Times of India: Thane: Monday, March 12, 2018.
Thane
municipal commissioner Sanjeev Jaiswal has approached police chief Param Bir
Singh to demand action against errant RTI activists. Jaiswal is the first
bureaucrat in the state to take on RTI activists. Alarmed by a sudden spurt in
applications under the Right to Information Act by the same people regarding
certain projects, Jaiswal set up an internal committee to study all the
applications received under the RTI Act in the last one year.
The committee
found that some activists were seeking information repeatedly on building and
development proposals. On the basis of the information secured under RTI,
either the activist or his proxy challenged the entire project in court to
create hurdles. Some activists initially objected to a project, but later
quietly withdrew their application. In certain cases, it was found that even
PILs filed before the high court were withdrawn without assigning any valid
grounds. The committee has prepared a chart on the number of applications filed
by activists, names of the projects, complaints filed with the Thane Municipal
Corporation and courts, and date on which the complaints were withdrawn.
Jaiswal has
submitted a list of more than a dozen RTI activists, saying their role should
be probed and appropriate action should be taken. A week after the Kamala Mills
fire tragedy, which claimed 14 lives, some RTI activists were at the receiving
end. The role of RTI activists was under scrutiny, but the investigation never
reached a logical end. “It was unfortunate that the corporation was blaming RTI
activists for maladministration in the municipal corporation. Under the Act,
the role of RTI activists is crucial, they are making attempts to improve the
administration, if someone is indulging in blackmail, stern action should be
taken. But it does not mean that all RTI activists are blackmailers,” said a
RTI activist based in Thane.
Charity
chief in action
A month after
charity commissioner S G Dige took over the reins, he found that leading
charitable hospitals were not providing free treatment to poor patients,
although it was their responsibility to reserve at least 10% of their beds for
them. Besides imposing a huge fine on a leading hospital, Dige has ordered
inspection of several charitable hospitals and called for records of poor
patients. It was followed by identification of beggars on the roads. Dige felt
that if funds under corporate social responsibility are made available, then it
was not difficult to rehabilitate 1.5 lakh beggars. Many of them are stationed
at traffic signals or outside temples in the state.
Dige has
entrusted the task to the woman and child welfare department to identify beggars
and draft a rehabilitation plan. The department has already initiated the work
and efforts are being made to complete the assignment within a stipulated
period. Dige realised that many farmers were committing suicide due to lack of
funds for their daughters’ marriages, debt burden and poor health.
A week ago,
Dige called a meeting of trustees of all major temples across the state to
ascertain the status of funds and how they were utilizing the surplus cash.
Many trustees attended the meeting with their balance sheets. Dige has taken
the view that if surplus funds could be utilized for the marriages of farmers’
daughters, it would go a long way in providing relief.
“Dige is
looking beyond his routine job and his plans will certainly provide relief to
the common man,” said a senior bureaucrat.
.JPG)
.JPG)
