Dear Shri Rahuljee Gandhi,
You have
announced that the Congress party is serious about fighting against corruption
in India. The Congress party has brought several legislations and is in favor
of bringing more legislation to fight corruption. I humbly bring to your notice
that bringing good legislations alone does not help in fighting against
corruption. Implementation of legislation is the key to fight corruption.
The Congress
party takes credit for enacting the “Right to Information Act” (RTI). However
what about its implementation? In Maharashtra, RTI is in a critical condition.
Since last many years, more than half the posts of information commissioners
are vacant because the Chief Minister has no time. Hence pendency of second
appeals has piled up to 26000. People do not want to file RTI applications
because they don’t get the information.
Official
reports that 95 % RTI applicants get the desired information are cooked up
because the scenario at ground level is exactly the opposite i.e. 95 %
applicants do not get the information. There is no transparency in appointment
of information commissioners. They are chosen arbitrarily. The decisions of some information
commissioners are so bad that the citizens wonder the information commissioners
are appointed to implement the RTI properly or to kill it? The scenario all
over India is no different.
Take another
example of Maharashtra Prevention of Delay in Discharge of official Duties Act 2005. The act came into force in 2006.
However the rules were issued in this December 2013 i.e. seven
years later! More to say, clause 8 in these rules says e-mails shall be
acknowledged and the e-mails shall be forwarded to the concerned office or
Department or Desk if they do not pertain to the addressee. The applicant is to
be intimated accordingly by e-mail. However my e-mails to the chief minister
and chief secretary of Maharashtra on their official e-mail IDs bounced! Now
you imagine what will be the scenario while implementing this legislation.
State
Governments all over India keep issuing numerous circulars. They are the same
everywhere. Never implemented. It becomes a case of “you tell me the person and
I shall tell you the circular”, thus putting into action only those circulars,
which benefit the officers or their cronies. Others are thrown in the waste
paper basket and none feels bad or sad about it. The circulars are cleverly
drafted. If some issue is to be evaded, then the choice of words is so
'creative' as to abash even a litterateur. Perhaps these circulars would pass
off as pieces of excellent literary talent.
Here’s how.
Consider another the case of Maharashtra. Many circulars were issued from
Mantralaya of Maharashtra since 1996 to express commitment to eradicate corruption and illegalities. So far, 11 circulars have been issued for
action against those involved in corruption and illegalities. These circulars
are well drafted comparable with the masterpieces in literary art! But there
has been no action as a result of a single circular. If you query officers
about any problem, they immediately draw attention to these thirteen circulars
and boast about their commitment to eradicate corruption and illegalities.
Shakuntala
Bhagat the first beneficiary in Maharashtra, who received health card for Rajiv
Gandhi Jeevandayee Arogya Yojana from Smt. Sonia Gandhi, appeared to be a fake.
I found major discrepancies in Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) Urban Poor
health scheme and Contributory Health scheme. The Health Minister ordered an
inquiry in this case after I reported the matter. However, when the inquiry
team went to PMC, it was sent back because the orders for the inquiry came from
the Health Minister and not from the Urban Development Department. The Urban
development department is with Chief Minister and till today there is no order
from the CM in this regard.
In nutshell,
while bringing good legislation to fight against corruption succeeds only in
fooling the public for some time, proper implementation alone will reveal your
real intentions.
