Sunday, July 31, 2022

Telangana: Private firms default on land lease, dues touch Rs 272 crore, reveals RTI

Times of India: Hyderabad: Sunday, 31 July 2022.
A new expose has revealed that nine private organisations owe the Telangana government Rs 272 crore in dues as lease amount for the government lands they hold.
The facts were revealed through an RTI response received by the Forum for Good Governance (FGG) where some big names like Trident hotel (near Shilparamam), Snow World, Prasad's IMAX were found to be defaulting money to the tune of crores.
The biggest defaulter is the Trident hotel, who haven't paid dues of Rs 87.86 crore since 2007, followed by Urban Entertainment Center, Basheerbagh who owe Rs 62.77 crore since 2014. The third biggest defaulter is Three star hotel and spa who owe the government Rs 50.35 crore since 2009.
These private organisations had taken the government lands on lease for tourism development but have defaulted, some like Jalavihar from as far back as 2000. Prasad's IMAX and Snowworld owe dues from 2002 and Expotel from 2003.
The RTI response has further found that while defaults have occured, the government's repeated attempts to recover the dues have proven futile. Almost all of the 9 organisations were issued notices and reminded as latest as 2022 but the amounts have still not been cleared.
"They developers got prime lands and are making huge profits but not paying the rent for years together. There may be many such units elsewhere in the state," said M Padmanabha Reddy, Secretary, Forum for Governance in a letter to the Chief Secretary, further stating that these defaulters could possibly be having political clout and hence the Tourism Development Corporation was not going beyond issuance of notices to them.

“Can’t Give Information on Aid to Families of Dead Soldiers”: Indian Army on Galwan Clash

Defence Aviation Post: National: Sunday, 31 July 2022.
The Central Details Commission (CIC) stated on Friday, July 29, that the Indian Army is not permitted to disclose information regarding the rehabilitation and ex-gratia payment given to families of soldiers who died in the India-China Galwan Valley Clash in 2020.
Additionally, it steadfastly resisted providing information on the number of soldiers missing and the plans for their rescue, as well as the fatalities inflicted by Chinese forces and the deaths of Indian army members.
The army responded by stating that it was third party information and could not be released in response to applicant Akhand’s Right to Information (RTI) request, which asked for all of the aforementioned information.
The army is exempt from revealing information that is personal in nature and could negatively impact India’s sovereignty, security, and integrity, according to CIC, the highest appeal authority under the RTI Act.
Twenty members of the Indian army had been killed in the border dispute in Eastern Ladakh that erupted during the fighting in Galwan Valley on June 15, 2020.
The country’s casualties are anticipated to be far greater after an Australian newspaper revealed that a number of China’s soldiers perished while crossing the river in the dark. China had recognised the deaths of five of its soldiers.
‘Proper Reply Was Given’: RTI Body
However, Akhand’s attorney argued before the CIC that the information should be given to him because the situation is of greater public interest.
Information Commissioner Vanaja N Sarna answered, “It is noticed that a proper reply was given to the appellant whereby it was appropriately stated that as the information is connected to third parties, the information cannot be provided under section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act.
Additionally, it was claimed that section 8(1)(a) of the RTI Act does not apply because the material is sensitive in nature. No relief may be provided because the Commission was unable to identify any errors in the response, she said.

States fail to give Environment Ministry details on elephant reserves

The Hindu: Guwahati: Sunday, 31 July 2022.
The information sought on January 12, 2021, included history and background of establishing elephant reserves and area notified
The Elephant Range States across India, have ignored an 18-month-old instruction from the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), to furnish information on their Elephant Reserves.
The MoEFCC had, on January 12, 2021, written to the chief wildlife wardens of the Elephant Reserve States, to provide the details for the compilation of information on Elephant Reserves (ERs) by its Project Elephant Division.
The information sought included history and background of establishing the ERs; the date of notification of their notification; the area notified; and the number of circles, forest divisions, ranges, private or revenue land within the reserves.
Apart from the map of each ER, the States were also asked to provide within January 30, 2022, the total population of elephants, threats, challenges and issues in these ERs, five-year data on human-elephant conflicts, and management interventions done by the forest departments, to conserve elephants.
Replying to an application filed by an Assam-based activist under the Right to Information Act, the MoEFCC said on July 27, that it was yet to receive any information on the ERs from the Elephant Range States.
Ramesh Pandey, the Inspector-General of Project Elephant in the MoEFCC declined to say what the Ministry would do about the indifference of the Elephant Range States.
Wildlife Institute data
Data uploaded on the Wildlife Institute of India’s website say the elephant population across 16 States in the country ranged between 27,785 and 31,368 in 2012. While Karnataka had up to 7,458 elephants followed by Assam with 5,281, Maharashtra had only four.
India has 30 notified ERs, spread across 15 Elephant Range States. There are also 10 sites for the MIKE (monitoring of illegal killing of elephants) programme, mandated by the Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
The MIKE sites are Chirang-Ripu and Dihing-Patkai in Assam, Deomali in Arunachal Pradesh, Garo Hills in Meghalaya, Eastern Dooars in West Bengal, Mayurbhanj in Odisha, Shivalik in Uttarakhand, Mysore in Karnataka, Wayanad in Kerala and Nilgiri in Tamil Nadu.

Madhya Pradesh: HC reserves order on plea over judges exam answer sheets

Times of India: Bhopal: Sunday, 31 July 2022.
A division bench of MP high court reserved its judgement on a petition contending that answer-sheets of written exams conducted by the MP high court for recruitment to the post of civil judge class II and additional district and sessions judge (ADJ) should be allowed to be accessed by anyone under Right to Information Act (RTI) rather than restricting the right to only a candidate to see his own answer-sheet, if he so desires.
The petition filed by Advocates' Union for Democracy & Social Justice said that in the interest of transparency and fairness, there should be provision to access the answer-sheets of any candidate under the RTI. The petition said that on several reserved posts in the twin recruitment exams, selection has not been made, which may create a doubt over fairness of the selection process. The petition also challenged the necessity to obtain at least 20 out of 50 marks in the interview for selection in the exams. Following arguments from both sides, the division bench of Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Vinayak Shah reserved judgement over the petition. Advocates Rameshwar P Singh and Vinayak Shah appeared in the court on behalf of the petitioner.

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation finally wakes up to Gujarat Right to Service Act

Times of India: Ahmedabad: Sunday, 31 July 2022.
Five years after the Gujarat Right to Service (GRS) Act, 2014 came into force, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has re-issued a notification to all its departments to ensure provisions of the citizen’s law are enforced which includes putting up in public the list of 18 civic services and their delivery deadlines, the names and contacts of designated officers for each department, appointment of grievance redressal officers, first appeal authority and boards informing citizens of procedures for lodging a complaint or making applications. The notification had been re-issued on June 16. The status of implementation of the GRS Act has to be informed to the state urban development department within 15 days. A copy of the notification is with TOI.
The (GRS) Act, 2014, is a powerful law for citizens who encounter corruption, delayed services, or the lack of transparency while dealing with public servants. Under this law, each municipal department has to set deadlines for each service, and disciplinary action is mandated against errant officers who frequently breach these deadlines. A fine of Rs 10,000 can also be imposed for delays and a compulsory adverse remark can be recommended on the annual confidential report (ACR) of such officers. Only a handful of municipalities and municipal corporations and a few revenue offices across the state have implemented at least certain provisions of the GRS Act , such as information boards, copies of the Act and the lists of designated officers published on websites. Recently, Kalupur resident Pankaj Bhatt filed an RTI with the AMC to know the status of implementation of the act.
Not municipal corporations alone but every public authority had to designate a grievance redressal officers (GROs) across departments, districts, talukas, municipal corporations, municipalities, notified areas, and panchayats.
The GROs were supposed to receive complaints, inquire into them, and offer replies to complainants. The administrative reforms and training division (ARTD) of the general administration department (GAD) is the implementing agency of the law across the state. Till early 2021, Ahmedabad, Valsad, Panchmahal, Surat, Kutch, Rajkot, and Vadodara district administrations had uploaded the Act on their websites. However, only a handful of offices had mechanisms for citizens to file complaints.

Saturday, July 30, 2022

Electoral bonds worth Rs 389.50 crore sold in latest edition of sale

Deccan Herald: New Delhi: Saturday, 30 July 2022.
According to the RTI, the SBI has raised a commission bill of Rs 25.44 lakh excluding GST
New Electoral bonds worth Rs 389.50 crore were sold during the latest edition of the sale of the financial instrument earlier this month.
The total number of bonds sold were 480. Of this, 475 bonds were redeemed while five bonds worth Rs 5,000 have not been redeemed. Since 2018 when the electoral bond came into being, there were 21 phases of sales, including the latest, during which bonds worth Rs 10,246.22 crore have been sold while Rs 10225.63 crore were encashed. The bonds which were not encashed was Rs 20.59 crore and were transferred to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund.
According to the RTI response provided by the SBI to transparency activist Commodore Lokesh Batra (retired) on Friday, the highest sale was in the New Delhi branch of the SBI where bonds worth Rs 140.10 crore were sold.
Kolkata Main branch came second with Rs 116.50 crore sale followed by Hyderabad Branch where the bond sale was Rs 108.50 crore. There were sales of bonds in SBI branches in Mumbai (Rs 22 crore), Bhubaneswar (Rs 2 crore) and Jaipur (Rs 40 lakh).
When it comes to redeeming the bonds, the highest was in the Bhubaneswar branch where bonds worth Rs107 crore were redeemed followed by Chennai (Rs 75 crore) and Hyderabad (Rs 71 crore), New Delhi (Rs 70 crore) and Kolkata (Rs 66.50 crore).
According to the RTI, the SBI has raised a commission bill of Rs 25.44 lakh excluding GST. It said it is yet to get Rs 42.30 crore for the 20th phase of bond sale. The SBI has asked the Ministry of Finance to arrange the release of the total pending commission of Rs 67.74 crore along with GST.
In the 20th edition of bond sale between April 1 and 10, electoral bonds worth Rs 648.48 crore were sold and whole redeemed by parties. In the 19th edition of bond sale between January 1 and 10, ahead of the Assembly elections to five states Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Punjab electoral bonds worth Rs 1,213.26 crore were sold and whole redeemed by parties except for bonds worth Rs 40 lakh.
In the previous 18th phase in October last year, bonds worth Rs 614.33 crore were sold and the whole redeemed. In July when 17th phase of bond sale took place, Rs 150.51 crore were sold and the whole redeemed. In April, bonds worth Rs 695.34 crore were sold and only two bonds worth Rs 1,000 each were not redeemed.
The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) reported that in 2019-20, four national parties BJP, Congress, Trinamool Congress and NCP and 14 regional parties together garnered Rs 3,441.31 crore through electoral bonds.
According to ADR, 62.92 per cent (Rs 2993.82 crore) of the total income of the four national parties came from donations through electoral bonds. Ruling BJP's income rose by 50.34 per cent to Rs 3,623.28 crore in 2019-20 with the bulk coming from redemption of electoral bonds while three other national parties CPI(M), CPI and BSP did not receive any donation through electoral bonds.

RTI: 13 घंटे की सुनवाई में सूचना न देने वाले 48 अधिकारियों पर 12 लाख का जुर्माना, 385 मामले निस्तारित

जागरण: अलीगढ़: Saturday, 30 July 2022.
राज्य सूचना आयुक्त अजय कुमार उप्रेती ने मंडल के दो दिवसीय दौरे पर शुक्रवार को कमिश्नरी में जन सुनवाई की। दूसरे दिन पांच घंटे में कुल 130 मामलों का निस्तारण किया गया। पहले दिन आठ घंटे में कुल 255 मामले निपटाए गए थे। ऐसे में दोनों दिनों में मंडल में कुल 13 घंटे की जनसुनवाई में 385 मामले निस्तारित किए गए हैं।
जन सूचना अधिकार के नियमों की अनदेखी करने पर अलीगढ़-आगरा मंडल के 48 अधिकारियों पर 12 लाख का जुर्माना लगाया गया है। राज्य सूचना आयुक्त गुरुवार को मंडल के दो दिवसीय दौरे पर अलीगढ़ में आए थे। कमिश्नरी में उन्होंने जनसुनवाई की।
शुक्रवार को दो दिन की जनसुनवाई के बाद उन्होंने पत्रकारवार्ता की। इसमें बताया कि पिछले दो माह में 48 जनसूचना अधिकारियों पर नियमों की अनदेखी कर समय से सूचना उपलब्ध न कराने, भ्रामक सूचनाएं उपलब्ध कराने, विभिन्न प्रकार से गुमराह करने, सूचना देने में आना-कानी करने पर 12 लाख का अर्थदंड लगाया गया है।
इसमें अलीगढ़ के 12 अधिकारियों पर तीन लाख का अर्थदंड शामिल है। उन्होंने बताया कि आयोग द्वारा वादकारियों की सहूलियत के लिए मंडलीय भ्रमण कार्यक्रम निर्धारित किया गया है। इससे आवेदकों को लंबे समय से अटकी हुई विभिन्न प्रकार की जानकारियां प्राप्त हो सकेंगी।
उन्होंने बताया कि जनसूचना अधिकार अधिनियम के तहत अधिकतर कार्रवाई ग्राम विकास एवं पंचायतीराज विभाग के अधिकारियों, कर्मचारियों पर की गई है। दो दिन में उन्होंने पिछले दो-ढाई साल से लंबित मामले निपटा दिए हैं।
उन्होंने बताया कि अधिनियम के अनुसार वांछित सूचना उपलब्ध न कराने पर आयोग द्वारा 250 रुपये प्रतिदिन और अधिकतम 25,000 रुपये का जुर्माना लगाया जाता है। दोषी अफसर के वेतन से इसकी वसूली होती है।
उन्होंने बताया कि बीडीओ हसायन ने वादी रवींद्र कुमार से सूचना दिए जाने के एवज में 4784 रुपये प्राप्त किए, जिसके सापेक्ष मात्र 110 पृष्ठ ही दिए। आयोग ने विशेष सुनवाई करते हुए वादी को ब्याज सहित धनराशि लौटाने का आदेश पारित किया।
इसके साथ ही वादी आमोद कुमार शर्मा को प्रधानाचार्य जनता इंटर कालेज कासगंज द्वारा सूचना उपलब्ध न कराए जाने और व्यक्ति को इस संबंध मे कोई जानकारी न होने पर 25,000 रुपये का जुर्माना लगा है।
अलीगढ़ में बीडीओ इगलास एवं सहायक विकास अधिकारी राजपाल सिंह पर भी अधिनियम का पालन न करने पर 25,000 रुपये का जुर्माना लगा है।
इस मौके पर सिटी मजिस्ट्रेट प्रदीप कुुमार वर्मा, सहायक निदेशक सूचना संदीप कुमार समेत अन्य मौजूद रहे।

1482 websites were blocked by IT Ministry in 2022, RTI reveals

The Indian Express: Pune: Saturday, 30 July 2022.
A total of 1,482 websites or URLs were blocked by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTY) from January to March 2022, revealed an RTI query filed by Software Freedom Legal Central (SFLC.in), a legal policy firm. The blocked sites include all types of URLs such as webpages, websites and pages on social media platforms.
These websites were blocked citing Section 69A of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000. The Section states that any agency of the government or any intermediary can be asked to block the access of information for the public “in the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of the State, friendly relations with foreign states or public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of any cognisable offence relating to above”.
“Section 69A of the Information Technology Act has been used time and again by the Government to censor content, often in violation of the provisions of the section which mention limited grounds for blocking of access to any information,” said Prasanth Sugathan, Legal Director at SFLC.in.

Delhi HC issues notice to IFS Sanjiv Chaturvedi on CBI plea challenging CIC order

The Print: New Delhi: Saturday, 30 July 2022.
The Delhi High court on Friday issued notice to Sanjiv Chaturvedi, the former Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO), AIIMS on plea moved by CBI challenging the order passed by Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) asking it to provide information related an investigation under RTI.
The court has stayed the said order till the next date of hearing.
Justice Yashwant Varma while issuing the notice to Chaturvedi stayed the order of November 25, 2019 passed by CIC. The matter has been listed for January 27, 2023.
The bench also noted that Chaturvedi was placed on advance notice but none has appeared on his behalf. The petition has been moved by the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of CBI.
The bench said, “Prima facie, the Court finds merit in the contention of the counsel for the petitioner that material that may be gathered in the course of investigation would not be liable to be disclosed under the Right to Information Act, 2005.”
The special public prosecutor (SPP) for CBI Anupam Sharma submitted that CBI is controlled by the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 and answerable to the Central Vigilance Commission.
It was also submitted by the SPP that since CBI is not statutorily obliged to furnish it to the Central Government, CCI clearly erred in deciding the case based on Section 24 of the RTI Act. The bench said that the matter requires consideration.
Chaturvedi, an IFS, during his stint at AIIMS, New Delhi had exposed large-scale alleged corruption. (ANI)

High Court fines Public Information Officer for delay in response

Bangalore Mirror: Bangalore: Saturday, 30 July 2022.
The Karnataka High Court has said that Karnataka Information Commission, a statutory quasi-judicial body, cannot act like a king or an emperor as its functions are of public law character.
Justice Krishna S Dixit, while hearing the writ petition no. 4913 of 2022 filed by Sijo Sebastain, has imposed a penalty of Rs 25,000 on the respondent under Section 20 of the Right to Information Act and also awarded a cost of Rs 10,000 to the petitioner.
“This levy needs to be discharged by Sri Shankar personally from his pocket. He shall remit the penalty amount along with costs to the petitioner within a period of 30 days. The delay will carry interest at the rate of 2 per cent per mensem for the first 30 days and 3 per cent for the days next following,’’ the judge said.
This pertains to one Sijo Sebastain seeking information from the Public Information Officer of Block Education Office, South Circle-4, Govt High School Compound, Triveni Nagar, KR Puram, on a private school on November 4, 2019. However, the Public Information Officer did not provide information to Sijo Sebastain even after he filed the first appeal on December 19, 2019. With no information from the Public Information Officer, the petitioner was compelled to approach the State Information Commission on February 1, 2020.
“I received the data on the private school only on November 20, 2021. The State Information Commission, which heard my petition on November 26, 2021, closed the case when the respondent informed the Commission that he provided the information by a registered post. The State Information Commission did not impose a penalty on the Public Information Officer for the delay in providing the information. The Registry shall immediately send by Speed Post a copy of this judgment to the Karnataka Information Commission,’’ said Sijo Sebastain. He said that he filed a petition in the High Court on February 28, 2022, seeking justice.
Judgement hailed
Describing the High Court judgment as the best judgment, BH Veeresh of Mahiti Hakku Adhyayana Kendra said that some of the information commissioners have been lenient towards the Public Information Officers.
“The High Court judgment is a boost for those who seek information from the government under the RTI Act,’’ he said.
S Amaresh, an Right to Information activist, said the quantum of penalty for not providing information on time should be increased. “The authorities concerned should recommend demotion of such officials who fail to provide information to the applicants on time. It will make all Public Information Officers work hard to provide information to the applicants on time,’’ he said.

Information about casualties of Chinese soldiers cannot be disclosed: CIC

The New Indian Express: New Delhi: Saturday, 30 July 2022.
The casualty figure of the Chinese soldiers in Galwan Valley clash two years back between the Chinese People’s Liberation Army troops and the Indian Army soldier cannot be disclosed, told the Central Information Commission (CIC).
In its recent order, the CIC declined to allow a plea seeking to know "the casualties to the Chinese forces, if any, by brave soldiers of the country" inflicted during the clashes between two forces on June 15, 2020. The CIC is the highest appellate body under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
The RTI filed by applicant Akhand had also sought information about the casualty figures suffered by the Indian soldiers in Galwan.
Galwan is one of the multiple standoff points where the Chinese moved in their forces after a clash between the troops of both sides on May 5, 2020. The area is near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh.  
The applicant had also asked for information on the rehabilitation and ex-gratia paid to the families. In addition, the RTI applicant had sought to know from the army if Indian soldiers are missing in the Galwan river valley after the clash and its plans to rescue them.
The army refused to disclose the information as it was third-party information and it cannot be shared under Section 8(1) (j) of the Act, which exempts from the disclosure of information which is personal in nature.
The army also cited Section 8(1)(a) of the RTI Act which exempts from the disclosure of information which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the state, relation with foreign state or lead to incitement of an offence. The information on it was also denied.
The applicant Akhand argued before the CIC that the matter involves a larger public interest and that the information should be provided to him.
Information Commissioner Vanaja N Sarna said, "It is noted that a proper reply was given to the appellant whereby it was rightly stated that since the information is related to third parties, the information cannot be provided under section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act."
"It was also stated that the information is sensitive in nature and cannot be provided under section 8(1)(a) of the RTI Act. The Commission is unable to find any flaw in the reply, hence, no relief can be given," she said.
The Indian Army had lost 20 Indian Army soldiers in the Galwan clash and the Chinese had acknowledged the death of five soldiers during the clash.

We need to protect whistle blowers: Justice Madan B. Lokur

NDTV: New Delhi: Saturday, 30 July 2022.
Ignoring the fact that Right to Information users are facing death for keeping democracy alive is a threat to democracy itself
“Words, words, words” was Hamlet’s reply to Polonius’ question, “What do you read, my lord?” That is what our Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, is being reduced to. The Centre for Law and Democracy classifies it among the top five laws in the world. The RTI empowers us to participate in the policymaking process, by providing access to information relating to the functioning of all public authorities. Ordinary citizens have used the law to make public authorities accountable and transparent in their functioning. In fact, the law has been used extensively by a cross section of citizens including activists, lawyers, bureaucrats, researchers, journalists and most importantly, ordinary folk. They all have been asking simple questions and pursuing answers on the use of public funds, and unearthing corruption of all kinds from the Panchayat level right up to Parliament. The widespread understanding and use of the RTI is a shining example of a participatory democracy in spite of our current realities.
The killing of activists
Unfortunately, the dangerous underside of the RTI is manifesting itself through violent reactions from entrenched interests and powerful lobbies. Since the implementation of the Act, some 100 RTI activists across the country have been killed and several are harassed on a daily basis. This is a reality of one of the strongest laws for democratic accountability that we must systematically address through strong legal and institutional safeguards.
Bihar is turning out to be one of the most dangerous States for RTI activists despite being one of the earliest promoters of the law. The State ranks first in the number of deaths of RTI users. As many as 20 RTI users have lost their lives since 2010 in different districts across Bihar. In 2018, six RTI users were killed for seeking information related to the functioning of public programmes and institutions. These brutal murders have not only raised an urgent question of the protection of people engaging with the system to seek accountability, but also of the state’s responsibility to provide legal assistance, time-bound grievance redressal, compensation, and dignified access to justice to the families of those killed.
Earlier this month, civil society organisations organised a public hearing in Patna where families of the ‘whistle blowers’ disclosed that the whistle blowers had been working on issues of public importance and interest, exposing irregularities and corruption, pursuing transparency in the functioning of the Public Distribution System, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Anganwadi centers, housing schemes, illegally operating health clinics and so on. They had been requesting information that should have been mandatorily disclosed to the public under Section 4 of the RTI Act. Family members at the hearing also questioned the abdication of responsibility by the State government in assisting them to get justice in each case. After all, the whistle blowers were performing a basic civic duty of public vigilance that the government should encourage and initiate timely action on. The killing of RTI users and the intimidation of their family as they struggle for justice, in Bihar and other parts of the country, are reflective of the lack of action by the government and collusion of the police with powerful vested interests to deny, if not subvert, justice.
A new framework
We are living in a time where the government denies the existence of casualties emanating from its acts of omission and commission. This has prompted civil society to maintain lists of persons who lost their lives on account of demonetisation, COVID-19 and now RTI, so that the lives of the people, particularly the poor, are not remembered merely as numbers. We need to move beyond maintaining a count. We need to advocate for and move towards creating a socio-legal system that recognises RTI users under attack as human right defenders and build a framework that facilitates and protects them in their attempt to pursue issues of public interest. Otherwise, words in the RTI legislation will ring hollow.
There can be multiple components to such a framework, and it is time State governments take the lead without waiting for the Central government to set an example. First, State governments must direct law-enforcement agencies to expeditiously and in a time-bound manner complete investigations in all cases where RTI users are harassed. This must include making proactive efforts to provide adequate compensation to the victim’s family.
Second, available evidence clearly shows that the information requested by the murdered RTI users was information that should have been mandatorily disclosed in the public domain under Section 4 of the RTI Act. Therefore, the State governments must take immediate efforts to institutionalise proactive disclosure of actionable information. Is this possible? Rajasthan has taken the lead in active disclosure. Its Jan Soochna portal subsequently followed by Karnataka’s Mahiti Kanaja are outstanding examples of practical ways of mandatory disclosure.
Third, in all cases of threats, attacks or killings of RTI users, the State Information Commission must immediately direct the relevant public authorities to disclose and publicise all the questions raised and the answers given to the user. Giving wide publicity to such information may potentially act as a deterrent against attacks on RTI users, as perpetrators get the message that rather than covering up the matter, any attack would invite even greater public scrutiny.
Effective legislation
Last, there is an urgent need to enact an effective legislation to protect whistle blowers. In 2016, a Supreme Court bench of Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice A.K. Sikri came down heavily on the Union government for its reluctance in notify the Whistle Blowers Protection Act of 2014, but unfortunately to no avail. The Supreme Court observed that there was an “absolute vacuum” which could not be allowed to go on. The Central government was called upon to decide on a specific time frame to establish an administrative set-up to protect whistle blowers. The court recognised that the concept of a whistle blower is a global phenomenon and has become a reality. It cannot be wished away. Words, words, words that have no effect on the Central government. Eight years have gone by and the proposed Act has not been notified.
Given this reality, State governments, such as those of Bihar and Maharashtra, which have recorded the highest number of murders of RTI activists, must introduce their own mechanisms for protecting whistle blowers by enacting at least a State-level whistle blower protection law. Ignoring the plight of RTI users facing death for keeping our democracy alive is a threat to democracy itself.

No Info About Chinese Casualties In Galwan Clash: RTI Body To Applicant

NDTV: New Delhi: Saturday, 30 July 2022.
The RTI applicant also sought information about casualties suffered by Indian forces at Galwan valley near the Line of Actual Control, or LAC, and rehabilitation and ex-gratia paid to the families of soldiers who were killed in action
Information about Chinese casualties in the Galwan valley clash with Indian forces in Ladakh two years ago cannot be disclosed, the Central Information Commission has said. In a recent order, the Central Information Commission, or CIC, the highest appellate body under the Right to Information, or RTI, Act, refused to allow a plea seeking "the casualties to the Chinese forces, if any, by brave soldiers of the country" during the clashes in the night of June 15 and 16, 2020.
RTI applicant Akhand had also sought information about casualties suffered by Indian forces at Galwan valley near the Line of Actual Control, or LAC, and rehabilitation and compensation paid to the families of soldiers who were killed in action.
In addition, the RTI applicant sought to know from the army if any Indian soldiers are missing in Galwan valley after the clash.
The army refused to disclose the information saying it was third-party information which cannot be shared under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, which exempts from disclosure any information that is personal in nature.
To deny the information, the army also cited Section 8(1)(a) of the RTI Act which exempts disclosing information that prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the state, relation with foreign state or lead to incitement of an offence.
Mr Akhand's representative told the CIC that the matter involves a larger public interest and the information should be provided to him.
Information Commissioner Vanaja N Sarna said, "It is noted that a proper reply was given to the appellant whereby it was rightly stated that since the information is related to third parties, the information cannot be provided under section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act."
"It was also stated that the information being sensitive in nature cannot be provided under section 8(1)(a) of the RTI Act. The Commission is unable to find any flaw in the reply, hence, no relief can be given," she said.
The eastern Ladakh border row escalated after the Galwan valley clashes on June 15, 2020. Twenty army personnel were killed in action in the clashes that marked the most serious faceoff between India and China in decades.

Friday, July 29, 2022

Contempt of court petition filed against authorities for illegal constructions in Navi.

Hindustan Times: Friday, July 29, 2022.
A Koparkhairane resident has filed a contempt of court petition in the Bombay High Court on Thursday against all the concerned planning authorities for the mushrooming illegal constructions in the city; these include NMMC, CIDCO, MIDC and Commissioner of Police
A Koparkhairane resident has filed a contempt of court petition in the Bombay High Court on Thursday against all the concerned planning authorities for mushrooming illegal constructions in the city. These include the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC), City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) and Commissioner of Police.
Activist Rajiv Mishra has filed the petition as the legal recourse to his original PIL filed in 2013 that highlighted the issue of undeterred growth of illegal constructions on government-owned lands. The petitioner, through the PIL, had brought to the notice of the Court the failure of the planning authorities to prevent large-scale illegal constructions and their failure to perform their statutory duties to remove the illegal constructions.
“There were corrective steps to be taken by each of these planning authorities. These included conducting a city survey of the illegal structures, setting up a grievance redressal system wherein anonymous complaints too can be made and, most importantly, conduct demolition drives. There has been no compliance on any of the directives. The situation has only worsened, illegal constructions have now mushroomed everywhere and authorities continue to turn a blind eye,” said Mishra.
The petitioner has alleged that the authorities were hand-in-glove with the building mafia and furnished additional proofs to the court highlighting the rampant increase in illegal construction in the recent times.
Through Right to Information act (RTI), the activist has availed information on the number of fresh notices issued by all the authorities against illegal constructions. “Ideally, the authorities are required to initiate demolition drives of illegal buildings by issuing just 24 hours’ notice. This system is never followed. Even the FIRs lodged against illegal constructions are turning out to be pointless as the buildings which were G + 1 are now G + 7 structures. Between 2020 and 2022, I have personally filed complaints on the online grievance portal of NMMC against 101 new illegal constructions and till date, there is no compliance. In fact, the additional municipal commissioner has sent three reminders to the ward offices but none of the eight wards has bothered to even respond. Thus, the need was felt to file the contempt petition,” said Mishra.
The police department has been accused in the petition to have withdrawn the police security given to Mishra and therefore endangering his life. When contacted, all the three planning authorities as well the commissioner of police said that they’d be responding to the petition as and when they receive the notice through their legal department.

No Train Subsidy For Elderly, Crores For MPs, Show Centre’s Records.

Inventina: Prerna: New Delhi: Friday, July 29, 2022.
No Train Subsidy For Elderly, Crores For MPs, Show Centre’s Records.
As per the papers obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the Indian Railways has denied concessions to older citizens, citing the need to reduce its subsidy expenses. At the same time, MPs have received millions in free and reduced-price train tickets.
In March 2020, the Indian Railways center discontinued its senior citizen discounts and offers. However, it kept subsidizing train tickets for all the former MPs and MPs.
Again as per, according to information obtained through RTI requests, the government has spent more than 62 crore rupees on discounts for MPs and former MPs travelling by train during the last five year
As per the Lok Sabha secretariat’s response to an RTI inquiry, “The MSA Branch processes the bills of debt statements after receiving them from the Ministry of Railways through the Pay Accounts Office. According to the branch’s details and records, the MSA Branch processed the following debit claims bills for MPs and Ex-MPs: 3.99 crores in 2021–22, 2.47 crore in 2020–21, 16.4 crore in 2019–20, 19.75 crore in 2018–19, and 19.34 crore in 2017–18.”
Even after the first and, subsequent waves of the COVID-19 pandemic were over, the railways have yet to reinstate senior citizen offers on train rates.
Since the older adults’ discount was removed in March 2020—the same month Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared the first lockdown during the pandemic—the railways have made 1,500 crores in money.
“We struggle, and they provide us nothing. The ruling class does not cherish their past. The public has nothing; MLAs and MPs are receiving a lifetime pension, canteen food, and everything. Their concession ought to be reinstated, “Jaganath Gupta, 76, says.
Men will receive a 40% discount on their railway tickets under government policies for the aged, while women receive a 50% discount. According to the railways’ response to Chandra Shekhar Gaur’s RTI request, 7.31 billion senior folks did not use discounted train tickets between March 20, 2020, and March 31, 2022.
These include 8,310 transsexual people, 2.84 crore women over 58, and 4.46 crore men over 60. Three thousand four hundred sixty-four crores were made from senior citizen customers who travelled during this time, including 1,500 crores after the subsidies for them were discontinued.
In comparison to MPs and MLAs, we receive limited advantages even after 30 years of service. We pay our taxes faithfully. It’s time to reinstate the subsidies. Our MPs and MLAs receive everyone under the sun and make all decisions and declarations on our behalf.
A retired government employee named Chand George calls for an egregious irony. In March of this year, Ashwini Vaishnav, the Railway Minister has, informed the Parliament that the ministry would not be returning the privileges.
Over the past five years, free train trips for MPs have cost the taxpayer more than $60 million. Free rail travel for current and retiring Lok Sabha MPs have cost the government 62 crores over the last five years, including about 2.5 crores in the pandemic-hit 2020-21, according to data made public under the RTI Act.
According to the Lok Sabha Secretariat’s response to Chandra Shekhar Gaur of Madhya Pradesh’s Right to Information (RTI) request, the Railways sent a bill totaling 35.21 crores 26.82 crores for the trip of current MPs and former MPs from 2017-2018 to 2021-2022. Additionally, the MPs and ex-MPs continued to use their rail passes during the pandemic-hit year of 2020–21, when their expenditures were $1.29 crore and $1.18 million, respectively.
According to the rules, sitting lawmakers of the Indian Parliament are eligible for free travel on the railroads in executive or first class. Their wives are also suitable, subject to minor limitations. Among them were 8,310 transgender persons, 2.84 crore older women, and 4.46 crore older men who were males.
Former members of Parliament are also allowed to board any train, whether they are traveling alone or with a partner, in the AC-2 class. The Lok Sabha Secretariat receives the bills for processing from the Railways’ pay and accounts department. The Railways recently halted various incentives that they had given certain passenger groups, including senior folks.
While some groups expressed restrained outrage about the transfer, there has been widespread criticism over the removal of the senior citizens’ stipend. According to official figures, between March 20, 2020, and March 31, 2022, the Railways did not offer discounts to 7.31 crore senior persons.
In the past five years, the center has paid out more than Rs 62 crore in travel subsidies to MPs. In New Delhi: The papers obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the Indian Railways has denied concessions to older citizens, citing the urgency to reduce the subsidy expenditures, while MPs received millions in free and reduced train tickets.
In March 2020, the Indian Railways discontinued their senior citizen discounts. However, it is still subsidizing train tickets for the former MPs and MPs.
As per a piece of information obtained through RTI requests, the center has paid more than Rs 62 crore on discounts for MPs and former MPs over the last five years. As per to the Lok Sabha secretariat’s reply to an RTI inquiry, “The MSA Branch processes the bills of debt claims after receiving them from the Ministry of Railways through the Pay and Accounts Office.
According to the branch’s records that are now available, the MSA Branch processed the following debit claims bills for MPs and Ex-MPs: Rs 3.99 crore in 2021–2022, Rs 2.47 crore in 2020–2020, Rs 16.4 crore in 2019–2020, Rs 19.75 crore in 2018–19, and Rs 19.34 crore in 2017–2018.”
Just after the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic were over, the railways have yet to reinstate senior citizen discounts on train rates. Since the older people’s subsidy was eliminated in March 2020—the same month Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared the first lockdown during the pandemic—the railroads have made Rs 1,500 crore in money. “We have been struggling, and they provide us nothing. The ruling class does not cherish the past.
The public has nothing; MLAs and MPs receive a lifetime pension, canteen, and everything. Our concession ought to be reinstated, “says 76-year-old Jaganath Gupta. Men used to receive a 40% discount on railway tickets under government policies for the aged, while women received a 50% discount.
According to the railways’ response to Chandra Shekhar Gaur’s RTI request, 7.31 billion seniors did not use discounted train tickets between March 20, 2020, and March 31, 2022.
These include 8,310 transsexual people, 2.84 crore women over 58, and 4.46 crore men over 60. Senior citizen travelers generated Rs 3,464 crore in revenue during this time, including Rs 1,500 crore after the incentive for them was eliminated.
“In comparison to MPs and MLAs, we receive limited advantages even after 30 years of service. We pay our taxes faithfully. It’s time to reinstate the subsidies. Our MPs and MLAs receive everyone under the sun and make all decisions on our behalf. What a sick irony, “Chand George, a former government worker, remarks. In March this year, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed Parliament that the ministry would not be returning the privileges.

754 out of 2,275 public authorities got their suo motu disclosure audited in 2020-21.

Economic times: New Delhi: Friday, July 29, 2022.
Authorities got their suo motu disclosure audited by third party during 2020-21 as mandated in the guidelines issued under the Rightto Information Act, the Centre said on Thursday. It is the obligation and responsibility of public authorities (government organisations/departments) to undertake the suo motu disclosure as mandated under Section 4(1)(b) of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.
In terms of Section 4(2) of the RTI Act, it shall be a constant endeavour of every public authority to take steps to provide as much information suo motu to the public at regular intervals through various means of communications, including internet, so that the public have minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain information, he said. With a view to ensure implementation of the provisions of Section 4 of the RTI. The CentralInformation Commission (CIC) has also prepared a software for transparency audit to facilitate the public authorities (PAs) to conduct third party audit, he said.
During 2020-21, a total of 754 public authorities (PAs) out of 2,275 PAs got their suo motu disclosure audited by third party and the outcome was shared with the PAs, Singh said. A total of 715 PAs out of 2,193 PAs got their suo motu disclosure audited by third party in 2019-20 and the outcome was shared with the PAs, the minister added.

Thursday, July 28, 2022

NIC directs public sector, political parties to implement right to information

Khabarhub: Kathmandu: Thursday, 28 July 2022.
The National Information Commission (NIC) has directed public sector and political parties to implement people’s right to information.
Clause 3 (1) in the Right to Information Act, 2064 has guaranteed right of Nepali citizens to information and Clause 3 (2) has ensured access to information for Nepali citizens, the Commission stated in a statement issued on Wednesday.
Public sector as per the laws should update and publicize its activities once every three months.
But most of the registered political parties are found to have violated right to information, according to the statement.
The Commission has pointed out an important and leading role of political parties in implementing right to information.
It has directed the public sector to provide information to Nepali citizens in a feasible way and within the stipulated deadline as per the Right to Information Act, 2064.

Delhi HC Dismisses RTI Appeal Seeking Disclosure Of Collegium Agenda

Businessworld: Article: Thursday, 28 July 2022.
The plea challenged single judge order whereby Central Information Commission's order rejecting RTI appeal was upheld.
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday dismissed an appeal challenging a single judge’s order quashing a plea seeking the agenda of the Supreme Court collegium’s meeting on December 12, 2018 when certain decisions were purportedly taken on elevation of judges to the apex court.
A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad said the order of the single judge on a petition by activist Anjali Bhardwaj did not require any interference.
Bhardwaj’s appeal was filed challenging the single judge’s March 30 order by which it had dismissed her petition against the Central Information Commission’s order rejecting an RTI appeal seeking the agenda of the Supreme Court collegium’s meeting.
The single judge had said that in the absence of any formal resolution being adopted and signed by the members of the Supreme Court collegium for the said meeting, the authorities rightly took the position that there was no material that was liable to be disclosed.
The single judge had stated that the collegium is a multi-member body whose decisions stand embodied in resolutions which alone “represent the collective decision taken or the majoritarian view which prevailed and was adopted” and in the present instance, since the issues which arose for discussion remained unresolved or in an inchoate state, no formal resolution came to be drawn up.
The single judge had further said that the petitioner’s submissions “addressed in the backdrop of certain newspaper reports are noticed only to be rejected” as such reports have no evidentiary value and it would be transgressing its limitations if cognisance were to be taken of such “unsubstantiated and unverified reports”.
Before the single judge, the petitioner had challenged the CIC’s December 16, 2021 order by which her second appeal was dismissed and had sought a direction to the authorities to disclose the available information sought for under the February 26, 2019 RTI application.
The petition had said that on January 23, 2019, Justice Madan B Lokur, who was a part of the collegium meeting and retired on December 30, 2018, in an interview expressed his disappointment that the December 12, 2018 collegium resolution was not uploaded on the Supreme Court website.
According to former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi’s autobiography ‘Justice for the Judge’, the names of Justice Pradeep Nandrajog, the then Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court, and Justice Rajendra Menon, the then Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, had received nod for the elevation to the Supreme Court in the collegium meeting on December 12, 2018.
The matter allegedly got leaked after which the issue was kept in abeyance by Justice Gogoi till January, 2019 because of winter break which started on December 15, 2018, the book said.
In January 2019, a new collegium got constituted after the retirement of Justice Lokur.
The new collegium, in its resolution on January 10, 2019, did not clear the names of Justice Nandrajog and Justice Menon for elevation to the Supreme Court, according to the book.
The petition did not mention names of any judges whose names were allegedly cleared.
Initially, Bhardwaj had filed an RTI before the Supreme Court seeking copies of the agenda, decisions taken and resolutions passed in the December 12, 2018 meeting.
However, the Supreme Court Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) refused to provide the information and while disposing the appeal against the denial by the CPIO, the First Appellate Authority (FAA) had held that in view of the subsequent collegium resolution of January 10, 2019, it was clear that though certain decisions were taken in the collegium meeting of December 12, 2018, the required consultations could not be completed and no resolution was formally passed.
The court was further told that in the second appeal, the CIC also relied upon the January 10, 2019 resolution and held that the agenda of the collegium’s December 12, 2018 meeting was clear from the subsequent resolution of January 10, 2019 and the copy of the decision and the resolution of December 2018 did not exist on record in terms of Section 2 (f) of the RTI Act and therefore, could not be supplied to the petitioner.
The petition had sought setting aside of the CIC order on grounds that the petitioner has asked for “a copy of the agenda” of the collegium meeting and not a summary or reference thereof.

Delhi High Court Seeks Centre's Reply On Disclosure Of Statistical Data On State Sponsored E-Surveillance

 Live Law: New Delhi: Thursday, 28 July 2022.
The Delhi High Court has sought a reply from the Central Government within six weeks in a plea seeking disclosure of statistical information pertaining to electronic surveillance.
The single judge bench of Justice Yashwant Varma was dealing with a plea filed by Apar Gupta, a lawyer and the Co-founder and Executive Director of the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), assailing an order dated January 28, 2022 passed by the Central Information Commission under Section 19 of Right to Information Act.
It was the case of the petitioner that there existed no transparency around the use of Electronic Surveillance. As per the petitioner, the public authorities refuse to publish even aggregate statistical information to indicate the adequacy or functioning of the legal supervisory mechanisms of Electronic Surveillance under the 2009 Interception Rules. Thus, on 28 December 2018 he filed six RTI applications seeking information from Ministry of Home Affairs.
The petitioner stated that in 2019, the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) had without application of mind, disposed of the Petitioner's requests for information. First appeals against the same were preferred before the First Appellate Authority (FAA). As per the petitioner, the same were also disposed of without providing any reasons. Thus, Second Appeals were preferred before the Central Information Commission (CIC) on the grounds that FAA's order suffered from non-application of mind, as exemptions under Sections 8(1)(a), 8(1)(g) and 8(1)(h) of the RTI Act were invoked without providing reasons.
In this matter, an order was passed by the High Court on December 2, 2021 wherein the the Central Information Commission was directed to decide the appeals filed by the petitioner within 8 weeks.
The counsel for the Central government sought time from the court to file a reply stating that as per the Telegraph Act, given the sensitive nature of the data, the request for interception is deleted within six months, unless it is required for any investigation.
The counsel appearing for the petitioner submitted that the data sought by him was only statistical (limited to aggregate figures on number of times interception was resorted to) and no granular detail in the form of specific interception orders was required.
The court stated that–
"Mr Ahluwalia, appearing for the respondents, prays that bearing in mind the questions raised in the writ petition, the respondents may be permitted to file a response on merits. Accordingly, let that reply be filed within a period of six weeks."

Covaxin: Unpardonable Lies under RTI by CDSCO

Moneylife: Pune: Thursday, 28 July 2022.
In what can be termed as a brutal assault on the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), which is the nodal authority for drug clearance, says it has no information on the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) suspension of the supply of Covaxin (Bharat Biotech) after the latter’s inspection between 14th–22 March 2022 had identified deficiencies in good manufacturing practices (GMP).
In a hard-hitting report, the WHO has recommended that countries using the vaccine take “action as appropriate’’. Despite the WHO having confirmed that the inspection was conducted along with the CDSCO authorities and a report was promptly submitted to them, the central public information officer (CPIO) of CDSCO has replied under the RTI Act, “No such information is available.”
Thanks to the effort of two young investigative journalists, Saurav Das and Priyanka Pulla, who are pursuing this explosive story, we are able to gauge the dangerous level to which public authorities are denying crucial information that is mandatory under Section 4 of the RTI Act. For, this information pertains to the lives of the people as the vaccine is going to be injected into their bodies, possibly with life-threatening results.
On being denied information, Mr Das has submitted a complaint under Section 18 of the RTI Act before the central information commission (CIC) Delhi, asking for urgent hearing of this Covid-19 related matter. This is on the basis of a Madras High Court order which had ordered CICs to take up the hearing of such second appeals on a priority basis. States Das, “CPIO Sushanta Sarkar’s claim that he has no information is absolutely false and deceitful. It has been provided so as to withhold and suppress vital information of larger public interest, and the same is equivalent to malafide denial of information.’’
Mr Das has asked for the following information:
  1. Whether the CDSCO has taken cognizance of the inspection done by the WHO. If so, kindly provide the date when the matter was put up before the competent authority.
  2. Kindly furnish the action taken if any, on this matter.
  3. Kindly furnish whether Bharat Biotech has been asked for a report or explanation on the matter. If so, the details thereof and a copy of the communication thereof.
  4. Kindly furnish whether the CDSCO or its attached offices has inspected the sites of Bharat Biotech till date. If so, the dates be provided.
  5. Furnish whether any further action is being taken to investigate the claims made in the WHO report, including any site inspections of Bharat Biotech. If so, furnish the details thereof, including the details of the team that will carry out such an inspection.
  6. Whether this public authority has written to the WHO on this matter. If so, furnish the copies of such communication and the reply received, if any.
Meanwhile, journalist Ms Pulla, who communicated with the WHO on this issue has established that CDSCO indeed has the required information which has been denied to Mr Das and her. The email reply sent to Ms Pulla by Tarik Jašarević, spokesperson, media relations, WHO, states, “As per WHO procedure, the National Medicines Regulatory Authority of India, the CDSCO was informed and invited to join the inspection. Inspector from CDSCO joined the team inspecting Bharat (Biotech) for the last two days of the inspection (21 and 22 March 2022).’’
The email (jasarevict@who.int) further states, “A draft inspection report was shared with Bharat (Biotech) on 22 March 2022 immediately after the closing meeting of the site inspection. This email was also copied to the representative of CDSCO. Acknowledgments of receipt of the draft inspection report were received by email from the representative of Bharat Biotech and also from the CDSCO inspector, both on 23.03.22. Subsequently, a meeting was held by WHO with CDSO and the Drug Controller-General of India in late March 2022 to discuss the findings in the report and agree on the next steps. The final inspection report was sent by the WHO PQT Inspection Team to Bharat (Biotech) on 30.03.22, with the confirmations of receipt received from Bharat (Biotech)’s CEO.’’
Ms Pulla, who had also used RTI to procure information but was denied, emailed the WHO spokesperson, for the information, stating, “After I wrote this story for Science Mag, I asked the CDSCO under India's RTI Act for a copy of the WHO inspection report. They responded saying they didn't have any such document. Subsequently, I filed a second RTI asking for a copy of any written communication from the WHO to CDSCO, or any report prepared internally by CDSCO following the inspection. The CDSCO responded saying they didn't have any such documents either. So, I would like to know from the WHO if it shared its inspection report with the CDSCO, or sent any form of written communication about the inspection to the agency related to the inspection? Please do clarify.’’
Mr Das, in his complaint to Central Information Commission (CIC), has appealed for the CPIO “to be punished with nothing less than a recommendation for disciplinary action for acting in the most malafide manner by providing, deliberately, false information. And that all associated deemed CPIOs be also punished in the same manner.’’
He is rightly aggrieved that the CDSCO has repeatedly denied information on Covaxin when asked under RTI.
As per the 2019-CT Rules and the Hdbk-ClinTrial, CDSCO is the regulatory authority responsible for clinical trial oversight, approval, and inspections in India. The CDSCO is headed by the drugs controller general of India (DCGI). Therefore, it is difficult to accept the submission of the CDSCO that the WHO report on Covaxin relevant to the present case was never received by the CDSCO and that it has no information whatsoever on the matter. The same reeks of malice and utter lies.

Wednesday, July 27, 2022

BJP prepares 25,000 RTI queries to bombard GPs and MPDO offices

The New Indian Express: Hyderabad: Wednesday, 27 July 2022.
The Right to Information campaign of the BJP is set to turn into a state-wide movement, as around 25,000 RTI queries are being dispatched to all 12,769 gram panchayat offices, and MPDO offices in all mandals across Telangana.
Former BJP State president N Indrasena Reddy himself donned the hat of an RTI activist, as he kept signing all the RTI queries which were addressed to the public information officers of the respective offices. The RTI applications will be first sent to BJP’s RTI Cell district conveners, who will then dispatch them to the party workers in the mandals and gram panchayats, who will then submit them at the respective government offices and take receipts.
The RTI queries to the gram panchayat offices include funds received through the Central Finance Commissions, State Finance Commissions, income of the GPs through various taxes, sand quarries, seigniorage fee, stamp duty and market CESS. Information is being sought on how all these funds have been spent since 2014 in the GP. Information on resolutions adopted by gram sabhas, attendance, minutes and data pertaining to drinking water connections before 2014 and after implementation of Mission Bhagiratha is also being sought.
At the mandal-level, there are four types of RTIs being filed in MPDO offices, including queries related to the funds spent from Central, State and Gram Panchayat funds to pay bills to contractors for various works since 2014, information about funds spent on crematoria, dhobi ghats, NREGS works, construction of roads under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna, construction of toilets, funds spent on Aasara pensions with number of beneficiaries as per their categories and so on.
Specific to agriculture, information is being sought on Central and State funds spent on construction of Rythu Vedikas, and for implementation of schemes for the farmers’ welfare.The booth-level activists of BJP will have plenty of work to do, as they are the ones who are being entrusted with disseminating the information from the RTI replies to their villagers.
“There will be meetings held in every village, posters and banners will be displayed to inform the people who have been unaware about where all the funds were coming from. The party workers will go door-to-door explaining how the State government has been misappropriating the Central funds as their own,” Indrasena Reddy added.
The party leaders say that the RTIs being filed are just the beginning of a continuous exercise, where information related to many other subjects will be filed in the near future.“Though the immediate objective of the RTI campaign is to expose the State government’s false propaganda and its failures, its larger impact will be seen in the near future, as people will become more politically enlightened, will start questioning and seeking the truth,” stated Anthony Reddy, BJP’s legal cell convener.

HC seeks govt stand on RTI seeking data on snooping

Times of India: New Delhi: Wednesday, 27 July 2022.
The Delhi HC on Tuesday sought the Centre's stand on a petition seeking disclosure under the Right to Information Act of "aggregate figures" on electronic surveillance after the Union home ministry said it did not retain such "sensitive" information beyond six months.
Justice Yashwant Varma granted the Centre six weeks to file its response to the petition, which challenges a Central Information Commission (CIC) refusal to order disclosure of such data.
Seeking time to file its response, the Centre told the court during Tuesday's hearing that under the Telegraph Act, requests for interception of telephones and devices- were deleted within six months, unless required for any investigation.
However, the counsel for the petitioner, Apar Gupta, highlighted the point that the plea was merely seeking data on "how many times" such interceptions were resorted to.
Gupta had in December 2018 filed six RTI applications wanting to know the number of orders passed under the Information Technology Act for electronic surveillance in a certain period. The CIC turned down his application, going by the "bald" and "belated" averments of the Union home ministry that the data sought was no longer available as it had been destroyed, Gupta's plea says.
However, the plea points out that the ministry did not cite any statutory provision or an internal policy/SOP that supports its stand.
"No personally identifiable information was sought in the RTI queries. The petitioner did not ask for details of specific interception orders or the identity or profile of the targeted individuals but instead sought anonymised and aggregate figures to understand the extent of state surveillance. Further, the queries relate to data that the respondents ought to have in their possession since only the MHA is empowered to issue such orders," the plea says.
The petition has said that in the absence of rules on weeding out documents during the pendency of RTI proceedings, the court should lay down guidelines.

Tarbha NAC denies info to RTI query

Daily Pioneer: Bhubaneswar: Wednesday, 27 July 2022.
Despite the tall claims of transparency under the much-touted 5T initiative of the State Government, a clear case of careless official response to queries under the Right to Information (RTI) Act has come to the fore.
Recently, a Sonepur based RTI activist Srikumar Mahanta, submitted an RTI application to Tarbha Notified Area Council (NAC) seeking specific information about Government funds sactioned to the NAC.
Mahanta, through an RTI application, had asked the Public Information Officer (PIO) of the Tarbha NAC to supply details regarding the funds sanctioned year wise to Tarbha NAC since 2010 to till date from Housing and Urban Development Department for the purpose of plantation of trees and the photocopies of the photo of trees, which have planted during that year.
Mahanta submitted the RTI application on June 3, 2022. However, the NAC officials had not given a single reply although more than a month has been passed, in order to evade a direct response to the specific query.
Interestingly, according to the provisions of the RTI Act, the PIOs are required to transfer the applications within a maximum period of five days (from the date of actual receipt of query) to the concerned departments under which they think specific information can be available.
As the authorities failed to provide the information, Mahanta moved the Odisha Information Commission and filed a complaint against Public Information Officer (PIO) Biswa Ranjan Naik of Tarbha NAC.
Meanwhile, Mahanta has also given a petition to the Collector cum District Magistrate Aboli Sunil Narvane urging her to direct the authorities to supply the details and punish the officials responsible for denying him his right to information under Section 20(I) of RTI Act.

Tuesday, July 26, 2022

जनसूचना उपलब्ध कराने में आगरा मंडल की स्थिति खराब:67 अधिकारियों पर लगा 16.75 लाख का जुर्माना, राज्य सूचना आयुक्त दो दिन करेंगे जनसुनवाई.

Bhaskar News: Agra: Tuesday, July 26, 2022.
सूचना का अधिकार के तहत सूचना देने में आगरा मंडल की स्थिति बेहद खराब है। राज्य सूचना आयुक्त अजय कुमार उप्रेती ने मंडल के जन सूचना अधिकारियों के साथ बैठक में इस बात को कहा। उन्होंने कई कार्यालयों में जन सूचना अधिकारी और प्रथम अपीलीय अधिकारी का नाम न लिखे होने पर नाराजगी जताई।
आगरा मंडल के 67 अधिकारियों पर लगा जुर्माना
सूचना का अधिकार अधिनियम 2005 के तहत लंबित मामले और अन्य मुद्दों को लेकर राज्य सूचना आयुक्त ने मंडलायुक्त सभागार में बैठक की। बैठक में मंडल के सभी जिलों के जन सूचना अधिकारी उपस्थित रहे। राज्य सूचना आयुक्त ने सूचना अधिनियम 2005 व सूचना नियमावली 2015 के बारे में विस्तार से बताया। जन सूचना अधिकारियों से संवाद करते हुए उनको होने वाली समस्याओं के बारे में जाना और उनका निराकरण किया। उन्होंने कहाकि अगर सूचना, कार्यालय में उपलब्ध नहीं है तो जवाब में स्पष्ट लिखें। सिर्फ कार्यालय में उपलब्ध सूचना देनी है। सूचना का संकलन कर नहीं देना है।
उन्होंने निर्देश दिए कि 30 दिन में मांगी गई सूचना का जवाब अवश्य दें। सभी विभागों को जन सूचना अधिकारी तथा प्रथम अपीलीय अधिकारी का नाम जरूर लिखा होना चाहिए। उन्होंने कहा कि देखने में आया है कि कई विभागों में सूचना व अपीलीय अधिकारी का नाम नहीं है, ऐसे कार्यालयों का निरीक्षण कर कार्रवाई की जाएगी। सूचना छिपाना, नष्ट करना, जानबूझ कर भ्रामक सूचना देना दंडनीय है।
आगरा मंडल की स्थिति ज्यादा अच्छी नहीं है। यहां 67 जनसूचना अधिकारियों पर 16 लाख 75 हजार रुपए का जुर्माना राज्य सूचना आयोग द्वारा लगाया गया है। उन्होंने कहाकि किसी भी मांगी गई सूचना के प्रति संवेदनशीलता से कार्यवाही करें। सूचना देते समय जनहित को वरीयता दें।
आगरा में दो दिन होगी जनसुनवाई
उन्होंने कहाकि लखनऊ जाकर अधिकारियों, कर्मचारियों व लोगों को परेशान होना पड़ता है। ऐसे में लोगों की सहूलियत के लिए आयोग अब हर मंडल स्तर पर जनसुनवाई कर रहा है। जिससे लंबित पडे़ प्रकरण पर निर्णय किया जा सके। इसके तहत आगरा में 26 व 27 जुलाई को आरटीआई से संबंधित 479 मामलों की सुनवाई की जाएगी।

Rs 20 lakh being spent on paint, repair works on each Mohalla clinic in Punjab: RTI.

PTC News: Mohali: Tuesday, July 26, 2022.
The Punjab Government is all set to launch its flagship health project — mohalla clinics — this Independence Day. The AAP Government, led by Bhagwant Mann, has decided to use infrastructure of non-functional Sewa Kendras to establish mohalla clinics.
According to sources in the Health Department, 140 Sewa Kendras have been identified in urban areas in the first phase. During the SAD-BJP government in Punjab, more than 2,100 Sewa Kendras were established, of which only 500 are functional at present.
However, information sought under the RTI Act by activist Manik Goyal from Mansa reveals that despite the preexisting infrastructure at Sewa Kendras, the Bhagwant Mann Mann government is set to spend Rs 20 lakh on each clinic just, pointing towards mere a "beautification drive". These startling figures have landed the AAP government in trouble as the opposition is raising much hue and cry over extravagant renovation cost”.
Arshdeep Singh Kaler, a senior leader of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), while taking a jibe at the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government said, “The Aam Admi party hasn’t even moved a brick, yet pushed the state in a debt of Rs 10,000 crore and that money is being used for campaigning in Himachal and Gujarat, where the Assembly elections are due. They are looting people. When all Seva Kendras are already equipped with infrastructure, furniture and electrical appliances then why is the Punjab Government is spending another Rs 20 lakh. Punjabis are being deceived.”
A senior health functionary said these sewa kendras already had the facility of Internet and air conditioning, so these could be utilised without much effort.