Toll to Poll: Why more citizens need to file RTI for exposing the loot

Moneylife: Pune: Friday, January 31, 2014.

Political parties have been making violent noises over toll charges intermittently and then falling silent. However, the real truth about toll collection will come out only if more citizens file RTI applications asking relevant questions.

The tirade against toll charges in Maharashtra, which incidentally are the highest compared to other states has been going on for quite a while. Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare had steered a campaign, which led to the closure of 31 toll nakas out of the 165 in the state; former IPS officer SM Mushrif has sought legal intervention with the matter in the Supreme Court; Moneylife has undertaken inspection of files under Section 4 in the case of Pune-Mumbai expressway case. Every now and then political parties indulge in violent protests against toll charges, allegedly more for political one-upmanship than sorting out the issue that is burdening commuters.

In the last fortnight, toll collection centers or plazas have been vandalised by Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) in various parts of the state. A similar exercise had been undertaken by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) earlier. Presently, Nav Bharat Democratic Party’s Maval candidate Harshvardhan Sukhatme has undertaken `Munnabhai’ style of protest by offering roses and get-well cards to staff and officers at toll plaza.

In order to know real truth about collection of toll by relevant private agency, which is designated to look after the operations, maintenance and security of the highway/expressway, it is very pertinent for a large number of citizens to file applications under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the toll monitoring unit of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC). The duties and responsibilities of the toll monitoring unit, as mentioned on its website, it is bound by duty to have “Correspondence with members of legislative assembly (MLAs), members of Parliament (MPs) and other people related with toll matters. Giving replies to queries under Public Information Act.’’

So, what is the kind of information you can get under RTI?

You can ask for a copy of the contract agreement between the MSRDC and the private agency. I had procured the 800-odd page agreement in the Pune-Mumbai expressway case.

Why is this a public document?

Because as per Section 4 of the RTI Act, any such agreement/ contract which affects the public at large demands transparency. You can also ask for information regarding the amount of toll tax collected, month wise, since the time the contract came into existence; what is the methodology of monitoring tax collection by the MSRDC; what is the amount of toll collection that would cover the cost and profit of the private agency and at which point of time would it become a freeway; what is the ratio of toll tax shared between the MSRDC and the private agency; who is the officer In charge of this monitoring; documents pertaining to action against private agency in case it has not adhered to deposit the toll money as per norms; documents pertaining to any action taken against the toll monitoring officer in case he has failed to efficiently monitor the collection of the private agency and so on.

While the above information can be sought under Section 6 of the RTI Act, wherein you write an application but would have to wait for 30 days to get a reply, it is more advisable to do inspection of files under Section 4 of the RTI Act, by visiting the office on any working day during the working hours.

I used Section 4 of the Right to Information Act (RTI) between 25th March, 2011 to 28th March, 2011 to request for the inspection of files of the contract agreement between the MSRDC and Ideal Road Builders (IRB). I also asked for the year-wise data of the amount of toll collected from April 2004 to February 2011. I visited the MSRDC office in Pune for this.

As per the statement of IRB, which it has sent to MSRDC, it had collected Rs949.45 crore up to September 2010. When I asked about the authenticity of the toll figures supplied by IRB, the MSRDC officials threw their hands up saying that they were not responsible for this. However, I pointed out to them that this was in total contradiction to the information available on their website, www.msrdc.org, under 'duties and responsibilities of its toll monitoring unit' which states that: MSRDC is responsible for: monitoring the toll receipts; scrutinising claims of various toll collecting agencies and put for approval by competent authority; taking action against defaulters as per contract conditions; corresponding with regional offices regarding toll collection work and; giving replies under the Right to Information Act.

However, mum was the word. Horrifyingly, the MSRDC has appointed an independent consultant for this work and he actually told me that they monitor the maintenance and operations of the IRB but not the collection of toll revenue!

States Mushrif, “as per Rule 6 'verification of fee collection' sub-rule 1: it should be the responsibility of the person (the MSRDC in this case)…to strictly ensure that all fees leviable are levied, collected and correctly maintained. The person shall submit certified audited copies of the statements of fee collection at specified intervals as required under the notification for collection under sub-rule 2 of Rule 3. The auditor shall be appointed by the government. And as per sub-rule 2: The central government shall have the right to check the fee collection at any or at all times through their designated officers.''

Campaign against bonded labourers exposes govt claims

Times of India: Bhopal: Friday, January 31, 2014.

Mulaam Ahirwar (30) from Laklaka in Damoh district doesn't remember when he started working as a bonded labourer in Rajkumar alias Omkar Singh's household as a domestic help. He would toil from dawn to midnight in the fields, ploughing and irrigating or even acting as a cowherd. Last year, a day before Holi, he finally summoned enough courage to go to his owner and tell him that he wanted to leave.

"I was beaten with sticks and wasn't paid wages for three months. I couldn't go to the police as they are hand in glove with these landlords," he says with a quivering voice.

Mulaam's case is one among the 828 bonded labourers identified in seven districts of the state under Bandhua Mazdoor Mukti Abhiyan. This is in sharp contrast to the state government's stand that there are no bonded labourers. It has not even conducted any survey since 1996. As per the findings of Bandhua Mazdoor Mukti Abhiyan (Campaign for abolition of Bonded Labour, Madhya Pradesh), a partner of AcionAid, 828 bonded labourers, including 22 women have been identified in Indore, Ujjain, Dewas, Khandwa, Khargone, Damoh and Morena. Of these, the campaign has rescued 355 bonded labourers, including 22 women and 13 children. However, only 52 who were rescued from Morena district have received the certificates and rehabilitation support as per Bonded Labour Act. They were from Chhattisgarh.

Addressing a press conference here, Swati Kaithwas, project officer from ActionAid, said, "The state government has replied through RTI that there are no bonded laborers in state. However, our project has already identified and rescued so many labourers. However, unless they get the certificates, they won't be rehabilitated."

"These bonded labourers are all from Dalit and adivasi communities. Often they have different names like Hali, Mahinedar, Parkhiya, Harvaha, Varsodia, Kamdar etc and are found in Malwa, Nimar and Bundelkhand regions of the state. They are mostly employed in agriculture or brick kiln making, beedi making, Gobrani," she said.

Members associated with the campaign demanded that certificates be issued and assistance provided to all those who have been rescued. Besides, a vigilance committee should be constituted as per the provisions of the Bonded Labour (Abolition) System Act 1976, which should conduct a fresh survey of these labourers once in three years. They have exhorted for safety of the female labours who are subjected to sexual atrocities among others.

Gujarat HC issues notice over anomalies in list of BPL families

Times of India: Ahmedabad: Friday, January 31, 2014.

Gujarat high court on Thursday issued notice to the Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner seeking explanation regarding anomalies in the civic body's list of Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.

The court has sought answer within 15 days and kept further hearing on this subject next month. The notice was issued in response to a PIL filed by NGO Ambedkar Karvan demanding cancellation of the present BPL list, which was prepared by the civic body in 2008.

Petitioner's counsel Ratna Vora urged the court to ask the authorities to prepare a fresh list by taking into consideration various socio-economic aspects. She submitted that AMC prepared 2,43,038 white BPL cards, but as many as 78,039 cards have remained undelivered till date. This reflects that the data gathered were not authentic, and there are various 'bhutia' or bogus cards in existence.

Citing information obtained under the RTI laws, the PIL has contended that many well-to-do families have found place in the BPL list, while many poor families are excluded. While widows with non-male earning members do not figure in the list, there is a place for families that own four wheelers.

The list prepared six years ago is faulty, incomplete and unrealistic. Proper identification of urban poor is necessary to target real beneficiary for the purpose of alleviation through different development and employment programmes.

The PIL has questioned the criteria of monthly income of Rs 501.14 per person for inclusion in BPL list and termed it absurd. It has claimed that AMC's list is not dynamic in nature, and it requires regular exclusion and inclusion of members. It also demands formation of an expert committee to supervise preparation of the draft BJP list.

Guidelines for third party audit

Times of India: Pune: Friday, January 31, 2014.

The Union government has formulated guidelines to provide for a third party audit by the public authorities of the proactive disclosures to assess their level of compliance with these guidelines. The government earlier issued detailed guidelines to central ministries / departments for proactive disclosure under section 4 of the RTI Act on April 15, 2013. State governments have also been requested to consider issuing similar guidelines, along with templates for disclosure at various levels, for better implementation of suo motu disclosure at State level. Four areas have been identified for development of templates viz. public distribution system, Panchayats, MGNREGA and primary and secondary Schools.

The act casts an obligation on public authorities for suo-motu disclosure/publication of large amount of information. It shall be a constant endeavour of every public authority to take steps for providing as much information suo motu to the public at regular intervals through various means of communications, including internet, so that the public have to minimally resort to the use of this Act to obtain information. It also requires the public authorities to supply information called for by any citizen and to permit him to inspect the documents and collect samples of various works.

During the year 2011-12, Central Information Commission received 33,922 appeals/complaints and disposed of the year 23,112. The figure of appeals/complaints received and disposed of for 2010-11 are 28875 and 24071 and for 2009-10 are 22800 and 19482 respectively.

Corporation sits pretty over burgeoning education cess

Deccan Chronicle: Chennai: Friday, January 31, 2014.

An RTI petition filed by DC with Chennai corporation reveals that Rs 175 crore, collected as education cess, is in the corporation’s kitty unspent for the last eight years.

The cess money, which should be utilised for the improvement of infra­st­r­ucture of schools and to upgrade the quality of education in corporati­on schools, has not been spent.

Educationists say here are schools in Che­nnai where 100 children are squeezed in one cla­s­s­room and quality of ed­u­cation has not been im­proved with library and lab facilities using the cess funds.

According to the RTI reply, elementary education tax is collected alo­ng with property tax at the rate of 2.50 per cent of annual value of the bu­­­i­lding.

The expenditure from this tax is sp­ent especially to im­pr­o­ve corporation school in­fr­astructure and special works in and around the school area.

Social activist A. Deva­neyan points out that schools in Kannagi Na­gar and Chem­menchery do not have adequate cla­ssrooms and children in these neighbourhoods are forced to travel to the city for better quality education.

“There are just three middle schools and one each higher secondary and high school in Kannagi Nagar. Wh­ereas, the student population crosses more than 15,000. In case of Chem­m­enchery there are more than 6,000 children in the neigbourhood. Th­ere is just one middle and a high school for chi­ldren. These two schools are not adequate to cater to all the 6,000 students here,” said Devaneyan. He added that due to la­ck of additional classr­ooms, more than 100 students are pushed into one classroom in Chem­m­enchery.

Schools in Korukupet, Nehru Nagar and other north Chennai neighb­ourhoods are worse still. For instance, students of the middle school in Coronation Nagar att­end school on shift basis because the construction of school building, started almost two years back, is yet to be completed.

“Since the construction of new classrooms has been going for several months, students are asked to attend school on different shifts. Students from class one to five attend school in the mo­rnings and students fr­om class six to eight occupy the same classrooms in the afternoon,” a parent, who sends her two daughters to the sch­ool, said, requesting ano­nymity.

Locals suggest that the corporation could spend the education cess to rent a spacious area to provide regular classes to the children who were denied this facility.

Students Federation of India state president Uc­hi Mahali complains th­at in some instances, the education cess is being diverted for unrelated works like road laying and providing drinking water facility to neighbourhoods close to the schools.

“Education cess should not be used for any other purpose other than up­grading the school premises and to improve the quality of education bei­ng provided there. We st­rongly condemn the un­der utilisation and mi­shandling of educati­on cess,” says Uchi Mahali.

Govt not protecting common man's interests: HDK

Deccan Herald: Bangalore: Friday, January 31, 2014.

JD(S) floor leader in the Legislative Assembly H D Kumaraswamy on Thursday alleged that there was lack of transparency in the functioning of the government, and accused the ruling dispensation of failing to protect the interests of the common man.

Participating in the discussion on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address in the Assembly, Kumaraswamy gave specific instances to substantiate his allegations.

He said that in October 2013, in his capacity as the Leader of the Opposition, he had sought information on the export of minerals by various mining companies from the government. However, he did not get any response, following which he sought the information under the RTI. “I received a reply but several pages in the document were missing,” he said.

‘Turning a blind eye’;

Kumaraswamy accused the government of turning a blind eye to the irregularities in the revenue department. “Revenue department officials are seeking a share in land when farmers approach them for khata registration,” he charged.

In one instance, when a dalit farmer sought a khata for his four-acre land in K R Puram, officials registered the land in the name of a developer. In another instance, Kumaraswamy said, a panchayat member in Kanakapura had pocketed Rs 50 lakh claiming it had been allotted for developmental work. When an RTI activist tried to expose the scam, he started getting life-threatening calls, Kumaraswamy said.

In his reply, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah asked Kumaraswamy to submit to relevant documents, if any, for him to take action against the erring officials.

Can't Disclose Report on Allegations Against Ganguly: SC

Outlook: New Delhi: Friday, January 31, 2014.

Supreme Court has refused to share with the public anything but the operative portion of the report which was submitted by a three-judge committee to the Chief Justice of India over a former intern's allegations against Justice (retd) AK Ganguly.

Responding to an RTI petition by Lucknow-based activist Urvashi Sharma, the apex court said that the proceedings of the committee were part of an "in-house procedure" which cannot be made public.

"The disclosure of information and reports emanating out of a self-evolved mechanism which is in the nature of an In-House Procedure by the judiciary is expressly prohibited," SC said.

While refusing to provide the report of the three-judge committee, SC cited Section 8(1)(b) of RTI Act which prohibits disclosure of any information whose publication has been expressly forbidden by a court of law or tribunal or the sharing of which may constitute contempt of court.

"I write to inform you that the operative portion of the report submitted by the committee of honourable judges is available on the Supreme Court website," Smita Vats Sharma, Additional Registrar and the CPIO of Supreme Court, said in the RTI reply.

The committee comprising justices RM Lodha, HL Dattu and Ranjana Prakash Desai was constituted by CJI P Sathasivam after media reports emerged in November last year that "a recently-retired judge" had misbehaved with a law intern.

Anklav school administration found charging unauthorized fees

Times of India: Ahmedabad: Friday, January 31, 2014.

A right to information (RTI) application filed by a retired teacher of a government school in Anand district has revealed that a school administration was collecting fee under unauthorized heads. Further, it has also come to light that the school was collecting fees under two names, one of which was used for the funds demanded under unauthorized heads of 'upgradation' and 'other activities'. The amount collected by the school in this irregular manner was around Rs 75 lakh.

After the RTI query brought the matter to light, the district education officer (DEO) ordered the 100-year-old school to return to parents the extra fee collected from them.

A retired primary government schoolteacher of Anklav in Anand Firoz Vhora had filed an RTI application after he came to know about the fee being collected by a government high school in Anklav under unauthorized heads. He sought information from the school authorities about the fees collected during May 2013. He also asked for information on grants and other benefits given to the school by government.

Talking to TOI, Vhora said, "I retired from a government primary school and served voluntarily in Anklav High School. At that time, I came to know about the unauthorized fee being collected from poor students. I filed the RTI application so that the irregularity could be exposed."

Vhora was not satisfied with the reply given by school. Hence, he filed an appeal before the taluka development officer (TDO) and also the district education officer (DEO). The final reply was shocking. "The school authorities had collected fees under two different names for the same organization. One part of the fees was collected as Madhyamik Kelavani Mandal, Anklav, and another portion was taken in the name of Anklav High School," Vhora alleged.

Following this disclosure, Anand DEO K A Patel took up the matter and ordered the school authorities to attend a hearing in his office. During the hearing, Patel directed the authorities to return the extra fees to parents. "We have issued the order twice so far, but the school is yet to return the fees. The school recently celebrated 100 years of establishment. A total of 2,681 students study in the school," Patel added.

Blind RTI activist makes mining mafia pay up : Gets Two Fined 12L Using RTI

Times of India: Rajkot: Thursday, January 30, 2014.

Taking on the state’s mining mafia head-on is not an easy task, especially when many of those involved enjoy the patronage of politicians. But this did not deter visually impaired Right To Information (RTI) crusader Ratna Ala to save the gauchar (pastoral) land in his village from illegal mining.

Deputy sarpanch of Rangpar village in Morbi district Ala used RTI to compel government authorities to take action against illegal mining.

Braving threats and withstanding money offers, Ala relentlessly pursued the menace and helped government earn Rs 12 lakh as fine for illegal mining.

It may be recalled that RTI activist Amit Jethwa was gunned down after he took on Junagadh BJP MP Dinu Solanki for mining natural resources illegally. Though he is blind, Ala could see how the natural resources in his village were being mined illegally that too on gauchar land. The culprits were scooping out moram, a particular kind of soft gravel from the grazing land.

“It was difficult task to fight against illegal mining as economic interests and corrupt practices are involved. But I decided to fight till the mining mafias are not fined. I was often threatened and pursued to stop,” Ala said.

“My complaints were endorsed by the government and finally two units involved in the illegal mining and storage were fined,’’ said Ala, who was awarded Rahul Mangoakar award for RTI by The Times of India. Sources in the geology and mining department said they receive around 10-15 complaints of illegal mining daily through written communication and the helpline.

Earlier, Ala had used RTI to get roads and drinking water to his village. He was elected as deputy sarpanch in 2012 after which he started the crusade against illegal mining.

State’s geology and mining department carried out checking and later on fined Rs 12 lakh to two units under Gujarat Minerals (Prevention of illegal mining transportation and storage) Rules-2005.

“Villagers have elected me as deputy sarpanch and it’s my responsibility to save its natural resources and the gauchar land,’’ Ala added.

43kg of fake gold offered at Vaishno Devi temple : RTI

Times of India: Jammu: Thursday, January 30, 2014.

Forty-three kg of gold and 57,000 kg of silver offered by devotees at the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu and Kashmir have been found to be fake, an RTI application has revealed.

The RTI query elicited the information that 193.5 kg of gold and 81,635 kg of silver was offered at the shrine at Katra town in the last five years.

"Of this, 43 kg of gold and 57,815 kg of silver turned out to be fake," M K Bhandari, chief executive officer of the board that manages the shrine, told IANS.

"We send the precious metal offerings to the government for melting and converting (them) into gold and silver coins which the devotees buy as souvenirs."

He said some devotees may be buying gold and silver without checking their purity.

The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi temple is one of the most revered shrines. It was visited by over one crore devotees last year.

Frauds ripped public sector banks of Rs. 23,000cr

Hindustan Times: New Delhi: Thursday, January 30, 2014.

Public sector banks have cumulatively lost a massive sum of Rs. 22,743 crore due to cheating and forgery in the last three years alone, HT has found through a right to information RTI) reply.

Indian Overseas Bank is the worst hit with a loss of Rs. 3,200 cores as against State Bank of India (SBI) which lost Rs. 2,712 crore.  Between April 2010 and September 2013, the number of  bank fraud cases has shown a slight decrease yearly but the amount of money lost has been increasing year on year.  

The number of fraud cases, for instance, came down to 2996 in April 2012 to March 13, from 3748 in April 2010 to March 2011, but the amount shot up to Rs. 10179.42 crore from Rs. 3275 crore.

The Reserve bank of India (RBI) issued detailed instructions to banks on July 2, 2012 containing details related to how banks should examine fraud cases and report them to CBI, the police and the special fraud investigation office (SFIO). Even after this, the money lost in fraud cases have increased. 

Interestingly, by way of comparison, Indian Overseas Bank lost more to fraud  than it earned in profits. It registered a net profit of 2848 crore between 2010 and 2013 but leaked Rs. 3200 crore for the same period.

For SBI, the blow was cushioned. It registered a profit of Rs. 39692 crore between April 2010 and September 2013. In the corresponding period, the bank lost Rs. 2712 crores to fraud.

As per the documents available, more than 6000 employees of different banks are under the scanner for involvement in these cases.  These are not just lower or mid-level employees, but in some cases, CMDs and directors of different banks.  For Instance, in May 2013, a CBI special judge convicted M Gopalakrishnan, former Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Indian Bank, Chennai as he had sanctioned credit facilities of huge amounts to a company without sufficient securities and also by surpassing the rules of the bank.

Analysis of cases investigated by the CBI reveal that bankers sometimes exceed their discretionary powers and give loans to unscrupulous borrowers on fake or forged documents. After getting the money, the borrower escapes causing huge loses to the banks.

While loans on forged documents are the main component of these losses, there are other reasons too. Ashvin Parekh, National Leader, Global financial services, EY, said, “The increase in alternate channels including internet banking and even use of ATMs which has reduced as human interface with the customer and banks has led to an increase in fraudulent activities.”

“We have already taken corrective measures to ensure preventive vigilance. Policy tightening is also being undertaken,” said M Narendra, Chairman and Managing Director, Indian Overseas Bank. He also added that adequate training is being provided to the staff and the bank is ‘fine-tuning operations aspects’. Canara Bank, UCO Bank and United Bank did not respond despite numerous reminders.

A senior official at SBI said the amount is a cumulative one. “In the last one year several stringent measures of checks and balances have been put in place and in the last one year the number of cases has substantially come down,” the official, who did not wish to be identified, said.

75% quota seats in Mumbai schools stayed vacant this year

Times of India: Mumbai: Thursday, January 30, 2014.

Over 78% of the seats reserved for children from socially and economically weaker sections of the society remained vacant in schools located in the northern region of the city this academic year. Around 73% quota seats were not filled in schools in the western suburbs, followed by 67% vacant seats in south Mumbai schools. Of the total 12,818 quota seats in city schools, nearly 75% seats remained vacant this year.

Data acquired from zonal education offices following an RTI query revealed that most schools in the city have failed to comply to the Right to Education (RTE) norms. The RTE

Act compels schools to reserve 25% of their seats for underprivileged children.

In the 208 schools in the north zone, a total of 5,296 seats are reserved for underprivileged children, of which 4,140 remained vacant last admission season. Worst still, 140 of these schools-over 65% -did not admit a single student under the quota. A majority of these schools have claimed that there has been no demand for the reserved seats from students from the underprivileged section.

In the western suburbs, of the 5,246 reserved seats in 189 schools, 3,840 were vacant and over 125 schools did not admit a single candidatein the western suburbs too. In the south zone, of the 2,276 seats in 95 schools, 1,530 seats were vacant under the quota. Of the 95 schools in south Mumbai, 55 have not admitted a single underprivileged student, revealed the RTI.

Many schools in the city claimed that they did not receive a single application for admissions under the quota and a few schools even admitted that they are yet to implement the RTEin their school. "If there is no demand from students of the weaker section, the state has failed to create awareness. They should be publicizing the facility available to students in slums and other regions about who are eligible to seek admissions under the quota. The department should also seek action against schools who claim that they are yet to implement RTE," said Chetan Pednekar, Maharashtra Navnirman Vidyarthi Sena member who filed the RTI query.

An education department official, however, claimed that most schools with vacant seats are Marathi-medium schools and people do not prefer these institutes.

Delay due to changed route

The Asian Age: Mumbai: Thursday, January 30, 2014.

An RTI query has revealed that the reason behind the three-year delay in Monorail is primarily due to change of alignment of its route, which led to further cost escalation of the project. The RTI query has also revealed that this and issues of cost escalation were not presented before the chief minister and the Urban Development Department of the Government of Maharashtra.

The query regarding the change in route alignment of the Monorail project was raised by RTI activist Anil Galgali. Mr Galgali was given a reply by the deputy planner of the Monorail stating that the MMRDA commissioner, during his initial inspection itself, had suggested exploring the possibility of an alternative alignment, avoiding the Haffkinne Institute and Bhoiwada route.

Based on this suggestion, the feasibility of an alternative alignment through Acharya Donde Marg-Khanolkar Chauk-Tata hospital was explored and it was approved later on by the commissioner. This proposed realignment is 1.1 km-long as against the existing alignment of 0.717 km. The overall increase in the alignment amounts to 383 metres.

MMRDA wrote a letter to the BMC chief engineer informing him about the decision of realignment stating that the route is now slightly modified due to serious Right of Way (ROW) constraints, requiring demolition of around 60 pucca legal structures on G.D. Ambedakar Marg from Gora Kumbhar chauk.

“This did not fit into the stipulated time schedule of the project. Therefore the alignment had to be changed. The route takes a left from Kumbhar Chauk on Acharya Donde Marg and E. Borges Marg and meets again at Mane Master Chauk. The decision of this alignment was taken jointly by the municipal commissioners of both the MMRDA and the BMC,” the letter said.

When asked about the cost escalation this project had to bear because of the re-aligned route, the Monorail authorities replied that no data is available with them regarding this matter. To the question on furnishing the copy of CM’s approval for the said change of alignment, the Monorail authorities replied that Metropolitan commissioner sanctioned the change under the power conferred to him. The reply said, “The Metropolitan commissioner visited the site on September 24, 2009 and instructed to change the said alignment. Senior officer P.L. Kadu made the proposal, which was sanctioned by the Metropolitan Commissioner on October 21, 2009.”

Mr Galgali has written a letter the chief minister of Maharashtra demanding an enquiry into the role of the MMRDA officers who made unscrupulous decisions which led to cost escalation and delay of the project. “Due to the negligence of the MMRDA officers, the Monorail project has been delayed for so long, which not only escalated the cost of the project but also created traffic problems to lakhs of commuters.” said Mr Galgali.

Dilip Kawathkar, joint project director, MMRDA said, “Decisions are taken at the ground-level, keeping all the angles to execute the project, including existing utility services.”

Info panel takes up parties’ RTI rebuff

Times of India: New Delhi: Thursday, January 30, 2014.

The Central Information Commission (CIC) on Wednesday constituted a three-member bench to hear complaints that the six national political parties had failed to comply by its order and appoint public information officers and appellate authorities under the RTI Act.

The bench will include chief information commissioner Sushma Singh and two other information commissioners. Sources said orders to the effect will be issued on Thursday.

RTI activist S C Agrawal has filed three applications of non-compliance in the last six months after political parties failed to appoint public information officers and appellate authorities within six weeks of the CIC's June 3, 2013 order.

The CIC had recognized political parties as public authorities and directed them to make appointments and voluntary disclosures on their working. The six national parties that come under the RTI Act after the order are Congress, BJP, BSP, NCP, CPI and CPM.

However, not only have the parties not made any headway in this, but the UPA has since introduced a bill in Parliament to amend the RTI Act. All six political parties have been vociferous in their opposition to the CIC order. However, RTI activists and civil society members have criticized the hypocritical stand demanding that parties put themselves under scrutiny as they are accountable to the public.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's remark favouring political parties within the ambit of RTI Act has raised a question mark over the fate of a pending bill that is expected to exclude them.

In an interview to Times Now, Rahul said he was in favour of transparency in political parties. In response, former information commissioner in the CIC Shailesh Gandhi wrote to Rahul seeking his support to nix the bill. "I must point out that as per the law and the Central Information Commission's interpretation of it, the judiciary and political parties are covered by RTI. The judiciary has accepted this. Since some political parties do not wish to follow the law, they are proposing to amend the RTI Act. Please do not support this move,'' he wrote.

HC dispose of CAT candidates’ petition

Free Press Journal: Indore: Wednesday, January 29, 2014.

Indore Bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court on Monday disposed of a petition filed by some CAT- 2013 aggrieved candidates stating that the petitioners should take to legal route only after they remained unsatisfied with the answers to their RTI queries.

It is to be noted that thousands of students had cried foul over the normalization method and scaling process adopted for CAT and sought to know their raw scores. They had also alleged discrepancies in the CAT and had sought revaluation.

Their revaluation demand was put down by the organiser of CAT- 2013, Indian Institute of Management Indore, saying that there is no scope for revaluation in CAT but their requests for raw scores and the RTI queries were forwarded to agencies concerned.

Even as reply to RTI queries are awaited, candidate ash Garg and others moved a petition in the High Court through Advocate Nilesh Agrawal.Agrawal said that the double bench of Justices Shantanu Kemkar and MC Garg disposed of the petition saying that the students should wait till reply to the RTI queries is received.

“ If the reply does not satisfy them, they can re- file the petition,” Agrawal said quoting the court.It is to be noted that an online petition over discrepancies in CAT is signed by over 7000 candidates.Recently, a group of a dozen aggrieved candidates met CAT- 2013 convener Rohit Kapoor and feared that they failed to crack CAT due to the new scaling method and sought to know the method and their raw scores.

No Rahul, Congress not committed to RTI, says Adarsh society

Firstpost: Mumbai: Wednesday, January 29, 2014.

A day after Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi insisted that the Right To Information (RTI) Act is one of the UPA government’s biggest achievements in the past 10 years, the controversial Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society in Mumbai has accused Union Defence Minister AK Antony of refusing to provide vital information regarding the title of the land on which the society stands. Including appeals and second appeals against rejection of information, a society member has written to the MoD under the RTI 50 to 55 times, society members claim.

"This Congress government claims it has achieved wonders by passing the Right to Information Act. But the same government is refusing to divulge critical information regarding the Adarsh land, information the general public is interested in knowing and has a right to know," said RC Thakur, secretary of the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society speaking On Tuesday, the managing committee of the Adarsh society wrote to the union defence minister alleging that the Ministry of Defence under Antony had indulged in a "malicious drive of misleading the country".

While the contention had always been that the society had grabbed land reserved for war widows and families of Kargil war heroes, the letter alleges that the MoD did not peruse its own records before "creating the fallacy before the entire nation that it was a defence land". The report of the Adarsh Judicial Commission of Enquiry has stated that the land belongs to the state government.

The society has now demanded that Antony divulge what directions were issued by the Ministry of Defence to acquire the land and what sanctions were given towards paying for the acquisition, obtaining the possession certificate, title documents, etc, if the MoD had indeed rightfully claimed the land as theirs.

"We also call upon you to part with the title documents in respect of the land presently held by our society, which you have failed to do even after the several requests made by us under the RTI Act, an Act of your government, being projected as your greatest achievement but being defiled in practice as you are yourself shying away from following it wherever it doesn’t suit your political agenda by applying Section 8 (1) (h) of the RTI Act," says the letter, signed by members of the managing committee. This section pertains to information that could impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders in any case.

"As CBI inquiry is over, there should be no cause for not letting the truth prevail," the letter says. If the information is now not furnished within 30 days, the members of the society would sit on hunger strike, the letter has threatened.

Even as the letter took on the minister, it was quick to add that it does not wish to indulge in a blame game with the Congress party, which it says still appears to believe in secularism.

People like Antony have, "through their self-centred acts and decisions not only ruined many Congressmen but also dashed to the ground the hopes and aspirations of 104 innocent Indian families, being members of Adarsh, for no fault of theirs".

The letter adds that information relating to the title of the land should be disclosed to the general public especially since the Ministry of Defence has objected to the findings of the judicial commission set up by the Maharashtra government.

Activist questions government's intention to safeguard Wakf properties

ummid.com: New Delhi: Wednesday, January 29, 2014.

Ahead of the central government's mega plan to inaugurate the National Waqf Development Corporation Limited (NAWADCO) tomorrow, an RTI activist who is closely monitoring the initiatives taken for proper utilization of the Wakf properties raised doubts over the government's intention questioning why the government has not so far filed its reply in the Supreme Court over the computerisation of the Wakf records.

"The Supreme Court had issued notice to the central government on September 20, 2013 asking it to file a reply within four weeks why the computerisation of the Wakf records has not been completed despite the needed fund was transferred to the respective Wakf boards in various states", Moradabad based RTI Activist Saleem Baig, who had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court, said while talking to the ummid.com.

The government on the recommendations of the Sachar Committer Report had transferred a whopping Rs. 13 crore rupees to a total of 29 Wakf boards in 27 states of the country for computerisation of all Wakf records. This includes two Shia Wakf boards in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh besides Sunni Wakf boards in all the Indian states.

Interestingly, the National Information Centre was also given an amount of Rs.4.81 crore rupees for the same purpose in 2009-10. After no progress seen on the project, RTI Activist Saleem Baig sought information from the concerned department and received shocking replies. "Besides the state wakf board's failure to complete the project, what shocked us most was that the information sought under the RTI said that the government had not set any deadline for the completion of the project", Saleem Baig said.

He now wondered if the government is filing a reply in the Supreme Court or had set any deadline for the completion of computerisation of the Wakf data. "Through the National Waqf Development Corporation Limited (NAWADCO) government intends to safeguard the Wakf properties spread across the country. We want to know how the government plans to do it without proper record. Or, it is another plan by the government to fool people ahead of the crucial election", he said.

No CIC action against political parties that defy RTI

Times of india: New Delhi: Wednesday, January 29, 2014.

It is not just the government that is dithering on the issue of whether political parties were accountable under the RTI. Even the Central Information Commission, which passed the path-breaking order on June 3, 2013, has dragged its feet on issuing a non-compliance notice to the six national parties subject to it.

This was despite the fact that the six national parties, including Congress and BJP, were required to appoint information officers and appellate authorities under the RTI within six weeks of the CIC order.

For all controversy raised by its order, the CIC has so far not taken any follow-up action although the RTI petitioner, Subhash Chandra Agrawal, filed three non-compliance applications, one to each of the three successive chairpersons during this period.

The first non-compliance application filed on August 29 was addressed to Satyananda Mishra, who was the chairperson of the CIC when the order had been passed against the political parties. Mishra baulked at issuing a notice to the defaulters, which had by then pressured the government to float a legislative proposal to keep the political parties outside the ambit of the RTI.

The next non-compliance application was filed before Mishra's successor, Deepak Sandhu, who had tenure of barely three months as CIC chairperson. Just a day before her retirement on December 18, a parliamentary standing committee gave a report endorsing the bill amending the RTI to get over the CIC order on political parties.

Since Parliament backed off from passing the bill in the face of public outrage over political corruption, Agrawal filed his third non-compliance application in the matter, this time to the current chairperson, Sushma Singh, whose tenure is of no more than five months. Sushma Singh too has failed to react with alacrity to the defiance displayed by the political parties.

Besides Congress and BJP, the national parties that are enjoying impunity on account of the CIC's inaction on its June order are CPM, CPI, NCP and BSP. Since its order had directed the presidents and general secretaries of the six national parties to set up the necessary infrastructure for implementing the RTI, the CIC has the option of imposing monetary penalties on the political leaders concerned.

The CIC's failure to exercise its powers on the three non-compliance applications has facilitated the legislative stalemate. Despite the standing committee's go-ahead, the bill diluting the RTI for the benefit of political parties does not figure among the legislative measures that Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has prioritized for the final session before the Lok Sabha election.

This is because the bills that Rahul Gandhi has been talking about are all meant to combat corruption (grievance redress, whistle blower protection, etc).

'Transparency in administration, key to good governance'

The New Indian Express: Chennai: Tuesday, January 28, 2014.

Why can’t we, the people, demand our government to produce financial statements (quarterly or yearly) for their city’s corporation or any other government institution and share it with the public? That’s called transparency and that’s the answer to good city governance, says Ramesh Ramanathan, founder Janaagraha Centre for citizenship and democracy in Bangalore.

He was in Chennai to deliver the second Narasimhan Memorial lecture organised by the Institute of Public Auditors of India, recently.

Focusing on good governance in cities, one of the most complex issues, his suggestions were targeting the government and demanding answers to the most pertinent questions.

“There are many complex issues involved in the city. All those can be addressed by embracing the principle of disclosure in our city governments’ finances. If we could get a robust system of city’s budgeting and financial reporting, we can have significant benefits in terms of city’s governance and accountability,” said Ramesh, who is actively involved in such public-government interaction through Janagraha in Bangalore.

He suggested that people make use of the Right to Information (RTI) Act which would force the government to perform well by drawing parallels to the revolutionary activities by the AAP that has brought in several changes in government, which could not be fathomed out a decade ago.

“But all these should involve partnership and participation of the public and the government, which has to put in 90 per cent of the effort,” he said, mentioning the most important role played by NGOs which can give more insights in good governance.

He pointed out that to attain all these, one had to embrace technology.

“If we don’t want to settle for status quo, we have to attain what is now called the radical transparency that can be achieved by embracing the power of technology,” he said. N Vittal, former Central Vigilance Commissioner, was also present.

Cases against 15 IAS officers awaiting DoPT sanction

The Hindu: New Delhi: Tuesday, January 28, 2014.

DoPT granted sanction to prosecute 19 IAS officers for corruption during last four years, according to information accessed under RTI

Corruption cases against 15 officers of the Indian Administrative Service are pending with the Department of Personnel and Training, which is responsible for granting investigative agencies the sanction to prosecute IAS officers facing corruption charges.

According to information provided by the DoPT which comes under the Ministry of Personnel, Public grievances and Pensions the department received proposals of sanction for prosecution of 34 officers in 59 corruption cases from various investigative agencies/state governments between 2010 to 2013.

Out of these, sanction for prosecution of 19 IAS officers was granted in 33 cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988.

The department refused sanction to prosecute five IAS officers and returned four proposals relating to two officers who had retired.

Sanction to prosecute 15 other officers in 17 cases is still pending with the DoPT according to official information accessed under the Right to Information Act by Indore-based RTI activist Anand Rai.

The pending cases include IAS officers Arvind Joshi and Tinu Joshi from Madhya Pradesh, facing charges of amassing assets disproportionate to their income. The case of the officer couple had come to light in 2011 after raids by the Income Tax department revealed they had accumulated assets worth Rs. 360 crore.

The maximum number of officers, against whom sanction for prosecution was sought, are from the Madhya Pradesh cadre (7; 3 granted) followed by Andhra Pradesh (6; 1 granted).

However, when it comes to maximum cases, Orissa cadre (15) leads all other states thanks to IAS officer Vinod Kumar, against whom sanction was sought in 12 cases of corruption, two of which are pending.

Orissa is followed by Madhya Pradesh (10), Andhra Pradesh (8), Jharkhand (5) and West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh (3 each) in the number of cases of corruption where sanction was sought.

Officers for whom sanction for prosecution was refused include Subhash Chand Ahluwalia (HP), presently posted as Media advisor-cum-Principal Private Secretary to the Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh.

Sanction was also refused for prosecuting another officer from the HP cadre, Sanjay Gupta, who interestingly had probed a land grab scam against Virbhadra Singh and his family in 2002.

Other officers for whom sanction was refused include V.P. Baligar from Karnataka and Raghav Chandra and Chaturbhuj Singh from the Madhya Pradesh cadre.

The Madhya Pradesh Lokayukta had asked the DoPT to grant sanction to prosecute Mr. Chandra presently Additional Secretary in the union ministry of agriculture in a multi-crore land scam in Katni district, following a Supreme Court order which upheld the findings of a special Lokayukta court against the officer.

The list includes one officer each from the Rajasthan cadre--Ravi Shankar Shrivastava--and Jammu and Kashmir cadre--Basheer Khan. Sanction to prosecute these officers was granted by the DoPT in 2011 and 2013 respectively.

Faulty implementation to blame for anti-toll stir

Times of India: Mumbai: Tuesday, January 28, 2014.

Flaws in implementation and discarding of a recent decision of Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan to conduct an electronic census of vehicles passing through toll booths has resulted in growing unrest among citizens and political parties against the toll policy. The state's failure to frame a comprehensive policy to collect toll had invited the Bombay high court's censure last year.

The HC had chided the government for its casual approach and failure to frame a comprehensive policy on toll collection. "We are distressed with the casual manner in which the issues which are raised in the petition are being dealt with by the state government," the HC had said in June 2013. "Formulation of a policy is necessary with increasing privatization of roads and the collection of toll. The state government does not seem to have any established norms for dealing with situations where the contractors do not put into place required infrastructure, but at the same time, continue to persist in collection of a toll. The toll is a form of recompense for services rendered namely, of building infrastructure which the state may not have funds or resources to deploy. Allowing contractors to continue to collect toll without an adequate machinery for supervising if the road is complete in all respects and whether there are deficiencies leading to a situation where commuters have to incur untold hardships is just not acceptable.''

Officials said the policy, initiated in 1998, clearly stated that the fee should be determined after considering vehicle flow and capital outlay for the road project. "The fee is collected as per guidelines of the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles Tax Act listed under Section 20. This rule specifies that after the capital outlay on a particular project is recovered, the government should order a stop on toll collection. But the rule has been conveniently overlooked as toll contractors, politicians and bureaucrats are getting multi-crores for continuing the toll,'' said citizen activist Shrinivas Ghanekar.

He said the capital outlay is calculated on the basis of total investment of the contractor, maintenance charges, administrative charges, interests on principal amount and reasonable profit. "But the government avoided announcing the actual capital outlay for a project and keeps bunching road projects to continue the toll. Mumbai Entry Point Ltd has been allowed to collect toll till 2025 in lieu of maintenance of 27 roads and flyover projects in Navi Mumbnai, Thane and Mumbai,'' Ghanekar said.

He pointed out that most contractors have recovered their capital outlay but continue collection. "It is daylight robbery. A Public Works Department reply to my right to information (RTI) application stated that the total cost of Thane-Bhiwandi bypass was Rs 104.83 crore along with maintenance. But the figures put up on the display board by the Kharegaon toll post contractor reveals a collection of Rs 438 crore,'' the Kalyan resident said.

Ghanekar pointed out that chief minister Chavan had in 2012 instructed the state administration that posts should be opened up only after taking an electronic vehicle census. "Presently, the vehicle count on any toll booth is totaled by toll contractors and submitted to the state government. There is no mechanism to cross-check the figures. But if there is a digital tally machine which records the number of vehicles passing through each booth, it helps setting a deadline for toll collection. This is not exactly beneficial to corrupt politicians and bureaucrats,'' he added.

Ghanekar and Shiv Sena legislator Eknath Shinde have filed a PIL in the Bombay high court seeking transparency in toll collection.

Revenue, urban development depts draw over half of all RTI queries

Deccan Herald: Gulbarga: Tuesday, January 28, 2014.

The departments of revenue and urban development together draw more than half of queries under the Right To Information (RTI) Act, according to the annual report for 2011-12 released by the Karnataka Information Commission (KIC).

The two departments ranked high among the 34 departments of the State government. The findings suggest that the two departments are most people-oriented and decisions taken by them have a direct bearing on the common people.

The two departments together accounted for 54.84 per cent of the total applications received by all the 34 departments in 2011-12. The revenue department received 85,584 and the urban development department (UDD) 74,480 applications. The total number of applications received under RTI by all the departments is 2,93,405.

The two departments, however, recorded a slight decline, of 1.92 per cent, in the number of applications compared with the year before. In 2010-11, they accounted for 56.76 per cent of the total applications received by all the departments.

The departments of rural development and panchayat raj, home, education, and transport come next in terms of RTI applications, according to the KIC report, the latest of its kind.

The revenue department possesses information which matters to the public, such as records of land revenue, land reforms, land acquisition, land records, disaster management, compensation, muzrai, stamps and registration, and the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal. People thronging the tahsildar offices at taluk centres is a common sight. Tahsildar is the administrative head and pillar of revenue department at the taluk level.

The urban development is another department which deals with the people extensively. It encompasses the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), City Municipal Corporations, City Municipal Councils, Town Municipal Councils and Town Panchayats. In addition, it includes the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board, the urban development authorities, town and country planing, among others.

Four more departments received five-digit applications under the RTI. The RDPR received 26,171, Home 15,863, Education 14,870, and Transport 14,769 applications.

All the four departments recorded an increase in the number of RTI applications.

Another department to receive many RTI applications was the department of commerce and industry (8,025 applications). It recorded a quantum jump, of 73.44 per cent, in the number of applications compared with the year before.

The reason is said to be rapid industrialisation, coupled with the government’s efforts to attract domestic and foreign investment. Hence, people seem to be affected by the department’s decisions.

This apart, seven departments received more than 5,000 requests under RTI. They were: Finance (8,312), Public Works (7,189), Energy (7,184), Forest (5,811), Water Resources (5,667), Cooperation (5,660), and Personnel and Administrative Reforms (5,158).

The public enterprises department received just 25 RTI applications the least among all departments. The infrastructure development department followed next with just 35 applications.

Maya govt paid S C Mishra Rs 4 crore as lawyer fee: RTI

Indian Express: Lucknow: Tuesday, January 28, 2014.

Bahujan Samaj Party’s national general secretary and senior advocate Satish Chandra Mishra was paid more than Rs 4 crore by the Mayawati government for his appearance in the Supreme Court on behalf of Uttar Pradesh between 2009 and 2012, an RTI reply has revealed.

The amount is highest paid to any lawyer defending the UP government.

The state government gave the details in reply to an application filed by RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal seeking information about payments made to the advocates by Uttar Pradesh government since 2007-08.

“I had come to know that Satish Chandra Mishra had been paid crores of rupees by the state government and so I filed an RTI application. The reply says that he (Mishra) was paid more than Rs 4 crore,” said Agrawal.

As per the reply, Mishra was paid Rs 1.8 crore in the year 2009-10 for appearance in 56 cases, Rs 2.21 crore in 2010-11 for appearance in 67 cases and Rs 62.7 lakh in 2011-12 for appearance in 19 cases.

Responding to The Indian Express over being paid the highest amount as advocate representing the state government, Mishra said there was nothing illegal about it.

“What is illegal in the payment? I have been paid for the cases I have appeared for. The payment is made as per the fee decided by the state government for senior advocates,” Mishra said.

He said that several senior advocates charge a much higher fee for appearance than what was paid to him and he has also “heard that the current government is paying a much higher fee than the previous BSP government for senior advocates”.

Apart from Mishra, several other senior advocates too were paid huge sums of money for appearances on behalf of the state government. These include K K Venugopal, who was paid more than Rs 2.3 crore between 2007 and 2013 and Gopal Subramaniam, who was paid over Rs 91.3 lakh in 2009-10 alone for appearance in 36 cases.

Similarly, senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi was paid Rs 54 lakh for appearance in 12 cases in 2012-13 while Rakesh Dwivedi was paid Rs 56 lakh for 16 cases in 2013-14. Samajwadi Party member and president of party’s legal wing, Gaurav Bhatia has earned Rs 47 lakh in 2012-13 and 2013-14 for appearance in 170 cases.

काफी लंबे संघर्ष के बाद आम आदमी को मिला है आरटीआई

Jagaran: Ranchi: Monday, January 27, 2014.

आज हम अपने गणतंत्र की 65वीं वर्षगाठ मनाने जा रहे है. इस दौरान देश के नागरिकों को कई नई चीजें मिलीं. आजादी और गणतंत्र में इस दौरान कई उतार-चढ़ाव आए, लेकिन साल 2005 में आम नागरिकों को मिला सूचना का अधिकार इसमें मील का पत्थर साबित हुआ है. इसे लोग इंडियन रिपŽब्लीक को और जिम्मेदार बनाने के तौर पर देख रहे हैं. एडमिनिस्ट्रेशन को ट्रांसपरेंट और रिस्पांसिबल बनाने में इसका काफी रोल रह रहा है. पूरी दुनिया में सूचना की आजादी के आंदोलनों के बाद भारत ने भी यह जरूरत महसूस की कि हमारे देश में भी आम नागरिकों को सूचना का अधिकार मिलना चाहिए.

आखिर क्या है आरटीआई?:

इंडिया एक डेमोक्रेटिक कंट्री है. ऐसे में आम जनता को यह अधिकार है कि वह गवर्नमेंट के सभी डिपार्टमेंट्स और गवर्नमेंट के काम-काज से संबंधित इनफॉरमेशन प्राप्त कर सकता है. राइट टू इनफॉरमेशन  आम नागरिकों का ऐसा अधिकार है, जिसमें वह गवर्नमेंट से कोई भी सवाल पूछ सकने के साथ ही कोई भी इनफॉरमेशन ले सकते है. गवर्नमेंट के अंतर्गत आनेवाले सभी डिपार्टमेंट्स के काम-काज की  वह लिखित जानकारी मांग सकता है.

ट्रांसपरेंसी लाना है मकसद:

आरटीआई का मकसद सरकारी काम-काज में ट्रांसपरेंसी लाना, करप्शन खत्म करना और आम नागरिकों को सूचना उपलŽध कराना है. आरटीआई के जरिए आम नागरिक सरकारी विभाग, पŽिलक सेक्टर यूनिट और किसी भी प्रकार की सरकारी सहायता से चल रही सरकारी संस्थाओं से सूचना मांग सकता है. आरटीआई से सरकारी काम-काज में पारदर्शिता आती है और करप्शन खत्म होने के साथ ही देश के जिन नागरिकों के टैक्स से गवर्नमेंट डिपार्टमेंट चल रहे होते हैं, वह नागरिक भी जान सकते हैं कि उनका पैसा कहां खर्च हो रहा है. 

कैसे मांगे आरटीआई से सूचना:

आरटीआई कानून लागू होने के साथ ही सरकार के सभी विभागों में जन सूचना पदाधिकारी की नियुक्ति की गई है. इन अधिकारियों के बारे में जानकारी सभी ऑफिस में लगाना अनिवार्य हो गया है. ऐसे में आप विभाग के जन सूचना पदाधिकारी के नाम एप्लीकेशन देकर सूचना मांग सकते हैं. आरटीआई के लिए आपको जो एप्लीकेशन देना है, उसका कुछ खास फॉर्मेट नहीं है. आप किसी सादे पेपर पर जन सूचना पदाधिकारी के नाम एप्लीकेशन लिखकर जमा कर सकते हैं. कुछ विभागों में आरटीआई एप्लीकेशन फॉर्म फ्री में दिया जाता भी है. आप उसे भी यूज कर सकते है. आप हाथ से या कंप्यूटर से टाइप कराकर भी एप्लीकेशन दे सकते हैं. आरटीआई के जरिए जानकारी हासिल करने के लिए आवेदक को 10 रुपए की फीस देनी होती है. जो लोग बीपीएल कैटेगरी के है, उनके लिए कोई फीस नहीं है. अगर आप राज्य सरकार के किसी विभाग से आरटीआई के जरिए सूचना मांग रहे हैं, तो आप इसे डिमांड ड्राफ्ट के जरिए जमा कर सकते हैं. सेंट्रल गवर्नमेंट के आफिस में पोस्टल ऑर्डर भी मान्य है. कुछ आफिस में 10 रुपए नगद भी जमा करके रसीद प्राप्त कर सकते हैं.

कैसे जमा करें एप्लीकेशन?:

किसी विभाग से सूचना मांगने के लिए आप आरटीआई फार्म को उस डिपार्टमेंट में जन सूचना पदाधिकारी या सहायक जन सूचना पदाधिकारी के ऑफिस में व्यक्तिगत तौर पर जाकर या डाक के जरिए भेजकर जमा कर सकते हैं. आरटीआई जमा करते समय आप रसीद लेना न भूलें. अगर आप डाक से जमा कर सकते हैं, तो आप जीपीओ में अधिकारी के पास फीस जमा करके रशीद प्राप्त कर लें.

अगर एप्लीकेशन न लिया जाए:

ऐसे में आपके पास कई रास्ते हैं. पहला तो आप इस आरटीआई को डाक से भेजें. ऐसे में आप सूचना आयुक्त के पास सूचना अधिकार कानून की धारा 18 के अंतर्गत शिकायत दर्ज करा सकते हैं. सूचना आयुक्त को उस अधिकारी पर 25000 रुपए का अर्थदंड लगाने का अधिकार है.

30 दिनों में मिलेगी सूचना:

अगर आपने किसी सरकारी विभाग के किसी ऑफिस से आरटीआई के जरिए सूचना मांगी है, तो नियम के अनुसार 30 दिनों के अंदर आपको सूचना मिल जानी चाहिए. यदि आपने सहायक जन सूचना पदाधिकारी के समाने आरटीआई जमा किया है, तो आपको 35 दिन के अंदर सूचना मिल जाएगी. यदि आपने ऐसी सूचना मांगी है, जो किसी व्यक्ति के जीवन और स्वतंत्रता को प्रभावित करती है, तो ऐसी सूचना आपको 48 घंटे के भीतर मिल जानी चाहिए.

कोई नहीं टाल सकता:

आपने आरटीआई के जरिए जो सूचना मांगी है, उसके लिए कोई भी जन सूचना पदाधिकारी, सहायक जन सूचना पदाधिकारी या उस विभाग का कोई भी कर्मचारी यह नहीं पूछ सकता कि आपको सूचना क्यों चाहिए. आरटीआई से सूचना मांगते समय यह बताना जरूरी नहीं है कि हमे सूचना क्यों चाहिए? आपको इसके लिए कोई कारण या अतिरिक्त जानकारी देने की जरूरत नहीं है. बस आपको अपना नाम और पूरा पता लिखना ही जरूरी है.

कर सकते हैं अपील दायर:

यादि आपने किसी विभाग से आरटीआई के जरिए सूचना मांगी है और वह आपको समय से नहीं मिली या जो सूचना दी गई है, उससे आप संतुष्ट नहीं हैैं, तो ऐसे में आप आप उस डिपार्टमेंट के प्रथम अपीलीय अधिकारी के पास अपील दायर कर सकते हैैं. यह उस विभाग के जन सूचना पदाधिकारी का सीनियर होता है. इसके लिए कोई निर्धारित फार्म नहीं होता. आप सादे पेज पर प्रथम अपीलीय अधिकारी के नाम एप्लीकेशन लिखें और इस अप्लीकेशन के साथ आपने जो  अपना आरटीआई एप्लीकेशन जाम किया है, उसकी फोटोकॉपी लगाकर जमा करें. ध्यान रखें, इसके लिए आपको अलग से कोई फीस नहीं जमा करनी है.