Attempt to put curbs on politicians securing info boomerangs on CM

Times of India: Mumbai: Monday, December 18, 2017.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was left red-faced after he had to withdraw a circular on the Right to Information (RTI) Act following critical remarks on social media and an uproar in the legislature.

The general administration department (GAD) led by Fadnavis had set up a committee headed by additional chief secretary (home) Sudhir Shrivastava to draft guidelines on providing information to legislators and MPs. The GAD found that elected representatives seek copies of remarks and noting on crucial files and whether or not such information could be provided to them. Eyebrows were raised after RTI activists said that the circular was against the spirit of the RTI Act. The question arises that when the RTI Act is clear on providing information, why was the committee set up. It appears that the CM's office did not realise that an attempt to impose restrictions would boomerang.

Farm waiver blues for CM

Fadnavis announced the Rs 34,022 crore loan waiver scheme for 89 lakh farmers, but could not take credit due to the bureaucracy's casual approach. A week after the announcement, the CM's office realised that the figures were exaggerated in view of wrong information given by the state level bankers' committee.

It later transpired that there were only 69 lakh beneficiaries and loan waiver amount would not be more than Rs 26,000 crore. The information technology secretary was later sent on leave for goof-ups. Now, Kolhapur Shiv Sena MLA has revealed that Rs 25,000 was deposited in his account, though he was not eligible under the scheme. He was followed by former Lok Sabha Member Vasant More from Jalgaon. A former chief secretary said a probe must be instituted to verify if the goof-ups were coincidental or deliberate.

Untangling healthcare

It is mandatory for charity hospitals to reserve beds for poor patients, but many hospitals flout the norms. Charity commissioner Shivkumar Dige adopted a new method and visited leading private charitable hospitals to ascertain if the guidelines on treatment of poor patients were followed. In cases where rules were violated, he invoked the provisions of Bombay Public Trust Act and ensured that poor patients were treated in private charitable healthcare facilities.