquiry commission under wraps is a direct violation of the constitution of Pakistan, in which access to information has been recognized as a fundamental right of every Pakistani citizen. It is an appeal to the government, therefore, to review this decision and publish the report for public view.”
She added it was important that findings of the commission should not meet the same fate as of other commissions, as people have expectations from the nascent democratic system.

Panel on RTI implementation yet to finalise its report: RS

Economic Times; Wednesday , June 29 , 2011,

NEW DELHI: With Central Information Commission directing it to make public Standing Committee's recommendations on RTI implementation, Rajya Sabha Secretariat has now said that the panel is yet to finalise its report even though it "considered" the matter between 2007-09.
The Secretariat has said its reply can only be provided once the report is finalised and tabled before Parliament.
During the hearing before the CIC, the Secretariat had said that the report, sought by an RTI applicant, has not been "tabled" in the House and its disclosure would amount to breach of Parliamentary privileges thus attracting exemption under the RTI Act.
Chief Information Commissioner Satyananda Mishra had taken strong objection to the fact that report has not been tabled even after three years and said recommendations of Parliamentary committees cannot be kept out of citizens' reach "indefinitely" even if they have not been tabled in the House.
"The CIC.., directed the CPIO to disclose findings of Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice on the subject "implementation of the Right to Information Act, 2005," the secretariat said in its reply to applicant Vihar Dhurve.
Director at the Rajya Sabha Secretariat A K Singh in his reply now said that the subject matter received Committee's consideration during December 2007 to February 2008-9 when it had interactions with various stakeholders including representatives of the concerned ministries.

Minority quota poser to 4 top Mumbai schools.

Sanjeev ShivadekarSanjeev Shivadekar; Times of India; Wednesday , June 29 , 2011,

MUMBAI: Four prominent Mumbai schools St Mary's, St Xavier's, Christ Church and Holy Family have been accused of violating rules on filling up the minority quota in their institutions by the government.
"Educational institutes with religious or linguistic minority status and taking financial assistance from the state government have to give 50% of the total seats to the minority communities they represent. But, in case of St Mary's School, Mazgaon, merely 15% students from the minority community got admission. The information has been sought through the RTI Act. St Xavier's and Christ Church (in south Mumbai) and Holy Family in the western suburbs have indulged in a similar violation," said minorities minister Arif Naseem Khan. "We have issued showcause notices asking them why the government should not withdraw the minority status for violation of the norms."
St Mary's High School principal Father Baptist Pinto and Christ Church principal Carl Laurie said they would comment only after getting a copy of the notice. Holy Family principal Father Francis Swamy was not available for comment.
This is not the first time that St Mary's has been at the receiving end of the state government. Last month, the deputy director of the school education department had issued an order to derecognize the school for its involvement in 'malpractices'. The order was stayed when the school authorities appealed to the state education board.
On Tuesday, Nanasaheb Kute-Patil, who is fighting against irregularities in St Mary's School, met Khan in his office in Mantralaya with several parents in tow. "The delegation of parents demanded that the government should initiate action against erring schools," said one of the parents on condition of anonymity. "Documents to support the allegations were produced before the minister. Convinced, Khan ordered his department to immediately initiate necessary action against these schools," he added.
"The minorities department will recommend to the school education department to appoint an administrator for the school if they fail to prove that they have not indulged in misconduct," Khan said.
Later in the evening, the minister held a joint meeting of officials of the state minorities department and higher technical education department to take stock of whether school and colleges (especially those enjoying minority status) follow rules while admitting students. "Within eight days, a report of colleges with minority status and the number of seats available in these institutes will be advertised through newspaper. Giving publicity on available seats will help keep tabs on the mischief the colleges play during the admission process," Khan added.

Keeping CBI outside RTI is the right move.

Economic Times; Joginder Singh; Wednesday , June 29 , 2011,

The Madras High Court has issued a notice, to the Union government on a public interest litigation seeking to declare a recent notification exempting Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from the purview of Right to Information Act as ultra vires. The position is, that CBI is not only an investigating agency, but also collects information about the corrupt practices and other violations.
Some say that it is a retrograde step and the CBI should not be out of the purview of Right to Information Act. It is due to a mistaken impression, as the Right to Information is not an act to combat corruption and malpractices either in the government or in the society. Each law passed by Parliament has a specific purpose. It would be interesting for the agitators, to find out as to how many cases have been registered against corruption and other laws after getting information under RTI. Investigation of cases is done, as per the procedure laid down in the Criminal Procedure Code, within the parameters prescribed by the Indian Evidence Act.
Investigation is never done, in the purview of the pubic or media glare. During investigation, CBI checks and cross-checks the facts stated by the witnesses or the alleged accused, before coming to any conclusion about his guilt or otherwise. It can also involve tests like DNA or referring the matter to Forensic Science Laboratory. Not only during the investigation a full picture of any crime is to be constructed, but also credible evidence gathered to prove that a crime has been committed.
The so-called activists confuse between a moral wrong and a legal violation of law. In any case, CBI files a charge-sheet, within normally 60 to 90 days. Once the case goes to the court, each charged person is given a complete set of evidence, including the statement of witnesses, scientific evidence, if any, and other complete papers. So all papers of investigation come under the public domain and anybody can get papers from the court. If any new facts are brought out by the so-called activists, a reinvestigation can always be done. The decision taken to save the CBI from busy-bodies who have nothing to do but seek publicity is a right one.

Decision to keep CBI out of RTI is unjustified.

Economic Times; Nikhil Dey; Wednesday , June 29 , 2011,

The decision to exempt the CBI from the provisions of the RTI Act are completely unjustified. The decision will harm the CBI as well as the RTI Act. In fact, all institutions in the country should be under the purview of the RTI Act. In any case, the exemption for intelligence and security agencies contained under section 24 of the Act cannot apply to an investigating agency.
The CBI might carry out some work that requires gathering of intelligence, and it may well investigate many sensitive cases related to security of the state. However, the RTI Act contains adequate safeguards that can protect it from divulging sensitive information. Section 8 of the RTI Act exempts the disclosure of information that would prejudicially affect the security of the state, friendly relations with foreign countries, law and order, safety of an informer, investigation of a crime, etc.
There is a fundamental difference between exempting certain classes of information and providing a blanket exemption to the whole agency. By exempting the agency, it is being freed from the standards of transparency and accountability borne out of scrutiny from the citizen. There are many cases the CBI investigates where it needs to work with ordinary citizens in an atmosphere of openness and mutual trust. The CBI enquiry ordered by the Supreme Court of India into corruption in six districts in Orissa is a case in point. In a scenario of poor credibility of investigating agencies, the CBI is still the first one called to investigate matters of grand corruption. As the former director of the CBI who worked under the RTI regime, Vijay Shankar, has said, the RTI will help the CBI perform better and with more credibility.
At a time when the government is struggling to show that it can create an effective anti-corruption agency, this move will irreparably damage its own credibility. Finally, this misinterpretation of an intelligence and security agency could open the floodgates to a spate of departments wanting to claim exemption from the RTI. It will be the end of the capacity of the RTI Act to enforce transparency and ensure that accountability is to the people of the country. The government must revoke this decision.
(Nikhil Dey: RTI Activist)

Extend info on time under RTI: Officers told

Times of India; Wednesday , June 29 , 2011,

MYSORE: District nodal secretary Amitha Prasad on Tuesday asked the officials to extend information to the public as per the provisions of the Right to Information Act, without asking questions.
"It is the right of the public to get information as per the RTI. It is our duty to facilitate it," she told the officials at the opening session of two-day workshop hosted by the Administrative Training Institute (ATI) to train district- and taluk-level officials in RTI. Amitha, who is director-general of the ATI, said: "The information officers are required to extend the information sought without cross examination. They are not even entitled to ask the applicant as to why the information is sought and by whom."
DC P S Vastrad asked the officials to understand the provisions of the RTI, which, he said, will help in governance.

Anna to meet all parties.

Calcutta Telegraph; Wednesday , June 29 , 2011,
Mumbai; Social activist Anna Hazare today said he will organise an all-party meet to have dialogue with all political party representatives over the Lokpal bill before launching his second hunger strike on August 16 in New Delhi.

Addressing a media conference at Patrakar Bhavan in Pune this evening, Hazare said he was open to holding talks with chiefs of all political parties including Congress president Sonia Gandhi and BJP leader L.K. Advani.

He said he will continue with his plan to launch a second hunger strike if his demands are not fulfilled.

Asked if the government evicts him from Jantar Mantar like it did to Baba Ramdev, Hazare said: “Even if the government intervenes or they pump bullets in my chest instead of using lathi, I will continue with my strike in jail if they won’t let me carry on my hunger strike at Jantar Mantar or at Raj Ghat. I am ready to die for the sake of my country and I would be proud if I get a martyr’s death....”

He said his agitations over past 20 years has resulted in the removal of six “corrupt” cabinet ministers from Maharashtra and over 400 corrupt officials. He said: “Maharashtra has taken the lead in bringing the Right to Information Act which has exposed corruption scandals like Adarsh housing and the Common Wealth Games scam.”

“Under RTI, the government official gives you information about where and how the corruption is taking place, but the act does not provide for arresting the corrupt officials. The Lokpal bill has such provisions to send corrupt people to jail,” Hazare said, adding that he would tour across India to create awareness about the bill provisions.

Make info easy, accessible

DNA: Ahmedabad: Charul Shah: 27,June 2011,

Demand RTI activists from Gujarat during a discussion on the issue before sending suggestions to central STF.

RTI activists across the state have demanded that information regarding policy decisions, monitoring and reporting documents should be made public in the manner and language so that the common man can have access to them.
After the constitution of the Special Task Force for better implementation of the provisions relating to proactive disclosure, a number of NGOs, social activists and RTI activists had met for discussion over the issue and to give suggestions to the STF in Delhi.
"Several NGOs, social activists and RTI activists across the state participated in the consultation seminar and ideas and suggestions were exchanged for improvising the enforcement of provisions of the Act related to proactive disclosure," said Pankti Jog, executive secretary, MAGP and member of the Special Task force.
Activists have pointed out their suggestions for effective implementation of the RTI Act and to ensure accountability of the departments for proactive disclosure and easy access of information to the public. The activist have urged that information regarding public schemes, projects and reports should be made in the local language and should be kept at a place where people from all sections of society can have access to it.
"The suggestions and opinions have been discussed. Based on the meeting, we will now present a report for consideration before the special task force in the meeting to be organised during the first week of July," Jog added.

Gujarat Information Commission drive for proactive disclosure a model effort.

DNA; Charul Shah; Monday, June 27, 2011,

The campaign launched in Panchamahal district by the state information commission (SIC), Gujarat, for the proactive disclosure by the government of information about various schemes, will be presented as a model project before the Special Task Force (STF) on RTI constituted by the Centre. The central government has set up the task force to check and improve the implementation of the RTI Act.

The SIC had initiated the campaign with the help of local NGOs, including MAGP (Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel), Anandi, Aman Samuday, Chaitanya Trust, Panam Mahila Sangathan, Sarthi and Lok Adhikar Kendra. The campaign was aimed at implementing proactive disclosure of information by govt departments and officials.

As part of the project, the commission, in coordination with the NGOs, had prepared formats for officials of the district administration and the gram panchayat who were asked to provide information about schemes in the formats provided.

"The Act has a specific provision making it mandatory for the government to provide all information about policy decisions and various government schemes to the people. But this has been done nowhere, and because of this people are not aware of their rights and the benefits they can get," said KS Diwan, dy secretary, GIC. Diwan said it was for this reason that these formats were prepared and distributed across the state for government offices.

Pankti Jog, executive secretary of MAGP, told DNA that Gujarat is the only state where the information commission had taken steps to compel the government to make information available to public. "Hence the results of the project need to be taken forward for mass implementation. This will give people easy access toinformation and make the system more accountable and transparent," Jog said.

MGNREGS scam comes to light in Meghalaya.

Assam Tribune; Raju Das; Guwahati, Tuesday, June 28, 2011,

SHILLONG; In another case of alleged fraud during implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in Meghalaya, a father-son duo duped gullible villagers in the name of implementation of the Central scheme.

The matter came to light after villagers from Thadan village, 40 km from here, got wind of the scam and filed a Right To Information (RTI) application which showed their names enlisted as workers having job cards.

Louis Lyngdoh, Sirdar (village chief) and his son Charling Nongspung “self-elected” themselves as the Village Employment Council (VEC) chairman and secretary respectively and forged the signatures of about 34, including four dead, villagers in the job cards.

“We don’t have the job card, but still our names were enlisted as job card holders. This, we came to know after filing a RTI application,” one of the villagers, Salwin Nongspung said.

He added, the MGNREGS was meant for construction of a footpath worth Rs 11.37 lakh. The villagers who are primarily agriculturists said the Central scheme is a major source of income for them during lean agriculture seasons.

After the villagers filed the RTI application and confronted Lyngdoh and his son with the findings, both termed the path adopted by them as “childish.”

“The VEC was formed without our knowledge and the proposal to construct footpaths was not with our consent,” the villagers said.

They stated the VEC should have instead proposed for construction of ponds, which would have supplemented their livelihood. “At a meeting held last year, we were threatened by the Sirdar,” the Thadan villagers claimed.

Interestingly, Thadan is close to Jongksha village which made the headlines last year after three women Fatima Mynsong, Aquiline Songthiang and Matilda Suting were ostracised by the village head after the trio exposed a similar scam by filing RTI.

“We want the government to take action against the guilty or we would be compelled to file an FIR against the father-son duo,” the villagers asserted.

Coalition Syndrome.

GreaterKashmir.com; Tuesday, 28 June 2011,

It seems to be part of political psyche of the coalition governments to take decisions either not to execute at all or to abandon their implementation halfway. During the past couple of hours the coalition government took many a decision that ostensibly seemed in the public interest but at the implementation stage most of them either suffered the diarchy that is inherent in such governments or vested interests of the coalition partners. The diarchy that has travelled to the rank and file of the administration has not only been taking toll of the prioritization of the development schemes and projects or effecting the efficiency of the government but it has been harming the institution building in the state that have long range implications for people of the state. The state government in tune with the national policy of bringing in transparency and accountability in the administration constituted the Jammu and Kashmir Information Commission through a gazette notification in October 2009. This act superseded earlier acts that are J&K RTI Act 2004 and J&K RTI (Amendment Act, 2008). The Act based on the Central RTI Act of 2005 was a seen as welcome development by a good section of the civil society. It was believed that this act provides a legal mandate to the people for obtaining access to the government records and files will ultimately help in bring in accountability in highly pampered bureaucracy that for quite some years has been believing that it was not answerable to the people of the state. The Commission comprises one State Chief Information Commissioner and two State Information Commissioners. The appointments to these offices are made by the state government. In February the state government appointed an IRS officer of repute as the Chief Commissioner. His appointment was largely hailed by media and civil society. Notwithstanding the Commission having started working effectively at a civil society organized interaction with the Chief Commissioner it was made known that the state has not so far appointed the two commissioners. A leading legal luminary of the state at this interactive session was apprehensive about the decisions of the commission having an absolute legal sanctity in absence of two more commissioners and it was also revealed that government had not so far appointed Public Information Officer (PIO) in accordance with the act in number of departments. Despite many clauses in the act stripping it of the spirit behind its promulgation there is need for starting a public awareness campaign by civil societies, advocacy groups about the act and making people to benefit from it for bringing in accountability in the administration. In fact the interactive session on RTI Act organized by an important civil society and advocacy group was first of its kind in Srinagar. It is not only the RTI act that was going to suffer because of half-implementation-policy of the administration but there are other such institutions that have failed to take off because of this policy. Some years back the state government announced establishment of the State Accountability Commission with great media hype. And ever since its constitution it has been suffering the ‘coalition dichotomy’. As a matter of fact the Commission barely worked for a year or so and ever since it is now totally defunct. The state government is not making any serious effort to revive it. There are hundreds of complaints some of very serious nature against some top political leaders and bureaucrats are pending with the commission now for past many years. And what is most ironic that state government has spending hundreds of thousands of rupee on the salary of the employees working in the commission. Some employee of this organization are not even attending the office but continuing to drain the state resources.
It is high time for the government in office to come out of the coalition syndrome and revive this important anti-graft institutions and equally ensure that the State Information Commission does not suffer the fate of the SAC

Chargesheeted cops continue to occupy public dealing posts.

Times of India; Saurabh Prashar; Tuesday, 28 June 2011,

CHANDIGARH: On Monday, when People's Party of Punjab president and former finance minister Manpreet Badal named two senior police officials allegedly facing criminal cases, who continue to occupy prime public dealing posts in his area, he was probably touching only the tip of the iceberg.
In Punjab, over 100 Punjab Police Service (PPS) officers, including 15 SP-rank officials, are facing departmental probes for alleged involvement in criminal cases or for committing procedural lapses, etc. Most of them are holding public dealing posts across the state, in violation of CVC guidelines. TOI had earlier pointed out this trend, after digging out information using the RTI Act.
IG (HQ) Dr SS Chauhan admitted to the anomaly and said, "The state police is already facing shortage of manpower, especially of DSP-rank officials. Moreover, these cops, who are posted on public dealing posts, are only facing charges, and have not been convicted. However, cases of those who are convicted and still holding public posts, would be examined."
Chauhan said that during the police reshuffle to be conducted ahead of assembly elections, cops facing criminal charges would not be posted in any sensitive position.
Among the two DSP-rank officials named by Manpreet, DSP Bhupinder Singh, who is posted in Gidderbaha, has been convicted in a forgery case while DSP Bakhsish Singh, who is posted in Faridkot, is an accused in a corruption case. He is also under scanner in connection with a double murder case. Court trial of the double murder case is going on in the district courts, Faridkot, the district where Bakhsish Singh is appointed on a public dealing post.
SSP (Mukatsar) Inder Mohan Singh accepted that DSP Bhupinder Singh was convicted by a district court in a case of forgery, but maintained that the cop has been given required punishment by the state government, which included stopping his increments, et al.
Though SSP (Faridkot) Gurmeet Singh Randhawa failed to respond to phone calls when TOI tried to contact him on Bakhsish's case, legal experts said appointing an under-trial police official on a public dealing post is violation of CVC guidelines and Punjab Police Rules. The two DSPs also did not respond to calls made by TOI.
A detailed list of 107 PPS officials, including 15 SP-rank officials, was obtained by TOI under RTI Act which reveals that all of them were appointed on public dealing posts in the police force despite having criminal and tainted background.
Said Punjab and Haryana High Court advocate, HC Arora, "As per rules, police personnel with criminal background couldn't be appointed on public dealing posts and during the pendency of court trial, the accused cops should remain suspended".

RTI activists sitting ducks for all mighty in the state.

Indian Express ; Hiral Dave ; TUESDAY, 28 JUNE 2011,

Rajkot : Even as the number on attacks RTI activists in the state have become frighteningly routine, political leaders who have come under the scanner, mostly from the ruling BJP, are still untouched.

In the latest incident in which Porbandar-based advocate and social worker Bhagu Devani was stabbed on last Friday, police have arrested Laku Odedara, brother of former Porbandar Nagarpalika president Vikram Odedara, along with three others but former irrigation minister Babu Bokhiria, who the victim accused of masterminding the attack, continues to be out of reach.

Devani, based on information obtained through RTI replies, had established that the hotel being built by the Odedara brothers at sea shore flouted Coastal Regulatory Zone laws.

“Such attacks time and again prove that RTI activists have to fight with their life at stake,” says Praful Korat, a resident of Mota Samadhiyala village in Una taluka of Junagadh district. After Korat filed an application seeking details a stone-crushing quarry on grazing land in 2009, his both hands and legs were broken that very day allegedly by sarpanch Kanti Korat, who is known to be close to Junagadh BJP MP Dinu Solanki.

Praful Korat alleges the local police did not register a complaint against the sarpanch and instead asked him to settle the matter. “Insult on the injury was the fact that I got a RTI reply after 560 days, instead of mandatory 30 days,” he says.

“Without any support, it is impossible to fight this battle. Protection law for activists remains only on paper. After all, the responsibility lies on the local police, who enjoy political patronage,” Praful Korat says.

Bhikha Jethava, whose son Amit was killed in 2010 allegedly by the nephew of Dinu Solanki for exposing illegal mining in forest area, has written to the President that it was the BJP MP who actually plotted his son’s murder. “Leave arrest, Dinu Solanki has never been even questioned by the police,” says Jethava. Amit was shot dead near the Gujarat High Court in Ahmedabad last year.

Even in cases where an FIR has been registered against a political leader, police investigation has been shoddy.

A case of attempt to murder and rioting was registered on January 27 this year against Mangrol BJP MLA Bhagwan Kargathia for allegedly attempting to kill Ram Kargathia, the sarpanch of Madhapar village, and his father after they sought information under RTI Act in connection with a mining site owned by the MLA inside forest area. Kargathia, however, has never been arrested or questioned.

Steno shifted 15 times in 10 years !

The Times of India; Vijay Pinjarkar ;Vijay Pinjarka TUESDAY, 28 JUNE 2011,

NAGPUR: Fifteen transfers in ten years. Senior stenographer VS Tiwari, working with the personnel department of Central Railway, Nagpur division, is a classic case.
The issue not only exposes blatant violation of transfer policy by the railway officials but also reveals pick and choose, and haphazard transfer policy adopted by them.
While there are several stenographers working in the same department for over 15-20 years, Tiwari has been transferred often. He comes under the disciplinary control of senior divisional personnel officer (SrDPO).
Information sought by TOI under the RTI Act from divisional railway manager (personnel) shows that between 2001 and 2011, Tiwari was shunted out 15 times. He must perhaps be the first employee to get such a distinction.
During this period, Tiwari has worked in every department including health, operating, electrical, construction, traction, commercial, signalling, mechanical, personnel, materials management. In fact, there must be no department left where Tiwari must not have worked.
The Central Railway officials confirmed Tiwari being transferred frequently from one section to another but could not specify the reasons. A reply from public relations officer (PRO) was also not forthcoming.
If 15 transfers is one issue, from March 2008 to November 2011, Tiwari was punished by issuing five such orders shifting him from one section to another.
On further scrutiny of these orders it is revealed that no reason for such shifting has been recorded in these order sheets.
The stenographer of DRM (personnel) has completed over 12 years under SrDPO. There is resentment among the personnel department staff against the pick and choose policy adopted by the DRM (P).
Officers who do not favour or toe the line of their boss are shifted out to sections where they are not interested. The Indian Railway Establishment Manual (IREM) states that there should not be frequent transfers. If any employee has to be shifted, sufficient reasons should be mentioned in the order sheet whether the transfer is in the interest of administration or orders are on promotion.
However, in case of Tiwari, there are no specific reasons mentioned in his transfer orders. It shows that the senior stenographer is being harassed. Surprisingly, there are no adverse remarks in Tiwari's confidential report (CR) nor he has been issued any chargesheets.
Why this injustice against Tiwari? When contacted, he says, "I stick to the rules and work for the dignity of the post. I'm a no-nonsense person and don't flatter. Hence, I'm disliked."
SrDPO B M Shikare was unavailable for comments.

First for city: MCD puts RTI forms online

Indian Express, New Delhi :Tue Jun 28 2011

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi, which is among the public agencies that receive the maximum number of RTI applications, has become first public agency in the Capital to make the filing of applications online.

All an applicant needs is a credit card to pay the application fee of Rs 11 (Rs 26 for Delhi RTI). For persons Below Poverty Line (BPL), the uploading of application is free. The online process will provide an alternative to sending the application by post or handing the application in person to the Public Information Officer in the MCD.

“The application form was uploaded on the website last week and we have already received more than 60 online applications. We plan to put maximum services online,” said Deep Mathur, MCD spokesperson. He described the initiative as a step towards the agency’s comprehensive e-governance plan.

On MCD’s website, www.mcdonline.gov.in, the civic agency has introduced a tab called ‘Online RTI’, which takes the user to a fresh webpage that includes all information pertaining to the RTI — filing application, status and rules.

A click on the ‘Application Submission’ tab leads the user to an application form. The applicant needs to fill in the department the query is addressed to and other essential information such as name, address, phone number, etc. The form also asks for an e-mail id of the applicant, so the system can revert the application reference number for future communication with the MCD.

While BPL persons need to fill in only their BPL card number, other applicants are charged Rs 10 for submitting an application in ‘RTI’ category and Rs 25 in ‘Delhi RTI’ category. A ‘convenience fee’ of 2 per cent, which is rounded off to the nearest sum, is added to the total fee.

After filling in the query, there can be more than one question for a department, the webpage leads to a payment gateway. An auto-generated receipt is sent on the mail-id and the MCD corresponds with the applicant on the e-mail id provided in the form.

Praising the move, Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi told Newsline: “This is a progressive step and I appreciate the municipal body’s intention to make it easier for the applicant. I hope others would follow and use technology to make things convenient and simpler for accessing information.”

CIC: give info under section 4 of RTI Act.

Hindustan Times; Monday , June 27 , 2011,

Lot of "environmental and economic cost" can be avoided if the public authorities start declaring information under section 4 of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, chief information commissioner Satynanda Mishra said on Sunday. Section 4 of the RTI act directs all public authorities to suo motu dis close information through websites and by way of boards giving certain information related to the departments. Many queries under the RTI Act pertain to such information, which can easily be got from websites or boards.

"It is in nobody's interest that information is provided on being asked for, which involves a huge amount of environmental and economic cost," Mishra said emphasising the importance of section 4 of the RTI Act.

CIC raps CBI for not giving info on Ambanis.

Times of India; Monday , June 27 , 2011,

NEW DELHI: The Central Information Commission (CIC) has summoned CBI officials for failure to give reasons on why the Ambani brothers were not chargesheeted in the call re-routing case.
The CBI had last year filed a chargesheet against five Reliance Industries' executives in a case related to passing off of international calls as local calls and causing revenue loss to the government.
Information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi has asked the CBI public information officer to explain why penalty should not be imposed for failing to comply with the commission's order and providing information on the issue.
Delhi resident P C Srivastava had asked CBI for details related to the call re-routing case including the timeline of the investigation, why the names of Mukesh and Anil Ambani were not included in the chargesheet and legal opinion on the basis of which the brothers' names were excluded.
Giving the order, Gandhi said, "From the facts before the commission, it appears that you have failed to comply with the order of the commission and not provided the requisite information within the time limit specified. The denial on your part in providing information amounts to willful disobedience of the commission's order and also raises a reasonable doubt that the denial may be mala fide."
CBI had earlier rejected the RTI application saying the information sought was confidential and disclosure would impede investigation. CBI public information officer argued before the commission, "CBI had decided to prosecute certain directors and the reasons for not prosecuting Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani were on record. However, disclosing such information would provide clues to other persons accused in the case by which they would be able to argue why they should not be charged."
While ordering for disclosure, Gandhi said the PIO had failed to produce any cogent evidence before the commission on the basis of which the PIO had established that disclosure of information will impede the prosecution of offenders. He added, "Moreover, this commission is unable to understand how lack of evidence against a person can be used by another person against whom evidence has in fact been found leading to filing of chargesheet against the latter. On this basis, the commission rejects the contention of the PIO that the information sought was exempted under section 8(1)(h) of the RTI Act. The PIO has not been able to justify how disclosing the information would impede the process of prosecution of offenders."
The agency had chargesheeted Manoj Modi, Akhil Gupta, Shankar Adawal, Pankaj Panwar, K R Raju and Bhagwan Das Khurana of Reliance Infocomm Ltd in the case. Reliance Infocomm also paid Rs 150 crore towards penalty imposed by telecom tribunal TDSAT.

Devani dragged my name at Modhwadia’s behest: Bokhiria

Indian Express; Monday , June 27 , 2011,

Rajkot : The assault on Porbandar-based RTI activist Bhagubhai Devani has taken a political twist. Former Irrigation Minister Babu Bokhiria, who Devani has accused of plotting the assault, has said the victim has dragged his name in the incident at the behest of state Congress chief and Porbandar MLA Arjun Modhwadia.

“Devani has been instigated by Modhwadia to drag my name in the incident. This is a conspiracy to defame me,” said Bokhiria. The former minister is facing other criminal cases too like the Rs 200-crore mineral theft and the killing of Congress leader Molu Modhwadia.

Bokhiria said: “Devani gave no names in the FIR. It was only afterwards, following instructions from Modhwadia, that Devani gave a written complaint to the police to include my name and that of two other BJP leaders, in the case.”

After the attack on Friday, Devani, who sustained multiple wounds on the leg, had registered a complaint against unidentified men. On Saturday, he submitted an application to the Porbandar police on a Rs 500 stamp paper, to include the names of Bokhiria, former Porbandar nagarpalika president Vikram Odedara and Chaya nagarpalika president Suresh Thanki as conspirators.

Devani alleged that he was attacked as he had lodged complaints with the Gujarat High Court and the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest in connection with two buildings - a highrise residential complex near the airport and a three-star hotel on the sea shore in which the three have business interests.

Bokhiria, on his part, denied any business interest in both buildings, adding that Devani is a “blackmailer”.

Modhwadia, however, said: “This is unfortunate that there was an attempt to kill an RTI activist. I have come to know that mafias supported by the BJP are involved in this.”

The episode is taking similar twist and turns as the Molu Modhwadia murder case. Molu, a miner and a close associate of Arjun Modhwadia, was shot dead outside his home in Porbandar in 2007. An FIR was registered against gangster Bhima Odedara, a relative of Bokhiria. Later, Molu’s son and Arjun claimed that Molu had, in a letter, which he always carried with him, mentioned Bokhiria to be held responsible for his death.

The matter landed in the HC after which Bokhiria’s name was added in the complaint and he was arrested.

The Porbandar police have, meanwhile, taken four persons arrested in connection with the assault on Devani in three-day custody. The main accused has been identified has Lakhu Odedara, brother of BJP leader Vikram Odedara.

Tribal body seeks info on tribal sub-plan.

KanglaOnline; Monday , June 27 , 2011,

IMPHAL, June 26 (Newmai News Network): All Manipur Tribal Union (AMTU) has filed a petition before the chief secretary of the state government seeking information on tribal sub-plan in Manipur and its discrepancy in execution.

It is reliably learnt that a sum of Rs 11.87 crores from tribal sub-plan were invested in the hill districts of Manipur in the last fiscal year and another Rs 10.84 crores this financial year, said the RTI application signed by AMTU president and general secretary DP Panmei and Romeo Bungdon respectively.

The RTI application sought information regarding the schemes and structures of implementation and the agencies and its accountability undertaken by the government of Manipur vis-à-vis tribal sub-plan.

“Taking the plight of the Manipur tribal people regarding the tribal sub-plan discrepancy while executing it in the hill districts of Manipur,” the information to that effect has been sought by the tribal rights body.

Engg colleges fake faculty’s qualification for govt sanction.

Times of India; Akshaya Mukul; Monday , June 27 , 2011,

NEW DELHI: Just how engineering colleges get accreditation from the National Board of Accreditation by making false claims about the faculty's academic qualification came to light recently in case of two institutions one from Tamil Nadu and the other from Andhra Pradesh.
In 2009 NBA, the apex autonomous body to grant accreditation in the country, sent a team to evaluate four academic programmes of Sasurie College of Engineering, Vijayamangalam, Erode, in Tamil Nadu. The institute was already approved by the All India Council of Technical Education. The team found that apart from various weaknesses, it had one faculty member  Venkata Subba Raju Ganja who claimed to have a Ph.D from Allahabad University.
A year earlier in 2008, one member of the NBA expert team had found one M Venkata Rao from an engineering college in Andhra Pradesh who too claimed to have done Ph.D in engineering from Allahabad University. The NBA expert asked Rao about Allahabad and on finding that he had little idea about the city from where he claimed to have done Ph.D got suspicious. The expert wrote to Rajan Hershe, the then vice-chancellor of Allahabad University, asking him for details of Rao. But Hershe did not reply. Then, the case of Ganja happened.
The same expert who had become suspicious filed an RTI last year in Allahabad University asking for details of Ganja and Rao. Allahabad University replied that the Ph.D certificates shown by Ganja was fake. As for Rao, the university said he was never awarded D.Phil. (On the lines of Oxford University, Allahabad University also awards D.Phil, and not Ph.D).
Strangely, Allahabad University, instead of getting alarmed by people producing forged degrees, said in the RTI reply that no "question has been raised to initiate any further administrative action".
The fake degree issue involving Ganja resurfaced on Friday when Sasurie College of Engineering officials appealed against NBA's decision not to grant accreditation. When contacted, S Nithiyanandam, principal of Sasurie College of Engineering, said he was aware of the case but since he is new it would take time to take action. AICTE chairperson SS Mantha said he would take action when he received the NBA's report.

'Excessive transparency at the cost of system undesirable'.

Financial Express; Nistula Hebbar; Monday , June 27 , 2011,

The Chief Information Commissioner of India, Satyananda Mishra, is the arbiter of transparency in the country as the apex court of appeal on Right to Information (RTI) applications. He speaks to Nistula Hebbar on the law he is meant to uphold, the government’s continued hold on information and why he thinks the Jan Lokpal draft is a disaster. Excerpts:

Let us begin with the latest controversy regarding RTI, which is over the access to CBI inquiries. What is your stand on the matter ?

For a member of this commission to give an opinion is not desirable because we adjudicate cases in which CBI is a party. Any opinion therefore will prejudice my work. It is like asking whether the IB or the CRPF should be included in the second schedule. On a more generic point, everyone should keep in mind that Section 24 of the Act does not give blanket exemption to any institution.

Human rights violations and cases of corruption are reasons enough for disclosure. A case in point is the Barack missiles acquisition papers which were sought from the Navy.

There have been several cases of violence against RTI activists in states like Maharashtra. As CIC what steps would you recommend to halt this trend.

Let us face it, I do not have police powers to protect people who are seeking information. Having said that, it is well within the power of state governments to ask local administration officials like the district magistrates and the superintendent of police to keep an eye out on known activists in an area. For example, not every information seeker is an activist. Activists are those who are seeking information for a public purpose, like on mining and land mafia. These people are easy to identify and it won’t take much of an effort to provide some watchfulness over these people. Other than that, there is precious little that can be done.

You’ve been in this post for nearly two years now. In your experience, is the government responsive to RTI ?

I would say there is a marginal improvement but, by and large, government departments, without exception, think that the RTI is a nuisance and information, in most cases, is given reluctantly, only because the law mandates it.

Which are the departments which get most requests ?

These are still departments which have most public dealing like the Railways, the MCD and the passport office. Another trend is that a large number of requests are for loan settlements undertaken by banks. Most defaulters, who hear of favourbale settlements of loans with other defaulters, want information. The banks are reluctant to disclose this as each defaulter has a different capacity for repayment. Say if a bank managed to recover R38 crore from a defaulter for a loan of R100 crore because the collateral was a heavily litigated property, it closes the file. In another case where the collateral is fully realizable, it may hold out for a better deal.

The defaulter in question, however, wants the best possible terms for himself too. We have received too many requests on these. I have told banks that even if you do not want to commit on full disclosure, then at least publish reasons why a particular settlement was reached.

Banks have said that it is a business tactic and that it is not proper for them to disclose terms of foreclosure.

It had been alleged earlier that the RTI was used mainly by government servants to gain access to their colleagues’ Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs) rather than transparency in governance. Has that come down ?

We still get requests for access to ACRs and also for every major appointment in the government. For example, we just disposed of cases where the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet had been petitioned for information over the appointment of the CMD of Air India, or Trai members or telecom commission members. But as a rule now a full bench of the CIC has ruled that the ACRs of “x” should not be disclosed to “y”. I feel that if there is anything called personal information, then your ACR falls in that category more than anything. It will undermine authority in the government system.

It is the same criticism I have for the JanLokpal draft. The draft says that every complaint should be put online and investigated. But before conclusions are reached, if complaints are publicised this will lead to a trial by public opinion. After which, whether any substance is found in the complaint or not, reputations will be destroyed and authority undermined.

Excessive transparency at the cost of the system is not desirable.

Court sets aside suspended info chief's order on RTI plea.

Times of India; Monday , June 27 , 2011,

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court has set aside an order passed by state information commissioner Ramanand Tiwari (now under suspension), which denied information to an RTI applicant who sought details of assets and members of a charitable trust.
Sayed Arshad Ali had sought information on certified copies of schedule-1 of Station Road Masjid and Haji Abdul Rahim Sadariyawala trusts from the charity commissioner's office. Schedule-1 of the Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950, which is a public document under the RTI Act, provides names and addresses of trustees as well as the movable and immovable properties of trusts. The information categorised under schedule -1 is a public document under the RTI act.
When Ali sought this information under the RTI Act, officials at the charity commissioner's office refused to divulge the information.
"They provided information only on station road the Masjid trust," denied information of the second trust , that is the Haji Abdul Rahim Sadariyawala trust,'' Ali said.
Ali filed an appeal with the first appellate authority with the charity commissioner's office but the information was not providedby the appellate authority. Ali filed a second another appeal with the SIC. Tiwari, in 2008, passed an order to provide the information to the applicant. The charity commissioner's office refused to give the information turned him down. "But inspite of the SIC order the charity commissioner's office denied the information .
"I then filed a fresh complaint with SIC. During the hearing, the appellate authority told SIC that the proceedings of the trust had been transferred to Wakf Board, Aurangabad."
"Tiwari then reversed his own order and disposed of my complaint," said Ali. , instead of asking the charity commissioner's office to provide the information from the Wakf Board, he reversed his own earlier order and disposed of my complaint,'' Ali who is a trustee of both the trusts said.
He challenged the order in the HC claiming that there is no such provision under the RTI Act, 2005. "While the case came up for hearing
"The counsel for the state argued that the first SIC order was not reviewed and fresh order was made under Section 18 of the RTI Act. There is no such provision under the said section," he said.
The HC has directed the state information SIC to take steps to provide the relevant papers that have been transferred to Wakf board.

Time line:

• 2007--Syed Ali filed an RTI query asking for information regarding two trusts.
• 2008--An appeal was filed after the information was denied.
• 2009--Second appeal with SIC was filed.
• 2010--Writ petition filed against SIC.
• 2011--High court directs SIC to take steps to provide information.

Govt keeps NIA, Natgrid out of RTI ambit.

Times of India; Ankur JainAnkur Jain; Sunday , June 26 , 2011,

NEW DELHI: After keeping the CBI out of the ambit of RTI Act, the government has now made the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the National Intelligence Grid (Natgrid) inaccessible under the transparency law.
The Right to Information Act, 2005 has been amended to include NIA, Natgrid and CBI in its second schedule which exempts "intelligence and security organisation established by the central government" out of the purview of the Act.
"In the second schedule of the RTI Act, 2005, after serial number 22 and the entry relating thereto, the following serial numbers and entries shall be added, namely: 23. CBI, 24. NIA, 25. Natgrid," a notification issued on June 9 by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said.
Now, 25 organisations have been listed under the second schedule of the RTI Act which includes Intelligence Bureau (IB), Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), Central Economic Intelligence Bureau, Aviation Research Centre and National Security Guards among others not to provide information except the ones relating to allegations of corruption and human right violations.

School fined 25K for denying info.

Times of India; Ankur JainAnkur Jain; Sunday , June 26 , 2011,

AHMEDABAD: He was shattered and had lost faith in the system when after a three-year-long battle and several appeals, all he got in the response to his RTI query against a school was a packet with half a kilogram newspaper waste through post.
But now Gujarat Information Commission has come to the rescue of Shailesh Patel, a resident of Odhav who had filed the RTI against a school seeking information, and fined the erring school Rs 25,000 stating in its order that the respondent has been denied information without any reason cited. The order of fine came on June 18.
Suspecting malpractices in hiring of teachers and showing ghost students to get government grants, Patel had filed an RTI application in 2008 seeking information about appointment of three teachers from Democratic Higher Secondary School in Gomtipur.
But Patel never got a response from the school and later, he filed an appeal with the district education office (DEO) on June 29, 2009.
"The DEO served the school three show-cause notices asking them to be present with a reply on why action shouldn't be taken on them. But the school authorities ignored the DEO's notice," said Patel, who later filed an appeal with Gujarat Information Commission.
The case came up for hearing after two years on February, 2011. But school authorities gave it a miss and the commission ordered the school to provide all the information within 15 days and attend the next hearing on March 18.
"During the hearing, school authorities told the commission that they had never received any application from Patel and so I gave them one during the hearing itself," said Patel.
The commission ordered the authorities that Patel be given the desired information before the next hearing on April 8.
"School authorities got a new way to dodge the rules and during the hearing on April 8 said they have sent the details on April 7. After the hearing when I reached home, there was a sealed registered post parcel with 500 gm of trash inside," said Patel.
Patel who runs a hardware business and has been fighting corruption in schools using RTI since 2006, points out that many schools in Ahmedabad show students who are in other schools as being enrolled with them so as to get permission for extra classes and he wants to bust this scam.

RTI activist fails to identify 4 accused held in Porbandar.

DNA Correspondent; Ahmedabad; Sunday , June 26 , 2011,

Police swung into action after the RTI activist in Porbandar, Bhagu Devani was attacked on Friday, and arrested four people for their allegedly involvement in the assault. However, Devani, an advocate and RTI activist, who was stabbed with knife by some unidentified men around 9 am on Friday, was not able to identify any of the accused during the identification parade.

Meanwhile, one of the accused has also blamed Devani of demanding money to withdraw his RTI applications. During the course of investigation, one of the arrested accused, Lakhu Odedara told police that Devani had asked for Rs20 lakh in cash in lieu of his RTI applications. "Lakhu had mentioned in his statement that Devani asked for the money to stop filing more RTI applications against the illegal constructions," a police source, familiar with the development told DNA.

Apart from Lakhu the police arrested Jayesh Kadchha, Arjan Parmar and Milan Salet. Lakhu is the brother of Vikram Odedara, the builder who has been named by Devani in his affidavit for the attack on him. "The victim said his health does not permit him to identify anyone at the moment and so he was not able to identify any of the accused," a police source said. "Victim claimed to be under stress and trauma," investigation officer PR Ramani said.

Arrested people are expected to be produced before the district magistrate for remand on Saturday night, police sources added. These people were arrested from Bokhira, in the outskirts of Porbandar. Police have also seized the car used by them and knife used to stab Devani, sources said.

CIC asks PMO to disclose info.

Hindustan Times; Sunday , June 26 , 2011,

Not all meetings of the Prime Minister are sensitive to be withheld and their details should be provided under the RTI Act, the Central Information Commission has directed the Prime Minister's Office. Chief information commissioner Satyananda Mishra rejected the contentions of the PMO which had clai med that such class of information could not be provided "without compromising interests of the State and other specified concerns".

The case relates to an RTI application filed by Sandeep Jalan of Mumbai-based Janhit Manch seeking to know the details of all the meetings participated by the Prime Minister between a specified period.

The information was rejected by the PMO saying the Prime Minister met people from all walks of life on different occasions and platforms and such meetings would be both formal and informal ones.

It said most of the information would come under the exemption clauses of the RTI Act withholding details as desired by Jalan.

"Not all meetings attended by the Prime Minister are of such nature that the details such as who all attended the meeting or the date on which the meeting took place could compromise the interest of the State," Mishra said.

He directed the PMO to provide details of the meetings participated by the Prime Minister and directed to omit only specific meetings which would come under the exemption clauses citing reasons for deleting information.

"Many of these meetings are routinely reported in the press, presumably released by the official machinery itself. Therefore, the desired information should be disclosed," he said.

Free two activists held in Assam: Team Anna

Mangalorean.com; Sunday , June 26 , 2011,

New Delhi, June 26 (IANS) Reformer Anna Hazare's civil society group India Against Corruption (IAC) Sunday demanded the release of two Right to Information (RTI) activists arrested in Assam and demanded an apology from the government.

Akhil Gogoi and Mukut of the group Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) were arrested from the Guwahati Press Club premises Friday for allegedly inciting violence earlier in the week in Assam's capital Dispur.

"India Against Corruption, Delhi, strongly condemns such high-handed, brutal and undemocratic actions by the government and requests all citizens to join hands to oppose the government's grave misconduct," said a statement from the IAC.

"Gogoi and Mukut must be immediately released by the government, an apology issued, and the police officers responsible for the arrests disciplined," it said.

"This is an example of the type of criminal behaviour by the government that is alienating the people of the northeast and giving rise to and fuelling armed rebellion by various groups," the IAC said.

Gogoi and and Mukut were arrested for inciting violence during a protest Wednesday. Three people were killed and over 50 others injured in police firing in the incident.

"At the time of arrest, Akhil was explaining to the media how some unknown people in the crowd set vehicles on fire. Instead of arresting the real culprits, the government arrested the very people who raised their voices against state crime, maladministration and corruption in the public distribution system (PDS) in Golaghat district," the statement said.

The IT Act of India needs to make provision for constituency websites.

Livemint; Osama Manzar; Sunday , June 26 , 2011,

Such websites can serve as online gateways to these constituencies, allowing representatives to showcase the work they are doing and interact with their voters without meeting them physically.

Union information technology (IT) and communication minister Kapil Sibal invited more than 200 people a couple of weeks ago to discuss a revised IT Act the government is working on. Amid the general flow of ideas, I had the chance to put forth a point as well.

India has about 250,000 electoral constituencies at the parliamentary, assembly and panchayat levels, I said, and more than three million elected representatives. Under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, they are all supposed to provide all kinds of constituency-related information to voters. Yet, hardly anyone has an official website.

The minister replied: “It is more a matter of adoption of technology or media rather than that of policy. For example, I have my own website and others could also develop theirs and their constituency’s websites.”

I googled the minister’s name; the website he said he has does not show up on the first few search pages. There is, however, an up-to-date Wikipedia page on him, which carries a link to his website kapilsibalmp.com. I clicked on the link and came up with an error message.

I similarly searched for the two junior IT and communication ministers Sachin Pilot and Gurudas Kamat. Pilot, too, has a Wikipedia page, while his personal website, sachinpilot.com, shows it is under maintenance. Googling Kamat gave me his personal website, gurudaskamat.com, as the first link, but the site is still in 2009 election mode appealing people to vote for him.

Several other elected representatives, particularly young parliamentarians, also have websites, but they almost invariably have the dot-com extension, which is typically meant for commercial activities. I wonder why elected representatives will use such an extension. It indicates the websites are just personal initiatives, not the official websites of the constituencies or the representatives.