I  have asked  Two Information in separate application Under RTI Act to the Public Information officer of Town Police Station, Puri on 21 July 2011 by Speed Post (As the PIO-cum-IIC  Inspector Bijayananda Mohanty refused to take the Application by hand)

1.      RTI  Application No. 01-  Property statement of Inspector Bijayananda Mohanty of Town Police Station, Puri.

2.      RTI  Application No. 02- Information regarding the FRI No. 189 of 2010.

Both the Speed Post envelopes containing RTI Application returned to me with an endorsement by the Postman “Refused to Accept” on 26^th Jul 2011 ( dear friends you can imagine the daringness of the PIO-cum-IIC of one Police Station to do this unlawful act  by refusing to accept one Speed Post Envelop, this Police Station is looking after the law and order of an area which is consisting more than Two Lakhs of Population,  Suppose instead of RTI Application if it would have been a Complaint sent by Speed Post by one Helpless  Rape Victim and the Inspector of that Police Station is refusing to accept the Speed Post Letter then what type of justice the rape victim can get from the Odisha Police!)

Then I appealed to the First Appellate Authority of District Police Office, Puri (Superintendent of Police) on 29 Jul 2010, the Appellate Authority ordered the PIO Inspector Bijayananda Mohanty to provide information within Seven days & give explanation for refusing to accept the Speed Post RTI Application, but no action was taken by the PIO.

Appeals and Complaint cases was filed with Information Commissioner on 17 Oct 2011 (C.C. NO 4381 & 4382 of 2011/ SA 411 & 422 of 2011), Both the complaint cases were heard carelessly on 12.12.2011 by Chief Information Commissioner Tarun Kanti Mishra (without giving intimation to both the parties), he has completed his formality by asking explanation from the PIO for imposition of Penalty (Till date it is not known whether any explanation was given by the PIO or not, I am sure that no further action is being taken by Sri Tarun Kanti Mishra).

Now it is the turn of Information Commissioner Sri Jagadananda. 31^st Aug 2012 was fixed for hearing of Second Appeal  411 & 422 of 2011 by Information commissioner Sri Jagadananda, I was present (I have travelled a distance of Sixty Kms from Puri to Bhubaneswar for the hearing of this case) but the PIO Inspector Bijayananda Mohanty was absent without any intimation on the day of hearing hence another date for hearing was fixed to 19^th Oct 2012 by Information Commissioner Sri Jagadananda, I returned to Puri without any result by killing my valuable time On 19^th Oct 2012 again the PIO was absent hence once more the hearing was postponed to 03 Dec 2012 by Information Commissioner Sri Jagadananda.

On 03^rd Dec 2012, I was present (I have travelled from Puri to Bhubaneswar for the hearing of this case) but the PIO Inspector Bijayananda Mohanty was absent without any intimation.

Hence the Information Commissioner Sri Jagadananda played the same role by fixing another date to 14^th Jan 2012.

I have lost faith in these irresponsible Information Commissioners, especially in Sri Jagadananda, he should have imposed Penalty of Rs 25,000/- in each Appeal (Total Rs 50,000/-)on the PIO Inspector Bijayananda Mohanty for refusing to accept my Speed Post RTI Application and ordered Departmental Proceedings against the PIO for not attending the hearing, instead he has intentionally harassed me by killing valuable time and wasting my money, these types of harassment to the Appellant/Complainant is done by this Information Commissioner intentionally, on 12.12.2011 one RTI Activist expressed his dissatisfaction over the decision of Sri Jagadananda in a gentle manner and preferred to appeal in High Court, suddenly Sri Jagadananda called one Police Constable and ordered him to drag the RTI Activist and detain him till his further order and the Constable did the same, the RTI Activist was detained till 1:30 PM near the entrance of the Information Commission on that day.

Five Hundred and Twenty One (521) Days passed, I have neither got information to my RTI Applications dated 26^th July 2011 nor any legal action is being taken against the PIO.

शुक्रवार को सूचना के अधिकार कानून को लागू हुए सात साल पूरे हो गए. इस दौरान इस कानून ने कई बड़े घोटालों को खोला. जनता तक वो जानकारियां पहुंची जो अब तक सरकारी दफ्तरों की फाइलों में धूल चाटती रहती थी.

जानकारी जागरुकता पैदा करती है. जागरुकता जनता को सशक्त करती है और सशक्त जनता किसी शासक को बर्दाश्त नहीं होती. सूचना के अधिकार कानून ने समाज को सशक्त करने में अहम भूमिका निभाई.

सशक्त जनता शासक वर्ग के लिए खौफ़ बन जाती है. सरकार के मन में पैदा हुआ यह खौफ़ शुक्रवार को प्रधानमंत्री मनमोहन सिंह के बयान में साफ नज़र आया. सूचना के अधिकार के सात वर्ष पूरे होने पर दिल्ली में हुए एक अधिवेशन को संबोधित करते हुए प्रधानमंत्री ने आरटीआई की तारीफ कम आलोचना ज्यादा की.

देश के प्रधानमंत्री ने कहा कि आरटीआई कानून का इस्तेमाल कुछ लोग व्यक्तिगत जानकारियां हासिल करने और अधिकारियों को परेशान करने के लिए इस्तेमाल कर रहे हैं. प्रधानमंत्री ने कहा कि अब तक देश में दस लाख लोगों ने आरटीआई कानून का इस्तेमाल किया है और मात्र 4 प्रतिशत मामले ही केंद्रीय सूचना आयोग तक पहुंचे जिससे जाहिर है कि आरटीआई कानून सही काम कर रहा है.

आरटीआई का गुणगान करते-करते प्रधानमंत्री ने सरकार के मन मैं पैदा हुए खौफ को भी अभिव्यक्त कर दिया. प्रधानमंत्री ने कहा कि कुछ लोग बहुत ज्यादा जानकारियां मांगते है जिनका समाज के हित में कोई उपयोग नहीं होता. इन जानकारियों का उद्देश्य बेवजह अधिकारियों और सरकारी कारिंदों को परेशान करना होता है. पीएम ने यह भी कहा कि कई बार बेहद निजी जानकारियां मांगी जाती हैं, ऐसी जानकारियों का भी कोई सामाजिक सरोकार नहीं होता.

तेजी से निजीकरण की ओर बढ़ रही सरकार के मुखिया ने निजी कंपनियों के मन में पैदा हुए डर को भी जाहिर किया. पीएम ने कहा कि सरकार को इस बात की चिंता है कि निजी-सार्वजनिक उपक्रमों के सामने जानकारी साझा करने का संकट होगा. निजी कंपनियां सारी जानकारी सार्वजनिक करना नहीं चाहेगी. इस संबंध में भी नया कानून बनाने पर सरकार विचार कर रही है.

सूचना के अधिकार पर प्रधानमंत्री की इस राय के बाद से ही सूचना के अधिकार के लिए अभियान चलाने वाले देश के प्रमुख आरटीआई कार्यकर्ताओं में रोष है. वरिष्ठ पत्रकार और पूर्व राज्यसभा सदस्य कुलदीप नैयर मानते हैं कि सरकार का डर खुलकर सामने आ रहा है. अपना व्यक्तिगत अनुभव साझा करते हुए कुलदीप नैयर ने कहा कि 1962 के युद्ध को हुए 50 साल हो गए हैं. इस युद्ध में भारत की शर्मनाक हार के कारणों का पता लगाने के लिए एक कमेटी का गठन किया गया था. मैंने जब आरटीआई के तहत इस कमेटी की रिपोर्ट मांगी तो सरकार की ओर से जानकारी नहीं दी गई. मामला केंद्रीय सूचना आयोग तक पहुंचा जहां से फैसला सरकार के पक्ष में आया. कुलदीप नैयर कहते हैं कि फिलहाल यह मामला हाईकोर्ट में है और उन्हें वहां से भी कोई खास उम्मीद नहीं है. वो अब सुप्रीम कोर्ट जाने की तैयारी कर रहे हैं.

प्रधानमंत्री के बयान पर प्रतिक्रिया देते हुए वो कहते हैं कि सरकार खौफ में है, सरकार को सूचना के अधिकार की ताकत का अहसास हो गया है. सरकार अब इस कानून पर लगाम कसने का प्रयास कर रही है. प्रधानमंत्री ने संकेत दिया है कि अब वो इस अधिकार पर लगाम कसेंगे यह आम जनता के लिए डर की बात है, पहले जनता ने इस अधिकार को पाने के लिए संघर्ष किया था, अब इस अधिकार को बचाने के लिए दोबारा संघर्ष करना पड़ेगा.

पीएम के बयान पर प्रतिक्रिया देते हुए सामाजिक अधिकार कार्यकर्ता अरुणा राय ने कहा, ‘हमे पीएम के बयान में इस कानून को खत्म करने की रणनीति दिखती है, हम इसकी आलोचना करते हैं, सरकार इस पर विचार कर रही है कि इस कानून की शक्ति को कैसे खत्म किया जाए.’

सरकार हर चीज का निजीकरण कर रही है, पानी, बिजली, इंश्यूरेंस सबका निजीकरण कर रही है फिर प्राइवेट सेक्टर को पार्दर्शिता के दायरे से बाहर कैसे रखा जा सकता है. सरकार हर रूप में जनता के पैसे का इस्तेमाल कर रही है, जनता के पास अपने पैसे का हिसाब मांगने का अधिकार है और यह अधिकार किसी भी सूरत में बचा रहना चाहिए. अगर सरकार जनता से इस अधिकार को छीनने का प्रयास करेगी तो फिर और भी बड़ा आंदोलन करना पड़ेगा.

डरी हुई सरकार नहीं चाहती कि जनता के पास गोपनीय जानकारी नहीं पहुंचे. प्रधानमंत्री ने निजता के अधिकार का हवाला दिया है लेकिन सूचना के अधिकार से किसी का कोई अधिकार नहीं छीना जा रहा है, जनता सिर्फ वो जानकारियां मांग रही है जिन पर उसका हक है. किसी भी स्तर के कर्मचारी की कोई शक्ति इस अधिकार के तहत नहीं छीनी जा रही है. दरअसल सशक्त जनता को सरकार बर्दाश्त नहीं कर पा रही है.

अरुणा कहती हैं, ‘एक पीआईओ के पास महीने में मुश्किल से दस याचिकाएं पहुंचती हैं, सीधे तौर पर जनता से जुड़े मामलों के विभाग में यह संख्या ज्यादा हो सकती है, सरकार तो किसी भी तरह से जनता से यह अधिकार छीनना चाहती है. सूचना के अधिकार को बचाए रखने के लिए हमारी लड़ाई जारी है.’

पीएम के नाम संदेश देते हुए अरुणा ने कहा, ‘अगर वो इस देश को सुरक्षित रखना चाहते हैं और भ्रष्टाचार से मुक्त रखना चाहते हैं तो सूचना के अधिकार को कमजोर न करें, अगर सूचना के अधिकार को कमजोर किया गया तो यह देश एक बड़ा और व्यापक आंदोलन देखेगा.’

Noble Laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore dreamt of an India “Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high, where knowledge is free, where words come out from the depths of truth, into that heaven of freedom, my father, let my country awake”

There is a saying by Bob Marley which says-“Get up, Stand up for your rights. Get up, stand up, don’t give up the fight”

“It’s a right and duty of the wise ones to purify the strong by teaching them their duties and to strengthen the weak by teaching them their rights”

The objective of the Right to Information Act,2005 (as enshrined in its preamble) is to establish a practical regime for citizens to access information held by Public Authorities. This in turn will lead to increased transparency and accountability of the Public Authorities. The act applies to all the states and union territories of India except the state of Jammu and Kashmir which is covered under state level Law.

The law of right to information was passed by the parliament on June 15, 2005 and came into force on 12 October 2005. It has been hailed as the hallmark of democracy for the reasons that it purports to make, with regard to government information, disclosure as norm and secrecy as the exception. Experts feel that as the Act aims at making the government transparent and more accountable, the effective use of it would, in the long run, curb corruption.

Article 19(2) of the ‘International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights’ (ICCPR), a United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2200A (XXI) of 1966 states: “Every citizen shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any media of his choice.”

Every citizen has a right to know how the Government is functioning. Right to Information empowers every citizen to seek any information from the Government, inspect any government documents and seek certified photocopies thereof. This law also empowers citizens to inspect any government work or to take sample of material used in any work.

“In a government of responsibility like ours where all the agents of public must be responsible for their conduct, there can be but few secrets, the people of this country must have a right to know, every public act, everything done in a public way by the public functionaries. To cover with veil of secrecy the common routine business is not in the interest of public” (State of UP vs Raj Narain (1975)4 SSC 428,Mathew J on the behalf of bench)

Background

Disclosure of Government Information in India is governed by a law enacted during the British rule over large parts of what is now India, the Official Secrets Act of 1889 which was amended in 1923. This law secures information related to security of the State, sovereignty of the country and friendly relations with foreign states, and contains provisions which prohibit disclosure of non-classified information. Civil Service Conduct Rules and the Indian Evidence Act also impose further restrictions on government officials’ powers to disclose information to the public.

SOME FACTS ABOUT RTI

·         RTI came into force on 12 October, 2005

·         We can ask report and record under this Act

·         Individual citizen can seek information under this Act

·       PIO is the person in a public authority defined in section 2(h) that provides the information

·         The information should be provided within 30 days (with few exceptions)

·         In the case the matter relates to life and violation of human rights, the information should be provided within 48 hours

·         If the information is denied or not provided then you can file first appeal to the first appellate authority

·         You are not required to provide the reason for information

·         In case the first appeal is not replied to, you can go in second appeal to Information Commission.

·         The RTI Act, 2005 extends to the whole of India except Jammu and Kashmir.

·         You can complain to the Information Commission  in case of denial of information by appellate authority also

This Act has given the people the power to CHANGE the country. The RTI Act has made the inner working of the government visible. If WE, the average citizens learn to use this Act, WE can change the country. If WE think that the RTI Act does not affect you, “WE ARE WRONG.” If we are a citizen of India, the RTI Act has given us a lot of power that we can and must use. For example, next time you ask for a “telephone line” or a “water connection”, if you use the RTI Act, you can get your work done quickly. You will not have to make 15 trips to the Govt. offices and bribe and beg to the officials to get your work done. RTI has changed all that. Are the roads outside your house terrible, RTI will help you solve the problem? Is there a problem of un-hygiene in your area, RTI will help you solve your problem.

‘No man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent.’ Abraham Lincoln on Government by consent, 1854

“It is one thing to fight the system but forming the partnership with the system and changing it from within is perhaps the easiest way of bringing about the change.”

RTI – A Catalyst

“The real Swaraj will come not by the acquisition of authority by a few but by the acquisition of capacity by all to resist authority when abused”—Mahatma Gandhi.

‘This Act is a revolution to bring about the victory of the common Indian, who seeks the assurance of his fundamental rights and justice-from all forms of social, economic and political evils that stem from the inefficient governance and blatant corruption to materialize the dream of our erstwhile freedom fighters and revolutionaries and establish a truly ‘independent and corruption free India’

There is no doubt that the RTI Act enables common man to make a difference. The enactment has enabled citizens to demand records, which highlight deficiencies in working of Government departments in India. The struggle by citizens to get transparency and public accountability from the Government is gradually showing results and would lead to ushering in a new era of democratic governance. The success of RTI Act in India depends upon the non-Government initiatives. Without pressure from outside the Government and its officers would prefer to avoid the quantum jump in the direction of public accountability.

RTI Act has the potential to bring in a socio-economic revolution, provided that various agencies take up their responsibilities as per the spirit of the Act. The Civil Society Organizations and Media can act as pressure points, but most of the execution is to be carried out by the appropriate Governments and Information Commissions.

At the end of the day transparency and accountability in public administration require sustained efforts by the citizens. If the citizens show apathy towards the public issues and only indulge in arm-chair criticism of the Government, the problems of maladministration would continue. On the other hand transparency laws which enable access to public records, lead to democratic participation by the citizens. In India, as in all other countries, the quality of public administration depends upon involvement of citizens. RTI Act enables effective democratic participation by the citizens and sustained struggles are required to overcome the historical baggage of highly centralized governance, where citizens do not effectively participate.

At no point of time would it be possible to state that public administration system has reached perfection. In vast organizations, checks and balances are needed to correct the aberrations. RTI Act in India is a vital addition to the existing checks and balances; it may enable the citizens to keep the Government officers at their toes, to demand improved performance.

“I believe that the passage of this Bill will see the dawn of a new era in our processes of governance, an era of performance and efficiency, an era which will ensure that benefits of growth flow to all sections of our people, an era which will eliminate the scourge of corruption, an era which will bring the common man’s concern to the heart of all processes of governance, an era which will truly fulfill the hopes of the founding fathers of our Republic.”

 (Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, Speech in Parliament on May 11, 2005.)

The Success of the RTI Act in India

The real change would come when the people start demanding accountability and the government is forced to respond. Then it would not be easy for the governments to go astray. Right to Information is the first concrete step in that direction. People are already holding governments accountable by seeking details of funds spent in their areas. Large numbers of Non-Government Organizations are helping citizens in building sustained pressure on the Government. “RTI is no less than any great movement of modern India”

RTI is a law which does not take any action but forces the system to take action as people get to know many information from the government body and their related ministry which was not disclosed before the passing of this law. This disclosure forces public authorities to act faster to redress the grievance. The RTI can be taken recourse in the following matters:

§                     RTI Act can help pensioners get their dues.

§                     RTI helps CA student get her answer sheet.

§                     RTI Act has helped in getting electricity connection.

§                     RTI Act exposed MP top cop’s fraud.

§                     RTI helps expose poll official.

§                     Woman uses RTI to get salary details of cheating husband.

§                     RTI Act can ensure transparency in National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

§                     RTI Act has helped expose irregularities in Public Distribution System.

§                     RTI Act has exposed criminals facing life sentence on parole from jail.

§                     RTI Act has enabled immediate repair of blocked sewers.

§                     RTI Act used by Belapur locals to save fort.

And there are many more!!

The following achievements are indisputable:

 – The basic tenets of the Act have been implemented and the institutional mechanism is in place and is in use by citizens

– The institution of Information Commission has assumed a pivotal position

– Civil society organizations have been, and continue to be, active in ensuring the implementation of the Act in letter and spirit

– Civil society organizations and the Media have started using this Act for bringing in transparency and objectivity

– Centre and State Government departments have initiated the training of key functionaries to assume the responsibilities of PIOs and FAAs

– Government employees/Public Authorities are aware of the basic elements of the Act

– Various State Governments have taken up initiatives, which go beyond the stipulations of the Act, and further the spirit of the Act.

“…democracy requires an informed citizenry and transparency of information which are vital to its functioning and also to contain corruption and to hold Governments and their instrumentalities accountable to the governed” –

 Source: RTI Act’ 2005

(Author is student of Indian Institute Of Technology, Roorkee.)

Right-To-Information Act 2005 has been successful in much more ways than was aimed to achieve. RTI Act of India is perhaps the best drafted Act of its kind in the global world. Credit goes to a personality which though not being directly in power, yet utilized her influence on political rulers to implement the Act in a time-bound period. Credit also goes to the noted RTI activist and Magsaysay awardee Smt. Aruna Roy who as member of high-powered National Advisory Council of India ensured that RTI Act be implemented without being dumped. Efforts of Magsaysay Awardee Arvind Kejriwal are worth-appreciating who quit a prime-job to dedicate himself completely toward RTI Act. Inclusion of RTI activist Shailesh Gandhi in Central Information Commission was also a positive sign for meeting aspirations of users of RTI Act.

Post-independence history of India can be bifurcated in two different eras, one pre-RTI Act and the other one post RTI-Act. ‘Right-To-Information’ Act has given India a second freedom where a citizen is now much-more empowered than even a Parliamentarian at least in getting information from the government. For a written Parliamentary question, a Parliamentarian gets just one chance to get reply from the government. While on the other hand, an RTI petitioner has two subsequent chances to grill government if he/she is not satisfied with initial response coming from a public-authority. This is why even several Parliamentarians including Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Shri Arun Jaitley also adopted RTI route to get replies from the government. What more, even the then Central Information Commissioner Dr. OP Kejriwal also adopted RTI route to get a government-accommodation in his capacity as Central Information Commission.

First Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibulla who despite all teething problems in implementing the RTI Act and facing criticism at times, played his role smartly in a manner to fulfill purpose of India’s most wonderful post-independence Act giving commoners power of being a Parliamentarian to grill government and its functionaries. His well-thought decisions were written so artistically that even if an appeal was dismissed on technical grounds, he often directed to forward the appeal-record to key-functionaries for their perusal if the subject-matter was of great national or public interest. His role rather served to be even more effective than allowing the appeal! Present Chief Information Commissioner Shri Satyanand ji Mishra took a step further when he observed during hearing of my petition against Reserve Bank of India that a petitioner’s submissions referred in an RTI petition should otherwise be also looked carefully even though these are not covered by RTI Act, because officers handling RTI petitions are themselves senior officers who should be sensitive to submissions made by members of public. He is quite liberal otherwise also when he further observed that Public Information Officers should not reject RTI petitions because of their not being properly drafted. He stated that it’s a people’s Act and petitioners should not be expected to be experts in drafting RTI petitions. It is indeed a matter of satisfaction that presently all of Central Information Commissioners are acting to such people’s friendly spirit where they grill public-authorities themselves if petitioners are not able to present their case effectively.

Drafting of the Act for appointing Information Commissioners only with consensus of Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader leaves no space for appointees to be biased towards political rulers having appointed them. Rather all such appointments requiring impartiality like of Election Commissioners should be appointed likewise by consensus of Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader.

Rather than just providing ‘Information’ as defined technically, RTI Act has served to be an effective watchdog to make all those coming in purview of the Act to be extremely cautious to do their work only in accordance with rules and without any irregularities. If RTI petitions are drafted carefully, then it can achieve much greater objective in getting things done and objectives achieved. There have been many cases where ordinary citizens using RTI Act for getting information relating to their applications for ration-cards or passports, got such documents door-delivered after filing the RTI petitions but before getting the RTI response.

Having filed more than 6000 RTI petitions almost on important aspects of national and public importance, I have wonderful experience to share. Most of the Central Public Information Officers (CPIOs) are practically under pressure to reply to the petitions in normal bureaucratic style. But I even found that on filing the first appeal with a senior officer acting as Appellate Authority in the Department, the Appellate Authority phoned me requesting for not insisting on the matter any further, promising to rectify the things in future. (Since I wanted reforms rather than publicizing the irregularity, I agreed). However there is a rare case of a bold CPIO VR Eliza at Directorate of Customs who dared to file an unusual second appeal (to his success) at the Central Information Commission against appeal-order of his senior officer in the Directorate!

What more, though public-authorities at Supreme Court resisted on aspects like Chief Justice of India being under purview of the Act, or on queries related to implementation of resolution on wealth-declaration by judges of higher courts, public-awareness generated through several RTI petitions supplemented by our ever-vigilant media, shook concerned ones in governance-system to work towards judicial accountability and acting effectively on cases of corruption even in higher judiciary. Even Supreme Court judges had to ultimately declare their wealth ‘suo-motto’ even though my much talked-about RTI petition in this regard simply asked if Apex Court judges were following their own unanimously passed resolution whereby all judges of higher courts were submitting details of their assets and wealth to respective Chief Justices! It was mishandling of RTI petition by Supreme Court registry that ultimately proved to be a blessing in disguise for civil activists like me who in fact demanded transparency about those in public-life. The then Chief Information Commissioner rightly commented that if Supreme Court would have provided the simple information sought in this regard, perhaps it would not have even become a news-item!

RTI Act gave enormous courage to media-persons and others wanting judicial reforms to highlight irregularities in the system which otherwise was totally impossible under ever-hanging sword of contempt-powered judicial system allowing some wrong elements to misuse temples of justices as torture-cells for victims of misconduct in the system. Media’s role, in regularly highlighting important decisions of Central Information Commission and responses received under RTI Act, has also been of great help in achieving success of RTI Act as at present. Press-agencies and newspapers have deputed special correspondents to cover news related to RTI Act. Many reputed news-channels are supporting cause of propagating use of RTI Act by joining hands with civil-society by being co-sponsors in RTI awards for make effectiveness of RTI Act reaching to masses.

But the above highlighted achievements are a very small fraction of what can be really achieved. Publicity-budget for RTI should be spent through Central Information Commission. Chapters on RTI Act should be added in school-syllabus to make children know about it at root-level to make its effective use later in life. It is a matter of great regret that most college-going youngsters do not know even about existence of such a wonderful Act. Seminars and workshops should be conducted in colleges and universities to fill the big gap between RTI Act and its knowledge amongst youngsters.

Once I filed an RTI petition highlighting misbehavior and non-customer friendly attitude of General Manager of a prominent (Connaught Place) branch of a public-sector Bank. Evidently effect of the petition had to be spontaneous and alarming. Higher authorities of the Bank sent the erring General Manager to my office to apologize and request for withdrawing RTI petition. My aim is never to get publicity or put some individuals in difficulty by filing RTI petitions. When he assured that he would be careful in dealing with customers in future, I gave him letter withdrawing my RTI petition. But then while leaving my office, he posed me an innocent query “Sir, what is this RTI Act which shook whole of the Bank at the highest level”! So much is non-awareness about RTI Act in our country.

There is a big time-gap of even several months between an appeal/complaint reached at the Commission and its being registered. Even the Commission can and should modify its system to ensure a compulsory registration of all appeals/complaints found fit for registration within say one week of their reaching at mail-receipt section of the Commission. This can be done by deputing special and adequate evening-staff with duty-hours after normal office-hours to diary all mail received in the day, and by simultaneous registration of all feasible appeals/complaints at the mail-receipt section only. Such evening/night duty-hours will make fast work uninterrupted from public-hindrance in normal working-hours. Appeals found unfit to be registered should be returned to the sender say within a fortnight with a deficiency-note. Field of ‘Monthly Disposal of Cases’ at Commission’s website should separately highlight data for each of the Information Commissioner so as to enable Commission have its own self-study to streamline the system in a manner that period of pending appeals/complaints may be almost same for each of the Information Commissioner. A system can be worked out whereby all pending appeals against a public-authority registered till date may be fixed on same day so that saving may be possible on precious time and conveyance-expenses of public-authorities may be largely saved by not being required to attend to hearings on different dates. Same procedure can be adopted even for future, whenever hearing-schedule is to be fixed on weekly or monthly basis for Information Commissioners. It gives me great satisfaction that this idea has been put into practice by present Chief Information Commissioner Honourable Shri Satyanand ji Mishra. Unfortunately reports indicate that most State Information Commissioners lack such user-friendly approach in dealing with appeals before them.

Chief Information Commissioner should have frequent informal interaction with all the Information Commissioners so that approach of all Information Commissioners may be similar in dealing with appeals/complaints before them. For example one of the former (rather the only one) Central Information Commissioners was notorious for his being allergic to basic spirit of RTI Act itself. While all others Information Commissioners have usually been appellant-friendly. It is not that such appellant-friendly Information Commissioners always talk against public-authorities. Dr OP Kejriwal in his verdict ‘SK Lal against Indian Railways’ passed strict-most comments against the petitioner for his irrelevant petition aimed to make mockery of RTI Act. But at the same time, I recall humiliation faced at the Commission on my query about disciplinary-authority for Chief Justice of India. This query gained significance when serious charges were leveled against a former Chief Justice of India. Though that Central Information Commissioner regretted his decision later, and thereafter gave wonderful decisions. Better is to have a second-stage review of Commission’s orders by a bigger bench at the Commission itself. It will also give public-authorities a chance of appeal at the Commission itself rather than dragging the Commission and the petitioner to the Courts. Public-authorities must compulsory file written-rejoinders to appeals. It is against natural justice that Government may depute lawyers for the Commission to contest cases filed by government-functionaries against Commission’s orders. Recently Chief Information Commissioner Honourable Shri Satyanand ji Mishra ordered charging of lawyer’s fees from Public Information Officer of Central Bank of India because he observed that the lawyer did not have even studied the case before appearing before him, and was engaged solely for purpose of monetary gain from the Bank in respect of his fees as lawyers. If a Public Information Officer has not competence to face Information Commissions against unarmed petitioners, he does not deserve to hold the post.

Second problem that has emerged at a later stage is that now Courts do not allow Information Commissions to be a party to cases where public-authorities have filed writs in Courts against verdicts of Commissions. As far as I have understood, it is so because Information Commissions decide cases as a quasi-judicial authority. But Information Commissions are appellate authority and not courts, and they also have additional administrative duty for smooth implementation of RTI Act. Rather Central Information Commission itself desires to be a party in court-cases against its decisions so that Commissions may present logic behind their verdicts. In interest of all, it is more appropriate that Information Commissions may be made parties in court-cases against verdicts of Information Commissions.

Another problem is about public-authorities getting ex-party stay on CIC-verdicts and then prolonging matters indefinitely by seeking regular adjournments. A case against CIC-verdict against Department of Justice at Delhi High Court has now ‘celebrated’ its fourth anniversary without the case having moved an inch further after ex-party stay was granted by Delhi High Court. Even a division-bench of Honourable Supreme Court had once rightly observed that it is quite often that parties having sought ex-party stay on writs filed by them never allow cases to move further so easily even though at times they ultimately lose cases. Since most cases against CIC-verdicts are filed at Delhi High Court, there can be a provision whereby all cases involving CIC-verdicts may be fixed for first Monday of every month with adjournments usually avoided. Courts should take Central Information Commission as an ideal where adjournment-culture is absolutely not allowed. Interestingly it used to be Supreme Court which alone sought adjournments. However after sensing attitude of Central Information Commission against unhealthy culture of adjournments, now Supreme Court has stopped seeking adjournments at Central Information Commission.

I am listing some of concrete suggestions required to further modify RTI Act:

• Sections 27 and 28 of RTI Act giving often-misused power to state-governments and public-authorities for drafting their own rules, should be repealed. Some public-authorities like several High Courts drafted their own rules which are/were in contradiction of RTI Act itself. Even now, many High Courts have fixed RTI fees abnormally high at rupees 500 which is otherwise just rupees 10 only. ‘One Nation, One Rule’ should be motto for RTI Act and rules.

• Public-authorities have to spend man-hours and postal-charges to demand just rupees two for copy of single page. Best and practical option is to have an RTI fee of rupees twenty uniformly for all public-authorities without giving any liberty under section 27 or 28 to have a different RTI fees as notified by DoPT with a provision to provide copy of first say ten pages of documents free-of-cost. Every additional ten pages or part may require twenty rupees extra. RTI fees and copying charges may be payable only through specially introduced RTI stamps which should be available at all post-offices, banks and all public authorities also to avoid huge loss of public-money in handling postal-orders sent towards RTI fees. Recent RTI response has revealed that handling charge for a postal-order are rupees 22.71 as per data on basis of financial year 2006-07. All public-authorities should be directed to use fast, reliable and economical Speed Post service in cities connected through Speed Post service. According to a DoPT circular, name of payee on postal-orders towards RTI fees is to be “Accounts Officers” for all public-authorities. But lack of awareness amongst CPIOs makes task of petitioner tough with different public-authorities demanding remittance in different names payees. While Prime Minister’s Office requires pay-orders in name of ‘Section Officer PMO’, President’s Secretariat and Department of Justice in name of ‘Pay & Accounts Officer’, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Secretariat in name of ‘Drawing & Disbursing Officer’ and Supreme Court in name of ‘Registrar (Administration)’.

• There should also be penal-provision for first Appellate Authorities not deciding appeals in stipulated period. It should be mandatory (not discretionary) not only for the Commission but even for first Appellate Authority to impose penalty on CPIOs not responding within 30 days. Copying-charges waived under section 7(6) of RTI Act due to late response from CPIO, should be deducted from salary of CPIO instead of being suffered by the public-authority. There should be penal-provision even for competent authorities of public-authorities not complying with provisions contained in section 4 (and its other sub-sections) of RTI Act. However it should be mandatory for Information Commissioners to impose penalties for late response in their main verdict on the appeal itself. Otherwise, reasons for waiver of penalty should be clearly mentioned in the order.

• Written submissions by public-authorities at least twenty days before scheduled hearing at the Commission should be made compulsory with a copy to the petitioner. Since public-authorities are much-more elaborative in their response at the Commission, ever-increasing work-load on the Commission may be considerably reduced by abandoning the hearing in case petitioner is satisfied by suggested compulsory written submissions of public-authorities.

• Another rule should be for PIOs to compulsorily mention date of RTI petition and of its receipt apart from name, telephone-number, e-mail ID and complete postal address of the PIO. Not providing any of these information may also be taken as non-compliance. PIOs usually do not comply with section 7(8) of RTI Act when they do not give particulars of Appellate Authority.

• Central Information Commission should have power to review its single-bench decisions by a larger bench at Central Information Commission itself. No dilution of RTI Act in any other form either as demanded by Judiciary or by DoPT should be done. Chief Information Commissioner should be appointed from amongst senior-most Information Commissioners turn-by-turn for one year each like is adopted for appointing Dean at Faculty of Management (Delhi University). System will avoid vacuum at post of Chief Information Commissioner in case of unexpected vacancy apart from existing Information Commissioners feeling humiliated of being bypassed through appointment of an outsider at post of Chief Information Commissioner. Newer ideas will emerge from various Information Commissioners getting opportunity to head the Commission turn-by-turn each for a year.

• Website of the Commission needs to be given a total new look with provision to update it regularly. Presently there are many fields like say ‘Legal Opinion’ which has just one entry made in very beginning of launch of the website. It is quite general that cases allotted hearing-dates do not always appear in the field ‘Status of Appeals & Complaints’. Since full-bench hearings are very rare and are on some peculiar cases, their hearing-dates should be put under the field of ‘Public Notices’. Data in month-wise disposal should be put separately for each of the Information Commissioner. Details of payee’s names are neither displaced in offices concerned nor on their respective websites.  Public-awareness campaign if derived through Central Information Commission, can well take care of such petty but important aspects to guide all concerned properly to use RTI Act. Considering dominating-role of private-sector in public-life through banking, communications and others, India should follow South Africa in extending RTI Act to private sector for firms with some stipulated turn-over fixed separately in respect of goods and services.

RTI Act has become base for the demand of a stringent Lokpal Bill. But to make Lokpal Bill really effective, there should be urgent, time-bound and simultaneous working on three more bills namely a stringent Judicial Accountability Bill, Poll Reforms Bill and a bill towards time-bound redress of grievances on lines of RTI Act which can be named as ‘Right-To-Action Bill’.

(Writer is Guinness Record Holder for most letters in newspapers and an RTI activist)

Dear Friends,

India will celebrate the Seventh Anniversary of Right to Information Act (RTI) 2005 on 12 October 2012. This RTI Act has been the most powerful legislation in the last decade. This has been nothing less than revolutionary in the history of Indian Democracy. It has empowered people, created front page stories and has challenged the governments.

Does this mean RTI Act has achieved its stated objectives? If yes, how much has it achieved and if it has failed, where has it failed? Why has it failed? What are the road blocks? Why the politicians in the government and the bureaucrats are scared of the RTI Act? Are RTI activists being targeted because they challenge the system and vested interest? What are provisions to provide protection to Whistle Blowers?  Is the Act being misused for personal gain and political rivalry?

Answers to these questions are neither simple nor straight forward; nevertheless we need to continue to ask these questions. What better opportunity than the Seventh Anniversary of the RTI Act to ask these questions and find out answers.

On the 7^th Anniversary the Beyond Headlines team is conducting a survey on the effectiveness of the Act to discuss the future challenges and opportunities for common people.

Beyond Headlines will carry a special series on the RTI on the following points

1. RTI Act: Its implications for the common people.

2. RTI: Has it really made governments accountable and answerable?

3. RTI: The Response of the State machinery.

4. RTI: The successes and failures of Information Commissions.

5. RTI: The Response of the Higher Judiciary in India

6. RTI: Resistance from government and the society

7. RTI: Protection to the whistle-blowers.

8. What have been the attitude, successes and failures of social organisations, activists and movements with regard to Right to Information

9. Right to Information: Is there any need to further amend/modify the Act to make it more stronger keeping in view the experiences of these seven years.

10. Success stories, cases and struggles regarding RTI.

11. Any other topic related to RTI

Note: You are requested to send your opinion/article/case story/personal experiences at beyondheadlinesnews@gmail.com by 12th October, 2012. We would publish your responses as articles or part of our analysis where you/your opinion/experience may be quoted. If you want to remain anonymous or want to use a pseudonym please clearly inform us.

Thanks

BeyondHeadlines Team

The passing of the Right to Information Act 2005 changed the game in irreversible ways. Overnight, it transformed people’s attitude and behavior towards government in ways that even the most far-sighted netas, babus or intellectuals had never foreseen. Several earlier legislations were dramatic in content (e.g., Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 and Human Rights Act 1993) but few could excite the citizenry.

Civil society’s energetic response to the Right to Information Act was due to the efforts of a dozen or so early pioneers, who painstakingly trained people and prepared the ground. They enabled tens of thousands of activists to spring up in the cities and villages of India, exerting tremendous influence on their local self-government bodies on an almost daily basis – a continuous ongoing Satyagraha by the common man at all levels of government!

Stung by this, many state governments including Maharashtra are now trying to dilute the power of the RTI Act in various ways. But, rather than being fearful and pessimistic, we need to go forward with clarity. Rather than becoming demoralized, we must prepare to adapt our behavior to suit the governance environment.

Let us plan by first looking at the big picture.

THE BEGINNINGS – LIBERALIZATION OF MEDIA IN 1991

The Congress government opened up our access to information – not in 2005 but 15 years earlier. Before his assassination in 1991, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi opened the information floodgates. Soon afterwards, there was an explosion of internet and television channels like Star TV and CNN.

Earlier, all government information dissemination was tightly controlled. Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR) gave out a strictly sarkari version of the facts. We were given doctored news about all events/ For instance, we used to hear about national disasters with underplayed death tolls many hours after the disaster occurred. News about ministries and government departments came in a thin trickle from the Press Information Bureau (PIB), or the Press Relations Officers of government organizations.

We the People depended on journalists to give us the inside stories. Long before the UPA government passed RTI Act 2005, in the early 90s, investigative journalists such as Arun Shourie and S Gurumurthy exposed AR Antulay’s donations-for-cement-quota, Rajiv Gandhi’s Bofors kickbacks and Reliance customs’ duty evasions. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Sucheta Dalal exposed financial frauds like the artificial bull runs of Harshad Mehta and Ketan Parekh in the stock markets, and the misuse of UTI’s US-64 scheme funds for private gains. Many investigative journalists were helped by whistleblowers inside the system.

IRREVERSIBLE SHIFT OF POWER AFTER RTI ACT 2005

Today, we have direct access to the inside stories. Rti activists have as much or more information than journalists. For media-persons, rti activists are a major source of inside documents and facts. In this age of coalition governments where opposition parties have been co-opted, RTI activists, whistleblowers and media are the only real opposition.

Many citizens from all walks of life now understand government paperwork in the context of the rules, laws, norms, procedures and manuals. They follow the paper trail and regularly expose corruption. Almost every day, there is a fresh scam in the papers and the TV channels, that has been revealed by an RTI activist.

HOW TO SHARPEN THE RTI TOOL

Besides exposing corruption, the RTI Act empowers common people by following up complaints and application letters with various authorities. To sharpen this tool, we must work simultaneously at several levels:

1) DO YOUR INTERNET RESEARCH & NETWORKING. AVOID UNNECESSARY RTI APPLICATIONS. Much of the information that we seek is already available in public domain on the internet. Google for it. Or, even if not on the internet, the papers that we seek may be with other activists. We just need to get in touch with them by using hubs like HumJanenge@yahoogroups.co.in, karmayog@yahoogroups.com and www.RTIIndia.org  . Most RTI activists are usually very happy to share information and give helpful tips; there is great camaraderie and fellowship, especially in the online community.

2) SHORT & CLEAR RTI APPLICATIONS. We must focus on filing sensible RTI applications and minimize appeals. We must mentor the common man to ask for Information strictly as defined in these sections of the Act: http://tinyurl.com/RTI-definitions-of-Information

As far as possible, avoid queries or requests for individual facts and figures by drafting applications that ask only for copies of various kinds of existing documents: http://tinyurl.com/Application-specimens1

3) MENTOR THE PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER & FIRST APPELLATE AUTHORITIES: We need to go out of our way to educate the PIOs and FAAs, who are generally ill-informed and not inclined to study laws and rules. By citing the correct sections in our RTI application and in our appeals, we can exert moral authority on them to stop denying information. See the highlighted part of this specimen RTI application: http://tinyurl.com/RTI-Appl-instructions2PIO-FAA

Also, we can show PIOs and FAAs these sections: http://tinyurl.com/RTI-Important-Sections4PIO-FAA

4) PUT PRESSURE ON GOVT FOR TRANSPARENT SELECTIONS OF INFO COMMISSIONERS. Amazingly, most Information Commissioners (who are retired bureaucrats and political cronies) know less about the RTI Act than average RTI activists. They also lack a judicious bent-of-mind, or the commitment to do a tough 9-to-5 job, which is the job-requirement. They believe that becoming an Information Commissioner is a five-year post-retirement benefit. Anna Hazare himself noted this, and repeatedly opposed these political appointments, but to no avail. See Anna’s letter to the CM written in Marathi: http://tinyurl.com/Anna-Hazare-opposes

English translation of Anna Hazare’s letter: http://tinyurl.com/English-Anna-Hazare-opposes

A Maharashtra government committee was constituted in October 2010 headed by Anna Hazare, and with Arvind Kejriwal, Vinita Deshmukh and some bureaucrats as its members. The sole purpose of this committee was to recommend to the state government a set of transparent procedures for appointment of Information Commissioners. Although there is a whole department in Mantralaya devoted to fulfilling Anna Hazare’s demands, this committee has not met even once for reasons best known to him. In the absence of such a big push, Maharashtra is languishing. Appointment of a fresh batch of Information commissioners is about one year overdue, and there seems to be no end in sight. The queue before the Information Commission has grown to over 24,000. The average RTI appellant of Maharashtra will have to wait at least two years for a second appellate hearing. (Annaji, are you listening? Do you care?)

5) PUT PRESSURE ON INFO COMMISSIONERS TO MAKE THEM WORK FOR THEIR SALARY. We the People need to exercise vigilance on CICs and SICs to ensure that they do a decent amount of work every day and every week. Also, we need to ensure that they exercise the full extent of their powers on behalf of the common man, and not protect non-transparent bureaucrats by pleading helplessness. See their powers and functions here: http://tinyurl.com/RTIAct-CICs-SICs-Duties-Powers

6) PUT PRESSURE ON STATE GOVTS, COURTS ETC. TO FRAME PEOPLE-FRIENDLY RULES. The  powers and duties of various State players vis-à-vis rule-making arise from these sections: http://tinyurl.com/RuleMaking-PowersDuties-Govt

Such rules can only facilitate the Right to Information given by the RTI Act; they cannot curtail or restrict the Right, as that is against the intent of the Act. But there has been a wave of bad rule-making, intended to minimize the transparency created by the sunshine law. Exceeding their rule-making powers, state governments, courts, state legislatures etc. have passed original rules or amendments to rules that go against the letter and spirit of the Act. The rules of Orissa and Arunachal Pradesh are truly crippling to information-seekers. Activists in such states are isolated in their battles, as their counterparts in other states do not empathize with them. Using a divide-and-rule policy, Karnataka, Bihar and most recently, Maharashtra have passed discriminatory amendments to rules. In other states like Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, proposed amendments are hanging like a sword about to fall. And lest we feel encouraged to go to court, the high courts of many states have framed the worst possible rules for RTI! All such arbitrary rules will have to be contested in the Supreme Court. Rather than people of each state fighting their own battles, RTI activists across the country must unite and fight.

7) CULTIVATE CONTACTS WITH WHISTLEBLOWERS IN THE ADMINISTRATION and in the private and corporate sector. So, even if government tries to restrict our access, we will keep getting our information from whistleblowers. Thanks to privatization, government outsourcing, and public-private-partnership (PPP) projects, the iron curtain between civil society and government employees has collapsed. While this has created great scope for corruption, it has also made government porous.  And so, RTI activists must reach out to whistleblowers in various government departments, companies etc. RTI activists and whistleblowers must collaborate to challenge corruption. Not being public servants gives RTI activists substantial protection from the backlash, and so they can more safely blow the whistle if the proper documents are given to them. Yes, there will be risks, but we are not strangers to risk-taking, are we?

All these above steps are equally important. Our access to information will expand if we do all these. Obviously, a large number of us will have to work independently to achieve this goal. There is plenty of room for us all — activists of all temperaments and beliefs.

In many cultures, it is thought that the greatest good fortune that people can have is the opportunity to fight a war on the side of truth and goodness. It would be a shame to let such good fortune go waste!

(Krishnaraj Rao is a prominent Right-to-Information activist and journalist based in Mumbai. He can be reached at thebravepedestrian@gmail.com )

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect BH’s editorial policy. 

]]> http://beyondheadlines.in/2012/04/how-rti-activists-whistleblowers-can-sharpen-their-own-teeth/feed/ 0 http://beyondheadlines.in/2012/04/solidarity-is-new-mantra-for-change-in-youths/ http://beyondheadlines.in/2012/04/solidarity-is-new-mantra-for-change-in-youths/#comments Sat, 07 Apr 2012 09:56:41 +0000 admin http://beyondheadlines.in/?p=10743 Mubassir Ali, BeyondHeadlines

Change comes from within. To uplift Muslim community in particular and society in general Muslim youths in Kerala have joined hands together. They are expressing their solidarity for all round development of the community and society.

Solidarity is the mantra of new age Muslims of the state. The youth have understood that only they can change their world and for this purpose they have come together in form of movement named ‘Solidarity’.

Started on May 13, 2003 in Kerala Solidarity is basically a youth movement that believes in channeling the revolutionary spirit of the youth creatively into constructive efforts that result in the betterment of the society as a Whole.

As the name suggest, Solidarity is a platform where all able Muslim youths join together and then work for upliftment of all sections of society. When popular front of India chopped off hands of a professor Solidarity came forward by donating blood to him. The Mantra is stay united and fight for the right causes.

P.I. Naushad, President of Solidarity Youth Movement says that sole objective of movement is to liberate the generation of youth from the immorality and debauchery and to transform them in to a radical vanguard fighting for the betterment of society.

Naushad says that we now know that only empowered youth can create a better country. So all our efforts are to prepare youth for a social revolution. Participation of empowered youth in political sphere can surely make a Proud Nation.

Talking about the movement Naushad said that solidarity is working for development of Minorities, Dalits and backward peoples. They had made around 1200 homes for poor. They are struggling for the backward area of Cochin called mattancherry, for victims of Endosalfan and fighting from the drinking water problems at rural areas of Kerala.

Solidarity movement is picking up daily life issues of locals. They are fighting for food, water and light. for ex Solidarity is running a project for south Cochin in kerela. In south Cochin lack of drinking water, shelter, job, educational backwardness, abject poverty and resultant issue like drug addiction and moral decay. Solidarity with help of well wishers intends to tackle each of issues in its comprehensive Cochin project.

Solidarity has also plans to organize agitations to make government take note of the plight of these unfortunates and to make sure that they provide these citizens with their fair share of assistance.

In this area called mattancherry builders are making their project and poor are losing their homes as well as jobs, solidarity is helping them for shelter by getting model project from surat and other part of country.

He told that water scarcity becomes worst in summer in Kerala. Families searches kilometers for drinking water. This causes health, social and family problem and places barricades before overall growth of generation, and it has never been addressed by government and non government bodies. Solidarity has implemented project for drinking water problem in 50 villages where government projects are insufficient or unavailable. Now this project has accepted taken by many of the panchayat and implemented in their areas.

Solidarity Youth Movement has organized numerous marches (including parliament march), solidarity has hosted speeches from human right and environmental activists, they made lot of protest and workshops for it with numerous public participation. Solidarity in the midst of all these efforts to get endosulfan banned, has also offered support to thousands of people negatively affected by the toxic pesticide where nearly 500 deaths and chronic health problems are attributed to past use of pesticide in cashew plantations. They provided medical treatment, housing, free rationing of food item, and education, employment and community development to the victims as part of their Endosalfan rehabilitation project.

Solidarity is also working for social justice specially to victims of government torture and injustice. They had organised protests in support of Binayak Sen, Soni sori and Abdul Nasir Maudany. Naushand said that silence of youth is root cause of injustice in India.

Naushad Believes that running out of the system is not the option rather be in system and fight for rights, The system can never be changed from outside. The change comes from within and youth need to come in system directly or they should involve in system to make it better. And if you feels that there is something wrong and system then don’t start blaming the system which is a big problem of our youth, we need not to blame the system we need to make the system better for us and country.

]]> http://beyondheadlines.in/2012/04/solidarity-is-new-mantra-for-change-in-youths/feed/ 0 http://beyondheadlines.in/2011/07/child-rights-commission-replies-to-bh-rti-query-on-forbesganj-police-firing/ http://beyondheadlines.in/2011/07/child-rights-commission-replies-to-bh-rti-query-on-forbesganj-police-firing/#comments Sat, 09 Jul 2011 12:09:50 +0000 admin http://beyondheadlines.in/?p=6639 Afroz Alam Sahil,  BeyondHeadlines

New Delhi: BeyondHeadlines has got the reply from the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) to questions it had asked under the Right to Information Act (RTI) on the Forbesganj police firing.

On June 3, the police had opened fire, allegedly on orders from SP Garima Mullick, on villagers who were protesting against the blockade of a road in Forbesganj block of Araria district in Bihar. In the police action, five innocent poor villagers, including one unborn baby, a woman and a six-month-old infant lost their lives.

Forbesganj police firing victim: Mukhtar Ansari (Courtesy: TCN)

Responding to BH’s first question that what actions have so far been taken by NCPCR in connection to police firing, the commission has said in its reply that after receiving a complaint in this regard from Mahtab Alam, it has taken cognizance of the matter and directed the Chief Secretary, Government of Bihar; District Magistrate and Collector, Collector Office, Araria District; Superintendent of Police, Araria District; Director General of Police, Government of Bihar, to investigate and inquire the matter referred to them and submit a report to the commission.

The commission has also directed them to take further necessary action and send it a factual report along with authenticated copies of the relevant documents within 30 days of the letter issued. “The report should indicate inter alia the information on the offlowing points: (1) detailed report on the probe into child victims of the police action on June 3, (2) measures taken for treatment of injured children by the administration, (3) compensation for orphaned and semi-orphaned children as decided by the administration,” the reply said.

Notably, The NCPCR has been constituted under the provisions of the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act, 2005, for protection of child rights and other related matters. Under Section 13 (1) (j) of the CPCR Act, the commission is responsible to inquire into complaints and suo motu cognizance in relation to deprivation and violation of child rights.

Interestingly, when the commission was asked in the RTI query that whether or not it has sent any investing team at Bhajanpura Village in Forbesganj, Araria District; if yes, provide the detailed address and phone numbers of the members of team and if not, then why, the commission replied: “No decision has been made so far in this regard.” It is worth noticing here that more than a month has passed the incident took place.

BH has filed RTI queries to nine different departments concerned with incident.

New Delhi: Investigations by BeyondHeadlines (BH) show that while real estate price is soaring in the capital, waqf properties are still available at throw away prices.

Information accessed by the BH through the Right to Information (RTI) reveals that at least 86 shops, office space, etc. in Delhi have rent  as low as Re 1 to Rs 11. Two adjacent spaces in Nizamuddin are in fact hired by the World Education & Development Organization for Re 1 each.

These waqf properties are lying in Nizamuddin, Pahar Ganj, Karol Bagh, Subzi Mandi, Balli Maran, Matia Mahal and other streets in Old Delhi.

Courtesy: TCN

Even this meager rent is often not paid on time. Information available with the BH under the RTI till July 2009 reveal that some tenants have not paid their “arrears” for years – at times for as long as 40 years.

Information provided by the Delhi Waqf Board reveal the highest arrear of Rs 16,521 on Abdul Quddosss Siddiqui, President, Nusratul Islam Education Society in Old Delhi’s Fateh Puri area. However, this could not be verified as at Re 1 rent, such arrear seems impossible. or perhaps they never paid the rent!

For the past few years, there has been talk of overhauling the waqf board. In fact ‘The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2010’, was passed in April 2010 to improve the management and administration of the Waqfs in India.

However, there has been a little change on the ground so far.

Rajya Sabha Deputy Speaker K Rehman Kahn too had raised the issue of mismanagement of waqf properties in March this year. He said that there were at least 4 lakh acres of waqf land across country, major portion of which was encroached upon by different bodies, including the government.

Complete List of tenants in Delhi on Waqf properties at Re 1 to Rs 11 rent.

Name of the tenant  

Property Address Rate of the Rent Arrears upto July,2009 1. Mr. Abdul Quddosss Siddiqui, (President, Nusratul Islam Education Society) Room No. 6540, Masjid Fateh Puri, Delhi. 01/- 16521/- 2. World Education & Development Organization Licencee Yearly Kh. No. 532, Humaiyo Ka Maqbara, Hazrat Nizamuddin, New Delhi. 01/- 03/- 3 World Education & Development Organization Licencee Yearly Kh. No. 533, Humaiyo Ka Maqbara, Hazrat Nizamuddin, New Delhi. 01/- 03/- 4 Mrs. Veera Wali H. No. 4711, Dargah Shah Afaque, Subzi Mandi, Delhi. 05/- 248/- 5 Mr. Ram Chander 

S/o: Mr. Gurdutta Mal Arazi 7249, Masjid Telmil Khurd, Qutub Road, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. 05/- 807/- 6 Mr. Sita Ram 

S/o: Mr. Piyarey Lal H. No. 4711, Dargah Shah Afaque, Subzi Mandi, Delhi. 06/- 656/- 7 Mr. Bhagwan Dass Kothri No. 6701, Masjid Khalil Wali, Qadam Sharif, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. 06/- 897/- 8 Mr. Harnam Singh Kothri No. 6701, Masjid Khalil Wali, Qadam Sharif, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. 06/- 917/- 9 Mr. Ram Piyare Lal 

S/o: Mr. Mangal Sen Arazi 7255, Masjid Telmil Khurd, Qutub Road, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. 07/- 1672/- 10 Mr. Ram Lal 

S/o: Mr. Mangal Sen Arazi 7258, Masjid Telmil Khurd, Qutub Road, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. 07/- 2259/- 11 Mr. Chaman Lal 

S/o: Mr. Hari Lal Arazi 7253, Masjid Telmil Khurd, Qutub Road, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. 07/- 474/- 12 Mr. Sewa Lal 

S/o: Mr. Hari Lal Arazi 7253, Masjid Telmil Khurd, Qutub Road, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. 07/- 1653/- 13 Mr. Kundan Lal 

S/o: Mr. Hari Lal Arazi  Mpl. No. 7256-57, Masjid Telmil Khurd, Qutub Road, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. 07/- 1761/- 14 Mr. Krishna Lal 

S/o: Mr. Hari Lal Arazi Mpl. No. 7255-57, Masjid Telmil Khurd, Qutub Road, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. 07/- 1752/- 15 Mr. Sardar Singh 

S/o: Mr. Preetam Singh Arazi 7265, Masjid Telmil Khurd, Qutub Road, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. 07/- 1233/- 16 Mr. Sheik Atiqur Rahman, 

S/o: Mr. Mohd. Usman Shop No.1204, Wakf Abdul Ghani, Balli Maran, Delhi. 07/- 14/- 17 Mr. Jeevan Singh 

S/o: Mr. Dhanna Ram Mpl. No. 2663, chat & shop, Choti Masjid, Lambi Gali, Subzi Mandi, Delhi. 07/- 1943/- 18 Mr. Sardari Lal 

S/o: Mr. Kirpal Singh Arazi 7232, Masjid Telmil Khurd, Qutub Road, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. 07/- 1200/- 19 Mr. Kirpal Singh 

S/o: Mr. Aba Singh Arazi 7233, Masjid Telmil Khurd, Qutub Road, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. 07/- 812/- 20 Mr. Kanshi Ram 

S/o: Mr. Jwala Singh Arazi 7247-48, Masjid Telmil Khurd, Qutub Road, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. 07/- 1171/- 21 Mr. Piyarey Lal 

S/o: Mr. Sundar Dass H. No. 4702A, Dargah Shah Afaque, Subzi Mandi, Delhi. 07/- 817/- 22 Mr. Chandar Prakash Kothri No. 473, Masjid Khajoor Wali, Faiz Road, Karol Bagh, New Delhi. 07/- 691/- 23 Mr. Hans Raj 

S/o: Mr. Atma ram Shop No. 1864, Jama Masjid, Narela. 07/- 1022/- 24 Mr. Abdul Hameed Arazi 94 Murabba Gaz, Qabristan Choti Line, Shahdra, Delhi. 07/- 1220/- 25 Mr. Mohan Lal Hujrah 2889, Kalan Masjid, Turkman Gate, Delhi. 08/- 312/- 26 Mr. Khushi Ram 

S/o: Mr. Labha Ram Shop No. 5608, Masjid Chandrawal, Subzi Mandi, Delhi. 08/- 1181/- 27 Mr. Sita Ram Shop No. 510-A, Masjid Chandrawal, Subzi Mandi, Delhi. 08/- 1305/- 28 Mr. Warsha Singh 

S/o: Mr. Sant Singh Arazi 7239/41, Masjid Telmil Khurd, Qutub Road, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. 08/- 3873/- 29 Mr. Gian Chand 

S/o: Mr. Ram Chand Arazi Mpl. No. 7263, Masjid Telmil Khurd, Qutub Road, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. 08/- 2754/- 30 Mr. Ramji Dass Hujra No. 621, Masjid Belon Wali, Subzi Mandi, Delhi. 08/- 2378/- 31 Mr. Hari Chand Gupta Arazi 200 Sq. Yards, Bagichi Alauddin Qadam Sharif, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. 08/- 1994/- 32 Mr. Bishan Dass 

S/o: Mr. Kishan Chand Q.No. 1/49, Choti Line, Shahdra, Delhi. 08/- 1547/- 33 Mr. Inder Prakash Kothri No. 474-75, Masjid Khajoor Wali, Faiz Road, Karol Bagh, New Delhi. 09/- 1089/- 34 Mr. Des Raj 

S/o: Mr. Jagan Nath Kothri Mpl. No. 1608, Masjid Nai Walan, Karol Bagh, New Delhi. 09/- 1499/- 35 Mr. Shankar Dass 

S/o: Mr. Sohan Lal Arazi Plot Qabaristan, Bagichi Alauddin, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. 09/- 1836/- 36 Mr. Ganpat Rai and Mr. Darshan Lal H. No. 4706, Dargah Shah Afaque, Subzi Mandi, Delhi. 09/- 1540/- 37 Mr. Amrit Singh and Mr. Kalu Ram Shop No. 8687, Masjid Bhar Garh, Subzi Mandi, Delhi. 09/- 1086/- 38 Mr. Hira Chand 

S/o: Mr. Daya Ram Shop No. 3418, Lal Masjid, Mughal Pura, Subzi Mandi, Delhi. 09/- 2729/- 39 Mr. Mukut Behari Shop No. 284, Wakf Sardar Jahan, Darib Kalan, Delhi. 09/- 1539/- 40 Mr. Hans Raj H. No. 4711, Dargah Shah Afaque, Subzi Mandi, Delhi. 09/- 1111/- 41 Mr. Hans Raj, Mr. Ganesh Dass. Kolki Masjid Pulia Wali, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. 09/- 444/- 42 Mr. Sundar Lal 

S/o: Mr. Daya Ram Arazi Mpl. No. 7261-62, Masjid Telmil Khurd, Qutub Road, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. 09/- 3378/- 43 Mr. Kundan Lal 

S/o: Mr. Mohan Lal Arazi Mpl. No. 7265, Masjid Telmil Khurd, Qutub Road, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. 09/- 2670/- 44 Mr. Mohan Lal, Mr. Nagpal Arazi Mpl. No. 7265, Masjid Telmil Khurd, Qutub Road, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. 09/- 3312/- 45 Mr. Lekh Raj 

S/o: Mr. Ishwar Dass Q.No. 1/48, Choti Line, Shahdra, Delhi. 09/- 552/- 46 Mrs. Thakur Devi Q.No. 1/50, Choti Line, Shahdra, Delhi. 10/- 10/- 47 Mr. Panna Lal 

S/o: Mr. Piyare Lal A Portion of Land 10395, Masjid Bagichi Alauddin Qadam Sharif, Pahar Ganj, Delhi. 10/- 1900/- 48 Mr. Ram Chander 

S/o: Mr. Nair Singh H.No. 4705, Dargah Shah Afaque, Subzi Mandi, Delhi. 10/- 1463/- 49 Mr. Harikrishan Dass Mpl. No. 12088, Masjid Nahar Khalasi, Subzi Mandi, Delhi. 10/- 1785/- 50 Mrs. Tej Kaur W/o: Mr. Jagjeet Singh Area  7234, Masjid Telmil Khurd, Qutub Road, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. 10/- 2799/- 51 Mr. Laxmi Narayan 

S/o: Mr. Sabhu Ram Shop No: 63, Masjid Chhoney Wali, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. 10/- 1360/- 52 Mr. Babu Hira Lal Plot No. 3197, Masjid Sangtarashan, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. 10/- 4521/- 53 Mr. Mohan Lal 

S/o: Mr. Bhagwan Dass H. No. 4729, Dargah Shah Afaque, Subzi Mandi, Delhi. 10/- 1121/- 54 Mrs. Bhagwati Devi Tehkhana No. 4701, Masjid Deputi Ganj, Sadar Bazar, Delhi. 10/- 2610/- 55 Mr. Ishwar Singh 

S/o: Mr. Khazan Singh H. No. 4708, Dargah Shah Afaque, Subzi Mandi, Delhi. 10/- 10/- 56 Mr. Lok Nath 

S/o: Mr. Bhandu Ram Shop No. 4711, Fateh Masjid, Subzi Mandi, Delhi. 10/- 300/- 57 Mr. Kanhaiya Lal Godown No. 3129, Masjid Maulvi Wali, Bahadur Garh Road, Delhi. 10/- 763/- 58 Mr. Basheer Ahmad Kothri No. 10396, Masjid Bagichi Alauddin Qadam Sharif, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. 10/- 2069/- 59 Mr. Mohd Mian Room No.1269, Fakhrul Masjid, Kashmiri Gate, Delhi. 10/- 2246/- 60 Mr. Mohd. Yusuf 

S/o: Mr. Abdul Rahman Kothari No.2123, Bari Masjid, Turkman Gate, Delhi. 10/- 1373/- 61 Mr. Shaukat Ali 

S/o: Mr. Liaqat Ali Shop No. 992, Masjid Hakeem Nooruddin, Delhi. 10/- 50/- 62 Mr. Mangal Dass Malhotra Kothri Mpl. No. 1608, Masjid Nai Walan, Karol Bagh, New Delhi. 11/- 2005/- 63 Mr. Shankar Dass 

S/o: Mr. Sohan Lal Arazi Plot Qabaristan, Bagichi Alauddin, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. 11/- 3477/- 64 Mr. Ram Lal Shop No. 3123, Masjid Maulvi Wali, Bahadur Garh Road, Delhi. 11/- 730/- 65 Mr. Narain Dass Dargah Shah Naimatullah, Qutab Road, Delhi. 11/- 2315/- 66 Mr. Gian Chand, Mr. Ram Nath Kothari No.3040-41, Katra Inamullah Beg, Darya Ganj, Delhi. 11/- 22/- 67 Mr. Ashok Kumar Agarwal 

S/o: Mr. Chatar Sain Shop No. 956, Masjid Bagh Rao Ji, Delhi. 11/- 712/- 68 Mr. Bhem Sen Shop No. 3419, Lal Masjid, Mughal Pura, Subzi Mandi, Delhi. 11/- 1485/- 69 Mr. Sawan Mal 

S/o: Mr. Devi Lal H. No. 4714, Dargah Shah Afaque, Subzi Mandi, Delhi. 11/- 432/- 70 Mr. Thakur Singh H. No. 2167, Masjid Shora Kothi, Subzi Mandi, Delhi. 11/- 2031/- 71 Mr. Dhanpat Rai, Mr. Ishwar Dass Area Mpl. No.7229, Masjid Telmil Khurd, Qutub Road, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. 11/- 402/- 72 Mr. Dhanpat Rai, Mr.Ishawar Dass Arazi 7234-35, Masjid Telmil Khurd, Qutub Road, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. 11/- 402/- 73 Mr. Lakhpat Rai Arazi 7230, Masjid Telmil Khurd, Qutub Road, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. 11/- 44/- 74 Mr. Lakhpat Rai Area Mpl. No.7230, Masjid Telmil Khurd, Qutub Road, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. 11/- 44/- 75 Mr. Baldev Raj Area 7230, Masjid Telmil Khurd, Qutub Road, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi. 11/- 44/- 76 Mr. Bal Ram, Mr. Ganesh Dass Arazi 2 Bigah, Qabristan, Najafgarh. 11/- 3440/- 77 Mr. Dharam Singh Garage No. 5006, Masjid Ladla kuan, Subzi Mandi, Delhi. 11/- 2384/- 78 Mr. Ram Lubhaya 

S/o: Mr. Diwan Chand Shop No. 8682, Masjid Bhar Garh, Subzi Mandi, Delhi. 11/- 1722/- 79 Mr. Harish Chand 

S/o: Mr. Ram Chander Shop No. 8681, Masjid Bhar Garh, Subzi Mandi, Delhi. 11/- 532/- 80 Mrs. Shanti Devi Shop No. 411, Masjid Telewarah, Shahdara, Delhi. 11/- 1913/- 81 Mrs. Ganesh Devi Shop No. 410, Masjid Telewarah, Shahdara, Delhi. 11/- 2606/- 82 Mr. Atiq Ahmad 

S/o: Haji Mohd. Ibrahim Shop No.1202, Wakf Abdul Ghani, Balli Maran, Delhi. 11/- 1076/- 83 Mr. Abdul Hameed Part House 3136, Gali Naqarchian, Turkman Gate, Delhi. 11/- 2916/- 84 Mr. Sabir Hussain Balakahana No. 90, Wakf Abdul Rasheed, Chatta Gayas Beg, Matia Mahal, Delhi. 11/- 2310/- 85 Mr. Ahmad Khan Phatak Chabutra, Wakf Wazirun Nisa, Matia Mahal, Jama Masjid, Delhi. 11/- 2594/- 86 Mr. Asghar Ali Arazi  Qabristan Choti Line, Shahdra, Delhi. 11/- 3056/-

Information accessed through the RTI Act (2005) from the Delhi Waqf Board.