Apathy to RTI BY West Bengal Govt

[Debashis Basu]

I have sent 4 mails to Hon'ble Minister-In-Charge of Land and Land Reforms Department, Govt Of West Bengal and 2 mails to Chief Minister just to learn who will be the SPIO or responsible officer under RTI ACT in " State Rent Control Authority" office.

Millions of rupees are deposited with State Rent Control Authority by the tenants who has dispute with Landlords.

It is a very difficult and serpentine route when Landlords want to withdraw money from Rent Control Offices.

RTI ACT 2005 provides golden opportunity to all Landlords to find out the quantum of deposits by tenant and date of actual refund after making refund application.

Hence there is no response from Govt Of West Bengal to appoint or inform me about the designated officer under RTI ACT in State Rent Control Office.

[kushal]

Hello Dabashis Basu,
Welcome to RTI India. Kindly post your queries in the relevant forum.
Regards,

[Debashis Basu]

Hi Kushal !

I have no queries at this moment. Many thanks for your offer. I have already fired a notice To the Chief Secretary of Govt Of West Bengal under section 4(1)b of RTI ACT 2005. To add more teeth to my application, this I have done as application under RTI ACT with Rs 10/- court fee affixed.

I just love this RTI ACT 2005. This will certainly make our Government to function in a transparent manner and "correctly". This act is real power weapon to citizen of India.

My profession does not allow me much free time. Otherwise, I would have love to devote more time in propagating the virtues of RTI ACT and give training on how to use RTI ACT to avoid costly legal expenses to the extent possible.

CHEERS.
Debashis

[abhijeet]

Dear Debasis,
I am glad on going through your message. As you mentioned, I also do love this effective weapon, and I am very much in need of some suggestion and help from a person like you, who wants to give training on how to use RTI Act . Please reply to my mails which you will receive from this end--- Thanking you,
Abhijeet

[karira]

abhijeet,
May I suggest that you also share with the forum and not only by emails.
That way, others will also learn something and be encouraged to use RTI.
We need as many hands as possible....so it is better to have 200 people rather than only 2 of you sharing and discussing.
Unless, of course the matter is confidential or personal.

[Debashis Basu]

Dear Karira

I have joined recently. Have some some confusion about posting in "Forum" rather than replying email.

This mail came to my Gmail account. Hence I had replied from Gmail. How can I reply it from 'Forum' instead of replying one to one basis. Please guide.

Thanks in advance.

Debashis

[karira]

Debashis,

What I meant was, that instead of only you and Abhijeet discussing some subject privately by email, it will benefit others also if the discussion takes place on the forum.
A good way would be, if you receive a email or a pm from a member , direct to your email account, please request him to post the matter in the relevant section of the forum. He will also benefit because apart from suggestions/advice/guidance from you, he will also get replies/comments from other members.
Sometimes, you will also get emails and pm's from members who do not want to discuss the matter in public (for some reason or the other). In that case, it is perfectly fine if you answer/discuss directly to mintain privacy. There are a few threads started by Abhinav and myself which start with "A member of this forum has asked me for ............". That is done just to protect the privacy of the person.
Hope this clarifies.

[abhijeet]

Dear Karira,
I am eager to post it in the relevant section in the forum, but how to send it properly ? So, I used to send it by e-mail or by pm as you mentioned. Please let me know how to send any message to all the Forum members. Because it will be much helpful for all of us . We should use effectively the weapon of RTI Act against the corruption. In one famous Bengali poem it goes like this ' A peculier darkness has covered us, our society...the blind ( in other sense) is able see more than the others. The world is governed by those persons who don't have love, affection towards the society, towards the common people..." Let us fight against , it- that should be our objective in 15th August, 60 th anniversary.
Abhijeet

[Debashis Basu]

Thanks Karira.

Two more guidances are required.

1. I had mentioned "Apathy to By W B Govt" by mistake in introduction of a new member section. What should be the correct forum for this and how to shift it there.

2. I have just preferred a first appeal against Land & Land Reforms dept. I want to copy/paste it in "forum". Which 'forum' I should do it ? OR, I should copy/paste in my blog ?

[karira]

Abhijeet,
1. Once you log into the site with your user name and password, you will
get the "Homepage".
2. On the extreme right side set of panels, the second panel says
"site navigation"
3. Click on the "Forum" link available there
4. A new page will open which gives different sections like:
Announcements & Discussions
RTI Act, Circulars and Decisions
RTI Support
RTI Community Lounge
etc. etc. etc.
5. Each section is further divided into sub-sections.
6. Some of the "sub-sections" have a "lock" symbol next to them
on the left hand side.
Members are not allowed to post in those sub-sections.
7. You can post in any other section/sub-section
8. Let's say that you want help in asking for a RTI Querry
(ask for any help regarding RTI) then the correct sub-section would
be Ask for RTI Query
If you want help in framing a RTI application, then the relevant sub-
section would be Ask for Framing an RTI Question
If you want to put up any news about a event related to RTI (like
a training course on RTI, etc..) it would be in Events & Discussion .
Each sub-section has a small description below it, so you can decide
where to post.
9. Click on the particular sub-section where you want to post, and
a new page will appear.
On that page you will see a list of "threads" in that subsection.
10. If you want to start a new thread, then click on the button
on the top left hand side.
A new page will open with a "editor" and you can type out your
message and hit the submit button.
If you want to "preview" your message, then hit the "preview
post" button and you will get a preview of your post as it will appear
on the forum.
Once you have made any corrections, you can again hit the "submit"
button and your thread will immediately appear on the sub-section.
The "editor" allows you to use various fonts, block letters, colours,
upload images, etc......Just play around with it and you will learn
quickly.
Once your thread is posted, the rules of the forum allow you to
"edit" your thread within the next 2 (two) minutes. During this time
a "Edit" logo will appear below your post and if you click on it, the
"editor" opens once again and you can edit your post.
11. If you want to "post" a reply or something else in a existing thread,
at the bottom of the thread a small white box appears for "quick reply"
or you can click on "go advanced" and open a full "editor" to type
your reply. Once again follow the steps above.(Just like you have
already done in this thread)

Debashis,

Kushal, generally looks at the new messages and decides if it needs to be shifted or split up or merged or "moderated" ,etc. If you make any mistake, just send a pm to Kushal and he will do the needful.

For deciding on which section/subsection you can post a particular news item look at the small description given below each subsection on the "forums" page.
In particular, for your "first appeal against Land & Land Reforms dept....", first decide why do you want to post ? The answer will indicate to you the relevnt section where you should post. For example, if it is for help in drafting the first appeal or getting suggestions from members to improve the draft you have made , then the relevant section will be http://www.rtiindia.org/forum/ask-rti-query.html.

Try to use PM and email facility only if you have something to discuss or comment which you do not want everyone to read.
I really do not know, if in this forum, PM's and emails are "moderated" and "seen" by Kushal or other moderators. In some other "forums" they are.
So, if there is something very very private to discuss, just get the other members email id and email him directly from your yahoo, hotmail, gmail or your own email client like outlook/eudora etc. That way it does not pass through this forum at all.

I am sure that both of you know many of the things stated above, but since many new members might not have that much knowledge about using a forum, I have given a detailed explanation, since I was on the job anyways.

Always remember that this is a "Public Forum" and what you post can be seen by anyone (even by guests who do not register) and remains for ever.

Spend some time "browsing" around various sections, subsections, threads etc and you will get the hang of it. Also, explore the many buttons and links available on various pages (even the small tiny ones which many members/guests do not notice). Some of the posts/comments/replies AND dogfights/catfights are "very interesting" and if nothing else, you will have a good laugh.

If you want to "thank" me for all this effort, click on the button which appears below this post on the bottom right hand corner (it appears on every post on this forum).

If you want to quote someone elses post in your reply, then click on the button also appearing on the bottom of every post.
can be used for "multi-quotes"
If you want to "report" some post to Kushal or other moderators click on the button on the top right hand corner.
Clicking on will add to the posters "reputation".

[Debashis Basu]

Friend

How much trouble you have taken to help me to understand the navigation within the site. MANY THANKS.

I shall always use this public forum to have better sharing and best guidelines.

[abhijeet]

Friend,
Thank for your encouraging effort to help the members like us. I would like to use the public forum in future. With regards--- Abhijeet

[kushal]

I have copied this thread for the ready reference at the Suggestion & Feedback forum. http://www.rtiindia.org/forum/site-f...ia-portal.html

Some points though:
1. Even if you find lock icons, it may be that you can post a reply to a thread, but just cannot start new one.
2. That I do not nor the moderators have the permission to view the contents of the email or the PM.
3. To better understand the site map visit this page: http://www.rtiindia.org/forum/sitemap/

And there is no better way to explain then did by Karira. Thanks for the contribution.

[colnrkurup]

Dear Debashis Basu,
I don't think anyone, even West Bengal can be as bad as Kerala. If you won't mind kindly give the particulars of infrastructure created for the SIC in West Bengal. In Kerala, we have 4 ICs including its chief, an Army of staff including all categories including legal advisors, a web site, a centrally air-conditioned building and other infrasturctures which can make even a multinational company jeleous. I had posted their output, type of their careless judgements etc. The pity is that the RTI has become a laughing stock and the PIOs and AAs do not abide by the ordersof SIC. Of cource I too have represented to the Governor taking the cue rom WB and waiting for his reaction.

[kushal]

As this forum thread is only 'New Member Introduction', I am closing this thread. Kindly use appropriate forum for the rest.

Thank You!