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RTIUA Newsreports - Monday, 09 January 2012

News from RTI Users Association
Monday, 09 January 2012

Top Downloads

Right to Informati....	207
Sample RTI Applica....	186
RTI Rules - Centra....	117
Right to Informati....	111
GoI (DoPT) Report ....	110

Modi fasts: RTI activists move CIC against CMO
[News]

Two Vadodara-based RTI activists, Rohit Prajapati and Trupti Shah, have filed an appeal before the Chief Information Commissioner against the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) in connection with their RTI application demanding details related to the expenses incurred on the Narendra Modi’s Sadbhavana fast programme from September 17-19.

In their appeal moved before the RTI Commissioner, the two have demanded that a fine of Rs 25,000 be imposed on the CMO for failing to provide the information and a direction to it to provide the same for free.

In their RTI application dated September 17, 2011, Prajapati and Shah had demanded a number of details relating to the expenditure incurred during Modi’s Sadbhavana fast programme. According to Shah, the CMO transferred the RTI application to the home department, which disposed of the application after providing partial information, saying other details would be available with other departments of the government and so it should be sought from the concerned departments.
Shah has said the CMO must know as to which details are available with which department and they ought to have either collected those details from those departments and given to them or could have directed them to specific departments.

Source: Indian Express

RTI: No survey done for Rs 6.5-cr BKC cycle track
[News]

It has come to light that the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) went ahead with the Rs 6.48-crore cycling track project at BKC -- which turned out to be a whopping failure --without doing its homework. A Right To Information (RTI) application filed by a Mumbai-based NGO has revealed that the authority wasted public money on the cycling track without even doing a feasibility study or survey.

Chairman of NGO Athak Seva Sangh, Anil Galgali, had filed the application with the MMRDA, asking whether the track, inaugurated by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan in April last year, was backed by any survey on its possible and practical uses. "In response to my query, the MMRDA stated that no survey was done regarding the project or the number of people deemed likely to use it. This shows how some clever officers are going ahead and wasting public money without taking other officials into confidence."

Graft allegation
In the RTI response, the MMRDA also stated that it has paid the entire project cost to the contractor, as the work done on the cycling track was up to the mark. However, one glance at the track would reveal how shoddily the work was done.

Galgali said, "How can MMRDA be satisfied with the project work? Any layman who goes and inspects the track will come to know what the reality is. The condition of the track is pathetic even though it was inaugurated barely 8-9 months ago. Hardly anyone uses it. Bicycle riders prefer driving on the road as the uneven patches on the track surface can cause skids and accidents. This proves that the project fell victim to massive corruption, and that it was a plan to pocket money by awarding tenders to contractors.

Soon after the track's inauguration, MiD DAY had reported ('Mr CM, see what you inaugurated!') how the MMRDA had got the CM to inaugurate a track before it was even completed. Even at the time of the function, the track was rugged and bumpy at many spots. In fact, many times, four-wheelers are parked on the unused track.

'Take action'
The activist has now written (copy of letter with MiD DAY) to Chavan, who is also MMRDA chairman, and to Rahul Asthana, MMRDA commissioner asking for immediate action against the officer responsible for planning the project. The letter states that the loss of Rs 6.48 crore, which indirectly accrues to the exchequer, should be recovered from the salary of the officers who implemented the project.

"It is my request to the CM and the MMRDA commissioner that they should recover the money wasted on the project from the salary of Additional Metropolitan Commissioner S V R Srinivas, as I have heard that the project was his brainwave," Galgali said.

Did you know?
MMRDA started work on the 13-km cycling track project at G Block in BKC on October 19, 2010 and the track was inaugurated on April 23, 2011 by CM Prithviraj Chavan.

The other side
Additional Metropolitan Commissioner S V R Srinivas said, "We came up with this project to promote cycling and we are confident that people will start using the track soon. They are not using it because there are no cycles available. Soon we will have a tie-up with a company that will provide cycles on rent." Will MMRDA act against the contractor? "The project is in the defect liability so we will ask the contractor to maintain the cycling track," he said.

Officer pulled up
Highly-placed sources in the authority told this newspaper that after the RTI was filed, a very senior MMRDA official immediately called on the officer who had planned the project and asked him to give a clarification. "The senior officer told him (officer in-charge of the project) that due to lack of planning on his part, the authority had to face criticism from the public and the media due to the failure of the cycling track project," said the source from MMRDA, requesting anonymity.

Source: Mid-Day

"Citizens' Voice" for "RTI Users Association" © 2006-2011
RTI Users Association, GPO Box No 9, Sector 17-E, Chandigarh (UT) 160 017 :: INDIA

RTIUA Newsreports - Monday, 27 June 2011

News from RTI Users Association
Monday, 27 June 2011

Top Downloads

Right to Informati....	207
Sample RTI Applica....	183
RTI Rules - Centra....	117
Right to Informati....	111
GoI (DoPT) Report ....	110

NHAI casual on RTI queries
[News]

NHAI_big NAGPUR: It is not only the compensatory plantation drive that has been taken lightly by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) on Nagpur-Amravati road, RTI queries are also being treated casually by its officials.

Information sought by green activist Shrikant Deshpande of Nature Conservation Association (NCA) on tree felling and environment loss caused due to four-laning between Talegaon and Amravati stretch has been given a negative reply by the officials.

Deshpande had posed 17 questions to NHAI officials. Some of the vital queries included number of trees chopped and how many more were going to be cut between Talegaon and Amravati. However, project director B B Ikhe, Amravati implementation unit, failed to supply information.

Similarly, information related to environmental loss caused due to massive tree felling was also not provided. Deshpande was also not supplied copy of the environment impact assessment (EIA). The NHAI has said EIA report is not available. The green activist had filed a PIL in the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court against large scale felling of trees on Amravati road for four-laning and violations in compensatory plantations thereof.

Deshpande said in the similar matter, he was earlier supplied a copy of EIA by NHAI when the implementation unit office was in Nashik. "What is the problem now?" he asks. Many of his queries have been answered in a casual manner, Deshpande alleged.

CBI cites exemption, refuses info on graft
[News]

NEW DELHI: The CBI has refused to make public information about disproportionate asset cases against government servants, including bureaucrats and ministers, after last week's exemption under RTI Act given by the government.

The Centre, through a notification issued on June 9, placed the agency in the organisations listed in the second schedule of Section 24 of the RTI Act which also comprises intelligence and security agencies.

"The government of India has placed the Central Bureau of Investigation at Serial Number 23 of the second schedule of the Right to Information Act, this Act is not applicable to the Central Bureau of Investigation," CBI joint director Prabodh Kumar told activist S C to Agrawal recently, while refusing him information.

Agrawal had filed four RTI applications three months before CBI got exemption, seeking details of corruption cases accusing officials and ministers of amassing disproportionate assets. The questions asked by him pertained to recoveries done by the agency from accused and fine slapped on corrupt officials on the orders of courts.

The Central Public Information Officer of the agency refused to provide information, saying it was "voluminous". In his appeal before the Central Information Commission, Agrawal pleaded that since his RTI petition and first appeal were filed before the date of notification exempting CBI, provisions of the said notification should not be applicable to his case.

Agrawal said such a step would further increase misuse of CBI by political rulers for their political requirements as was evident in many cases, a fact also endorsed by former CBI directors.

Source: The Tmes Of India

"Citizens' Voice" for "RTI Users Association" © 2006-2011
RTI Users Association, GPO Box No 9, Sector 17-E, Chandigarh (UT) 160 017 :: INDIA

RTIUA Newsreports - Monday, 06 June 2011

News from RTI Users Association
Monday, 06 June 2011

Top Downloads

Right to Informati....	207
Sample RTI Applica....	182
RTI Rules - Centra....	116
Right to Informati....	111
GoI (DoPT) Report ....	110

GPS installation issue now under RTI scanner
[News]

GPS in autos NEW DELHI: The issue of installation of GPS devices in autorickshaws refuses to die down. Now, a day before the government starts its drive to install the devices, a deluge of RTI queries on the government's decision to scrap the call-on-demand facility has stumped the transport department.

Sources in the department say that hundreds of RTI queries have come in since the announcement of the scrapping of the call-on-demand facility from the GPS device to be installed in autorickshaws. Said a senior official, "The perception seems to be that the government has succumbed to the pressures of the auto unions." The transport department had announced call-on-demand service on the lines of radio taxi when auto and taxi fares were revised in June 2010. The department had proposed to set up a call centre where people could call and book an auto. The call centre would have traced the auto nearest to the place from where the call had come and would have asked the auto driver to pick the passenger.

However, with the government initially keeping the price of the device at Rs 15,000, the auto unions had threatened to go on strike, claiming the price was too high. While the government agreed to bring down the price by half of the GPS device, the call-on-demand facility was axed from the features being offered. Interestingly, despite the climb-down by the government, auto unions are still unwilling to shell out the money. Now, the offer of payment in installments of Rs 625, which includes the monthly maintenance charges, to some of the auto drivers is being asked to be extended to all three-wheeler rickshaws (TSRs), say unions.

That's not the only problem. Sources say that the uncertainty over the installation has hit the company which was to install the devices as well. Said a senior government official, "The company had agreed to install the devices, which are quite expensive, on the basis of payment in instalments. But now, with the government also asking for a bank guarantee, the company seems to have developed cold feet." Sources said that the company had reportedly refused to go ahead with the project, citing inability to bear losses if the project doesn't take off. Government officials however, say that discussions are on with the company to ensure that the project gets underway by the deadline.

According to estimates, an autorickshaw runs a minimum of 200km a day. Last year, when the government had raised TSR fares, 50 paise was earmarked for the GPS device. Based on this, for every 200km run daily, the autorickshaw owner makes Rs 100 extra every day (Rs 3,000 a month and Rs 36,000 a year). He has to however, pay only Rs 7,500 a year for the GPS.

Source- Times Of India

Students employ RTI to bring change
[News]

Nine RTI applications have been filed by the schoolchildren in UP government's health department demanding information on why tobacco retail shops are allowed to operate within 100 yards of educational institutions in violation of the ban, who is responsible to enforce tobacco laws in Lucknow, what action should be taken against the official concerned for not enforcing tobacco laws in the city and by when the tobacco shops within 100 yards of educational institutions will be removed.

One of the applicants, Rahul asked when all the tobacco shops within 100 yards of educational institutions in the entire state will be re moved. He also asked how many people so far have been fined for smoking in public places in the state.

Source- Times Of India

Students employ RTI to bring change

Cong, BJP use RTI to score political brownies
[News]

LUCKNOW: It proved to be a tough day for Bahujan Samaj Party, as both the Congress and Bharatiya Janta Party quoted RTI records to raise a question mark over its functioning. UPCC chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi presented before the media the discrepancy in the fund utilisation rate over past three years, while BJP national secretary Kirit Somaiya flaunted evidences about two benami transactions to convert acquired Noida land into luxury farm houses.

Joshi on Monday alleged that official records of expenditure on drugs and surgical instruments sanctioned and bought under National Rural Health Mission put the BSP regime in dock. Joshi indicated the big leap of 87 per cent in the expenditure graph over the past three years and showed how UP spent only one per cent of the sanctioned amount (Rs 60,000 out of Rs 62,97,02,000) during 2007-08.

In 2008-2009, expenditure rose by 33 per cent, as Rs 29,98,41,481 out of Rs 91,92,76,500 were shown utilised by the health department. However in 2009-2010, the figure of utilised sum shot up by surprising 87 per cent. Official records showed that against Rs 114,73,91,000 sanctioned under the centrally sponsored scheme, the state heath machinery spent Rs 100,29,96,802.

Alleging a set pattern in the erratic graph, Joshi said that the intention behind the move was very clear. "Officers very well know that Maya government is on its way out and this is the last chance they have of pilferage. Hence, the unseemly haste to lay hands on and take home as much as they could," she said.

Joshi also claimed that the information provided by her could be a vital clue to the murder of the CMO's, as there seems to be a definite connection between the two incidents. BJP leader Kirit Somaiya focused on the case of two fictitious companies, which started with the capital fund of Rs 1 lakh - MSR Kunal Infratech and Great Value Build Well Pvt Ltd, were gifted agricultural land for setting up luxury farmhouses in Noida.

The RTI inquiry, he said, also revealed that the farmers were paid Rs 80 per square feet as compensation, while the actual market price of land is estimated between Rs 1500 and Rs 2000 square feet. The RTI reply claimed the BJP leader, also showed that the transfer of land took place before the legal formalities for floating a company were fulfilled. "Both were obviously benami transaction to oblige people close to power," he said.

Source- Times Of India

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RTI work comes to a standstill as Jannat holidays
[News]

HYDERABAD: The RTI story in Andhra Pradesh is on its death bed. Here's why: A total of 6,200 applications at the state information commission are awaiting hearings and disposal.

An additional 400 applications are added to this number each month. The disposal rate of RTI application has been an abysmal 80 a month. But chief information commissioner Jannat Hussain isn't really feeling the burden of these pending files. For, the man at the helm is on a month-long vacation.

Hussain is the only authority to dispose applications with no information commissioner appointed so far. And this is not the first vacation he has taken. In April, the commission could dispose only 78 cases as the CIC was on a two weeks leave then. "Being at such a crucial post of CIC, he should have reconsidered his decision of taking this vacation, as he had already taken a two weeks leave. If he is not responsible, who else would be," said Rakesh Reddy Dubbudu, an RTI activist.

Going by the current pace of work at the commission, it will take five years for the pending applications to be cleared. The commission is on vacation from May 2 to June 3.

What has got the goat of activists and RTI applicants is the huge loss to the exchequer on account of one person's disinterest in his job. Apart from the annual budget of Rs 2.45 crore earmarked for the commission (2010-11), the CIC's monthly remuneration adds up to Rs 1.3 lakh which includes HRA, DA and bill reimbursements. He is also entitled to LTA, education allowance for children, a car and government accomodation. Activists question the expenditure since the commission is practically defunct. "It was bad even during C D Arha's time but at least then there were information commissioners and at least 50 per cent of the cases were being disposed,'' said sources at the commission.

Hussain's vacation is also being questioned since a four-week break is permissible only if there is at least one information commissioner holding fort to dispose emergency applications. "The CIC has violated the rules of the commission by taking this leave. There is no one in the office to look into the cases and the commission is unofficially closed," said Umesh Varma, an RTI activist.

17% posts in Mantralaya are lying vacant, shows RTI query
[News]

If your administrative work is stuck in any of the government departments in the state secretariat, you may blame the delay on the shortage of staff here. Across 28 departments in the Mantralaya, there is a shortage of about 16.75% in the sanctioned manpower. This was revealed through a Right to Information (RTI) application filed by Mohammad Afzal, RTI activist.

The staff crunch is more prevalent among class II and class III officials --comprising section officers, clerks, stenographers, and typists - at 22%. Among class IV employees, the shortage of manpower stands at 16%
On the contrary, in class I posts, which include senior officials, who are largely signatory authorities and policy planners, vacancy stands at 7 %.

The RTI application, filed in General Administrative Department (GAD) of Mantralaya, also revealed that of 109 posts sanctioned for class III steno typists, 71 (65 per cent) are vacant, while 38 are filled. Similarly, of the 266 class II lower grade steno posts only, 164 are filled and 102 are vacant.

“Most of the departments in the Mantralaya do a lot of paper work, therefore there is a great need for clerks, typists, peons and stenos. The class I officials are signatory authorities, who just approve of the final file, but the proposals have to reach them via a thorough process, for which basic staff is required,” said Afzal. “A lot of proposals are stuck mid-way, as there is a lack of staff to attend to them at the preliminary and middle stages,” he added.

Shailesh Gandhi, central information commissioner, said, “Shortage of staff is found in almost all the states. The government has been reluctant in employing people. Work at many places is not computerised. So, even a 15-20% shortage in staff affects the productivity,” he said.

Nandkumar Jantare, secretary, General Administrative Department, Mantralaya said, “We are 15-20% short-staffed due to some awaiting promotions and a stay on recruitment. Now, once the stay is lifted things will improve. Besides, now with computerisation the number of staff required for doing clerical work has reduced and therefore the shortage need not affect the productivity.”

Source- Hindustan Times

RTI: Pathetic state of implementation
[News]

JAIPUR: For a government harping on transparency and accountability, a glance through the websites of various departments brings to the fore the pathetic state of the implementation of the RTI Act. Incidentally, it was Rajasthan that laid the foundation for this law.

A survey by the Suchna Evum Rozgar Ka Adhikar Abhiyan, based on the websites of 64 government departments, shows that there are at least 17 departments that do not have a public information officer (PIO) or an appellate authority either at the office level or at the department level. Apart from this there are seven other departments that do not have PIOs or an appellate authority at the office level though they have such posts at the department level.

The survey reveals that out of the 52 departments just 30 have PIOs and 26 have an appellate authority at the office level. There are 12 departments that do not require to have such posts at the office level. At the department level, out of the 64 departments 46 have PIOs and 40 have appellate authorities.

According to Section 4 and 5 of the Act not only does every office have to have a PIO and an appellate authority but their names must also be displayed prominently outside the offices so that any new comer can approach them for information.

Among the government departments that do not have a PIO or an appellate authority at any level, and hence are the least transparent, are archaeology and museum, CM's relief fund, board of technical education, directorate of evaluation organisation, directorate of literacy and continuing education, directorates of watershed development and soil conservation, general administration and cabinet secretariat, excise, medical education, medical health and family welfare, Rajasthan police, redressal of public grievances, science and technology, technical education, tourism, urban development and housing and the geographical information system.

"This is absolutely pathetic. The Act had made it mandatory that every department and office should have a PIO within 120 days of the implementation of the RTI Act but now it is close to six years and still there are so many departments that have these offices vacant," says Kamal Tak of the Abhiyan.

The Abhiyan has also written a letter to the principal secretary of the administrative reforms department bringing to light the anomalies and has urged him to take immediate action.

Source- Times Of India

Students employ RTI to bring change
[News]

LUCKNOW: Some schoolchildren in the city on Saturday launched a campaign against smoking and sale of tobacco products at public places by filing applications under the Right To Information (RTI) Act 2005.

Nine RTI applications have been filed by the schoolchildren in UP government's health department demanding information on why tobacco retail shops are allowed to operate within 100 yards of educational institutions in violation of the ban, who is responsible to enforce tobacco laws in Lucknow, what action should be taken against the official concerned for not enforcing tobacco laws in the city and by when the tobacco shops within 100 yards of educational institutions will be removed.

One of the applicants, Rahul asked when all the tobacco shops within 100 yards of educational institutions in the entire state will be re moved. He also asked how many people so far have been fined for smoking in public places in the state.

Another RTI application was filed on why children and youths below 18 years of age are allowed to buy or sell tobacco when it is prohibited, what action has been taken, why these children are not going to schools in the era of Right To Education (RTE).

A student has filed RTI applications with the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) demanding information on why garbage is dumped at public places, who is responsible to remove it, what action will be taken and by when garbage will be removed. Another student has pointed out that some residents in Indiranagar have put up iron gates at the entrance road of their locality barring movement of others. He has asked the Lucknow Municipal Corporation if such a thing is allowed under the law and if not who is responsible to take corrective measures.

Most of the children who have filed applications are students of class IX to class XII.

These students were part of the recently held summer training camp in which they were taught by Magsaysay award winner social activist Sandeep Pandey and social activist Bobby Ramakant as how to draft an RTI application and use it as a tool to curb corruption and make state government agencies do their job.

The RTI applications filed by the students are the practical of what they had learnt in the camp. Those who have filed the RTI applications include Jatin Arora, Sarvesh Kumar Shukla, Sachidananda Pandey, Nadeem Salmani, Anand Pathak, Dileep Sharma, Rahul Kumar and Ritesh.

"Using RTI is an empowering experience because we can have our say on weak or poor implementation of health and development laws in our city," said Sachidanand Pandey. "Just by writing an application on a plain paper, we can demand information from government departments is what we have realised now," said Pandey.

"There should be a ban on the sale of mouth fresheners and sweet supari or 'paan masala without tobacco' in plastic sachets – even they affect environment," said Dileep Sharma, a class XII student.

"Spitting should not be allowed – why is there no law here in Lucknow to ban spitting of chewing tobacco," said Jatin Arora, a student of class XII.

The students were part of a recently held summer training camp in which they were taught by Magsaysay award winner Sandeep Pandey and social activist Bobby Ramakant as how to draft an RTI application and use it as a tool to curb corruption.

Source- Times Of India

"Citizens' Voice" for "RTI Users Association" © 2006-2011
RTI Users Association, GPO Box No 9, Sector 17-E, Chandigarh (UT) 160 017 :: INDIA

RTI Users Association

Modi fasts: RTI activists move CIC against CMO

Added by: Manu Moudgil

RTI: No survey done for Rs 6.5-cr BKC cycle track

Added by: Manu Moudgil

Special session to dispose of pending RTI appeals from Mumbai HQ

Added by: Manu Moudgil

To dispose of pending Right To Information (RTI) appeals, state information commissioner Vijay Kuvalekar will hold Special Appeal Disposal Programme at Ramnath Anandilal Podar Medical College (Ayurved) in Worli on January 4, 5 and 6.Till November 30, more than 19,000 appeals were pending
with the state information commission office. Almost 2,200-2,500 new appeals are filed in the state every month.

“As part of this programme, the appellant, public information officer (PIO) and first appellate authority will be brought on one dais to discuss the appeal. We would only supervise the interaction wit...............++++

Five years of the sunshine Act

Added by: Manu Moudgil

While the CIC has been found wanting in its duties, the RTI Act has only been going stronger with every passing year. GOI Monitor accessed and assessed the data related to its performance at the central level in first five years of the Act’s existence. Here are the highs and lows.

The most heartening fact to be noted is that citizens of the country are increasingly arming themselves with the provisions of the legislation and turning India into a democratic country in its true sense. This is evident with the steady increase in number of requests for information filed with various public authorit...............++++

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Proposed ‘Whistle-blowers protection’ legislation will only help the corrupt

Proposed ‘Whistle-blowers protection’ legislation will only helps the corrupt The proposed "Public Interest Disclosure (Protection of Informers) Bill" recently cleared by the 'Union Cabinet' is being criticised by the activists working on corruption issues. Calling it a cheating and a cheap trick by the politicians on the people of India, citizen groups have questioned the intent of the Government to keep the proposed legislation under the wraps and approving it without any public discussion or debate.

In a meeting conducted by civil society organisations, 'Burning Brain Society,' 'Citizens Voice' and 'RTI Users Association' on the issue, the activists said that most of the provisions in the proposed legislation come from the 2003 draft proposal of the legislation placed by the law commission which actually favours the bureaucrats and in a way create deterrence in exposing corruption, instead of facilitating whistle blowers. Moreover the NGO's asserted that post 2005, even individuals who are using 'Right to Information' to expose corruption needs protection.

Top Downloads

Right to Informati....	207
Sample RTI Applica....	186
RTI Rules - Centra....	117
Right to Informati....	111
GoI (DoPT) Report ....	110