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by kushal | 
We are happy to announce RTI INDIA is now available to all its subscriber via Free SMS. Now you can know the latest news, success stories, important events and much more about Right to Information by subscribing to our SMS channel.
Please visit our channel link to subscribe to our Free SMS service.
http://labs.google.co.in/smschannels...be/RTIINDIASMS
Alternatively you can subscribe to RTI INDIA SMS by sending an SMS:
ON RTIINDIASMS to 9870807070
Thank You for being part of our community.
RTI INDIA TEAM
At any point of time you want to unsubscribe from RTIINDIASMS channel, send an SMS <off rtiindiasms=""> to 9870807070
</off>
This service is an additional but free subscription based service and you are not automatically subscribed to the channel by us while you register at our site. | | |
by kushal | On our second Anniversary I said 'Let us Connect, Network and Reach out', the dream was not Myopic. On 27th September 2009 just over 3 years of our existence we are 100,000 member strong community. With more than 4 lakhs pages of community posts at our website, surely we are proud of our members who either posted a question, or an answer, or wrote a blog which made Right to Information worthwhile.
Do you have a success story to share with us: Now Post your video at RTI INDIA!
On this occasion we are introducing a new forum at RTI INDIA, RTI Community - RTI Videos at rtiindia.org which is meant for all our members to upload and share videos via YouTube. I invite all of our community members to take part in the forum.
We are also announcing the launch of RTI INDIA Video Channel at YouTube. Visit YouTube - RTIINDIA's Channel
We intend to share and bring together all Right to Information related videos at one place through this channel. To become more familiar with the functioning kindly visit the thread here.
Continuing our zeal to bring all cross section of people to be part of our community we have opened many more mediums to do so via social networking sites.
- Facebook: Join us via Facebook, become fan of our site here: RTI INDIA | Facebook
- Twitter: Follow us on twitter here: RTI INDIA (rtiindia) on Twitter. We post interesting threads selected at RTI INDIA website here. Also we intend to use it as our minor site announcement portal.
- Orkut: Join us if you are available at orkut, visit the link here orkut -
Very importantly, our core team has decided to accept the following members as our 'Community Builders' and we are happy to welcome them as our team members on this very important milestone event:
Dillip Kumar Mohapatra, Sunaab Sarkar, Jayeshbheda & Ajay Kumar Bhal
I am sure the hard work they have done to help the community grow till date, will surely enrich all of us in times to come.
Lastly, this official post cannot end without the acknowledgment of our team members untiring efforts, those voluntary monetary supporters who made their contribution towards running this site, and all those contributory members who by way of their knowledge and desire had been enriching all of us from the journey we performed from 1 member to 100000 members.
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by ganpat1956 | Today, September 28, is the International Right to Information Day. On this day in 2006, RTI India .Org was started by Dr Kushal Pathak, a physician by education, but who nevertheless took up Civil Services to a lucrative career in medicine. His penchant for curing the ills of the society and the encouragement provided by the younger generation of his like-minded friends in the bureaucracy, led him to float this web site. In the three years time, this site has now grown into a membership of 90,000 socially conscious persons throughout the length and breadth of this country, besides several NRI members. They hail from every walk of life—retired people, commoners, teachers, advocates, professionals, entrepreneurs, serving officers, house wives et al.
The founders of this portal being part of the civil services, there is an imperative need to ensure that this site is not used by anybody to demean the govt nor to conduct a crusade or campaign against it. To that extent, we believe in active moderation . This portal is only meant in a very strict sense to help citizens and others in the rightful interpretation of Act and helping in the queries they have, by the shared resource of the members at large. We are happy that by and large our members have understood the boundaries we have set for ourselves and have extended their due cooperation on this count.
RTI India has earned a niche for itself in the web world thanks to the dedicated efforts of all the activists. The site carries over 3,35,000 web pages of discussions, spread out in various sections and sub-sections. The search engines simply love this site and at any point of time one can observe the presence of not less than a score or two of various search engine bots and spiders crawling around for information. With the result, anything that gets posted here can be located through a web search in the next five to ten minutes. This has led to increased new member registrations, which are in the order of 300 to 400 everyday, making the task of our Community Builders, a challenging one. Site statistics reveal that about 80% of the visitors to our portal every day are new entrants.
From a handful of Info Warriors who started it all in 2006, we were 1100 at the time of our first anniversary, 12000 on our second anniversary and now with a 90000+ vibrant membership, we are marching ahead to the six digit figure, which we shall be reaching before the end of this year.
To repeat the words of our Chief Dreamer & Architech, " We are proud of our Members who had made our community efforts a success, either by way of a question or by posting a solution or simply being here with us. We are also thankful to those who contributed by way of assimilating news about Right to Information and shared with all of us in the RTI News section. Many appreciation would go left unnoticed if we did not mention those who contributed in the blogging, guide and directory segment. Again a Big Thanks to all those who made monetary contributions for meeting the bandwidth cost and thus reaffirmed their faith in our community work."
Discuss this Announcement Here:
"http://www.rtiindia.org/forum/31322-...niversary.html" | | |
by ra_10 | | Since past few years the State Urban Development authority had been pumping sewage water into our land, which was having an ill effect on the quality of our land. We filed an RTI application seeking information on the intended route of the sewage water, why it was diverted to our land, the compensation we would be granted for the harm done and the penalty to the officers responsible. The reply to the application stated that there was no such thing being done - no sewage water was being pumped and no further action was to be taken on this. Although the reply wasn’t directly helpful, RTI helped because the authorities completely diverted the route of sewage water away from our land and it has stayed like that since. Hence, we achieved the desired results.:) | | |
by karira |
26-yr-old visually challenged man will receive first Rahul Mangaonkar RTI Award
Ratna Ala, a visually challenged 26-year-old youth, who used RTI to expose the improprieties of the local administration and got development to his village, will become the first recipient of the Rahul Mangaonkar Award for Best Use of RTI for Common Cause.
The award was conceptualised to cherish and perpetuate the legacy of TOI journalist Rahul Mangaonkar, who had pioneered the use of Right to Information in journalism. Ala will be felicitated at Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry Auditorium on Sunday at 10.30 am.
A native of Rangpur in Wankaner taluka of Rajkot district, Ala is visually impaired. He used the RTI to replace a stony path connecting his village to the main highway by a two-kilometre pucca road. His family belongs to below the poverty line.
Ala, a class X passout, used RTI to get information on several schemes that the panchayat had claimed it had implemented but had not done so.
Rahul Mangaonkar, an activist-journalist, passed away on May 5, 2009. He used RTI as a tool to expose irregularities in the local administration and provided a non-confrontational attitude to the RTI movement.
The award is not just a tribute to Mangaonkar but an encouragement to common citizens who use the tool to make a difference to the society at large.
As reported in ahmedabadmirror.com on 19 July 2009:
26-yr-old visually challenged man will receive first Rahul Mangaonkar RTI Award , News - City - Ahmedabad Mirror,Ahmedabad Mirror | | |
by kushal | On 15th May 2009, RTI INDIA reached the registration count of 50000 members. Please join us on our celebrations here!
Our immediate goal is to make rtiindia.org an even more welcoming place and make it easier for users to find the information they're looking for regarding Right to Information.
Over the past few months, we've been actively ramping up team and reorganizing it so the team can be bigger, faster, and better than ever before. In the same effort we are pleased to announce following active members as our team members:
- Sandeep Baheti (sandeepbaheti): Has been given additional responsibility as 'Moderator' of RTI INDIA.
- Atul Patankar (Atul Patankar): Has been inducted in our team as 'News Digger' at RTI INDIA
- E.V.DEVENDRANATH (evdnath), G.MARUTHI (GM VISHNU) & Prabhakar HL (prabha.hl) has been inducted as 'Community Builders' at RTI INDIA
We think the new additions to our team are great assets to rtiindia.org - something we think you'll agree with as you get to know some of our new team members over the coming months. Please visit our Team Members Page here.
While in the past discussions were a bit freewheeling, we're going to renew our effort to keep discussions focused, in accord with our published posting guidelines. Polite discussion and constructive criticism will be welcome, but we are going to be better about moderating discussions to keep them on topic.
With Best Regards,
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by aparnakarmarkar |
My name is Aparna Karmarkar. I live in Pune and practice as an architect. I had filed my Income Tax Reaturn for the Finincial year 2007-08 on July31st ,2008. I had claimed a refund of Rupees Four Thousand and Thirty Six rupees.
I waited patiently for the refund till June,2009. No action from Income Tax Office. When I told this story to Mr.Atul Patankar, he was very kind to introduce me to the idea of RTI !!
He made the application ready, we filled in the necessary details and filed the application on June 10th, 2009. I was surprised when the sleepy department started calling me. The concerned officer told me that he has posted the cheque and could I please widraw the application? Again Mr.Patankar advised me not to do so , till I had a cheque in my hands.
Thanks to RTI and Mr.Atul Patankar, I received my cheque on July 2nd, 2009. What's more, I did not pay a single paisa as a bribe!!!
With best regards,
Aparna Karmarkar
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by dhanabalan |
RTI Act is really helpful to me. Police officials were misused the FIRs. Each FIR contains 6 sheets. Police used only 3 sheets to register the case. Other 3 sheets were used to threaten the innocents to get the bribe and then destroyed the 3 sheets. I unearthed through RTI.
FIR printed numbers and Crime numbers are not tallying. In some cases FIRs were reserved for later use. In some cases, crime numbers were reserved. Further, 5 crime numbers were booked in one FIR. Some FIR copies were not sent to court. Some FIR copies are not available in station, in DSP office and in court. I unearthed all this through RTI. Now I filed a petition in High court to direct the Vigilance & Anticorruption to register FIR against the police officials.
One person murdered his illegal second wife and the body was destroyed in fire without informing to police and Village Administrative Officer. That person paid bribe to police for not registering FIR against him. I sent application under RTI. DGP replied "on enquiry she died due to eating of poison". The ADGP destroyed the file connected with the reply of DGP. I filed a petition at High Court to register FIR. FIR was registered under IPC 176, which is non cognizable offence. Even the FIR was not sent to the JM court. ADGP and other police officials would be booked for not registering FIR under section IPC 201.
Police received bribe from the criminals and FIR was not registered for the theft complaints from 2005. I complained to IGP. IGP directed to register FIR. Afraid of departmental action by the IGP for the refusal to register FIR, police officials received signature from the petitioners in blank empty white paper and they later filled as they like. Some petitioners complained to the IGP and SP. No action. I sent complaint to DGP. No reply. Appealed at Information Commission. Enquiry was conducted by Information commission. PIO gave a non speaking, incomplete and evading answer. I again appealed to the Commission.
RTI Act is a powerful tool. But the Information Commissioners are very lienient. The PIOs are exploiting the leniency.
Thank you.
Dhanabalan
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by sujy40 | dear all,
I would like to share my experience of getting IT refunds which had been pending for 10 Assessment Years ie from1996-97 till date by using the RTI Act. I am indebted to this website for the information provided without which the refunds would not have marerialised. During the process i have gained insights which i would like to share with all members.
Numerous representations and meeting IT Dept officers yielded no results. After seeing this website I filed an application under the RTI Act. Information regarding status of my refunds was denied by the ITO(Income Tax Officer) under Sec 8(1)(j) stating that info sought was of a personal nature and was not inthe larger public interest. The letter also stated that the application would be treated as a Grievance petition and action taken expeditiously.
I filed an appeal against this to the First Appellate Authority on the following grounds . I based my reasons for appeal on a judgement given by the delhi High Court which i found on this website and is reproduced below.
] Judgement of HON’BLE HIGH COURT OF DELHI
in WP(C) No. 3114/2007 decided on 03.12.2007 :
“………As is reflected in its preambular paragraphs, the enactment seeks to promote transparency, arrest corruption and to hold the Government and its instrumentalities accountable to the governed. This spirit of the Act must be borne in mind while construing the provisions contained therein. Access to information, under Section 3 of the Act, is the rule and exemptions under Section 8, the exception. Section 8 being a restriction on this fundamental right, must therefore is to be strictly construed. It should not be interpreted in manner as to shadow the very right itself.”
I also gave the following grounds for my appeal.
1.denial of information by the PIO(public Information Officer) amounted to denial of justice of a genuine grievance.
2.Transparency was lacking since no reason whatsoever was given for the inordinate delay.
3. the IT Dept and and its instrumentalities had not been accountable to the governed.
4. The letter of the law was being followed while the spirit of the law was being ignored.
5. This went against the High Court judgement qouted above.
6. The assessing officer had failed in carrying out one of his main functions which is to ensure that all taxpayers grievances are attended in time and redressed in a fixed time bound manner.
Within 20 days of the appeal cheques for the entire amount of approx Rs 3 lakhs were received by me in Regd Post/Speed post letters.
To strengthen my arguement, I had included following details downloaded from the IT Dept's website :
.
EXTRACTS FROM CITIZENS CHARTER (IT Dept Website):
WE BELIEVE :-
ØIn transparency and fairness.
ØIn encouraging and assisting taxpayers
WE AIM :-
ØTo redress/dispose off a complaint/grievance within two months from the end of the month of its receipt.
Functions of Assessing Officers . (Extract from IT website)
No 3 &4 are relevant.
(1)
1.Allotting PANs wherever required
2.Making IRLA operational and ensuring that all demands are entered into this system
3.Seeing that all tax payers grievances are attended in time and redressed in a fixed time bound manner
(1) 4. Ensuring timely collection of demands and issue of refunds.
5.Selection of cases for scrutiny in time and ensuring their timely disposal
6. Controlling all computer hardware and software of the range and ensuring its maintenance replacement and updating. Providing technical support
and guidance for operation of the computer system.
(1) 7.Taking all necessary steps for widening of the tax base.
(1) 8. Internal Audit functions.
9.Ensuring that appeal effects are given and central scrutiny
(1)reports are submitted in time.
10.Statutory functions.
St
(1)I would advise following steps to ensure refunds materialise quickly :
STEP I . Forward a grievance petition to the ITO where the IT Return has been filed. Wait for 60 days. This 60 day gap is required since IT dept has stipulated 60 days as time by which grievance petitions are to be disposed off.If no response-go to STEP II.
STEP II. File an application under RTI Act to concerned PIO (Public Information Officer). Usually it is the ITO of the concerned ward Where the IT Return has been filed. Make sure to state at the end of the application " If you are not the concerned officer, please forward it to the concernrd officer in accordance with Sec 6(1) of the Act. If no reply for 30 days, file an application to the first Appellate Authority. If info sought is denied under Sec 8(i)(j) then also appeal to First Appelate Authority stating grounds which i have listed earlier. Download forms available in this website for filing applications as these forms are comprehensive and the PIO cannot wriggle out on techncalities.
The refund will materialise.
Happy hunting.
Col S V Sundar
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by vijaygarge59 |
I think Information is the power.
and in true sense it is the confidence
we can serve humanity and nation through it.
thanks to rtiindia.org..
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All About RTI RTI Buzz Forums Start A Thread | RTI News & Discussion |  Gujarat gets two new RTI commissioners | |
Gandhinagar, March 13 - The Gujarat State Information Commission -, which was functioning only with a chief information commissioner so far, has got two new information commissioners following the high court's intervention.
The new information commissioners are Netra Shenoy and Arvind Shukla. They have been appointed to help out Chief Information Commissioner R.N. Das.
Shukla is an Indian Administrative Service - official of the 1983 batch who retired as principal secretary to the governor, while Shenoy belongs to the 1969 batch and retired as additional chief secretary, planning department.
The appointments Friday evening follow the intervention of the Gujarat High Court on a public interest litigation - last year wherein the state government was directed to finish the process of recommending names to the governor within two months.
The file of names for approval had been lying with Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
The Right to Information Act was passed in 2005.
However, all three RTI officials are slated to hang their boots over the next two years following the stipulation to serve only upto 65 years of age. Shukla retires in November 2012 and Shenoy and Das in 2011.
H. Pandya, member of the Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahal-, said Saturday that there was need to appoint regional information commissioners so that people do not have to travel long distances to approach it.
Source
| | Holes in CIC office monitoring system | |
Holes in CIC office monitoring system
As reported by HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, March 14, 2010
Days after Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) Wajahat Habibullah said the Commission has put in place a monitoring system at its office, it has emerged that the instructions are not being followed in letter and spirit.
While hearing a complaint by RTI activist and retired Naval officer L.K. Batra in 2009 about National Commission for Women, Habibullah had recommended some steps to be taken by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
“This exercise may be completed within 30 days of the issue of this decision notice under intimation to P.K.P. Shreyaskar, Joint Registrar of Central Information Commission,” Habibullah had said.
However, when Batra tried to find out if it has been complied with, his query with the Commission met with several hurdles. “I send my applications by post instead of going to far off offices. The Commission’s office counted the 30 days mandatory period (for giving information) from the date when the Chief Public Information Officer (CPIO) received my application,” Batra said.
When he was given a chance to inspect the files he found more issues. “There is a mix up of documents in files. There was no record of documents maintained in files with related note numbers of noting sheets, as per rule,” he said.
Habibullah had told HT recently that the Commission’s secretary was authorised to monitor cases of non-compliance. On Friday, Habibullah said, “I am aware that there can be some problems with filing systems but not many.
“However, we do regular reviews and for the last two months we have computerised many sections and are streamlining the system. The gap between the day it is delivered and when it reaches CPIO has reduced to three-four days,” Habibullah added.
HindustanTimes-Print
© Copyright 2009 Hindustan Times
HindustanTimes-Print
| | Classification of documents a top secret, says... | |
As reported by Himanshi Dhawan, in The Times of India, New Delhi on 14 Mar 2010
NEW DELHI: How does the government classify documents as "confidential", "secret" and "top secret"? That's "top secret" information according to the Central Information Commission (CIC), which has refused to disclose documents outlining classification procedures.
The CIC's decision backs the government's plea that "individuals hostile to the nation" must not get to know the details of security strategy.
The manual of departmental security instructions contains instructions and procedures and guidelines for classification of documents for the competent officers. The government thinks it unadvisable to open such documents to public scrutiny. Information commissioner Sushma Singh ruled that the manual is a "kind of code for security classification".
Many say there could be merit in keeping parts of the manual out of the public domain, but it is hard to understand why the broad parameters cannot be shared.
In actual fact, admit officials, the process of marking "secret" can be fairly arbitrary except for sensitive communication.
This means there could be wide variations, with the bureaucracy loathe to part with information in any case.
The absence of a freedom of information Act that provides for time-bound declassification has given officialdom more power.
RTI applicant Venkatesh Nayak had asked for a copy of the manual including all office memoranda, circulars and standing orders relating to ''procedural matters'' connected with classification of official records.
In its response, home ministry CPIO S K Malhotra said that the manual deals with ''safeguarding such information in the possession of the government, the unauthorised disclosure of which would cause damage to national security or would cause embarrassment to the government in its functioning or would be prejudicial to national security.''
Source: link inside | | Kuvempu varsity Registrar penalised | |
<table style="width: 503px; height: 432px;" valign="top" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td>Bangalore, Feb 15, DH News Service:</td></tr> <!-- <tr> <td colspan="2" class="overviewfont">Monday, February 15, 2010</td> </tr> --> <!-- ~~|ByLine|ArticleContentFont|height="5px"|byline|520|10| ~~--> <tr><td colspan="2" class="SummaryStyle">
The Karnataka Information Commission has imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on Krishnappa, Registrar, Kuvempu University for not furnishing the information sought under the Right To Information (RTI) Act within the stipulated time and for the alleged absence during the summons of the Commission. </td> </tr> <tr height="1"><td>
</td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2" class="overviewfont"> The applicant, D K Sainath Kumar, Advocate and RTI Activist had sought information about Dr Paramesh Naik, a Phd Scholar, from the Public Information Officer or the Registrar of Kuvempu University. The Registrar had failed to send in the responses within the stipulated duration of 15 days and also failed to be present for the summons called by the Commission.
Hence, the Commission has directed Sheregar, Vice Chancellor, KU, to deduct Rs 5,000 every month from Krishnappa’s salary, for five months beginning from March till July 2010. Further the Commission has also directed the Registrar to furnish complete information to the applicant and to the Commission within 15 days and also to be present at the next summons with the Vice Chancellor of KU.
Source
</td></tr></tbody></table>
| | Babus prepare to clam up | |
As reported by By Dilip Cherian ,Deccan Chronicle 14 Mar 2010
Babus prepare to clam up | Deccan Chronicle
Even as transparency and accountability make inroads into babudom, thanks to activists armed with the Right to Information Act (RTI), senior babus are preparing to batten down the hatches to protect themselves from “frivolous” complaints. Apparently, Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar has set up a screening committee to look at all complaints against secretary-level babus to decide whether they are worthy of the government’s time and energy.
The move, some feel, flies against the government’s much-touted policy of establishing transparency in its working and making babus accountable for their actions. Veteran observers say it is a classic case of the government giving with one hand and taking away with the other. Clearly, with the Central and state information commissions becoming active and citizens emboldened by the RTI Act, babus are finding themselves under increased public scrutiny. A backlash was inevitable, observers say.
Already, the process of diluting the drive against corruption in babudom is underway with the government stipulating more rules under which information can be disclosed. And now with a group of babus, headed by the Cabinet Secretary, screening complaints against senior babus, it will be all the more difficult for ordinary citizens to seek action on their complaints. Does Mr Chandrasekhar hear their voice at all? Or is he happy being protector of his flock?
| | CJI fast-tracked hearing of Pinarayi plea: SC in... | |
As reported by Krishnadas Rajagopal in financialexpress.com on 12 March 2010:
CJI fast-tracked hearing of Pinarayi plea: SC in RTI reply
CJI fast-tracked hearing of Pinarayi plea: SC in RTI reply
New Delhi: A Right to Information reply from the Supreme Court reveals that a petition filed by CPM leader Pinarayi Vijayan against the gubernatorial go-ahead to prosecute him in the SNC Lavalin case was scheduled for ‘urgent’hearing by the Registrar after ‘obtaining orders/directions from the Chief Justice of India’.
Vijayan, Kerala CPM secretary and politburo member, had challenged Kerala governor RS Gavai’s sanction to the CBI in June 2009 to prosecute him. He is accused of wrongfully awarding a contract to Canadian company SNC Lavalin for renovation of two power plants when he was the state power minister in 1997.
The RTI response, dated February 20, 2010, by Supreme Court Public Information Officer (PIO) Raj Pal Arora is on an application by Delhi-based advocate Zulfiker Ali. Arora is silent on whether Vijayan had even applied to the Supreme Court for an early hearing at all.
Though the Supreme Court had only admitted Vijayan’s petition on August 31, 2009 and issued show cause (rule nisi) notice, the case was included in the list of cases scheduled for final hearing, starting from January 19, 2010. Corruption cases are placed fourth in the list of regular cases accorded priority by the Supreme Court.
“A case, Pinarayi Vijayan vs State of Kerala and Others (WP (Crl) No 75 of 2009), which was admitted on 31.8.2009 is seen listed for final hearing as item number 118 in Court number 4 (Justice RV Raveendran and Justice Aftab Alam),” Ali says in his application.
The advocate goes on to ask “whether there is any order or direction from the court to list this matter for hearing on urgent basis.”
| | SPCB losing grip over violators | |
As reported in thehindu.com on 13 March 2010:
The Hindu : Other States / Orissa News : SPCB losing grip over violators
SPCB losing grip over violators
BHUBANESWAR: State Pollution Control Board (SPCB), the nodal agency to take polluters to the task, seems to be gradually losing its grip over violators of environmental norms.
Thanks to the weak enforcement mechanism of the board, many violators reportedly managed to get away without being prosecuted. If a reply obtained through RTI application is to be believed, the helplessness of board becomes evident. The SPCB had prosecution only on two occasions on account of water pollution, three cases relating to air pollution cases and eight cases for violation of Environment (Protection) Act during the past five years.
According to sources, the number of filing of cases by SPCB seeking penalty against environmental culprits have gradually come down since 1986 under both Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act.
Insiders further say that the pollution watchdog has hardly acted suo motu to take violators to the task. Recently, the High Court took cognizance of a matter in connection with pollution of Brahmani River due to discharge of ash slurry by Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP). It asked the board to initiate stringent action including criminal proceedings against erring official of RSP.
Similarly, in one out of two cases on violation of Water Act, the SPCB acted only after Supreme Court asked it do so. In another case, SPCB filed cases against 105 brick-kiln units in 2003-04 when government issued a direction in this regard. It is not that violations of environmental norms are not taking place in the State and SPCB does not know about it. As per information obtained under Right To Information (RTI) Act, the board has issued 373 show-cause notices to polluting industrial units during past five years. However, these notices have mostly ended in further slapping of closure notices and then granting of permission to re-operate polluting units on “rectification”. Sources said issuance of show-cause notices are many times intended at forcing operators of polluting industries to grease the palm of authority. Several sponge iron units had been slapped with show-cause notices for more than one occasion that meant these polluting industries had either been let off on earlier occasion by pollution control board or some of the units were habitual offenders of pollution norms. “Although SPCB has enforcement mechanism, it does not have enforcement culture. Pollution control board officials are unable to see the environmental damage ramifications and are lacking in clear understanding between regulatory measures such as closure notice and criminal prosecution,” said senior High Court lawyer Bibhu Prasad Tripathy.
| | No adequate staff; office becoming dysfunctional:... | |
As reported at ptinews.com on 13 March 2010
New Delhi, Mar 12 (PTI) Frequent changes in the contractual staff was making its office "dysfunctional", AICTE, the country's technical education regulator, has said.
The admission came in reply to a show-cause notice issued by the Central Information Commission to the First Appellate Authority (FAA) at AICTE in RTI matters.
The authority, in its reply, has said All India Council for Technical Education does not have adequate staff and about 90 of its employees were on contract or deputation.
"He (FAA) stated that on frequent intervals people come and go from the AICTE and therefore it appears to be becoming a dysfunctional office. This was observed to be a very sad comment that the premiere institution in the country which recognises technical courses is in such a sad state of affairs," Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi observed in his order.
Source: fullstory
| | Gujarat gets two new RTI commissioners | |
As reported at sify.com on 13 March 2010
he Gujarat State Information Commission (GSIC), which was functioning only with a chief information commissioner so far, has got two new information commissioners following the high court's intervention.
The new information commissioners are Netra Shenoy and Arvind Shukla. They have been appointed to help out Chief Information Commissioner R.N. Das.
Shukla is an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) official of the 1983 batch who retired as principal secretary to the governor, while Shenoy belongs to the 1969 batch and retired as additional chief secretary, planning department.
The appointments Friday evening follow the intervention of the Gujarat High Court on a public interest litigation (PIL) last year wherein the state government was directed to finish the process of recommending names to the governor within two months.
The file of names for approval had been lying with Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
The Right to Information Act was passed in 2005.
However, all three RTI officials are slated to hang their boots over the next two years following the stipulation to serve only upto 65 years of age. Shukla retires in November 2012 and Shenoy and Das in 2011.
H. Pandya, member of the Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahal(MAGP), said Saturday that there was need to appoint regional information commissioners so that people do not have to travel long distances to approach it.
Source: Gujarat gets two new RTI commissioners
| | GUJARAT gets two additional ICs because of... | |
Published in Times of India, Ahmedabad Edn 13-03-2010
Gujarat gets two info commissioners, finally
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Ahmedabad: After almost five years, Gujarat State Information Commission (GSIC) on Friday got two new information commissioners. Till a few months ago,Gujarat was among the two states in the country most overburdened with huge backlog of RTI cases,mainly because the commission had just one information commissioner. GSIC sources said more than 7,000 cases were pending hearing before the commission and the backlog had been piling up for almost 15 months.
The two new appointees are Arvind Shukla of 1983 batch, who retired recently as principal secretary to governor of Gujarat, and Netra Shenoy of 1969 batch, who retired in 2006 as additional chief secretary in the state planning department.The two would, however, retire as information commissioners soon. According to the Right to Information rules,an information commissioner is to serve till the age of 65. While Shukla will retire in November 2012, Shenoy will retire in September next year.Interestingly, the chief information commissioner RN Das too is due to retire later next year.
A special committee of the state government, chaired by the chief minister, had to recommend names to the governor for appointment of the commissioners. The committee also involved the leader of the opposition in state assembly Shaktisinh Gohil and state revenue minister Anandi Patel. The committee had unanimously agreed to recommend names of bureaucrats. The file was pending approval in the chief minister’s office for a long time and hence the process was delayed.
Last year,the high court,acting on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by activist Amit Jethwa, had ordered the state government to finish the procedure of recommending names of commissioners to the governor within two months.
However, Harinesh Pandya, member of Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (MAGP), says, “Though the procedure of appointments was delayed for more than four years, it is appreciable that the appointments came at a time when there is a huge backlog of cases. We had, in fact, recommended inclusion of academicians and social workers, but it seems the committee had unanimously agreed on bureaucrats. Besides, regional information commissioners should be appointed for the convenience of applicants and officers from faraway Kutch and Saurashtra or South Gujarat regions.”
| | | | Ask for RTI Query | | like to file RTI for IPL tax charge | |
Hi,
Since you are all aware of the IPL matches started. Thousands and Lakhs of Crores are rolling for the IPL boards / Media / Players etc. As a public interest i would like to know that, whether the board / players / media are paying their Income taxes for their earned millions and billions. I dont find any information regarding this in net. If the earned money can be used for the growing sports persons of India / for the Public / for the Poor / Needy.
Please help me to proceed, hope you all have an idea of this..
| | Roadways Route | | | | Minutes of meeting or notings on file are they... | |
Can I ask for notings on file or minutes of the meeting especially where a decision has been taken about postings or promotions in case a deliberate harmful decision has been taken to fix
| | Hi - I am journalist | | | | What are the consequences of compromise in a case... | | | | Evaluated answer sheets | | | | Info on character | |
Can a PIO give information to an applicant about character of an employee under him when such information is not available in any record of his office?
When information is asked for , only recorded information can be given but one can not create any record and give information. Am I right?
| | how to get patta in thiruvallur dist (koppu... | | | | blue lines buses | | | | information regarding an individual | |
hello to all members of this community
i would like to know that an information regarding of an individual person can be sought from his/her concerned department at where he/she worked prior to his/her retirement. That information regarding his/her revealation made in a seperate govt. official documents, after his/her retirement whether the same information/revealation was made availabe to his/her concerned department prior to his/her retirement, if the same is mandatory to reveal in his/her department.
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| RTI Success Stories | | MCD TREES saved+plantation using RTI | |
i managed to save around 600 trees from concrete and plantation work of around 300 trees were done by using RTI.
i just asked for budget allocated for plantation adn found out no work has been done in past 10 years,after getting exposed MCD started working,in another case i asked for status of high court which says 6X6 feet concrete free space should be made available to trees for proper growth though nowhere followed but RTI forced them to make trees free from concrete.:D
| | Central Govt Deptt released due salary | |
My friend was working in IHBAS New Delhi. He was not given the last two month salary, as his tenure was not extended but allowed to join the office and putting signature on attendance sheet. But my friend was not given the salary of two months. He tried many times to get his salary, but IHBAS did not response and did not give his salary.
After two years, he tried to get salary. I helped him.
I filed RTI application on behalf on him. I sought copies of attendance sheet, details of tenure and copy of account statement. IHBAS authority did not reply. Ultimately I moved to CIC. In the decision, CIC posed penalty on PIO on not providing information in time. On the order of CIC, PIO of IHBAS provided all sought copies.
After taking all evidence, I filed the claim for due payment under payment of wages act.
At last IHBAS released the due salary of my friend.
It happened due to RTI
| | RTI Works (my experience) | |
Hi,
this is Ajai Vikrama Singh...
My father, Ret. Chairman - Regional Rural Bank and Ret. AGM - U.P. Co-operative Bank LKo., died on Nov. 26th 2008. He owned a SBBL gun with a license. After his death I applied for a gun license(death case) on 27th of Jan. 2009 for keeping his gun as a responsibility he left out as the other assets and family members, cause i'm the only son in the family.
I spent more than 11 months for tracing out the proceedings of my requisition suddenly RTI flashes in my mind Like a MANTRA. I write an application under the RTI act 2005 to know the proceedings regading to my Arms License application, on 19th of Dec. 2009. On 24/02/2010 I've got informed that all the reports and papers works related to my application has been completed now i can represent my self before the District Magistrate of the city to ask for a License.
This is only possible with help of The RTI ................
| | MY EPF Claim - Hyderabad EPFO | |
I have claimed my EPF amount by sending the forms to my employer on 19/Dec/2009 duly filled through courier.
Today my employer confirms that he has already sent the forms to the PF Office for process. Now how will I know on what date the PF office in Hyderabad will send the cheque or DC to my Bank in chennai. I could n't get information in EPFO site for claims in Hyderabad office.
Kindly help me as to what I should do now? I have checked my bank account also. I did not receive my PF amount till now.
| | CIC directed CAW Cell, Delhi to supply details of... | |
Hi
My wife filed complaint against me in CAW Cell and upon completeion of enquiry by CAW Cell , Nanak Pura and upon its reccomandation and FIR was registered u/s 498a/406.
I filed RTI asking them to proivde the details whether as per some circular whether IO asked for source of Stridhan in the form of Bills as well as source of income to purchase the same before reccomending FIR.
PIO and AA CAW Cell denied the info.
I filed Appeal in CIC. There representative of CAW Cell orally stated that in this case chargesheet submitted in court and hence my appeal dismissed that I can get the info from Court.
Wherease while approaching court next day found the no chargshee is available in court. So I filed RTI to CAW and Concerned PIO of case asking them the details with certified copy of doucment relied while giving oral statement in CIC.
I also filed one RTI to CIC that under what rule cic accepted oral statement in the absence of any supporting document and action on the concerned officer for abusing the provision if no rule exists. I also raised the point that why my decisions has not been released on CIC website and inform the action taken on negligent staff for not displaying the info on CIC web site. I used Life and Liberty clause.
Within 7 days I received the copy of CIC decision in my favor asking CAW Cell to release full info.
But they said no info is available that why it is not updated on CIC Website.
Vijay Naru:)
| | RECOVERED Rs.5000/-FROM BANK THOUGH RTI | |
A leading public sector bank had recovered Rs.10000/- from account of my friend’s son towards various service charges while closing the account in Nov 2009. The bank did not respond to normal channels of redressal of complaint. At my guidance, RTI application was filed on 07-12-2009 followed by first appeal for no reply on 07-02-2010. On 05-03-2010 bank contacted him and requested him to collect refund of Rs.5000/- and withdraw RTI application and first appeal.
RTI does work.
| | Success Story for IT fefund due from AY 1996-97... | |
Friends,
I am following RTI Act and this website since long but did not had courage to write under the same. However, few days back after having frustation with the Income Tax Dept, I wrote an application on 01.03.2010 for the refunds.
Surprisingly, just after 2 days i.e on 03.03.2010, I recd a letter from ITO saying they do not have the records and requests to send the duplicate return copy and a bond and they will refund immediately.
I am thankful to this forum.
| | 2007 Scholarship D.D received from CBSE | |
Central Board of Secondary Education is sanctioning scholarships to those students who got good ranks in AIEEE and pursue higher studies. A girl from Guntur got selected for sanction of scholarship in AIEEE, 2005 and 1st year scholarship amount of Rs.12,000-00 was received through demand draft since she joined in Engineering. In the 2nd year, scholarship was renewed but she did not get the demand draft. But 3rd and 4th year scholarship amounts received promptly. She wrote many letters to CBSE. No reply received. As the matter came to my notice, I searched the website of CBSE list of cheques/drafts which were returned by postal department. Not finding the name of the girl in the returned list, I preferred a RTI application in the name of her father to the CBSE in the month of November, 2009. Within 30 days, a reply received stating that the demand draft was not encashed by any one and advised to submit an Indemnity Bond to the Bank duly enclosing the format of the Indemnity Bond. Immediatrely the Indemnity Bond was submitted to CBSE. In Feb, 2010, the father of the girl received a duplicate D.D for Rs. 12,000-00 which is encashed.
The father of the girl who has no hope of getting the amount pertaining to the year 2007 received the amount with the help of RTI Act only.
| | Goc (gazetted officers certificate) | |
Dear Ambrish.p /Kushal,
Thanks i got in ur email but i was not satisfied with your reply u just directed me to the site without reading my post clearly i just asked u IS A MUNICIPAL COUNCILLOR A GAZETTED OFFICER.
I M ATTACHING A DOCUMENT FOR YOUR REF. AND PLS TELL ME IS THIS A VALID DOCUMENT GO THROUGH IT CAREFULLY. WILL PAN CARDS BE ISSUED ON THIS DOCUMENT WHEN ATTACHED AS ADDRESS PROOF AND IDENTITY PROOF.
is the attached document valid and in the site u directed did the website of nsdl mentioned that municipal councillor is a gazetted officer do let me know and email me correct link
ALSO PLS LET ME KNOW Y WAS THE THREAD CLOSED without proper reply if ur work is directing then my visitin ur website was useless wat do u both moderaters say reply
| | New Ration Card in chennai......Success | |
Dear Friends,
I would like to share my experience while obtaining a new ration card in chennai.
I had applied for new ration card in thiruvottiyur civil supplies office in chennai in the month of september. I had to submit mine and my wife's deletion certificate and my son's birth certificate along with the application. I had obtained my deletion certificate from mumbai, it was in marathi language and the name was also not written completely. It was not accepted by them. They asked me to get it in english. But, going back to mumbai and getting the certificate again was impossible for me then.
After enquiring with other officers in the ration office, i came to know that i can bring a true translation of the deletion certificate on an affidavit duly stamped and signed by any NOTARY PUBLIC who is a lawyer, you'll get many at high court. I had to pay Rs. 200 for the affidavit.
I could attach it along with my deletion certificate. i had to produce an address proff for which i used the postal address proof card provided by indian post office. After submission they gave me a slip (kind of acknowledgement card).
I was told that i will get the ration card in 60 days. It was nearing 60 days but no official came from ration office for verification which is supposed to happen after 10-15 days of form submission. Exactly on 61st day i sent them RTI application. I got information on ration offices in chennai, heads of ration offices from following links:
link inside link inside link inside link inside
Exactly on 30th day from RTI application date, officer arrived at my residence for verification. He verified our details and signed on the slip marking completion of verification process. Now the next step was only to get the ration card. The officer told me that after verification they send the details for ration card printing which takes generally takes more than a month (It depends on the printing dept.). On 1st of february i got an email from ration card office (CIVIL SUPPLIES AND CONSUMER PROTECTION DEPARTMENT) that my ration card is ready and i have to collect it after 15 days. Fortunately, i got my card in my hands on 16th feb as mentioned by them without further delay.
I forgot to mention that, the officer came for verification to our residence explicitly mentioned that it is because i applied for RTI, they came so early for verification else it would have taken months and months. Anyway i got my card.
For all those who would like to apply for ration card in chennai, i would like you to ensure the following things:
1). If you do not have anything to be used as an address proof. immediately apply for postal address proof card. You will get it in may be 15-20 days
2). While obtaining deletion certificate, ask the officer to provide it in english necessarily. Ensure that your names are written correctly and completely (FIRSTNAME MIDDLENAME(father) LASTNAME(surname))
3). Immediately after 60 days apply for RTI. Dont forget to attach the acknowledment slip. Unlike other government organizations which take Rs.10, civil supplies needs Rs.50 DD in favour of "Public Information officer, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Department"
You'll get the address of your nearest ration office in the above links.
While applying for RTI you can use the same format available in this website, modify it little bit for ration card. I am attaching my application.
During this whole process i strongly felt that there should be a way to apply for RTI along with the application (let them take some extra money) but time to time update should be sent to us instead of making us wait for the stipulated time for applying for the RTI.
This is the second time i used RTI successfully, the first was for my passport from lucknow paasport office which i got after 9 months of application (after 1 month of RTI application) as if they were delivering a baby.
I would like to mention that i did not spend even a penny as a bribe........Thanks to RTI
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