Times of India: Chennai: Thursday, July 27, 2017.
Secrecy
doesn't just surround her life and death, but anything that bears her name as
well.
Information
on sale of Amma mineral water a welfare scheme is a "trade secret"
and "commercial confidence" and its disclosure would harm the
"competitive position of a third party", said the State Express
Transport Corporation (SETC) here, in response to an RTI application filed by
TOI.
The applicant
had sought details of the sale of mineral water bottles across the state since
2014 and the budget allocated for the scheme.
The public
information officer of SETC turned down the request by quoting Section 8 (1)
(d) of the Right to Information Act, 2005: "Information including
commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure
of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the
competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure
of such information."
Launched in
2013, Amma mineral water, run by SETC through a production plant in
Gummidipoondi, is sold at 307 stalls across the state at a cost of Rs 10.
Chennai accounts for 37 of these outlets. The one-litre water is priced at a
cost lesser than Rail Neer, a similar initiative, while private manufacturers
sell at Rs 20-25.
RTI activists
have rubbished the state's defence using sections of the Act to stonewall
queries.
"When it
is a welfare scheme what competition are they talking about?" asked
Shailesh Gandhi noted RTI activist and former Information Commissioner with the
Central Information Commission in New Delhi. He said public sector undertakings
like Bank of India and Air India usually cite this section of the Act as they
are businesses in a competitive market. "But this is a pro-poor scheme.
Using this to evade queries is plain ridiculous," he said, adding even
private companies furnish details of their sales and turnover.
Consumer
activist T Sadagopan said the state government is "diluting" the Act
by using it as a shield. "Amma water belongs to the state. It is similar
to the public distribution system. I find it surprising that they don't think
the public interest warrants the disclosure of such information," he said.
While the
Public Information Officer did not respond to calls made by TOI, a senior
official in the department, on condition of anonymity, said there was poor
patronage for the project now.
"But we
have been meeting our targets despite hurdles," he clarified. He, however,
parried request for statistical evidence.
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