Times
of India: Mumbai: Friday, 17 April 2015.
The Mumbai
Port Trust (MbPT) and Union shipping ministry seem to be playing a game of
passing the parcel when it comes to a report on developing port trust land. A
citizen trying to get his hands on the report, with the help of the Right to
Information Act, has been repeatedly fobbed off.
The report
was submitted by a committee set up by shipping minister Nitin Gadkari to draw
a roadmap for developing MbPT land. Headed by former MbPT chairperson Rani
Jadhav, it was formed nine months ago. MbPT had even invited suggestions from
the public last July.
Retired vice
admiral I C Rao, who had submitted a document on suggestions by citizens' group
Apli Mumbai to the committee last year, said he followed up on it with the MbPT
many times but was told to apply to the ministry of shipping. He then filed an
RTI application on the report's status and when it would be released. He also
sought a copy of it.
The
application was accompanied with the mandatory Rs10 postal order addressed to
the ministry. But the ministry returned the application and postal order,
saying that the order (drawn on behalf of the ministry) should have been drawn
in favour of the accounts officer at the ministry.
Rao resent
his application with a fresh postal order. He received a reply from the
shipping ministry recently that his application was being forwarded to the
MbPT, which has its own information officer.
Rao said he
had filed an application with the ministry as MbPT officials stated that they
had drafted the report for the government, and they could not release it.
"MbPT told me to approach the ministry for the report," he said.
Rao has now
submitted the letter from the ministry to MbPT and sought a reply.
N
Murugananadam, joi-nt secretary (ports), ministry of shipping, told TOI that
the ministry had received it only recently and would process it. Officials said
Jadhav was abroad.
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