Pune youngsters embark on ‘Poster Hatao’.

DNA; Sunday, July 31, 2011,

Fed up by the hoardings and posters that are defacing the city, a group of young people has decided to take on the authorities.

They have filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act questioning the Pune Municipal Corporation’s inaction about illegal hoardings.

They are planning to put up a flex board of dogs and cats on the streets if the PMC does not act quickly.

Entrepreneur Tehseen Poonawalla filed the RTI on July 1. The PMC replied that it will check with the concerned departments and reply in a few days.

“We will wait till August 1. If the corporation does not do anything about the illegal hoardings then we will be putting up a flex with the pictures of cat, dog, donkey, pig and other animals in front of the residence of PMC commissioner and later all over the city in protest,” said Poonawalla.

The group is also planning to file a writ petition on the issue. The group including Shehzad Poonawalla, Bharat Oswal, Talha Irani, Abbas Hafeez, Ritika Singh, Priyanka Sharma and Rohit Valecha have also started an online campaign.

They have launched the website www.zeroposters.com to gather support for the campaign.

“More than 13,000 people have signed up in support of the campaign in eight days after its launch”, said Poonawalla.

One can also join the campaign on Facebook. “How do we plan to make Pune a world- class city with ugly posters hanging all over? We wish to teach a lesson to those putting up illegal hoardings and also to the civic body, which is reluctant to take action against it. They have to answer us,” he added.

The group feels that the illegal hoardings are not just harming the environment but also spoiling the skyline of the city.

“It’s a violation of law. Delhi has issued strict warning against illegal hoardings. Why can’t Pune do it? The other day a poster of a lecturer from a college was stuck in front of the college on his birthday. What’s going on?” he questioned.

RTI activists unite to confront threats.

KanglaOnline; Sunday, July 31, 2011,

IMPHAl July 30: “The RTI appellants are targeted by persons holding high office and those in power, we are targeted for requesting information from the government. We have decided to unite to withstand this oppression”, stated W Joykumar, convener of Transparency Initiatives Manipur, a forum of RTI activist formed recently.

Briefing media persons at its office, Joykumar said that the forum was set up after a meeting was held by RTI activists and other interested persons at Young Volunteers Organization, Wangkhei on July 17 last.

The initiative was taken after the RTI appellants after seeking information through the Act were given death threats and intimidated by concerned authorities instead of giving out information. The failure of giving out information within 125 days by the concerned SPIO is a violation of sub section (b) of section 4 of the said Act, he said.

Further, to meet the constraints faced by the applicants, the forum also intimated the World Organization against Torture, a UN body on the plight of the applicants.

“We felt the need to establish the forum to meet the intimidations and for proper transparency in the workings of the government, the applicants have been shown in the wrong light by the person in question. We have been hassled by non state actors, elected representatives and by concerned officials”, Joykumar added.

He further stated that the forum consists of Dr. Devabratta Roy Laifungbam as chairperson, S Ramhauleng as vice chairman, W Joykumar as convener,Kh Bobby as co convener and A Keshorjit as treasurer with another six executives. Drafting the initial constitution of the body is finished.

To further make improvements in the constitution, the forum invites interested persons and RTI activists to participate in the first State Level Convention on People’s Right to Information which is scheduled to be held on August 6 at Manipur Press Club.

It may be mentioned that many applicants seeking information about state and central sponsored schemes have met difficulties since the inception of the Act in 2005. Media reports of women being ostracized by local public, intimidations on the phone and physical harassment have been constantly reported.

Farmer’s RTI query has Vadodara collectorate officials sweating.

Indian Express; Saturday, July 30, 2011,

Vadodara : A simple query under Right to Information (RTI) Act made by a farmer over land acquisition has sent the district collectorate officials in a huddle, for the answer runs into 34,472 pages.

But the applicant, Dilip Bhatt, a farmer from Amaliyara village and a Congress member of the district panchayat, is undaunted despite being told by collectorate officials that the cost to be borne by him could run into thousands of rupees.

Bhatt wants the entire list of people whose land was acquired by the government for the construction of road as part of Dedicated Freight Corridor project.

“I was contacted by the officials from the district collectorate and they asked me if I would like to pay the charges running into thousands of rupees for the reply,” said Bhatt, who will have to shell out Rs 68,640 for the reply.

Bhatt had filed the RTI application to find out about the discrepancies in the land acquisition and the amount paid to the farmers as compensation.

“Farmers lost their land for compensation that was far less than the actual cost of their property. The only people who earned were the agents. This can be proved only when we have documentary evidence and that is why I decided to file an RTI,” Bhatt said.

“They told me I would have to pay Rs 2 for each photocopy and the total amount would be very high. But I agreed,” Bhatt said.

Central Railway admits to misuse of safety staff.

Times of India; Vijay Pinjarkar; Saturday, July 30, 2011,

NAGPUR: It is perhaps for the first time that the Nagpur division of Central Railway has officially admitted that its safety category staff is being misused.
The safety category employees from roadside stations in the division, who should be working outdoors ensuring passengers' safety, are indoors.
Information sought by TOI under the RTI Act not only exposes how senior railway officials misuse the machinery but also hide facts even from the media while providing information and are thus making a mockery of the law.
TOI had sought replies on six counts viz. number of operating department staff drawn from roadside depots and stations; stations employed where they were working against which post; whether they are paid admissible allowance and copy of the order.
Chief public information officer ( CPIO)) not only furnished misleading information with the signatures of SK Das, assistant operating manager (AOM) but also delayed it. The registered application was despatched on June 24, 2011. It took 33 days to reach the DRM's office.
To a query, Das furnished information containing names of only 11 employees of whom seven belong to pointsman category. These seven employees from roadside stations have been shown as train clerks (TNCs) at control office. No official orders have been issued to these staffers in material form.
Does it indicate that there are eight vacancies in the TNC category and the safety category staff (pointsmen) are not required at their respective stations for safe train operation?
Senior operating manager (SrDOM) Mukul Kumar, with whose approval the information was supplied, is misleading. It is not only 11 safety category employees. TOI has a list of over 25 pointsmen from roadside stations who are based at Nagpur for years together.
These employees are not paid any admissible allowances. As per rules, these employees are posted at Nagpur from the original place of working and must be paid TA/DA. Most of these employees work in bungalows of officials and perform household cores like washing utensils and clothes.
Among the staff drawn from roadside stations is a young woman who is posted as gateman at Kalmeshwar, but works as a cook with divisional operating manager (DOM). Similarly, assistant station manager ( ASM)) Nirupam Roy from Amla is shown as posted in Nagpur for six months but for the past 10 years he is working here. The information is false and misleading.
TOI has also identified some pointsmen who have retired now but had worked at officials' bungalows throughout their service period. They hardly worked against the assigned posts.
"Railway mishaps are at its peak. How can passenger safety be ensured if such a large number of safety department employees are misutilised for non-railway work," asked a senior safety department official.
The figures given by AOM Das are far less than the actual field staff serving the officers. TOI has decided to take up the matter with railway minister Dinesh Trivedi and vigilance department.

CM launches videocon for hearing RTI cases.

Times of India; Friday, Jul 29, 2011,

PATNA: Bihar, on Thursday, became the first state in the country to utilize information technology by introducing videoconferencing system for speedy disposal of complaint cases under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Chief minister Nitish Kumar launched the scheme at a function here.
Initially, the system will be available at all the district headquarters, which will be linked with the State Information Commission (SIC). Those denied information at the district level will be able to lodge their complaints with the SIC and get them redressed through videoconferencing without coming to the state capital. Nitish announced that the facility would be extended to block level in a phased manner.
On the occasion, chief information commissioner (CIC) AK Choudhary was shown hearing some petitions from different districts on the screen while sitting in his office.
The CM said he had heard of some cases wherein information seekers under the RTI were penalized. "If such things happen anywhere, it should be reported immediately, and we will not hesitate in taking stern action against the erring officers," he announced.
He referred to the launching of Jankari system, under which information is sought on telephone. The system is working smoothly. "So far, 93,000 people have sought information through Jankari call centres and we have decided to reward the applicant who is 1,00,000th," he said.
The CM also announced to create a contingency fund in view of the difficulties faced by Public Information Officers (PIOs) in providing information. He said he has asked the chief secretary to ensure that all departments which have still not put all information on the website to do so soon.
Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi said RTI has played a key role in exposing corruption. Bihar legislative council chairman Tarakant Jha suggested to the Central Information Commission to implement the videoconferencing system at the national level.
Chief Information Commissioner of India, Satyanand Misra said the nearly six-year-old Act has become very popular among people. He said the central information commission has received a total of about six lakh applications, showing an increase of 25% every year.
Bihar CIC Choudhary said his office has received 53,000 applications, of which 49,000 have been disposed of. Only 4,000 complaints were pending. With the launching of the new system, he said, information seekers would not be required to be present in Patna during hearing of their complaints. They can attend it through videoconferencing from their home district.
Choudhary said not only the erring PIOs are fined, the good performers are also rewarded. On this occasion, five PIOs were rewarded by the CM. Schoolchildren who made paintings and wrote essays on RTI were also rewarded.
Information commissioner of the Central Information Commission, Sushma Singh and chief information commissioners of West Bengal, Punjab and Chhattisgarh also attended the function.

CIC order for disclosing info on CBI director stayed by HC.

IBNLive.com; Friday, Jul 29, 2011,

The CIC's order had come on Ranawat's plea filed under the RTI Act challenging CBI's refusal to part with the information sought by him about the file notings on the appointment of the CBI's director and the assets of its officials.Appearing for CBI, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Haren Raval and advocate Vikas Pahwa said the Commission's order is illegal as the statutory body has no power of judicial review.The senior lawyer said the Commission itself is the creation of a statute and it does not have the power to pass any such order.On July 4, the transparency panel had directed CBI to disclose file notings on the appointment of its Director Singh, besides making public the assets of its officials posted in Mumbai and Delhi.The CIC had rejected CBI's plea that since it has been brought in the list of organisations exempted from disclosure under transparency law from June 9, all the appeals should now be considered infructuous.The Commission had said the notification has not been issued with a retrospective effect, hence the agency shall respond to all the applications filed before June 9.While Ranawat's plea to CBI seeking file notings about the appointment of its Director got no response, his plea for details of CBI officials' assets was rejected on the ground of personal safety of the officers.

Son’s death: Father seeks justice.

Deccan Chronicle; SULOGNA MEHTA; Friday, Jul 29, 2011,

After the death of his three-year-old son and only child due to faulty treatment, a father’s fight for justice continues. Since the child’s death in January, Md Shareefuddin, has moved the State Human Rights Commission, visited the police daily for months without any outcome, filed an application under the RTI Act and faced threats from hooligans. The doctors who attended on the child have refused to take responsibility for the death and call the father “over-smart” and “crazy.” On December 26, 2008, the child, Md Rehanuddin, was operated on by Dr Y. Suman Vyas, at the time a cardiologist at Care Hospital. His father claims that in the course of the operation, the doctor damaged Rehan’s lungs. “I came to know about this when I took my son for treatment to the Niloufer and Nims hospitals. Ever since the operation, my son suffered severe respiratory tract infections," said Md Shareefuddin. Finally, another procedure (cath study under anaesthesia) was done on the child on January 22, 2011 at Nims. The child never regained consciousness. The parents alleged that their signatures were not taken before the cath study. They complained that Nims refused to give any report on what went wrong till they filed an RTI. Rubbishing the allegations, Dr Vyas said, “Rehan’s was a complex case. Besides the hole, he had scimitar syndrome and underdeveloped lungs. He died two years after the surgery. It’s to do with his respiratory infections.” Dr B. Srinivas, Nims cardiologist, said, “We had verbally explained to the parents about the cath study. The only mistake was a technical lapse on the part of a junior colleagues who didn’t attach the parents’ signature. We were ready to type out the reports but before we could do it, the father snatched away the hand-written draft from us.” The Panjagutta SHO, Mr Ashoke Chakravarthy, said: “The SHRC has asked Nims to submit a report. We will proceed after we get the report from the SHRC.”

RTI: AP yet to do the right thing.

Deccan Chronicle;  Vasudeva Rao; Friday, Jul 29, 2011,

The Right to Information Act was the great white hope of Indian citizens who are consistently denied rightful information. Not only does it specify that most information in the public domain would be provided to citizens by right, but it also ensured that failure to do so by the bloated bureaucracy would result in penalties for erring officials. Trust the government, though, to subvert its own good intentions. The state government has not appointed state information commissioners even eight months after three commissioners retired. The result is that cases before the State Information Commission are just piling up, defeating the purpose of speedy provision of information to the public. The State Information Commission had about 6,000 plus cases pending when the term of the three information commissioners expired in November 2010, already a staggeringly large number. Since then, the number of pending cases has grown to 8,500 (up to June). The state government's excuse for not appointing new commissioners then was that the election code of conduct was in force. The results of the elections in various States were announced in May but no appointments have been made yet. Questioned about the delay, a senior official in the Secretariat maintained that a meeting was supposed to be held at the end of June, but was postponed for some reason. He said the government had received 80 applications. Convener of the United Forum for RTI Campaign, Mr Ramakrishnam Raju, is scathing about the manner in which the issue is being handled. “We have given several representations but there is no response. Many Public Information Officers (PIOs) are not giving information in time deliberately as there are no information commissioners. They are not serious because even if there was a complaint against them it will take years for the same to be disposed of,” he said. PIOs who handle RTI requests in each department have to answer to the SICs if they fail to provide information in the stipulated time or provide inadequate information. Mr P. Ramprasad of the Andhra Pradesh Samachara Hakkula Vedika has made two representations to Chief Minister, Mr N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, and one to the Governor on the need to appoint the SICs, but got no response. When he put in an RTI petition seeking to know what progress had been made on his earlier petition about appointment of SICs, he received intimation from the Chief Minister’s Office 15 days ago saying that the government would be appointing the three SICs soon. “Almost all revenue officers are opposing the Act and the government, too, seems to be watering down the same by resorting to delaying tactics,” Mr Ramprasad maintained. “Twelve of my cases are held up with the State Information Commissioner. Even if all my cases are solved after new commissioners are appointed, it will be of no use to me because I needed the information at a certain point in time, not years later,” reasoned Mr Ramakrishna, an RTI activist. He said that the present State Chief Information Commissioner “doesn't have the exact picture of what needs to be done. He is doing his homework now, though he was appointed a year ago. Appointment of new commissioners should be given first priority.” The State Chief Information Commissioner has urged the government to sanction five commissioners to expedite the disposal of the accumulated cases. It remains to be seen how soon the government bestirs itself on an issue that has never been popular with government officers or their political masters. Basic RTI info not updated Many government departments have failed to update basic information on their websites as required under the Right to Information Act. The special chief secretary, Ms Minnie Mathew, claims that the offenders cannot be penalised because there is no provision under the law to do so. “Without the backing of the law, we cannot impose penalties,” she said. Section 4 (1) (b) of the RTI Act mandates government departments to make available certain information under 17 different categories, including budget allocated to various agencies and manner of execution of subsidy programmes. The information has to be provided either in printed format or on the website. “We have issued strict orders. Officials at the HOD and Secretariat level are following it. It’s only officials at the divisional and sub-divisional level who are not complying. We have directed collectors to send a list of such defaulters for further action,” Ms Mathew said. This provision, to provide basic information whether asked for or not, is described as the ‘heart and soul’ of the RTI Act. The state Chief Information Commissioner, Mr Jannat Husain, sent advisories to all departments a month ago to update information displayed under section 4 (1) (a) and 4 (1) (b), but many departments have ignored the advisory. Andhra Pradesh is represented by an official of the rank of deputy secretary in the task force set up by the central government which is currently looking into measures required to enforce compliance of the information disclosure and the format in which the information could be disclosed. Except for the State Law and Labour departments, which have updated information in the last one year, all other departments still display the old information. For instance, the website of the Civil Supplies department names Mr Bhanwar Lal as its commissioner, while the General Administration department says Mr T. K. Dewan is chief secretary. The Health and Family Welfare department hasn't bothered to display any information at all.

India on its way to development.

DNA; Thursday,28 July, 2011,

The spark that flickered in villages two decades ago has spread like a wildfire across the country today, ushering in an era of transparency and accountability.

The revolution reached its crescendo parliament passed the Right to Information (RTI) Act when six years ago.
Often termed the biggest gift to Indians since Independence, the RTI Act transformed millions of people from merely being tax payers to true rulers of the country.

The law opened the close doors, behind which government authorities worked, as people realised they could question the government’s decisions.

Raising slogans like ‘Hamara Paisa, Hamara Hisab’ (Our money, our accounts), people started demanding accountability on the part of the government.
Words like ‘transparency and accountability’ touched nation’s chord and the people’s demand also forced our ministers, government officials and judges of the Supreme Court to declare their assets.
The fight for an independent and strong Lokpal, which has currently grabbed the country’s attention, is only an extension of the transparency revolution that started with the RTI Act.

ON BACKDOOR APPOINTMENT...What Needs to be Done ?

MorungExpress; Thursday,28 July, 2011,

The agitation against backdoor appointments in the power Department initiated by the NSF is definitely noteworthy. While appreciating its efforts I've been left to wonder whether it is only the Power Deptt that has been found at fault. There sure are other Govt. Departments as well that has issued appointment orders against posts carrying a scale of more than 4125/- (99' Rop).As per Govt. memorandum all posts carrying a scale of Rs 4125/- and above are supposed to be requisitioned to NPSC and post to be filled up through open competition. However, most of the vacant posts are occupied through backdoor appointment.
It would be an appropriate time(striking when the rod is hot) for the student body to make a thorough investigation in all the Govt departments to unearth the numerous backdoor appointments and such posts carrying a scale of more than 4125/- (old ROP) to be requisitioned to NPSC to give equal opportunity to the unemployed. Thanks to the RTI Act (Right to Information) It is just the right tool!
When the Nagaland Retirement Amendment Act '09 was passed, it was hoped that the numerous post vacancies that would arise out of it would help in giving employment to the thousands of educated unemployed. But sadly it has not been so…the recruitment process conducted thus far is merely an eyewash for the public with the maximum number of the vacant posts already occupied through backdoor appointments backed by politicians. There were more than 17,000 aspirants that appeared the NPSC preliminary exams this year hoping to make it to the meager 190 (approx) posts that were advertised through NPSC. Govt is making a mockery of the very existence of NPSC & existing relevant Govt. direction for posts to be requisitioned to NPSC by issuing backdoor appointments.
All the erring Departments needs to be brought to light as in the case of Power Department. Why give this sole Department all the attention while there are almost all the Govt. Departments that deserve such kind of attention and spotlight ?

Lokayukta implicates Yeddyurappa Govt for Rs 16,085-cr loss.

Hindu Business Line; Bangalore; Thursday,28 July, 2011,

Karnataka Lokayukta has indicted the Chief Minister, Mr B S Yeddyurappa's Government of causing loss of a whopping Rs 16,085 crore to the state exchequer between 2006 and 2010 due to large-scale illegal mining.

The Chief Minister's family has also been directly named for receiving donations from a mining company.

In the Lokayukta report, which was submitted to the State Chief Secretary, Mr S V Ranganath today, also mentions direct involvement of Reddy brothers from Bellary  comprising ministers Mr G Janardhan Reddy and Mr G Karunakara Reddy and their associate Mr Sriramalu.

The Rajya Sabha MP and mining company owner Mr Anil Lad along with his wife have being named in the report.

Former Karnataka Chief Minister, Mr H D Kumaraswamy, has been named in the report for granting two mining licences, the report has also recommended that action be taken on 787 government officers who were involved in the assisting or facilitating large-scale irregularities.

The Karnataka Lokayukta Mr Justice N Santosh Hegde later in the evening addressing a press conference said his officials have submitted a 25,288- page report to the State Government. A copy of the report on illegal mining has been sent to the Governor, Mr H R Bhardwaj. “Since the governor is the competent person to prosecute the Chief Minister under various sections of Prevention of Corruption Act,” said Mr Justice Hegde.

The report has explained the irregularities carried out in mining. Illegal mining was rampant in the districts of Bellary, Chitradurga and Tumkur.

CM's involvement;

Mr Justice Hegde said a mining company in Karnataka had donated Rs 10 crore to a trust owned by the Chief Minister's family. The donation was made by the company for reasons other than genuine.

The mining company also paid Rs 20 crore for purchase of land by the trust in Rachenahalli far above the guidance value of Rs 1.40 crore, which makes for an offence under Prevention of Corruption Act. This has been brought to the notice of the Governor.

Mr Justice Hegde pointed out that he found it extremely difficult to accept that a company, which did not have financial resources, should borrow from other companies to make donation. He mentioned that the mining company had paid money to Mr Yeddyurappa's family by cheque.

Regarding the Reddy brothers, Mr Justice Hegde said: “Their claims of not doing mining business in Karnataka are false. But our officers have found clear evidence of them indulging in mining in the State contrary to their claims that they were not involved.”

Mr Justice Hegde also said people involved in the illegal mining should be tried in accordance with law under IPC, Forest Act, FMRDA and PCA. The loss incurred by them should be recovered four times the loss.

The report contains 31 chapters and a separate 943 pages of Mr Justice Hegde's report and recommendations. Declining to give excerpts or copies, Mr Justice Hegde announced who ever is interested should apply for copies under RTI act by paying prescribed fee.

CAG to supervise audit of parties' accounts.

Hindustan Times; Chetan Chauhan; Thursday,28 July, 2011,

India’s accounting watchdog the Comptroller and Auditor General has agreed to supervise the auditing of accounts of registered political parties and expenditure of candidates contesting in elections for legislative bodies.

Each registered political party is required to submit annual financial statement with the commission and candidates contesting polls have to submit expenditure reports with the returning officers.

The commission does not have wherewithal to analyse them as there are over 1,100 political parties and thousands contest elections. And, therefore it wanted CAG to audit the accounts.

Documents released under Right To Information Act to NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) show that Roy Mathani, Director General, CAG, had agreed to monitor audit done by chartered accounts empanelled by the constitutional body. The reply was in response to ADR’s RTI application regarding steps being taken for better financial monitoring of domestic Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs).

Mathani was also of the view this will help in ensuring transparency in the functioning of political parties and CAG could conduct an overall audit of the findings of the chartered accountants. A similar mechanism for conducting audit of election expense accounts maintained by District Election Officers was also suggested.

“The political parties are public bodies, as exemption from tax is allowed on their funds. Therefore, their accounts should be audited by a panel appointed by CAG as it is done in case of Public Sector Units,” Mathani said, as per the documents released under RTI.

In order to have more transparency, Amarjit Chopra, president of Indian Institute of Chartered Accountants wanted that the political parties should submit audit accounts on the pattern of public limited entities and should publish their balance sheet every year. Chopra also wanted that the Income Tax exemption limit for donations paid to political parties should be increased from Rs 20,000 per annum to Rs 50,000.

Jantar mantar magic.

Indian Express; Thursday,28 July, 2011,

Anna Hazare’s well-publicised fast at Jantar Mantar seems to have opened the eyes of some in the Congress to the symbolic importance of that place. AICC in charge of Bihar, Gulchain Singh Charak, has asked partymen to gather at Jantar Mantar on Thursday to take up the issue of alleged land allotment scam involving family members of ministers in Nitish Kumar government. From there, they plan to go to Rashtrapati Bhavan to submit a memorandum to President Pratibha Patil on this issue. Not everyone in the party is enthused though. Some have informed the Central leadership of their reservations against this plan because they are of the opinion that the political battle against JD(U)-BJP regime has to be fought in Patna, not at Jantar Mantar.

Refresh, please;

The Central Information Commission has been trying hard to enforce the implementation of a provision in the RTI Act, which calls upon all ministries and public departments to make a large set of information available on their websites and regularly update it. For the simple reason, it claims, that it will drastically reduce the number of applications filed for the purpose. But probably the transparency panel needs to set its own house in order first. Its own website is not being updated regularly, even information as basic as monthly disposal of cases by CIC are not up-to-date. After April this year, the Commission seems to have not cared to update the figures.

Tight Race;

The post of the chairman of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is likely to witness an interesting competition between some high-profile contenders. Among the contenders, sources say, are current Health Secretary K Chandramouli, set to retire next month, and Director General of Health Services R K Srivastava. Grapevine has it that even former Health Secretary K Sujatha Rao, who has recently been seen in the corridors of the ministry, might be in the fray.

Caught Unawares;

Officials at the Indian embassy in Kathmandu were caught completely unawares by the arrest of an alleged key suspect in the latest bomb attacks in Mumbai earlier this month. Nepal police claimed to have made a breakthrough in the investigations with the arrest of this person after he was found to have called up one of the mobile numbers under the scanner of the Maharashtra ATS. However, police authorities in Mumbai were not sure of the role of this person so the officials in the Indian embassy in Kathmandu were asked to check. They were, however, said to be totally clueless and could relay back no more than what had appeared in the local media reports.

Hal Is Well;

The much-berated Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), which is severely short of manpower, had some good news to share on Wednesday. With at least three posts in its board of directors vacant, the company finally announced the appointment of V M Chamola as Director, Human Resource. Amongst his accomplishments, as mentioned in a detailed profile released by HAL, is an “impossible task” that he had accomplished “arranging boarding and lodging for 130 employees of NJPC (Naptha Jhakri Power Corporation Limited) within a span of 24 hours”.

Policing PDS with right to information weapon.

Law et al. News; Vijay Shah; Wednesday, July, 27, 2011,

Gujarat has become the first state in the country where disclosure of all stocks has been made compulsory at fair price shops. This became possible due to the efforts of an 18-year-old in a Gujarat village and his use of the Right to Information Act.

The teenager, Bhadresh Wamja, filed an RTI application seeking details of the stocks dispatched from the public distribution system (PDS) to the fair price shops. A second year B Com student, who heads a movement called Youth Against Corruption in his area, Wamja came to know through newspapers that APL (above poverty line) cardholders were eligible to get rations under the public distribution arrangement through fair price shops.

Himself an APL card holder, Bhadresh was in for a surprise when he enquired about it from his village fair price shop. He was flatly turned down and informed that there were no such provisions for APL card holders. So he was forced to purchase his requirements at prevailing market prices. In a quandary, he called up the 'mahiti adhikar' (information rights) helpline and was told that the department of food and civil supplies of the Gujarat government dispatches foodgrains and assorted supplies every month for BPL (below poverty line), APL and Antyodaya cardholders.

Bhadresh filed an RTI application on 11 February 2011, seeking details of the stock dispatched and received by the shop. "This brought problems for me and my family and we began receiving threats from the local village functionaries as the PDS shopkeeper and the gram sevak were all involved in the irregularities", he pointed out.

Undeterred, Bhadresh contacted the whistleblower helpline of the Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel which helps and guides all such RTI Activists. The helpline immediately wrote to the food and civil supplies department of the government, the RTI chief and the relevant police station. This resulted in arrest of Paresh Jaiswal who operated the PDS shop. Jaiswal however secured bail in two days and the vicious circle of threats and warnings began all over again, alleged Bhadresh.

"I was threatened several times, but I did not give up and kept up the fight. However, some of my relatives intervened to bring about a compromise", Bhadresh said.

He, however, filed an RTI application against the civil supplies department on March 1. The continuing crusade finally bore results and on April 30, the state government passed an order under section 4(1)(b), making it compulsory for all fair price shops in the state to disclose all the details about rations received and kept in the shop. "This is a just reward for the initiative of the young lad which will prove a boon for all ration cardholders in the state", said Pankti Jog of Pahel here on Tuesday.

Electronic Service Delivery Bill to be tabled in monsoon session.

Livemint; Surabhi Agarwal; Tuesday, July 26, 2011,

The Bill requires all govt departments to compulsorily deliver services to citizens electronically

The Electronic Service Delivery Bill 2011, which will require all ministries and government departments to compulsorily deliver services to citizens electronically, is in its final stages of formulation.

The Bill has been vetted by the law ministry and inter-ministerial consultations have been completed. It will be tabled during the monsoon session of Parliament that begins on 1 August, said Sachin Pilot, minister of state for communication and information technology (IT).

He was speaking at a seminar of the mBillionth South Asia Mobile and Telecom Congress organized by the Digital Empowerment Foundation and the Internet and Mobile Association of India on Saturday. Mint was media partner to the awards.

“The comments from all the stakeholders have been received and there are some cosmetic changes which are being done,” said a top official of the department of information technology (DIT), who did not want to be identified. The official added the Bill will be sent this week or the next to the cabinet for approval.

The Bill mandates that all government departments, ministries and state governments automate their citizen-based services, so these can be offered electronically.

It includes in its ambit any dealing a citizen would have with the government, including submissions of all kinds of forms and applications, delivery of licences or permits, and receipt or payment of money.

The overarching aim of the law is to reduce discretion on the part of government employees, making governance rule-based and bringing in more transparency in dealing with citizens.

Neel Ratan, executive director of consultancy firm PwC said that while the whole exercise is a step in the right direction, citizens should be involved in determining which services they want digitized. “Citizens should have a larger say in determination and prioritization of services, a right which has been embedded with government.” he said.

According to experts, the Bill is important as it defines a clear time frame in which the services have to be digitized, which is five years from the date of the Bill becoming a law. The deadline is extendable by three years if a reason is provided in writing.

All government departments will have to clearly define the services that will be digitized and the time frame required to complete the process within six months of the law being passed. But the current draft excludes DIT’s original proposal for a complete phasing out of manual delivery of services.

“There were several reservations about phasing out of manual delivery and after receiving the feedback we decided to exclude that part and include assisted access for that section of society which might be willing to get services only through the government departments,” said a second DIT official, who too did not want to be identified.

In 2006, the ministry of communication and IT unveiled its national e-governance plan, which envisages automating the delivery of key government services. But just a few of the 27 mission-mode projects have been completed. The execution of some has been delayed and the rest are still at a planning stage.

The delay or lack of initiative on the part of some departments to digitize in the absence of a law is the underlying reason behind the Bill. Officials equate the Bill to the Right to Information (RTI) Act of 2005 in its impact, as it will force all government departments and ministries to digitize themselves.

“The feedback from the private sector and the NGOs (non-governmental organizations) has been that five years is too long a deadline for digitization, while the feedback from the government agencies has been the opposite. However, we are sticking to our deadline,” the second official said.

According to Nasscom, an IT industry lobby, the e-governance opportunity in the country is expected to be worth $9 billion (around `40,000 crore) between 2010 and 2013. This Bill is expected to add to the potential.

Mandatory digitization is expected to create a demand for maintenance services, cyber security and data protection, which could create a huge demand for IT in the country.

Another advantage of digitization will be that more people will be motivated to avail government services due to the sheer ease of use. For instance, the number of tax returns filed jumped 67% to 5.1 million in 2010, when it was made digital.

EC move to check misuse of money power rejected.

Hindustan Times; Chetan Chauhan; Tuesday, July 26, 2011,

The Election Commission's effort to check use of money power in elections has received a set back with the finance ministry rejecting its proposal for special monitoring of bank accounts of political persons.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has detailed guidelines for monitoring Indian bank accounts of politically exposed persons (PEPs) of foreign origin. "The guidelines provide for enhanced scrutiny by banks of foreign PEPS but not of domestic PEPs," a senior Election Commission official said.

PEP, as per RBI guidelines, is a public functionary including ministers, senior bureaucrat and member of a political party.

To improve vigil over domestic PEPs, the EC also wanted to harmonise banking laws with the Representation of People's Act and similar RBI guidelines to banks for domestic political persons.

"If rules under PMLA are modified to include domestic PEPs, then the verification of assets and liabilities of the candidates will become more meaningful," said a commission official.

As per the Election Commission rules, every person contesting legislative elections have to file an affidavit declaring his assets and that of his family members. But, the commission has no way to verify the claims made in the declaration and it felt that having enhanced scrutiny for domestic PEPs around the year could have helped in tracking transactions in financial institutions and securities market.

For the commission bringing domestic PEPs under high scrutiny would have helped to check misuse of money power in elections which was recently highlighted with seizure of Rs 60 crore in assembly elections in Tamil Nadu alone.

For this, a proposal was discussed with the senior finance ministry and Income Tax officials.

Documents released by the Election Commission in response to an RTI application show that the finance ministry were not keen to implement the changes and instead, asked the commission to seek specific information about PEPs from the banks directly, rather than seeking a policy direction.

The reason was that affairs of a customer are considered confidential and there are well established legal provisions in the banking laws and conventions about a client's secrecy and fidelity, which the banks are supposed to observe.

Land Mafia Eyeing Bandipur Wetlands, ANC Seeks Info.

Kashmir Observer;Tuesday, July 26, 2011,

Srinagar; Awami National Conference (ANC) has sought information regarding encroachment and earth filling of water bodies of Kurwansar and Sheikhsar in Sumbal area of Bandipur district.
In a statement ANC Senior Vice President, Mr. Muzaffar Shah, said that the above two water bodies spread over more than one thousand kannals of wetland have been turned into dry lands by way of encroachments and earth fillings by the land mafia at the behest of the political masters, depriving the people of fresh spring water, and migratory birds their habitat.
“To facilitate the speedy drying up of the wet lands, the Government has even installed a dewatering station turning the water body into dry area thus enabling the land mafia to grab the state land/water bodies and the Government has even started developing a playing field on the encroached/dried up wetland area of the said water bodies”, Shah alleged.
The Government has also built a road bisecting the wet lands into two, the statement added.
He has demanded that the earth filling and the encroachment of the said wetlands be stopped immediately.
Concerned about the depleting forest cover in the state, ANC has also sought Information Under Sec 4 of J&K RTI Act 2004 regarding the forest cover as it existed during the survey of Mr. Walter Lawrence (Settlement Commissioner during Maharaja Hari Singh) as it existed then and the forest cover of the state as it exists today, district wise of the J&K State and details of the shortage in forest cover and the recipients of the forest land that has been cleared and either encroached by the people or allotted to the general public.
The party has also sought district wise information regarding Issue of BPL ration cards to the people of the State. So that it could be ascertained as to who are the actual beneficiary of this scheme as most of the deserving households are deprived of this.

Victims' right to know.

Himalayan Times; KATHMANDU; TANKA ARYAL;Tuesday, July 26, 2011,

Victimization of people by crime is common phenomenon across the world. However, victimization by war or internal armed conflict and natural calamity is also no less. Whatsoever the reason, the victim should be protected; identification and arrest of the offender should not be a pre-requisite for the redress of the victim. This is the fundamental understanding of a new discipline of study, victimology.
Access to justice and fair treatment, restitution, compensation and rehabilitation are the core areas of the victim’s right. Right to Information (RTI) is the right to know, and it has very close link with the four areas. For remedy and justice, a victim requires the basic information regarding the justice-seeking process. To participate in the trial, the victim should be informed about the court proceeding.
Considering the importance of the right to information as a victim’s right, UN Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power -1985 has recognized that ‘victims should be informed of their rights in seeking redress’. Similarly, the victims’ right to information on their role and the scope, timing and progress of the proceedings and of the disposition of their cases is protected.
Likewise, realizing the enormous significance of right to information for victims, the draft UN Convention on Justice and Support for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power – 2010 has provided larger scope of RTI within it. It has provisions that state parties shall ensure that victims have a right to information and provide general information to the victim in the most expeditious and efficient method, which facilitate the victim in the course of justice-seeking process.
Article 27 of the Interim Constitution of Nepal 2007 has guaranteed the RTI of Nepali citizen in general. It says “every citizen shall have the right to demand or obtain information on any matters of his/her own or of public importance.” It does not clearly say about the victims’ right to information; however, a citizen is empowered to seek and receive information of any personal concern. RTI Act 2007 and Regulation 2009 is in practice, however, no specific right to information of victim is guaranteed under the existing legal framework of Nepal. There are some rays of hope. The Committee on Fundamental rights and Directive Principles of the Constituent Assembly (CA) has proposed to include a victim’s right as a fundamental right in the upcoming constitution. Under the proposed provision, right to information of the victim is guaranteed, which says that the “crime victim shall have right to information about the investigation, inquiries and proceeding of the related case.” The victims’ right to information is crucial in regular criminal and civil proceedings. But, the need is for the lawmakers and politicians to focus on drafting a legal provision of transitional justice process, which guarantees the victims’ right to information.
Thousands of victims of past armed conflict have been left unattended. They expect to have strong legal as well as organizational mechanism, whereby they can seek justice and remedy. If the victims are not informed properly about transitional justice implementing system, it would not work effectively and would fail to redress the victim of armed conflict.Truth seeking, prosecutions, reparation of victims, and institutional reforms are the four pillars of transitional justice.
It is significant to cite a case to show the negligence of right to information of victims in the justice process. The government decided to withdraw some cases initiated during the armed conflict after the peace process started, but none of the victims were informed about the process, rationale, and the result of the withdrawal of the cases.
In Nepal, there is an obvious case to show how victims are denied necessary information. The victims of Kapilvastu riot were looking for the report of the related probe commission, but were denied. To know how the probe commission reported their pain and loss was of major concern to them. Further, they wanted to seek remedy on the basis of the report of the probe commission, where many people had been identified as victims of the riot.
The report was asked on the basis of the prevailing RTI legal provisions, but the government rejected it arguing that if the report is publicized, it could destroy social harmony - the exception listed under Section 3 of RTI Act. Finally, National Information Commission (NIC) ordered the Nepal Government to provide the information to the victims.
The victims should be the center of transitional justice, and they should be informed about the whole process and options and alternatives available to them in this justice process. They should be first informed about the available remedies, and then the process, time-frame and result, as well as other basic information.The victims’ right to information is the foundation of total transitional justice process, thus, it should be internalized and incorporated in the upcoming transitional justice provisions, legal as well as institutional setup.
(Aryal is Executive Director, Citizens’ Campaign for Right to Information)

Tirumala mutt's plea against RTI Act upheld.

Times of India; Tuesday, July 26, 2011,

HYDERABAD: Justice PV Sanjay Kumar of the AP High Court on Monday admitted a writ petition challenging a ruling that all Hindu religious institutions, including mutts, are covered by the Right to Information Act.
The mahant of the Hathiramji Mutt in Tirupati filed the writ petition complaining that the order was illegal as the mutt cannot be declared as a public institution as defined under the RTI Act. He also referred to two applications seeking the details of the gifts given to the head of the mutt.
He said that even the endowments department could not make an inquiry into such details and, therefore, the question of allowing a stranger's application did not arise. The judge suspended the order under the RTI Act requiring the mutt to give the information.

Food and Drugs Administration staff under a cloud in Maharashtra.

DNA; Ninad Siddhaye; Tuesday, July 26, 2011,

The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) is the premier watchdog for several food articles and thousands of medicines sold across medical stores in the state. However, the same administration has been hiring officials without even bothering to check their qualifications, information obtained under the Right To Information (RTI) Act by the Society for Awareness of Civil Rights, an NGO, has revealed.

The society has complained to the chief minister and the chief secretary, demanding action against the FDA, including the immediate removal of the officials concerned.

According to RP Yajurvedi Rao, president of the Society for Awareness of Civil Rights, six positions for the post of assistant commissioner were to be filled when the administration advertised in July 2008 in different categories.

“While three positions were to be filled through advertisements, three were to be filled through departmental promotions. While Bhushan Patil, one of the laboratory technicians working in Mumbai FDA headquarters, has been illegally promoted as assistant commissioner (drugs), another applicant Nitin Deore (who has been appointed in Nanded) has misled the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) with wrong documents in the application,” said Rao.

According to RTI documents obtained by Rao, copies of which are with DNA, the details submitted by Deore in the MPSC application form raise many questions. “While one work experience certificate given by his previous employer, Croslands Research Laboratories, shows that he was working as a research associate with the lab from July 1996 to July 2001, another certificate from the same lab claims that his period of work was till February 2001 with a different designation.”

He added: “Another employer certificate from BJ Medical College, Pune, says that he was working with the college as a class II chemist from August 2003 to October 2008 and later till July 2009 as a pharmacist cum class II chemist. However, during the period Deore was working with Croslands, he has a certificate from Pune University claiming that he was a “full time student” of MBA.

Moreover, in his MPSC application, he has mentioned having a “relevant” masters degree related to pharmacy, which in fact is MBA,” said Rao.

In a letter written to the CM and the chief secretary, Rao has said that ex-FDA commissioner Dhanaraj Khamatkar along with a few other senior officials had not followed the proper hiring procedure.

“The state cannot employ a fraudster and cheater as assistant commissioner (drugs),” said Rao. FDA commissioner Seema Vyas was unavailable for comments, while Deore’s mobile number mentioned in the application was switched off.

RTI applicant threatened by DDK official; moves court.

Kashmir Dispatch; Monday , July 25 , 2011,

A contractual news caster in Doordarshan Kendra Srinagar has alleged that a top official of the station intimidated and threatened him, after he filed an RTI application to seek information about financial matters of station’s news section.

Ghulam Mohammed Parrey alias Shabnam Vijpiary filed a compliant with the Chief Judicial Magistrate Srinagar, who in his order asked the Sub Division Police Officer Nehru Park, to enquire into the allegations of criminal intimidation and life threat by Bashir Malik, director News Doordarshan Kendra Srinagar.

The CJM directed the SDPO to look into the allegations filed under section 500 Cr PC and 506 RPC against the director News DDK Srinagar and submit the report within 15 days.

Parrey had sought information about the beneficiaries and payments disbursed over the years by the regional news unit Srinagar under RTI Act 2005.

Malik despite orders by Prasar Bharati executives declined to provide the requisite information to the RTI applicant.

“He (Malik) not only declined information but leveled allegations against Vijpari in a local newspaper that he (Vijpari) had assaulted three girls in the newsroom and had been removed from the organization because of his bad character,” Parrey’s counsel said.

Ministers need a new oath.

Livemint; Haseeb A Drabu; Monday , July 25 , 2011,

There are good reasons for the oath of secrecy to be replaced by an oath of transparency. It will serve governance better.

Among the many opportunities missed by the recent reshuffle in the Union cabinet, the most significant, in terms of long-term impact, is the failure to push the transparency agenda.

In an environment where every day a new scam is emerging, public commitment to transparent and ethical decision making would have gone a long way in announcing the government’s intention and resolve to lift governance from its present-day low.

This was the right time to make a genuine, even if a trifle symbolic, beginning to make new ministers (and old ones) affirm or take oath of transparency and integrity rather than the archaic oath of secrecy.

That none in the government’s think tank and spin doctors even thought that it would be a great gesture, suggests that they have not internalized the mood of civil society and the urgent need for transparency. Perhaps, it also reflects the lack of creativity among those running the show and confirms the government’s mental senescence.

It makes immense sense to change the form of oath after the Right to Information (RTI) Act. After affirming allegiance to the Constitution, a minister affirms or swears that he or she will not directly or indirectly communicate or reveal to any person or persons any matter which shall be brought under his/her consideration or shall become known to him/her as a minister. This oath which is the illegitimate offspring of the arcane Official Secrets Act (OSA) of 1923 negates the letter and spirit of the RTI Act. More importantly, it impairs the transparency agenda. Far from an affirmation to transparency, the system enjoins upon ministers to become secretive.

It may be argued, quite correctly, that the OSA per se doesn’t hinder the dissemination of information. But the operative point is that when its interpretation and implementation is left to civil servants who are not only trained to conceal and not reveal, but also are bound to the existing Civil Services Conduct Rules (yet to be amended for the state governments) and their Manual of Office Procedures (which, by the way, has still not been amended) where the emphasis and intent is to withhold information it becomes what it is. These rules encourage the tendency to classify even the most mundane and unwarranted matters as classified.

These arcane oaths and procedures that suited the British administrative exigencies need to be replaced with the current requirements of a democratic set-up. To be sure, the forms of oath are not independent of the situation in which these are stipulated or taken.

For instance, in the US, the 14-word oath to fulfil the constitutional requirement has been changed many times in response to the prevailing situation. The outbreak of the civil war transformed the routine act of oath taking into one of enormous significance. Later, the oath was revised again to become the “Ironclad Test Oath”. Those who swore falsely would be prosecuted for perjury and forever debarred from holding any political position.

The prevailing situation, that has seen a complete erosion of public trust in governance and its institutions, is reason enough for the oath of secrecy, to be replaced by a new more relevant oath of transparency in governance. The oath of transparency in governance should make two commitments to the people of India; first, it must commit them to institutionalizing the systems of transparent administration in India. Second, it must specifically commit the individual to the full and robust implementation of the RTI, which even in its whittled down form, is a key to administrative transparency and accountable governance.

Obviously, the change in the oath will require an amendment of the Schedule 3 of the Constitution, under which ministers take the oath of secrecy while assuming office. This can be easily done in the ensuing session to ensure unhindered flow of information to the public for a transparent corruption-free governance not just a regime. It is important to make the distinction between transparent governments and governance. It is the latter that needs to be institutionalized. For that more needs to be done in terms of system building.

It is not just the oath of secrecy, the Constitution is replete with provisions that legitimize and reinforce an obsolete and nefarious regime of administrative secrecy, that is incompatible with a democratic polity.

The many “immunitarian” provisions of the Constitution which guarantee a special manner of protection to the permanent civil service of the colonial style (Article 311), privileges of legislators (Article 105 for MPs and Article 194 for MLAs), give a free hand to these functionaries without being directly accountable. This contributes indirectly but substantially to the maintenance of a regime built upon secrecy, red tape, corruption and alienation from the people.

The need is to rid the Constitution of its colonial self and adapted to the needs of the increasingly educated and empowered civil society. Government must build systems and process to communicate rather than conceal the process of decision making from its citizens.

(Haseeb A. Drabu is an economist, and writes on monetary and macroeconomic matters from the perspective of policy and practice. Comment are welcome at haseeb@livemint.com)

Public interest is media litmus test.

Deccan Chronicle; Monday , July 25 , 2011,

Britain’s “hackgate” is getting murkier by the day. It is no longer about revelations that phones and voice mails were hacked illegally by reporters of the now-defunct News of the World tabloid with the help of private detectives. The focus has now shifted to the coverup and the involvement, or at least knowledge, of the senior management.

Allegations are being made that James Murdoch, who runs the Murdoch empire in Britain, deliberately misled MPs about what he knew, and when, about the phone-hacking scandal. His claims are being challenged by former NoTW news executives, and the inference is that people at the very top were aware that such nefarious practices were going on.

Even Rebekah Brooks, a former NoTW editor, had earlier indicted she was unaware her journalists were indulging in sharp practice, but this fiction was soon demolished. The attempt by the Murdochs, father and son, to distance themselves and to put the onus on rogue elements “whom we trusted” is clearly not going down too well with those who have had to pay the price.

Demands have already been made for greater regulation of the media. Britain has some of the toughest media laws in the world, and its courts have lately been granting special injunctions to celebrities and politicians who wanted to quash news reports about their shenanigans, chiefly of a sexual kind.

Footballers and actors demanded, and got, “gag” orders to stop their names or pictures being published. Such injunctions were seen having a chilling effect on investigative stories. Will the hacking scandal too create the conditions for more tightening of laws? If so, that would be a pity.

Tabloid-style journalism may be intrusive and certainly hacking into the voicemail of kidnap victims and British soldiers was seriously unethical but often tabloids (and other investigative journalists) serve a critical function in a democracy. Many revelations about politicians in the UK (and elsewhere) would not have been made public if not for dogged investigative work by the media.

In India, too, the Right to Information Act has emerged as a formidable tool to get classified information about institutions and powerful individuals, though the government has spared no effort to keep many out of the RTI’s ambit. Even now, getting information is not at all an easy job. These victories have been hard won, but there is still a long way to go.

But while the media’s efforts everywhere must be lauded, what the News of the World scandal has revealed is how the media and the political elite, instead of keeping their distance, have been cosying up to each other. Journalists and politicians are not supposed to be friends; it is the former’s job to keep an eagle eye on the latter.

The media is, after all, the fourth estate of democracy critical to upholding and buttressing citizens’ freedoms. It cannot perform this mission if it gets too close to those it is supposed to monitor. There is thus a clear conflict of interest in too much proximity.

The NoTW scandal has shed light on the close relationship that top media executives like Ms Brooks had with powerful politicians, including the Prime Minister.

Rupert Murdoch’s propensity to meddle in British politics is too well known: thus no politician wanted to be on his wrong side. This incestuous circle is now coming apart. In India, too, there has been a series of revelations about the nexus between politicians, businessmen and the media.

This undermines the media’s role as a detached observer, whose only constituency ought to be society at large and whose only guiding principle should be the public interest. Aberrations such as “hackgate” should not distract the media from that basic tenet.

Portal augurs well for transparency.

The Hindu; T. Ramachandran; Monday , July 25 , 2011,

data.gov.in will have meta-data, which will facilitate discovery of data and access from portals of ministries

The unveiling of an official data access and sharing policy and the commissioning of a data portal (data.gov.in), which is on the anvil, will pave the way for digitally opening up the Central government data to the public.

“The data portal will be having meta-data [data about data], which will facilitate the discovery of the data and access from the portals of respective government departments/ministries. At present, the data policy is likely to cover the Central government and all activities funded by the Government of India,” said R. Siva Kumar, CEO of National Spatial Data Infrastructure, and head of Natural Resources Data Management System, Department of Science and Technology.

Governmental data-holding organisations will prepare a negative list of non-shareable sensitive data, weighing the need to restrict public access given such considerations as security and privacy, against the obligation to share it with civil society and the scientific community. Apart from this, access to certain categories of data will be restricted.

The broad guidelines spelt out in the Right to Information Act will be followed and the list will be periodically reviewed. “All data outside the negative list will be proactively disseminated, and an oversight committee will facilitate policy implementation,” said Dr. Kumar.

But does this mean that the public have to make specific requests for the unlocking of data-sets? “Data will be available through the data portal, and there will be no specific unlocking required. However, access to certain data may be through registration/authorisation,” he responded.

The sharing of such data might be tied to a pricing policy. “Pricing will be decided by the respective department/ministry. However, standardised parameters will be made available as guidelines for fixing the price,” he said.

The draft of the proposed National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy the government published some time ago indicates that the departments themselves can decide whether the data belongs to the ‘open access', ‘registered access,' or ‘restricted access' categories, with the policy neither mandating nor coming up with guidelines on how to do so, said Pranesh Prakash, programme manager, Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), a Bangalore-based NGO.

The CIS has recommended that the policy have the same scope as the RTI Act, and that all ‘public authorities,' as defined under the Act, be covered by it. Only the restricted categories (laid down in Sections 8 and 9 of the RTI Act) should be allowable for ‘restricted access.'

In a study on open government data in the Indian context, the CIS suggested that any policy be oriented towards meeting the requirements of a broad spectrum of citizenry. Specifically, sections that do not get to immediately benefit from advances in information technology. “Data mashing and private sector information products are important goals,” but the government itself should be proactive in creating the applications that show potential uses for the data.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the global body that sets web standards, has said governments, by putting their data on the Internet, facilitate greater transparency, deliver more efficient public services and encourage greater public and commercial use and re-use of government information.

Anil Bairwal, National Coordinator of the Association for Democratic Reforms, which is involved in disseminating election-related data through its website Electionwatch, says there is “huge public interest” in data, and that accessibility was of prime importance. For instance, election-related data was made available by the authorities in the PDF/image file formats. “This forces us to do a manual interpretation of every affidavit, which consumes a lot of time and energy. It would be helpful if this data was available in a portable open format via an online tool.”

Other countries have already made strides in furthering open data. Prominent examples are the U.K. government website, data.gov.uk, and the U.S. government's www.data.gov website, which is key to President Barack Obama's Open Government Initiative.