Is appointment of Maharashtra Chief info commissioner real misuse of RTI Act ?

For the privileged few, the rule has always been "you tell me the person and I shall tell you whether the law is to be applied". Thus there has always been a violation of the law in the appointment of Information Commissioners. In Mantralaya corridors, these posts are treated as retirement gift s to the chosen babus for the ‘out of the way’ work done by them for politicians. Earlier also, the post of chief information commissioner was kept vacant for months for the post-retirement rehabilitation of retiring chief secretaries. In the present case, however, information obtained under the Right to Information (RTI ) Act, has revealed that several violations while appointing the former chief secretary of Maharashtra Sumit Malik as the State Chief Information Commissioner ( SCIC).

During Sumit Malik's tenure as the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra, the process of appointing him as the SCIC was initiated and completed. Not only this, after his appointment as SCIC, Sumit Malik worked as the Chief Secretary for four months. It is now revealed that the Governor had signed on the recommendation made by the committee headed by the Chief Minister on 30 December 2017 itself. After the Governor’s signature, a notification to that effect was kept on hold for 4 months until Sumit Malik retired. Three days before his retirement i.e on 27 April 2018, his appointment was notified.

It is indeed a very serious matter that after the Governor’s signature the notification was kept on hold for 4 months.

In an RTI reply given to Dr Vikram Gaikwad, the Government has confessed that no advertisement was issued for the post of SCIC. As per the judgement in Namit Sharma review petition, the Supreme Court has said that a person holding an office has to discontinue holding any office of profit. However, in this case, Sumit Malik kept holding on to his post even after his appointment as SCIC by the Governor.

The Supreme Court has  further direct ed that the Committees under Sections 12(3) and 15(3) of the RTI Act , while making recommendations to the President or to the Governor, as the case may be, for appointment of Chief Information Commissioner s and Information Commissioners , facts to indicate his eminence in public life, his knowledge in the particular field and his experience in the particular field must be mention ed against the name of each candidate recommended and these facts must be accessible to the citizens as part of their right to information under the Act after the appointment is made.

However in this case, as no advertisement was issued, the question of applications for that post or recording the eminence of the applicant did not arise at all.

The RTI applicant had also asked for copies of applications made for the post of SCIC. However forget about copies of all the applications, the government has not even provided the copy of Sumit Malik’s application. Does that mean Sumit Malik was appointed without having applied for the post? This raises doubt s regarding the functioning of the Government.

Congress MLA Mr Sanjay Dutt had demanded in the Legislative Council on March 2018 that the Chief Information Commissioner should be appointed. The Chief Minister then replied that the Chief Information Commissioner will be appointed within next four weeks. In fact, the Chief Information Commissioner was appointed in December 20 17 four months before the incumbent's retirement.

Can we call this real misuse of RTI act? 

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RTI KATTA is a platform to empower oneself through discussions amongst each other to solve their problems by using Right to Information act, Every Sunday at Chittaranjan Watika, Model Colony,Shivaji nagar, Pune, between 9.30 to 10.30 A.M.

Vijay Kumbhar

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Without authority and despite huge pendency Maharashtra SIC to go on long vacations.

Without any authority and despite pendency of 33,000 second appeals State Information commission of Maharashtra (MSIC) has decided to go on three long vacations in 2016. The appointment of information commissioners has been severely criticized by the Right To Information (RTI) circles since beginning. It is not secret that they lobby hard and pull every string to get themselves appointed as transparency watchdogs. These Posts have been called the "parking lot for post-retirement babus" to enjoy the perks that it offers. That is the very reason that appointments of retired bureaucrats have adversely hit the implementation of the RTI Act.

The MSIC will go on special vacation on 9^th may to 5^th June, 28^th October to 6^th November and 25^th December 2016 to 1^st January 2017. With this decision MSIC has brought their vacations at par High court. Chief information commissioner of Maharashtra Ratnakar Gaikwad has issued this order under section 15 (4) of the RTI act. However, the Chief Information Commissioner does not even have the authority to approve the casual leave of himself and other Information Commissioners without The consent of the Governor. It needs to be pointed out here that Governor of Maharashtra had delegated that authority to him issuing a special order dated 25/06/2009.

No doubt that as per section  section 15 (4) The general superintendence, direction and management of the affairs of the State Information Commission vests in the State Chief Information Commissioner however that does not empower him to use governors authority. As per terms and conditions of services of information commissioners they are eligible for the leave as per all India services officers and such leave is to be sanctioned by the governor. Chief information commissioner does not have authority to sanction such leave or vacation. That’s why to sanction casual leave governor has given that authority to chief information commissioner by special consent.

It is not secret that bureaucracy is taking over the every system that has been created to fight it. But they are not doing not for the benefit of the society. They want to enjoy lavish life at the cost of public money. And to avail such perks they are loathed to give decisions against officials with whom they had served for.

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RTI KATTA is a platform to empower oneself through discussions amongst each other to solve their problems by using Right to Information act, Every Sunday at Chittaranjan Watika, Model Colony,Shivaji nagar, Pune, between 9.30 to 10.30 A.M.

Vijay Kumbhar

RTI Resource Person, RTI Columnist

Phone – 9923299199

Email – kvijay14@gmail.com

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Smart cities to be secret cities, beginning of the end of transparency era

Finally, skeletons of real intentions behind smart cities mission have been started tumbling out of the cupboard. Initially making governance citizen-friendly was the key objective of smart cities projects, and public participation was said to be core tool to achieve it. Now instead of transparency, the secrecy has become the buzzword for smart cities mission. The Government of India has issued a model Article of Association (AoA)  for the company to be formed under special purpose vehicle ( SPV) for smart cities, that keeps entire functioning of smart city projects behind closed doors.  

courtsey https://anticap.files.wordpress.com

There are several clauses that are controversial in this AoA, but secrecy clause has become the matter of concern for transparency activists in India. The smart city mission had already killed basic principles of the 74th amendment to the constitution of India that was brought to strengthen urban local bodies. Now with this secrecy clause, it has taken the soul out of Right to information act.

The preamble of RTI act says “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;”. The smart city mission stands exactly opposite, it says ‘nobody has right to demand and nobody has  a right disclose any information with respect to the company formed under SPV.

 Reproduced here is secrecy clause in AoA .

(i) Every Director, Manager, Secretary, Auditor, Treasurer, Trustee, member of a committee, officer, servant, agent, accountant or any other person employed in the business of the Company shall, if so required by the Directors, before entering upon his duties, sign a declaration pledging himself to observe strict secrecy respecting all transactions and affairs of the Company with the customers and the state of the accounts with individuals and in matters relating thereto, and shall by such declaration pledge himself not to reveal any of the matters which may come to his knowledge in the discharge of his duties except when required so to do by the Directors or by law or by the person to whom such matters relate and except so far as may be necessary in order to comply with any of the provisions in these presents contained.

Cortsey informationactivism.org

(ii) No member shall be entitled to visit or inspect any works of the Company without the permission of the Directors or to require discovery of or any information respecting any details of the Company's trading, or any matter which is or may be in the nature of a trade secret, mystery of trade, secret process or any other matter which may relate to the conduct of the business of the Company and which in the opinion of the Directors, it would be inexpedient in the interest of the Company to disclose. We, the several persons whose names and addresses are subscribed are desirous of being formed into a company in pursuance of these Articles, and we respectively agree to take the number of shares in the Capital of the Company set opposite our respective names.

In short smart city mission gives all the rights to collect taxes, user charges, sell, lease public properties, take loans, earn profit for the share holders ,to the company formed under SPV and confiscates all the rights conferred upon common citizens by constitution of India

Since the Right to Information act 2005 (RTI) was introduced 10 years back, bureaucracy and politicians made several attempts to kill or dilute its provisions. Several attempts were made to sabotage it. However despite various attacks RTI has made a very small but positive impact on governance. Irrespective of the quantity of impact it has shaken wrongdoers inside out. It seems hence they have introduced “mission smart cities.

courtsey www.cartoonstock.com

As far as Smart City Pune project is concerned there is complete Lack of Transparency in the entire process. The Agreement signed between PMC & Mckinsey has been uploaded belatedly on the PMC website. PMC has resorted to a limited transparency policy by not fully uploading documents pertaining to the award of the contract to Mckinsey. Appendix B – Key experts and Appendix C – Breakdown of the contract price, which is an integral part of the Agreement have not been uploaded. The letters of invitation to the consultants along with the Annexure are not uploaded on the PMC website. Details of the selection process are completely absent. These documents are critical to the award of the contract on which the RFP for the Smart City is based.

Interestingly when asked about whether the amendments given to Pune Smart city project by councilors of Pune Municipal Corporation (  PMC ) will be accepted or not,  Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu refusing the chances they would have to strictly adhere to the guidelines laid down under the Smart City Mission and that if they refuse to toe the line, they will have to opt out of the project. On the contrary, event though there are   serious violations of the Model Request for Proposal (RFP) and the irregular concessions granted to Mckinsey against the public interest, the central government is silent on it.

The would be Chief executive officer of proposed SPV   and presently municipal commissioner PMC has already encroached upon a general body and standing committee’s rights.Though he has not revealed any of PMC’s correspondence with whom it has signed so-called nonfinancial nonbinding Memorandum of understanding (MoU) , he has gone further to assure reimbursement of the amount to an institute without knowledge of a general body and standing committee’s. It seems that he has assured reimbursement as CEO of proposed SPV.

In a letter to principal director of symbiosis Kunal Kumar writes

“I welcome our collaboration wherein MBA—IM students from SCMHRD, Symbiosis would work with us as interns for Smart Cities Mission. This is a path-breaking partnership which brings together academia with Government in mission mode in finding solutions for real life issues faced by the city.

Further, with reference to your email regarding budget proposal based on 60 days of engagement, we convey our agreement with the same. We would, however like you to undertake the expenditure up front and thereafter let us reimburse the amount to you.

We  believe  this  engagement  will  go  a  long  way  in  enabling  the transformation  of  Pune  city under Smart Cities Mission.”

Interestingly SCMHRD’s name doesn’t appear in the list of PMC’s so-called nonbinding nonfinancial MoU’s it has signed. No one knows how many such agreements he has signed on behalf of PMC.However as far as nonbinding nonfinancial MoU’s that PMC has signed are concerned. The commissioner has categorically said that they will be allowed to participate in the tendering process of SPV and there lies the threat of manipulating proposed so-called transparent tendering process.

Related stories

Confidentiality & Conflict of Interest may adverselyaffect Pune’s future as a Smart City.

Pune Municipal Corporation toconsult "courtesan" on being smart

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RTI KATTA

RTI KATTA is a platform to empower oneself through discussions amongst each other to solve their problems by using Right to Information act, Every Sunday at Chittaranjan Watika, Model Colony,Shivaji nagar, Pune, between 9.30 to 10.30 A.M.

Vijay Kumbhar

RTI Resource Person, RTI Columnist

Phone – 9923299199

Email – kvijay14@gmail.com

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Uttar Pradesh Right to Information rules dilute the very object of RTI act

There are several objectionable clauses in Uttar Pradesh Right to Information (UP RTI)  rules 2015  , But most dangerous clause is 13 (3) that categorically says that “ The proceedings pending before the Commission on any complaint or appeal shall abate on the death of the complainant or appellant, as the case may be. This is not only threat to RTI applicants but it is also dangerous for entire RTI act.

There are several other provisions in UPRTI Rules which read separately may appear innocent but if read collectively they can make disastrous affect on entire RTI proceedings. I.e appointments of Public Information Officers (PIO) and appellate authorities (AA) are to be made not by the name of the officers but by the designation of the office .This is good provision as far as exercise of appointments and reappointments is concerned. But there are another provisions and forms where PIO or AA need not mention their names on any of the correspondences.

There is also provision that “during the course of hearing on a complaint or an appeal, the complainant or appellant may be present in the Commission either in person or through duly authorized representative”. And this authorized representative of PIO may appear on behalf of designation. Hence there may be a situation where after final order even information commission may not know who the actual information was.

 9(1) during the course of hearing on a complaint or an appeal, the complainant or appellant may be present in the Commission either in person or through duly authorized representative. However, the Commission, if it deems necessary, may summon the complainant or appellant, as the case may be, to be present in person in the Commission on any specific date of hearing.

(2) The State Public Information Officer against whom the complaint or appeal has been filed may be present voluntarily during the hearings. However, the Commission may at its discretion direct the State Public Information Officer to be present in person or appear through an authorized representative, provided he is an officer of sufficient seniority.

Interestingly the form no 17 under which register of penalties imposed u/s 20 of RTI to be mentioned and form 18 under which penalty order to defaulting PIO is to be conveyed also silent on mentioning name of the PIO . These forms only say that the name of the PIO is to be mentioned only if it is available. That Means event after imposition of penalty nobody will know names of defaulting PIO’s.

Clauses 12 of these rules keep scope for more mischiefs to the RTI act. It is about the recalling of commissions orders.

12. (1) The Commission, on an application submitted by any party aggrieved by an order of the Commission, may recall its order on the ground of any of the following procedural defects:

 (i) The order was passed by the Commission without hearing the applicant for no fault of his; or

(ii) The Commission heard and decided the matter on a date other than the one fixed for hearing of the same and the applicant could not attend the hearing for no fault of his.

(2) The applicant may submit recall application within thirty days from the date of knowledge of the order of the Commission.

(3) If the Commission is of the view that prima facie there is no merit in the application, it may reject the recall application.

As per clause 13. (1), during the hearing on any complaint or appeal, the Commission may, on a request made by the complainant or appellant, as the case may be, allow the complaint or appeal to be withdrawn. This provision is also liked to be used mischievously by both parties. Also there are provisions of adjournment of hearing, transfer of hearings which are also dangerous to RTI act.

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RTI KATTA is a platform to empower oneself through discussions amongst each other to solve their problems by using Right to Information act, Every Sunday at Chittaranjan Watika, Model Colony,Shivaji nagar, Pune, between 9.30 to 10.30 A.M.

Vijay Kumbhar

RTI Resource Person, RTI Columnist

Phone – 9923299199

Email – kvijay14@gmail.com

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Big question mark on new appointments of state information commissioners in Maharashtra

Move to challenge administrative tribunal’s order in the High Court has put a big question mark on new appointments of state information commissioners in Maharashtra.In an interesting development Government of Maharashtra who had opposed the petition on appointments of State information commissioners in the High court stating that the petitioner had remedy of filing original application before the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal (MAT) for the relief as prayed for in the writ petition, has now filed a writ petition ( 11623/2015) in high court stating MAT has no jurisdiction to try such cases.

The Bombay High Court

Advocate John S Kharat from Ahmednagar had filed a writ petition ( No 4477 /2011) in Aurangabad bench of Mumbai high court challenging arbitrary appointments of then State information commissioners (SIC) P. W. Patil, M. H Shaha and D. B Deshpande. Then Assistant Government Pleader (AGP) argued that the petitioner had remedy of filing original application before the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal for the relief as prayed for in the writ petition. Having confronted with this, learned counsel for the petitioner withdrew the writ petition with liberty to the petitioner to file original application before the MAT.

Accordingly Kharat filed original application ( 469/2011) in Aurangabad bench of MAT.It was transferred to MAT Mumbai ( 823/2011). MAT on 16 April 2015 delivered its judgement and passed severe strictures on procedure of SIC appointments. MAT had observed   that while scouting for the said posts, the High Powered Committee that recommends candidate for posts of SIC to the Governor, has to make sure that the area of resources is sufficiently large so as to attract and ensure the appointment of the best talent for these important posts. However wider source from the fields of law, science and technology etc. was apparently not taken into account with the kind of seriousness by the committee

Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal

Citing the recommendations of the Supreme Court in the Namit Sharma (review) case, the Tribunal had also observed that there was no material to show as to what the state of affairs was with regard to the 68 candidates other than the 4 selected for posts of SIC’s. MAT had criticized Government   for not framing any rules for appointment of SIC’s, and  had also observed that there was no advertisement as such. There was no exact date on which the process commenced and there was no exact preform of application.

MAT had given following direction to Government of Maharashtra

 • There is an urgent need to make rules consistent with the provisions of Right To Information Act, 2005 especially Section 15 thereof for selections to the posts of Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners. It will be desirable to have the rules in place much before the next selection is taken up for consideration by the High Powered Committee under the Information act. The directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Namit Sharma’s case (reviews judgment) be carefully perused and implemented.

• It will be within the discretion of the Committee to fix the eligibility criteria for the said posts. But there again, the provisions of the Information Act may be strictly followed and it be ensured that the legislative mandate to have eminent persons from all the various disciplines like Law, Science and Technology etc should be given full scope to complete. The criteria should be duly publicised well in advance before the selection process begins. Sufficiency and mode of publicity of the said criteria will be within the discretion of the Committee

• The selection process must be transparent and definitive without any scope for apprehension of partiality, favouritism and such other vices. There must be a definitive time frame from the commencement of the said process till its conclusion without submission of the recommendations to His Excellency, the Governor. The details of the course of action in this behalf are left to the discretion of the committee but the following measures can be commended for consideration and effectuation: i)An officer of senior rank must be appointed to perform the duties akin to what in relation to several such committees is called Member Secretary…; The Committee may make sure that a proper schedule is appointed for the selection process…the duration of time between the date of commencement of distribution and the last date of its receipt by the Officer may not be more than four to six weeks…

• The Chief Secretary, Government of Maharashtra is requested to bring this judgment of the notice of the Hon’ble Chairman and Hon’ble members of the Committee for information and action. The Chief Secretary of the Government of Maharashtra may report compliance herewith within eight weeks from today (16 April 2015).

However instead of complying with the directions of the MAT, Government of Maharashtra has preferred writ in the High Court challenging those.Meanwhile all the SIC's whose appointments were challenged are either retired ,resigned or removed from the services long back. Hence any order in this regard will not have any effect on then appointments. But complying with Supreme court or MAT  order in further appointments may make some positive effect . 

Now whether MAT has such jurisdiction or not will be decided in the high court.But meanwhile there is big question mark on appointments of new information commissioners in Maharashtra.Regardless of pending the said writ, Government of Maharashtra may fill the vacant SIC posts with prior consent of the High Court , but will they do that? 

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RTI KATTA is a platform to empower oneself through discussions amongst each other to solve their problems by using Right to Information act, Every Sunday at Chittaranjan Watika, Model Colony,Shivaji nagar, Pune, between 9.30 to 10.30 A.M.

Vijay Kumbhar

RTI Resource Person, RTI Columnist

Phone – 9923299199

Email – kvijay14@gmail.com

Website – http://surajya.org              

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“Deceptive real estate investment schemes” and Right To Information

Mumbai pune nashik is called Golden Triangle of Maharashtra because of its best connectivity with Mumbai. As Pune and Nashik continue to be hot destinations for realty investments, here is huge demand for land from urban rich.

This demand is specially more in  Maval and Mulshi talukas because they are known for  fine scenic spots. But marring this tag, they are getting the dubious distinction of being the hotbed of fraudulent land deals.The changing of ownership titles of large tracts of land in Mulshi and Maval talukas, in Pune district, without the knowledge of original title holders, most of them farmers, to build resorts and farmhouses for the urban rich, is a scandal that has been going on for over a decade.

It is not the case that government doesn’t know this, but most of these deals are done with hand in gloves of land mafias with politicians and bureaucrats. You go anywhere in any village of these taluks you will find every big politicians ( despite of which party he/she belongs to) or bureaucrat land here .Hence common person cannot have easy access to land records in these taluks. Not even that , you will not find mulshi taluk on collector’s official website.

Mulshi taluk disappeared from Pune district Video Courtesy - Zee 24 Tass

If anybody tries to go in details of the Land records here, Mafias by hook or crook silent him/her. RTI activist Satish Shetty was killed because of the information he procured of massive land scams in Talegaon and Lonavala. The land sharks in Pune district are ripping off original land titles, and his killers are still moving scot free.

There is another angle to this story also. People always fall in love of investment offers of plantation schemes, Calm, Private, Luxurious and yet open Farm house plots with Sunrise / sunset point, Swimming pool, Landscape garden, Exclusive Developed demarcated plots with Boundary Fencing, forest walks along the periphery etc. etc –

What may restrictions and prohibitions SEBI, RBI or the government impose to tackle collective investment schemes or Ponzi real estate investment companies. Financial scams and scandal rock the country on regular basis, promising quick money to gullible small investors. They find loopholes in laws and regulations, play different tricks, play with the words, and give deceptive promises and so on.

To tackle this issue, Right To information is the best solutions. 

Photo courtesy - Ravi Karandeekar

Related Posts

Lust of gullible investors for heavy returns is the reason behind flourishing fraud investment schemes

Number of fools who want to get cheated is multi million times more than the actual cheaters in Ponzi Investment

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Vijay Kumbhar

RTI Resource Person, RTI Columnist

Phone – 9923299199

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Anger in police department over Unequal allocation of duties and victimization of whistle blowers inside

Making good good laws can not serve the purpose, there are several such laws In India but have become useless due to lack of proper implementation. Hence entire governance system has become defunct. There was hope that Right to Information Act (RTI) will help reduce corruption and improve governance but it didn’t happen. Many people who brought to light irregularities through RTI had to loose their lives or compelled to face the music. 

Hence there was a demand of a law to protect such whistle blowers, it was paid heed and whistleblower protection act came in to existence, though rules to this act are yet to be formed. This act was supposed to protect persons including public servant making a public interest disclosure related to an act of corruption, misuse of power, or criminal offence by a public servant.

To protect such whistle blowers there are three major provisions in whistle blower act

a) Government has to ensure that no person or a public servant who has made a disclosure under this Act is victimized by initiation of any proceedings or otherwise merely on the ground that such person or a public servant had made a disclosure or rendered assistance in inquiry under this Act.

b) The Head of the organization or office concerned shall not directly or indirectly reveal the identity of the complainant or public servant who made the disclosure.

c)If any person is being victimized or likely to be victimized on the ground that he had filed a complaint or made disclosure or rendered assistance in inquiry under this Act, he may file an application before the Competent Authority seeking redress in the matter,

Picture courtesy http://www.livelaw.in 

There was a hope that large number persons inside the system will come forward to to bring irregularities in their own department. But it didn’t happen, because till today our system hasn’t matured enough to take it positively if any public servant brings to light some irregularities of his/her own department.

For example a lady constable in Maharashtra police department took a training of Right to Information act from Yashada. As a part of training she was asked to have inspection of information disclosed under section 4 of RTI act of any public authority and give a gradation. The lady had a inspection of her own department and gave “D” i. e worst gradation because compliance u/s section 4 of the department was not up to the mark. Not only that in good faith she also reported this thing to highest officer of the department, and informed them that she will inspect the office once again after a month. As the lady had already brought some irregularities out through RTI, seniors took this letter as a insult to them. They sent her show cause notice and penalized her with fine of 110 rupees for alleged indiscipline.

There may be truth in allegations of abusive language by the the lady constable. There are some rules and regulation of departments, that are to be followed by by the servants and in department like police those are very strict have to be followed. Hence fine imposed upon lady constable can be justifiable. But in this case police obeyed their rules but what about RTI and whistleblower act, did they follow it? , did the information related to section 4 comply with? Did they take any action on irregularities exposed by lady constable? The answer is “no”?

There is lot of anger in police department over Unequal allocation of dities and subsequently irregularities and injustice due to it. Hence they are demanding dissemination of duty chart since many days. They tried to obtain about it through RTI but failed. Ae well there is long pending demand implementation of recommendations made in various  report on police reforms .But nobody paid heed to their demands hence some people tried RTI rout, due which some irregularities came to light. But obviously senior felt unhappy because this move was straight attack on their inefficiency. Hence they are victimizing junior level staff under the garb of departmental discipline. Now question before such staff is whether to bend before departmental discipline or to fight against injustice with help of RTI and whistleblower act.

Image courtesy  http://puputupu.blogspot.in/

In this case as this lady constable has brought many irregularities of the department to the light police department has sent has several show cause notices to her. In such scenario to whom she should go for protection and justice?. It’s sure that her own department is not ready to help her and there is no competent authority appointed under whistle blower act.

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RTI KATTA is a platform to empower oneself through discussions amongst each other to solve their problems by using Right to Information act, Every Sunday at Chittaranjan Watika, Model Colony,Shivaji nagar, Pune, between 9.30 to 10.30 A.M.

Vijay Kumbhar

RTI Resource Person, RTI Columnist

Phone – 9923299199

Email – kvijay14@gmail.com

Website – www.surajya.org

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Open Letter to Rahul Gandhi

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.

An appeal to Maharashtra SIC to Withdraw Order

To,

Ratnakar Giakwad,

State Chief information Commissioner

State Information commission

Mumbai

Dear Sir,

You have issued an order to all public authorities on 26/9/2013 ( mu ma aa/vaastu/imarat/nakashe/2013 . Exact English translation of that order is like this

                              Order

While dealing with the appeals  and complaints received under RTI act , It has been observed that, some public authorities provide information related to   building plans and interior of the buildings while dealing with the application received under RTI regarding public, semi-public offices , hotels , gymnasiums, hospitals, malls, IT buildings , structures of commercial buildings .

As per section 19 (8) ( a ) and section 25 (5) , it is being ordered that , all public authorities , If asked plans / documents of such structures/ buildings, considering security reason such information should not be provided, similarly if asked plans related to private buildings/structures , unless public interest is involved  in it, such plans ( interiors ) etc. should not be provided. These orders are being given to all municipal corporations / municipalities.

Principal secretory, urban development department (1) (2) to inform above orders to all municipal corporations, municipalities as well as special planning authorities

Now I want to bring some points to your notice

1)  As far as RTI act is concerned giving information must be rule and denying must be the exception.

2)  It is clear from your order that you have asked not give any information related to any public semi public building/structure.

3)  Actually information related to all buildings including public – semi public buildings is covered under section 4 (1) (b) (xiii)(     particulars of recipients of concessions, permits or authorizations granted by it; ) and 4 (1) (b) (xi) (the budget allocated to each of its agency, indicating the particulars of all plans, proposed expenditures and reports on disbursements made;)

4)  There was no request or demand from any security agency then I don’t understand what prompted you to issue such orders,

5)  As per Section 19 (8) (a) information commissioner surely has authority to require the public authority to take any such steps as may be necessary to secure compliance with the provisions of this Act, but that authority has to be used while hearing second appeal under section 19 .You can not use such authority to order blanket ban on any information

6)  As per section 25 (5) information commissions can recommend certain things to public authority ( not authorities)  he can not order blanket ban on providing information ( If it appears to the Information Commission that the practice of a public authority in relation to the exercise of its functions under this Act does not conform with the provisions or spirit of this Act, it may give to the authority a recommendation specifying the steps which ought in its opinion to be taken for promoting such conformity.)

7)  It is commendable that you have expressed concern about security of public places. However it is highly impossible that terrorist will demand plans of buildings under RTI act then decide their course of action. Why they will take such a long rout when the public places are open to all, all the time.

8)  At one place you have in to bracket used word interior, that means information related to interior of the building also should not be provide. here I want to bring to your notice that even home department also doesn’t think like that. They even allow shooting of films in interior and exterior part of the jails that attract most dangerous security threats. Recently home department has hiked fee for such shootings in and around jails.

I now humbly request you to, taking into consideration all above points please withdraw your orders immediately.

Indian Railway play with words to harass RTI applicants

Indian railways have charged a fee of whopping RS. 1000 per copy of reservation chart Under RTI. An RTI applicant Ravindra Vabale had asked copies of reservation charts . They have also attached copy of concerned circular. But if we go and study earlier circulars it reveals how Babus play with the words to avoid or dodge RTI queries.  The circular issued in 1994 is not available, but 2007 circular clearly shows that the fee of RS. 750 was for verification purpose and not for the copy of reservation chart, and that too was for the government departments.

2010 circular also mentions the uniform fee of Rs. 750/- per PNR for verifying journey details but suddenly in 2011 words “verification of PNR” were  replaced by the words “copy of reservation chart” . and words “government departments” were replaced by words “any person” . This is clear indicates that such was done to avoid or harass RTI requisitions. Reproducing here the extract of all the three concerned circulars.

No.2006FlG-I/20/P/LTC New Delhi, Dated: l0/01/2007

Instructions were issued vide this office letter No.93/TG- I/20/P dated 04/05/1994 on the subject quoted above wherein it was advised that a uniform fee of Rs.750/- per verification should be charged by zonal railway from various Government departments who approach for verification of LTC Travel detail. A clarification has been sought by Northern Railway on this account regarding the fee to be charged from the following agencies in case they approach for verification of LTC Travel

details: -

l) Police/CBI in different types of investigation/criminal cases. 2) Courts 3) Railway Vigilance in various cases. 4) Railway refund offices for deciding refund cases. 5) Various reports of the Railways to dispose off complaint cases. The matter has been reviewed and it has been decided that: -

i. Verification fee may not be charged from Police/CB1/Courts, in connection with investigation/hearing of Civil/Criminal or any other cases. However, verification fee will be charged in case of verification of LTC claims of the staff of these organisations.

ii. No verification fee may be charged in Vigilance, Refund and Complaint cases being investigated by Railways.iii Verification fee may be charged from all other agencies except those mentioned in (i) & (ii) above.

CCMs/CCM (PMs) will, have discretionary powers to waive off the fee in specific cases like requests from different Commissions, Parliament or Legislative Secretariat etc. Necessary instructions may be issued to all concerned and receipt of this letter be acknowledged.

N0. 2006/TG-I/20/P/LTC New Delhi, dated 31.08.2010

Please refer to this ofiice letter of even number dated 04.05.1994 and l0.0l .2007 (Commercial Circular No. 06 of 2007) intevalia advising therein regarding charging of a uniform fee of Rs 750/- per PNR for LTC verification, and non-charging of this fee from certain agencies as prescribed therein. Now a query has been raised whether these charges are applicable for verifying journey details in other cases also.

2. The matter has been considered at Board’s level and it is clarified that Zonal Railways should realise a uniform fee of Rs.750/- per PNR for verifying journey details irrespective of the fact whether it is for LTC verification or otherwise.

No.2006/TG-I/20/P/LTC Pt. New Delhi, dated I3 .12.2011,

The issue has been examined in consultation with Finance Directorate of Board’s office and it has been decided that the following fee should be realized for furnishing a copy of reservation chart to any person:~

(i) For furnishing a copy of reservation chart to any person, a fee of Rs. 1,000/- per page should be charged. In this case, party will be provided a printout of the reservation chart taken out from the system Without indicating the status of passenger viz. turning up/non-turning up.

(ii) In case of furnishing of copy of working chart (having indication by TTEs/TCs relating to turning up or non-turning up and other relevant details), a fee of Rs. 750/- per PNR should be charged for all the PNRs indicated on that page.-

Narayanasamy’s definition of Substantial funding – One more threat for RTI ahead

If accepted,union minister of state for personnel public grievances and pensions V. Narayanasamy’s definition " Substantial funding means above 51 per cent’ "private sharks will grab the entire country in no time. All the Build Operate Transfer (BOT), Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects, Non Government Organisations (NGO) getting crores of rupees as a fund or aid in kind Co Operative societies, will automatically come out of the preview of RTI act.

There are 33.50 lakh NGO’s and around 6.5 lakh cooperative societies working since last decades for welfare of society in India. That means there are around 40 lakh organisation working for 120 crore population, i.e. there is one such organisation per 300 people. If we assume there are only 10 members in such organisations i.e. there is one person per 30 people working for welfare of society since last many decades. Major Job of these organisations is to take government policies, schemes to common person. However what we see the ground reality is, status of the common person is same as was several decades back. Each year government spends crores and crores rupees for welfare of common person , then where did all this money go?. Interesting part of this is , most of all these are directly or indirectly owned or controlled by political entities.  

There are projects like BOT, PPP where government’s major stake is involved in form of direct or indirect funding. In addition as the government has already allowed Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). We have to see the implications of definition of substantial funding keeping in the mind above mentioned factors .

I wonder how anybody can say that “I have taken your rupee but as my stakes are high, I don’t owe any responsibility towards your rupee because it is not substantial funding”.?. Definition of substantial funding can not be and should not be in terms percentage.

More than three million RTI applicants got Information , Claims SIC Maharashtra

More than 96% of RTI applicants in Maharashtra got information in last seven years .This claim is made by state information commission (SIC) of Maharashtra in its seventh annual report placed before state legislative assembly. If this claim is to be believed then there is already "RAMRAJYA" (Goode Governance) in Maharashtra. The claim is based on information provided by various public authorities in the state. As per report in last seven years i.e. since inception of RTI act Public Authorities (PA) received total 31, 72,114  RTI applications,  out of which only 1,27,357  i.e. only 4% of the applicants filed second appeals , that means 96% i.e. 30, 71, 532 applicants got the desired information.

If this statistics is to believed there is no need of proactive disclosure or any other measures for implementation of RTI act in Maharashtra. However, Ground reality is far more different from this. Surprisingly in this report, it has stated that 80 % of the Public Information Officers (PIO) and First appellate authorities are unaware of procedure to be followed to address RTI queries as per the act. The act has not been propagated and reached to its beneficiaries in true sense. Many public authorities have not complied with section 4 of the act. Status of the documentation or record is not satisfactory in most of the public authorities. It is hard to believe that despite of all these odds 96% of the applicants got the desired information. The only conclusion that can be drawn from this situation is that, the data supplied by public authorities on whom this report is not trust worthy, and SIC cannot verify this data by any means.

Since last three four years SIC reports are just copy paste work. This year is also no exception. There were lot of expectations as state chief information commissioner was a former state chief secretary, has thorough knowledge of administration. When last two annual reports were submitted, he was in chair as a chief secretary. He was supposed to find the ways to tackle hurdles in compliance of suggestions of SIC and implementation of RTI act. However, nothing happened. He has same expectations from government that earlier commissions had.

Vacant posts of commissioners , vacant posts of employees , not supply of franking machines, non compliance of section 4 of the RTI act, non compliance of sic decisions, poor documentation and record keeping, Necessity of training to PIO's, FAA' and citizens all such demands are there since last seven years  but Government did not pay any heed. It was possible for Ratnakar Giakwad to do something for RTI act as a chief secretary, but he did not do anything. Now he expects that governments view must be positive towards supply of necessary facilities to SIC.

The only new suggestions from SIC this year are, syllabus related to  The RTI act , Maharashtra Public Records Act  and  Delay in Discharge of official duties  should be included in Departmental Qualification Examination of employees and scanned documents to RTI applicant should be provided to RTI applicant , it will save time and energy of public authority.

It is almost more than a year that Ratnakar Giakwad assumed charge of chief Information commissioner. There were lot of expectations from him. Getting approved "appeal procedure rules" from government was one of the major task before him, but he could not do so. The only positive thing he did was,  fast disposal of second appeals and bringing pendency his bench to almost zero.

Cabinet today cleared the RTI Amendments

In a significant development, the Cabinet today cleared the RTI Amendment Act and proposed that political parties should be kept out of its ambit. But following was the press release by press information bureau on 8 july 2009., when Prithviraj Chavan was Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions. It seems that assurance given by then state minister was  just a eyewash.

Amendment to RTI Act

Lok Sasbha

The Government proposes to strengthen right to information by suitably amending the laws to provide for disclosure by government in all non-strategic areas. In this regard, it is proposed to review the number of organizations in the second schedule to the Right to Information Act, 2005 and make rules for more disclosure of information by public authorities.

Government has received representations expressing doubts about the proposed amendments. Non-Governmental Organisations and Social activists will be consulted on the proposed amendments. However No time frame can be fixed for completion of the process.

This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Shri Prithviraj Chavan in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today (i.e. 8th july 2009 )