Hazards of RTI Activism

[sidmis]

Hello forum,

I have started this new thread to discuss the various hazards faced during RTI Activism.

So friends Plz contribute to it.

Here's a sample
Major Ravindran of Pallakkad, keral is an activist. And the harrassment he received from none other than the Kerala Chief Info Commissioner.

[jiwateshwar]

what exactly does hazard mean here? In the said example, are you referring to the fact that Major Saab was indirectly banned or that the Major was misusing the provisions. Plz elaborate.

[sidmis]

> are you referring to the fact that Major Saab was indirectly banned

Major Ravindran was effectively banned.

> that the Major was misusing the provisions

No Misuse of provision as far as my knowledge of the act goes. And I am yet to hear a similar case anywhere by any other commission.

Here hazard means anything including Victimisation.

[jiwateshwar]

I remember having read the given post. In that one of the members was of the view that Major was misusing some provisions. Anywayz, what i wanted to know was is what exactly do you mean by hazard of rti activism.

[ganpat1956]

For all those who intend participating in this thread:

Please ensure that you are complying with the Forum Posting Rules

Especially the First Five

[colnrkurup]

I sugest that if the forum rules can be abridged and made easily available so that members can cross check it in case of doubt.

[sidmis]

Here's another instance
Thanks to babus, many land in jail for daring to use RTI

[colnrkurup]

Major Ravindran is a friend of mine. He has done everything humanly possible to make the SIC, Kerala function. When the SIC could not control himself, he has issued orders to the Sub Divisional Officer, Palghat (Here, the appointment is Revenue Divisional Officer and is the officer designated by the public authority at sub district level under Section 5(2) of the Act) not to receive from Major Ravindran any appeals under this Act for forwarding the same to the Sated Information Coimmission. He has got copy of this letter. Despite Major Ravindran's complaint against this to everyone concerned including His Excellency the Governor of Kerala, no one has bothered.

In one of the meettings arranged at Trivandrum by RTI Activists, one of the Information Commissioners was present. When Major Ravindran started seeking clarifications to aspects inconvenient to the SIC, Kerala, the IC lost answer and has made a walk out. The Organiser, has went after the IC to pacify him and brought him back and Major Ravindran had no choice but to keep quite. He has not at all misued the Act as falsely alleged.

[sidmis]

kanpur Land- Sharks Intimidating RTI Activist
Land-mafia in Kanpur in connivance with officials of Kanpur Development Authority (KDA) have slapped false fabricated charges against an Right-to-Information (RTI) campaign leader - Roby Sharma.

Kanpur land-sharks intimidating RTI activist by fabricating false charges - Assam Times

[nukebomb]

All respected members .

It is foolish to show that you are a very brave person . why invite trouble for yourself ???

why not ask your long distance friends to make a rti query for you ??? .


why ask rti querries which dont make general sense ??

why take on heavy weights ???

why not ask simple and general issues concerning the poor masses instead of asking details of chief ministers earnings???

dear sirs . this loot is very vast. just focus on issues related to poor persons social justice .

[jiwateshwar]

why not ask simple and general issues concerning the poor masses instead of asking details of chief ministers earnings???

I would really agree to this! A reduction in Chief Ministers Earnings would not help even a fraction of what one could do with a simple RTI application seeking compliance with minimum wages act. Bravo Khan Saab!

[sidmis]

See below an example of new occupational hazard of RTI Activism probably not reported before in this forum.
Some unscrupulous persons may apply RTI Application to different departments by forging your signature. It may land you in serious trouble as happened to Activist Sh. V Gopalakrishnan.

Activist Sh. V Gopalakrishnan advises to Put your 'Thumb Impression' just below your Signature as a safegurd.

RTI crusader lands in trouble
as reported by Julie Mariappan | TNN, Times epaper

Chennai: The central government's Right to Information Act has virtually thrown open the iron doors of bureaucracy to the common citizen. The flipside is that activists seeking transparency can also become targets and be prevented from seeking information through RTI.

That is how V Gopalakrishnan of MGR Nagar landed in trouble. An ardent RTI crusader, Gopalakrishnan had shot off several applications to various government agencies several times demanding information on the basic amenities such as waterways, power supply, road-widening works and encroachments.

But on Monday night, a 100-strong mob gathered in front of his house and began abusing him for sending an RTI application to the Chennai corporation to clear encroachments. They wanted to know why Gopalakrishnan had demanded the demolition of three temples in MGR Nagar. For Gopalakrishnan, it was a blow out of the blue. "The crowd was not convinced by my reply that I did not file the application. The frustrated people abused me and my family. There was total chaos until the police arrived on the scene," Gopalakrishnan told TOI.

The next morning, he took some of the temple authorities to the office of the local ward (131) and was shocked to find that application had indeed been filed by forging his signature. Worse, the application was completely written in Tamil, while he always prefers writing in English. His initial was also not on the application. "I immediately lodged a complaint with the MGR Nagar police and the civic body. But what took me by surprise was the fact that the public got to know the applicant's name. In fact, the Saidapet zone are not coming out with a proper reply," Gopalakrishnan said.

His query on the de-silting programme in the MGR canal and on the encroachments on the canal bed, is yet to get a reply from corporation officials since August last year. Gopalakrishnan is the secretary of the Chennai chapter of Fifth Pillar, an NGO working against corruption in the administration.
julie.mariappan@timesgroup.com

Article Window

[Justice]

Unfortunately bureaucrats have gave got used to being in 'control' and 'act with authority'.
They have forgotten their basic Civics lessons taught in schools on the ideals behind the Indian Republic."We the people...." was re written in their minds as "We, those who are in power...."
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. They have been acting with impunity, covering up for each other and the system worked to their advantage.
Come a little piece of legislation on RTI and the equation changes. They try to checkmate the RTI by putting their retired man as SIC to safeguard their position. But the writing is on the wall. RTI shall prevail.
But till then, they will throw tantrums (as if it impresses anyone), try all methods of legal subterfuge and when everything else fails, they may resort to their goonda friends to try strong arm methods.
Goondas survive because of political and bureaucratic support. As our friends have suggested, if your fear being targeted, use your long distant friends to file the RTI. Use a forum friend from another state.

[sidmis]

RTI activist in trouble for asking too many questions
as reported by Thai Indian, August 27th, 2008, ICT by IANS

Agra, Aug 27 (IANS) You could be asking for trouble by asking too many questions under the Right to Information Act. This was learnt the hard way by an activist here, who was told by the police that he was interfering in government work as he persisted with queries in the case of a woman kept in a protection home for seven years without being charged.RTI activist Naresh Paras of Amnesty International was hauled up by an official at the Etmauddaula police station for asking too many questions and “harassing the superintendent of the Women’s Protection Home by persistently pressing for information”. This, according to the police, constitutes “interference in government work”.

Plz see this post here..

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/rti-activist-in-trouble-for-asking-too-many-questions_10089066.html

[vijendra singh]

We all know very well that 99 % of the I.Cs as well as PIOs have been harassing the innocent RTI appellants unnecessarily .So now , instead of counting the torture cases [which are countless] ; we must only think & evolve some exact remedies for this BIGGEST TRAGEDY. I think 3 solutions ---A.- Fresh appointments of ICs in CIC must be 6 & not from BUREAUCRACY. 4 must be RTI activists & rest 2 may be retd high court judges. B.--Appointees must have citizen-freindly track record & highest integrity. C.--I.Cs must be accountable & punishable.

[jiwateshwar]

Just a thought. The ACT requires for us to give out our address so that the CPIO may contact us. Read ss6(2) below

6(2) An applicant making request for information shall not be required to give any reason for requesting the information or any other personal details except those that may be necessary for contacting him.

Thus one does not really have to give his/her real address. The CPIO or any other party affected by your RTI application can only harm you if they can locate you. If they can't locate you, then they can't harm you. The catch?

There are two ways one could avoid giving out his real address and still receive the mail. The first one would be the POST BOX SYSTEM. However, these are not always a viable option and Im not sure what they actually cost. Also an influential person could easily make the post-master reveal the PO BOX owners real address.

The second option, which I was really unaware of before is the POSTE-RESTANTE. Here the PIO or the person wanting to know your real address would have absolutely no means of locating you, other than waiting at the post office for day and days. What is the system? Read below,

POSTE-RESTANTE

Mail superscribed TO BE KEPT TILL CALLED FOR, TO AWAIT ARRIVAL or in any similar way, or addressed to CARE OF POST-MASTER or CARE OF POST OFFICE is called Poste-Restante article. This is intended to facilitate delivery of mail to travellers having no specific address at a station.

Such mail is kept in deposit ordinarily for one month.

Another pointer if I may, would be to not sign the application with your complete name. Sign Abhishek Ladha as A. Ladha!

[colnrkurup]

I donot subscribe to the above view on moral grounds. If one does not have the courage, no body compelled him to indulge in RTI Activities. I find it difficult to associate activities like running away from realities, escapism, cowardice , cheating etc with an RTI activist. My view is that if one is scared of the consequences of any action dont' indulge in it.

[sidmis]

Hello Jiwateshwar,

Using Post Boxes to seek information is not a practical solution (at least) in Orissa.
Here it is mandatory to provide a proof of Identification and also Permanent Address while applying for information. Otherwise rejection is automatic.

In any case if the PIO (SPIO/CPIO) wants, he can always insist upon identity/citizenship proof & you cannot deny it.

The other day I found someone using his attorney's address as a C/O in an effort to evade detection.

Here is another horror story.
RTI applicants under threat in Assam

[jiwateshwar]

Kurup sir,
I would really disagree with that sir. At this forum you can view some cases where the employee is wanting to seek information under