RIGHT TO INFORMATION - 2014

January to December – 2014

Compiled By Fr. Paul G Documentation Centre∗

Lokpal bill: 'Politicians shunning transparency' (1 ) New Delhi: The majority of political parties this year joined hands to absolve themselves of both transparency and accountability. Transparency by pushing for amending the RTI Act to exempt political parties from its purview and accountability by exempting political parties from the purview of the lokpal bill. "It is surprising that our political parties which have the constitutional validity do not want to be either transparent or accountable to the people. They want to ensure that they don’t come under the new law which makes them answerable to the people," Venkatesh Nayak, transparency campaigner at Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative said. Nayak, with other civil society members, was speaking to journalists on the parliamentary standing committee report recommending exemption of political parties from the purview of the RTI law. He added that in the original Lokpal Bill the government had brought any association of people which accept donations like political parties and NGOs under the ambit of the ombudsman. The standing committee exempted religious organizations and charitable trusts from the purview of the section. The government went a step ahead and got an amendment approved from Parliament deleting the section for political parties. "Not a word was uttered on the amendment in the Parliament when the Lokpal Bill was passed," Nayak said, adding that the parties want to rule people but were not willing to come under people’s scanner. Anjali Bhardwaj of National Campaign for People’s Right To Information (NCPRI) said political parties should agree to come under the ambit of the RTI Act voluntarily as the law seeks transparency for the ‘larger public interest’. She also asked Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and BJP leader Arun Jaitley to clarify their stand on amendment to the RTI Act. Subhash Chandra Aggarwal, on whose petition the Central Information Commission brought six national political parties under the purview of the RTI Act in June, said he would challenge the validity of exemption to the political parties, if the government gets the amendments to the law approved by Parliament. (Hindustan Times 1/1/14) RTI proves state did not follow procedure on tribal land (1) THANE: More than two months after they successfully invoked the Right to Information (RTI) act, more than 65 per cent of the 1,150 tribals have got proof that the state government had not followed the procedure laid down under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006 to verify their land ownership claims. Of a total 1,272, 122 tribals are yet to receive a response to their RTI application. Under the 2008 rules framed in the FRA, any decision to modify or deny any claim on forest rights vests with the gram sabha. Information sought by the tribals through RTI showed the subdivisional level committee (SDLC) had not sought the gram sabha's opinion, and instead had directly sent their recommendations on the land claims to the district level committee (DLC) headed by the district collector. Milind Thatte from Vayam, who had helped the tribals use RTI, said, "Now that we have evidence that the procedure adopted to verify land claims was flawed, we will ask the government to rectify the land records by stipulating the area they owned and originally approved by the gram sabha." The FRA implementation began in January 2008 across Maharashtra. Village forest rights committees (FRCs) were formed and tribal villagers filed their

∗ This is a collection of previously published news and views from the print as well as the electronic media, whose reference marked at the end of each news items. Department of Documentation and Library (DDL) of the Indian Social Institute, New Delhi neither claims to the veracity of the facts in the news nor subscribes to the views expressed.

claims with these committees set up at different levels by the government. The committees verified the claims by spot visits and measurements. The gramsabhas finally approved (or rejected) these claims, which were then forwarded to SDLC (and not to gram sabha as per section 12 of the FRA) and then to DLC. The SDLC and DLC were expected to clear the claims within 60 days each. However, the tribal claimants received their patta (land title) only after five long years and they have been given only a part of their claim. This has shocked the villagers as no reason has been assigned as to why less land has been given to them despite clearance by committees. Many claimants in Jawhar and other tribal areas of the state received a patta that showed much lesser area of land than what the farmer is actually tilling and has claimed the right. There are cases where the claimant had attached evidence and a verification report by FRC showing five to six acres of land holding, however the government patta has shown only half or a single acre. See box of two other cases. Aggrieved as the government gave no explanation for rejecting their claim, the tribals filed an RTI asking the district collector of Jawhar for copies of the letter, if any, sent to the gramsabha for verification of their claim, recommendation made by the FRC or SDLC to the gram sabha and the reason for rejecting their claim. In August, the state information commissioner directed the forest and revenue department to provide the information to the tribals. The Forest Act assured that the tribes had a right to the land they have been cultivating for generations. "The land holdings seem to be shrunk at random. Also, this is a problem not only with the talukas in Thane but also in various other parts of the state. The information sought by the 1,200 plus tribals will not only be uploaded on the website but also put up outside the gram panchayat office so that they can easily access it,'' Shailesh Gandhi, former information commissioner had earlier told TOI. (Times of India 1/1/14) No reply to forum’s RTI plea on Netaji files (1) KOLKATA: Around 64 secret files on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose lying in state government archives could help disprove the Taihouku air crash theory, claims The Open Platform for Netaji. The forum, which has filed an RTI application with the state government seeking a disclosure of its contents, has received no reply though the 30-day responding period has expired. According to researcher and author Anuj Dhar, the files contain correspondence between then Bengal chief minister Bidhan Chandra Ray and prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. "In 1960, there was a strong rumour that Netaji had surfaced in Cooch Behar as Sholmari Baba, a saint. While he never claimed to be Netaji, Nehru had sent an emissary to inquire after consulting Bidhan Ray. Surendramohan Ghosh, the emissary, met Sholmari Baba and confirmed that he was not Netaji. Now, why would this inquiry be necessary four years after the government had accepted the Shah Nawaz Commission report which said Netaji had perished at Taihoku," argued Dhar. The files reportedly contain intelligence reports on the whereabouts of Sholmari Baba who travelled across the country till his death in 1977. "Even when he died in UP, he was under surveillance. This indeed points at the fact that the government was not convinced about the crash theory," said Dhar. Some researchers, however, contested the claim that the files were at the state archives. "A few could be in the special branch's possession. But all other records, including the correspondence between Bidhan Ray and Nehru are with the Union government departments," said Pranab Chatterjee, former director of state archives. Veteran Netaji scholar Purabi Ray agreed. "I had come across some letters exchanged between Bidhan Ray and Nehru in government records kept in Delhi. While they do indicate that the government was far from convinced about Netaji's death, they have never reached the state archives," she said. More than 150 files are supposed to be with central government departments in Delhi. They have never been disclosed on the ground that internal security could be affected. But Chatterjee argued that no government record can be withheld from the public after 25 years. The platform fears that the files could be destroyed before this year's general elections. "We had written to CM Mamata Banerjee to take it up with the Centre. But she has not responded," said Chandra Kumar Bose, Netaji's grand-nephew and a member of the platform. (Times of India 4/1/14) “Oppose political parties’ move to escape from RTI ambit” (1)

WARANGAL: Central Information Commissioner Madabhushi Sridhar has called upon people to oppose the move by political parties to escape from the ambit of Right To Information (RTI) Act. Addressing a meeting at the Kakatiya University senate hall here on Saturday, he said political parties are public authorities and there were efforts by politicians to bring out a legislation exempting them from the RTI purview. Such efforts should be opposed by people of the country. “There should be a public movement against the political parties trying to escape from the RTI Act,” Madabhushi Sridhar said. The RTI Act only helps citizens to know the information but would not redress their grievances or help answer questions like why and how. Majority of people in the country are not still aware of the RTI Act and were not utilizing the legislation. District Judge Venkataramana, Legal services authority secretary Sarala Kumari, District Collector G Kishan, DIG of police M Kanta Rao, Urban SP A Venkateswar Rao and others were present. Madabhushi Sridhar came to Warangal first time after assuming the charge as Central Information Commissioner. He was felicitated by the staff and students of Kakatiya University College of Law on the occasion. (The Hindu 5/1/13) Disclose ITRs of Biju Janata Dal: CIC to Income Tax Dept (1) Income tax returns of Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal should be made public as the issue concerns larger public interest, the Central Information Commission has held. BJD, which will face Assembly elections in May, had opposed disclosure of its income tax returns, saying since they do not receive any grant from the government directly and indirectly, information about their ITRs should not be disclosed. The Income Tax Department decided to withhold information sought by Anil Bairwal of Association of Democratic Reforms citing a Supreme Court order which said that ITRs are personal information and should not be disclosed unless a larger public interest is involved. Bairwal also wanted to know if the IT returns of the party contained balance sheet, auditor's report, schedules, contribution reports and copy of assessment order among others. The I-T department held that there was no public interest involved in the disclosure of tax returns of the political party and therefore, it could not be disclosed. BJD was not among the six political parties which were declared to be public authorities liable to answer queries under the RTI Act by a full bench of the Central Information Commission. While asking the I-T Department to disclose the information, Information Commissioner Rajiv Mathur cited an earlier CIC order which had said an information which is otherwise exempt, can still be disclosed if public interest so warrants. "In view of the fact that a larger public interest has been established by the Commission in the judgement referred to above, the disclosure of I-T returns of Biju Janata Dal does not fall in the exemption clause of Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act. The CPIO is directed to provide the information sought within three weeks of receipt of the order," Mathur held. (New Indian Express 7/1/14) Rs 1000 cr Nirbhaya fund lies unused, govt's claims proved false (1) Thiruvananthapuram: The 1,000-crore fund announced by the central government for safety and security of travelling women after the fatal gang-rape of a Delhi student in December 2012 has been lying unspent for more than a year because no project has yet been finalised. "A provision of Rs. 1,000 crore has been made with the approval of parliament. But the fund is yet to be utilised as the relevant schemes are yet to be finalised," the finance ministry's department of economic affairs has said in reply to an RTI application on January 1 this year. The government had announced a number of plans including installation of closed-circuit TV cameras in important public places, GPS and emergency buttons in public transport buses linking local police stations, toll-free numbers and self-defence lessons for the needy. Though more than a year elapsed since the infamous gang-rape and murder, most of these plans remain only on papers. Officials in some of the 32 cities included in these plans have said they were yet to get any directive in this regard. "Most of the announcements were cosmetic and no homework was done. The government's words and deeds should match. No serious thought was applied even after a year of the girl's death," said DB Vinu, an activist, who filed the RTI with the Union finance ministry. On the eve of the first anniversary of the victim's death, which shook the nation and forced the government to bring in

stricter laws, the Central government claimed that three projects cleared by Union finance ministry were being executed. "But the RTI reply given just five days ago did not carry any of these details (about implementation). It won't be a surprise that next year we get the same reply that the scheme is under the serious consideration of the cabinet," said Binu. Interestingly, in Kerala, a special office was set up by the state government under the scheme to look into the rescue and rehabilitation of sexual assault victims. But it is on the verge closure after its advisor Lida Jacob, a former IAS officer, quit in a huff complaining lack of governmental support. (Hindustan Times 8/1/14) States need to work more on suo motu disclosures un der RTI: V Narayanasamy (1) New Delhi: The various state governments in the country have not been "up to the mark" in sharing more information related to governance through suo motu disclosures mandated under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, Union Minister V Narayanasamy has said. "The Centre is doing a lot to promote RTI Act. But what the state governments are doing is not up to the mark. They need to work more on it. They need to take an active role in promoting RTI and putting information in the public domain," said Narayanasamy, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Information related to Public Private Partnerships (PPP), transfer orders of officers and employees, objections or paras by the Comptroller and Auditor General and Public Accounts Committee, among others, need to be put in the public domain, he said. "We want a common man living in rural areas to be able to file an RTI application. He should be made aware of it. This is the purpose of our government. We want to project ourselves as an open government," Narayanasamy said. The minister also sought suggestions from the people on promoting the RTI Act and making it more user-friendly. "We need the support of the people and civil society... We are open to suggestions which would make the Act more useful. We will issue guidelines or notifications immediately based on important suggestions," he said. Narayanasamy was speaking at the inauguration of a day- long national workshop on RTI Act organised here by the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT), the nodal department for the implementation of the transparency law. (Business Standard 9/1/14) RTI Applicants Need not Provide their Address, Says Centre (1) NEW DELHI: In a move that could give RTI activists a leg up, the Centre has told the States that the government departments should not insist on seeking address of an RTI applicant if a post box number is being provided to them for communication. This was communicated to the States in a letter by the Ministry of Personnel, nodal department for the implementation of the RTI Act, to all Central Government Ministries or departments, who act as public authorities mandated with providing information on the RTI applications made to them, citing a judgment by Calcutta High Court in this regard. “When the legislature thought it fit, the applicant need not disclose any personal detail, the authority should not insist on his detailed whereabouts particularly when post box number is provided for establishing contact between him and the authority. In case the authority would find any difficulty with the post box number, they may insist on personal details. However, in such case, it would be the solemn duty of the authority to hide such information and particularly from their website so that people at large would not know of the details,” the High Court judgment said. The order had come following a writ petition by Avishek Goenka who sought the court’s direction that the authority should not insist on detailed address of the applicant as and when any application is made under the RTI. The interested parties could pose a threat to the activist and there have been past incidents of unnatural deaths of activists, allegedly by persons having vested interest to conceal the information that is asked for by the activist, the petitioner had said. Disposing of the petition on November 20, last year, the court had directed Secretary, Ministry of Personnel, to circulate a copy of its order to all concerned so that the authority can take appropriate measures to hide information with regard to personal details of the activists to avoid any harassment by the persons having vested interest. The Ministry of Personnel had last week sent a copy of the court’s order to all ministries concerned and chief secretaries of state governments for “appropriate action”. (New Indian Express 13/1/14)

Milk scheme leaking money: RTI reply (1) NEW DELHI: The Union Government-owned Delhi Milk Scheme (DMS) has been making annual losses to the tune of several crores from 2007 onwards, as per information provided to an activist under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal said the data provided showed that booth-holders continued to operate despite owing huge sums to the DMS. “Surprisingly, the DMS has provided data of monthly booth sales only till March 2012, revealing that the booth-holders had combined sales of just Rs. 82 lakh per month against a huge outstanding amount of more than Rs. 23 crore against them, with no signs of recovery or steps taken to abandon such booths,” the RTI activist added. Mr. Agrawal said: “It has also been revealed that cooperative giants like Amul and Sudha have requested the Union Ministry of Agriculture (Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries) to hand over the loss-making DMS to them.” He indicated that many DMS booths are being grossly misused as private shops by the licensees. “The mere existence of the DMS after the launch of the much bigger Mother Dairy is in itself wastage of public resources,” he said. The government, on its part, has noted that it is adopting a professional approach in different areas, including marketing, transportation and plant operations for the best utilisation of public resources i.e. packing milk in two shifts instead of three and modernisation of obsolete plants, machinery and equipment. (The Hindu 14/1/14) Now, one application for one subject matter under R TI Act (1) Bangalore: A single application made under Right to Information (RTI) Act to secure particulars such as assets and liabilities declared before the Lokayukta by all MLAs and MLCs will not be valid anymore, the High Court of Karnataka has made it clear. One has to file one application each seeking details on legislators’ assets and liabilities statements. There are 225 MLAs and 75 MLCs in the State. The High Court, in a recent verdict, made this clear while holding that information about “only one subject matter” can be sought through a single application in view of the Rule 14 of the RTI Rules. Setting aside a direction given by the Karnataka Information Commission (KIC) to the public information officer of the Lokayukta on furnishing details of assets and liabilities of MLAs and MLCs to an applicant, Justice A.N. Venugopala Gowda said that “in view of Rule 14, the public information officer of the Lokayukta was justified in instructing the applicant to file separate applications for each MLA and MLC.” “The assets and liabilities statements of all the MLAs and MLCs of the State cannot be construed as relating to one subject matter. The State has 225 MLAs and 75 MLCs (elected and nominated). The information and the copies sought would disproportionately divert the resource of the public authority,” the court said. However, Mr. Venugopala Gowda observed that Rule 14 was introduced by the State government based on a recommendation made by none other than the Karnataka Information Commission in 2007-08. The Information Commission, the court noted, had, in its meeting in December 2007, discussed the problems faced by public information officers in furnishing information as multiple details, even up to 100 subjects, were being sought in a single application. The court also observed that the Information Commission had suggested to the State government to introduce Rule 14 after noticing that the right to ask question in both the State Legislature as well as Parliament is also governed by various conditions, one of which is related to a “single matter”. “Rule 14, which is clear and categorical, cannot be liberally construed. It should be construed strictly, as otherwise, the very purpose of its insertion would be frustrated,” the court said. In this background, the High Court found that the “Information Commission has failed to keep the purpose with which Rule 14 was inserted with effect from March 18, 2008,” and the Information Commission’s order to the public information officer of the Lokayukta was “an apparent causal approach by the Information Commission”. (The Hindu 16/1/14) Over 15,000 RTI Appeals, Complaints Pending in MP ( 1) BHOPAL: Over 15,000 appeals and complaints filed by various applicants under the RTI Act are pending with Madhya Pradesh State Information Commission (MPSIC), which is without its chief and others commissioners for over a year. As many as 15,130 cases -- 13,098 appeals and 2,032 complaints --

under the Right to Information Act were pending with MPSIC, according to data updated till December 31, 2013. The MPSIC had received 30,057 appeals and complaints between 2005 and 2013 of which 14,927 were resolved, it said. "There are lots of complaints of withholding information relating to corruption by government departments. Many people have filed complaints to MPSIC against denial of information which are pending. The government is not serious about the issue of transparent governance," said activist Ajay Dubey, who had filed RTI application to access data on pendency. An aggrieved person can file an appeal or complaint in SIC against government departments for wrongful denial of information. Hearing a PIL filed by Dubey, the high court in January last year had directed the Madhya Pradesh government to fill up the vacant posts of commissioners in the state's transparency watchdog. In its another order last month, the court directed the state government to fill all posts of information commissioners before January 31. "It is sad that almost an year after the order, the state information commission is without its chief and other commissioners. We want that Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners are appointed urgently. It is also necessary to decentralise SIC and have divisional benches after it is constituted to reduce pendency," he said. At present, the post of Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) and 10 posts of Information Commissioners (ICs) are lying vacant. In 2005, the Madhya Pradesh government had appointed T N Shrivastava as CIC who had been superannuated in 2006. The commission was without its CIC between 2006-07. In 2007, P P Tiwari was appointed as CIC and D C Jugran, Iqbal Ahmad and Mahesh Pandey were appointed as ICs, all of whom retired in 2012. According to the data, the highest number of 2,177 appeals were filed from Naxal-hit Balaghat district, also a tribal area, followed by 1,277 from Bhopal and 1,081 in Seoni districts among others. (New Indian Exzpress 19/1/14) Wife can Access Hubby's Salary Details, Says CIC (1 ) NEW DELHI: Wives of public servants have a right to access salary particulars of their husbands and denial of such information is highly unreasonable, unjustified and amounting to breach of legal obligation, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has held. Information Commissioner M Sridhar Acharyulu, while disposing of an application filed by one Jyoti Seherawat, said it was the duty of public authority to render required assistance to a public servant’s wife when she seeks her husband’s salary particulars. He said the information related to the salary was necessary to secure justice. The information was denied to Seherawat by Home (General) Department, claiming that the third party has objected to its disclosure. Sridhar said in most cases information about a husband’s salary was denied with mala fide intention either to harass the spouse, delay justice or to avoid payment of maintenance. He also warned that denial of salary information could incur a penalty under Section 20 of the RTI Act, 2005. Citing various personal laws, Sridhar said a husband has a legal duty to maintain the wife and children and this was applicable even after divorce. “Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code mandate that a husband has a general duty to maintain wife and children. The wife’s entitlement to know the salary particulars of her husband gets further fortified by all the above legal provisions.” In his January 7, 2014 order, Sridhar said the salary paid to a public servant by the public authority was sourced from the tax paid by public and they have a right to access it as per the RTI Act. He also maintained that such disclosure should be done voluntarily and added that salary of a public servant could not be considered as third party information. (New Indian Express 20/1/14) 600 DTC drivers colour blind, Kejriwal informed (1) New Delhi: Travelling by DTC bus? Think twice as about 600 drivers are alleged to be colour blind but still driving on the basis of fake medical fitness certificates. This serious issue concerning safety of passengers has been brought to the notice of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal by information commissioner M Sridhar Acharyulu. In an open letter to the chief minister, Acharyulu said he came across the information that hundreds of drivers have produced fake medical fitness certificates and continue to work on the basis of it. "It is alleged that at least 600 have colour blindness and many others suffer from

other problems. I apprehend (and every one will agree) that if this is even partly true, the right to life of commuters in Delhi city will be under serious and constant threat until it is ensured that every driver is fit enough to drive the buses," Acharyulu wrote in his letter to Kejriwal. Expressing his helplessness in taking any action but to order disclosure of information, the Information Commissioner said the RTI application was about a single driver, which led to investigation leading to revelation that hundreds of such drivers were allegedly appointed without "fitness"."The matter of concern is that the RTI application dates back to June 18, 2012, which is passing through different layers of bureaucracy and yet to reach finality. During submissions vigilance officer and appellant said that several hundred cases of such appointment of drivers without fitness are suspected and need to be enquired into," he wrote. Underlining that he was writing this letter in the capacity of a citizen, Acharyulu said there was a serious urgency to look into the issue. The alleged fraud came to light while Acharyulu was hearing a plea by one Dhan Singh, who sought information from DTC on nine-points regarding the procedure for recruitment of drivers including action taken on those drivers who were appointed on the basis of fake medical certificates. During the hearing, Singh alleged that thousands of drivers in the DTC are working on the basis of fake medical certificates and as per Rule 9 of DTC Rules and Regulations, the medical board of DTC cannot send such applicants for selection for the post of driver. The vigilance officer also submitted that there were some complaints which need enquiry involving around 300-400 drivers who had allegedly produced fake certificates and the enquiry about the genuineness of certificates produced by these drivers was going on. An independent medical board is examining the persons against whom the complaints were made at different hospitals, the officer said while pleading to withhold information as inquiry in hundreds of such cases was already going on. "The vigilance officer says that as and when they receive complaints they are sending concerned candidates for examination by independent medical board and initiating enquiries into complaints," Acharyulu noted in order but rejected the contention that records should not be disclosed pending inquiry. "The commission directs the respondents to furnish information about cases in which the investigation is completed without waiting for conclusion of inquiry or for final action taken report, as the information would not impede investigation, which is already concluded," he said. (Hindustan Times 22/1/14) Activists: RBI move to curb black money (1) Mumbai: Even as activists are claiming that the Reserve Bank of India’s decision to withdraw all currency notes issued prior to 2005 — including `500 and `1,000 denominations — after March 31 is to purge the country of black money, the RBI says that it is merely about a change in design. Noted activist Kiran Bedi said, “This is definitely a move to root out black money from the country, as has been demanded by Baba Ramdev since 2010. It will bring unaccounted money to the surface.” RTI activist Manoranjan Roy, who has been following up on the black money issue with the RBI for the last two years, said, “This is the first step to curb black money, irrespective of what and how the RBI clarifies it. I am pleased that the RBI, under Mr Rajan’s leadership, has finally started the clean up operation.” Mayank Gandhi, AAP leader in state, welcomed the move and said that the decision was in sync with its agenda of curbing corruption. “This is certainly due to the AAP effect. This RBI decision is apparently a clean up operation to curb black money. May more decisions be taken up in this direction,” said Mr Gandhi. However, Alpana Killawala, RBI spokesperson said, “This is not a move to curb black money, but to bring in new notes with lesser designs. Since our country is vast in diversity, the earlier notes need to go to accommodate new multiple features.” (Asian Age 23/1/14) Few takers for the RTI Act (1) The Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 is a blessing in disguise. While the procedure may seem tedious to some, the fundamental right that it stands for puts power into the hands of the common man. This Republic Day, Metrolife speaks to RTI activists in the City to understand how the act is being used by the people in the City. According to RTI activist Umapathi S, only a limited percentage of people are using the

act. “The current approach is to file applications only when services aren’t being met as a means of addressing public grievance. But the purpose of RTI is to ensure accountability and transparency. The problem is that people don’t know that it has a wider scope. The awareness isn’t up to the expected level and the responsibility of doing that should be placed on the state government. Another issue isthat people are scared of exposing officials as they feel they’ll be threatened even though this rarely happens,” he says. N Vikramsinha of Mahithi Hakku Adhyayana Kendra has been an RTI activist since 2000. While he acknowledges that Bangalore has an active RTI community, he finds that ‘the current trends are nullifying the effect at every stage’. “The activism is higher than other cities but people are only making applications about the BBMP, BDA and BSNL. The biggest problem is that we cannot get any authentic statistics or information in Karnataka. Unlike the Central information website where all the information is available with one search, the Karnataka Information Commission (KIC) website requires the applicant to know the name of the petitioner, responder or case number. We keep reminding them to re-design it but they’re not inclined to for obvious reasons. The information we get is mostly from our own sources,” he informs. In 2011, a forum was created to facilitate dialogue between the KIC, active citizens and the department of personnel and administrative reforms. “We met quarterly but that system has been discontinued since the appointment of the new chief information commissioner AKM Nayak. The problem most applicants face is delay in the process and eventually, no information being procured. Rectifying this will require continuous vigilance and persuasion on the part of citizens,” adds Vikramsinha. R Manohar, an independent RTI activist for the last 20 years, notes, “It’s a fundamental right that needs to be enforced. Some activists and NGOs are using the act. But it’s essentially been ineffective in the recent past because officers know how to manipulate the situation. They frequently reject the application and render the file ‘untraceable’, which leaves the petitioner with nobody to blame.” However, Ravindra Nath Guru, who runs an NGO called Coalition against Corruption, is optimistic about the RTI community and says that not only activists but common people are also using it. “There’s no point in playing the blame game till people start asking questions about why concerned authorities aren’t doing their job. For example, if garbage isn’t being collected, citizens can apply for the work order and make sure that it’s followed. There needs to be an increasing awareness about the RTI Act with the increasing number of information seekers,” he says. (Deccan Herald 27/1/14) Blind RTI activist makes mining mafia pay up (1) RAJKOT: Taking on the state's mining mafia head-on is not an easy task, especially when many of those involved enjoy the patronage of politicians. But this did not deter visually impaired Right To Information (RTI) crusader Ratna Ala to save the gauchar (pastoral) land in his village from illegal mining. Deputy sarpanch of Rangpar village in Morbi district Ala used RTI to compel government authorities to take action against illegal mining. Braving threats and withstanding money offers, Ala relentlessly pursued the menace and helped government earn Rs 12 lakh as fine for illegal mining. It may be recalled that RTI activist Amit Jethwa was gunned down after he took on Junagadh BJP MP Dinu Solanki for mining natural resources illegally. Though he is blind, Ala could see how the natural resources in his village were being mined illegally that too on gauchar land. The culprits were scooping out moram, a particular kind of soft gravel from the grazing land. "It was difficult task to fight against illegal mining as economic interests and corrupt practices are involved. But I decided to fight till the mining mafias are not fined. I was often threatened and pursued to stop," Ala said. "My complaints were endorsed by the government and finally two units involved in the illegal mining and storage were fined,'' said Ala, who was awarded Rahul Mangoakar award for RTI by The Times of India. Sources in the geology and mining department said they receive around 10-15 complaints of illegal mining daily through written communication and the helpline. Earlier, Ala had used RTI to get roads and drinking water to his village. He was elected as deputy sarpanch in 2012 after which he started the crusade against illegal mining. State's geology and mining department carried out checking and later on fined Rs 12 lakh to two units under Gujarat Minerals (Prevention of illegal mining transportation and storage) Rules-2005. "Villagers have elected me as

deputy sarpanch and it's my responsibility to save its natural resources and the gauchar land,'' Ala added. (Times of India 30/1/14) Consumer forums can hear plaints on deficiency of s ervices under RTI Act (1) Bangalore: Now, people can approach consumer forums against lapses on the part of the authorities while giving information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. In a first-of-its-kind decision in the State, a consumer forum in Bangalore has ruled that the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act could be invoked whenever there was a “deficiency by the public authorities in providing services” under the RTI Act. Under the Act, a public authority is required to provide certain services, and when the authority fails to do so, it amounts to “deficiency of service” and for such lapses the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act are applicable, according to the Third Additional Urban Bangalore District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum. A Bench comprising forum president T. Rajashekaraiah and member Subhashini passed an order on January 23 on a complaint by K. Dhananjay, an engineer working with the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Koramangala, Bangalore, against the director of institute. The IIA had collected Rs. 286 and Rs. 314 on two occasions in 2010–11 for providing certain documents after the Central Information Commission (CIC) directed it to supply information to Mr. Dhananjay when he complained that the institute failed to provide certain documents under the RTI Act. The institute supplied the documents after the 30-day deadline lapsed. The forum found that under Section 7 of the RTI Act, public authorities would have to supply information/documents for free if the information sought was supplied after the 30-day deadline. Following this, the forum held that the action of the institute in collecting fees was “illegal” and hence amounted to “deficiency of service”, and directed the institute to refund Rs. 600 collected as fee to the complainant along with Rs. 900 as the cost of litigation. (The Hindu 2/2/14) RTI Act lies buried in several states (1) MUMBAI: Eight years after the RTI Act was enacted, a reality check reveals that accessing information in most parts of the country is a long wait. While most states do not have enough commissioners and the pendency of appeals has only increased, in several other parts of India, the process of hearing appeals has become non-functional. RTI activist Sunil Ahya, who commissioned the survey by connecting with information commissions across the county and also the local activists, said that the Act allows maximum of 11 commissioners to be appointed and so if the pendency rates are so high then the state governments should appoint more commissioners. "In my experience at least 75% of the RTI applications that I have filed have needed to be heard by the commissioner. With the high percentage of cases needing a hearing, the government should take steps to expedite the process," said Ahya. Within states too, there is a disparity. In Maharashtra, for instance, the second appeal is heard earliest in Mumbai where it takes close to a fortnight and the time lag is worse in places like Nagpur, Aurangabad and Pune where it may take up to two years to hear an appeal. In fact, the state's chief information commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad had requested the governor to order the state to fill the vacant posts of information commissioners. "For period ranging up to two to three years, four posts of information commissioners of Greater Mumbai, Konkan, Nagpur and Amravati are vacant with the result at present 29,052 appeals and 3,338 complaints are pending," his letter stated. A peculiar problem has risen in Goa where most RTI activists do not attend the appeal hearing. Said activist Aires Rodrigues, "A chief information commissioner was appointed three months ago. But as per the rules, this must be a multi-member body and we don't want to waste time attending the hearing as they are going to be overruled in court." The state has put out an advertisement to hire commissioners but the last few appointments have run into trouble as activists have claimed that appointments have been politicized. Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana have the maximum count of information commissioners—10, nine and eight respectively. Probably hence, it takes merely a month to 1.5 months to dispose an appeal. (Times of India 3/2/14)

RTI Commissioner deplores lack of public awareness (1) Chittor: The State Commissioner for the Right to Information Act, S. Intihaz Ahmed, on Wednesday deplored that though the RTI Act had come into existence eight years ago, public awareness on the Act was negligible. The Commissioner was in Chittoor on an official visit and addressed a press conference. He called on voluntary organisations to play a crucial role in educating people. He said steps would be mooted to hold district coordination meetings periodically with the district revenue officer as the nodal officer. He directed officials to form coordination panels with the participation of voluntary bodies and RTI activists. (The Hindu 6/2/14) Protests for quick passage of Whistleblowers protec tion bill (1) New Delhi: Scores of activists and kin of those who failed to receive protection after exposing corruption on Friday demanded early passage of the whistleblowers bill pending in Parliament. Families of several whistleblowers held a demonstration at India Gate here, displaying photographs of their slain relatives, including Bihar's engineer Satyendra Dubey and demanded early passage of the legislation aimed at providing security to those who expose corruption. They also marched from India Gate to Jantar Mantar, where they held a candle light vigil in support of their demand. The Grievance Redress bill (The Right of Citizens to Time-bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill) and the Whistleblowers Protection bill have been pending in Parliament for several years. Both the bills will lapse if they are not passed in the ongoing session of Parliament, Anjali Bhardwaj, associated with National Campaign for Peoples' Right to Information, said. The protesters also met Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, BJP leaders Arun Jaitley and Ravi Shankar Prasad among others, who assured them that the bills would be top priority for them and their parties will support their passage, Bhardwaj said. The protesters appealed to all MPs to allow Parliament to function and to debate these bills. (Zee News 8/2/14) Info panel is soft on erring PIOs, say RTI activist s (1) CHENNAI: The Right to Information is losing its sheen in the state, thanks to the State Information Commission's kid-glove approach towards public information officers (PIOs) in government establishments who deliberately deny information. RTI activists in the state say most PIOs and first appellate authorities deny information to people, thereby forcing them to knock on the doors of the information panel by filing second appeals. The information commission needs to take serious view of PIOs and first appellate authorities refusing to give information to applicants , despite records or documents being available with them. "Such acts are borne out of mala fide intentions. It is not sufficient if the information commission merely orders PIOs to furnish information to the applicant. Only if punishment is meted out will the PIOs dispose of as many applications as possible," said a former information commissioner. If the information commission is tough with PIOs, very few second appeals would reach the commission and they would primarily relate to non-availability of documents and information and interpretation of exemption clauses, he said. On the contrary, when information commissioners are slack in punishing erring PIOs, the officials would pass the buck, forcing a large number of RTI applicants to file second appeals before the commission. If it is not checked, the commission would get drowned in such appeals, said RTI activist T Retnapandian of FACT India, an NGO. As the workload increases, the commission sits on applications for months together, citing lack of staff, he said. For instance, a senior IAS official said an application relating to his service was pending for more than 15 months. At times even the commission fails to render justice to RTI applicants. Recently, an applicant, K Senthil Kumar, who approached the commission on appeal seeking a certified copy of a lease agreement between himself and the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Department, was refused help. Chief information commissioner K S Sripathi refused to react to activists' charge. "I do not want to react to such charges. Let the activists see the positive aspects and the number of case disposals the commission has done," he said. (Times of India 9/2/14)

RTI Activists Hold Public Hearing to Discuss Issues Related to Act (1) HYDERABAD: Some of the commissioners nominated to the State Information Commission have little administrative experience and, while dealing with technical issues, it would be better if the requests are assigned to people with administrative background, Right to Information activists have suggested. At a public hearing on RTI Act organised by the United Forum for RTI Campaign (UFRTI) and RTI Assessment and Analysis Group (RAAG) as part of a nationwide survey here on Sunday, the activists from different parts of the state discussed whether people are able to easily access the information they seek under the RTI Act, performance of the Information Commission, issues they face. They also discussed if implementation of the RTI Act resulted in any systemic changes in the government. Narrating his experience how information through RTI has brought about changes in his village, Kutumba Reddy, an employee and native of Mallecheruvu in Nalgonda district, said 11 cement industries, which surround his village, had promised to develop the village on various fronts but did not keep the promise. “We sought information about the funds the gram panchayat receives from the companies and the kind of initiatives the companies took up. Though the companies gave some money to the panchayat, it was not being utilised. We made all this information public which prompted the factories to act upon their promises. Now a cement factory has come forward to erect safe drinking water plants in the village,” he said. Pointing out the problems that he faced when he sought information from a mandal parishad development officer (MPDO) about the funds that his gram panchayat receives and the way the money is spent, Sudhakar, a farmer from Karimnagar district, said that the MPDO did not respond to his RTI requests though the collector asked him to provide the required information. “Only after the State Commission had intervened did I get the required information. It used to take at least a year after filing an RTI request to get some information. Now with the intervention of media and the state commission the procedure is completed within the stipulated time,” he said. Speaking about the obstacles they face, Rakesh Reddy Dubbudu, co-convener, UFRTI- AP, said, “Some RTI requests are delayed to deter the applicants from seeking information and in some cases exorbitant fee is charged citing some reasons.” Not just the public, even officials needed to be made aware about RTI, he added. (New Indian Express 10/2/14) Make public CVs of applicants for SIC posts: RTI ac tivist (1) PANAJI: Right to information (RTI) activist Aires Rodrigues demanded that the Goa Government should immediately upload bio-data of all the 46 applicants for the two posts of State Information Commissioners (SICs) on the government website for public scrutiny. He said the selection process should not be stage-managed or vitiated by political meddling. Demanding that only the best and the brightest should be appointed to these vital positions, he said that as provided under Section 15(3) of the RTI Act, the committee comprising Chief Minister, Leader of the Opposition and another Minister should review all the 46 applications received and select the two SICs strictly on merit. He argued that as mandated by the RTI Act, eminence in public life should be the key guiding factor in the selection of the Information Commissioners while ensuring that the persons selected are independent minded. Expressing concern that most of the government websites, including that of the Goa State Information Commission, were either dysfunctional or not updated, the RTI activist said that Section 4 of the RTI Act mandates that all information should be displayed on websites and regularly updated. The activist alleged that the government seemed to be out to do everything possible to scuttle the RTI Act as various acts of omission and commission of this government were being exposed through information obtained under the RTI Act. Recalling that as Leader of the Opposition Manohar Parrikar regularly used the RTI Act to unearth information, Mr. Rodrigues alleged that on coming to power he had failed to instil confidence in implementing the Act in the State. The State government is in the process of appointing two State Information Commissioners for the State Commission which has only one Chief Information Commissioner. (The Hindu 11/2/14)

Know your consumer’s rights (1) ERODE: The Civil Supplies Department and consumer organisations in the district are in the process of orienting members of women SHGs the nitty-gritty of consumer vigil. On Wednesday, batches of 30 members each were trained on consumer rights at Periyasemur, Ammapettai and Muthampalayam. Earlier this month, District Collector V.K. Shanmugam initiated the training programme at Modakurichi. The two-day training programmes have so far been completed for SHG members at Bhavani Sagar, Gobichettipalayam, Bhavani, Chennimalai, Soorampatti, and Talavadi. A handbook containing information about the rights and duties of consumers when they come across instances of food adulteration, products sold after expiry date, people's right to secure information under RTI Act, the ways in which consumers get cheated, the right to vote, right to clean environment and several other awareness aspects was given to each member. Resource persons constituted the Secretary of Erode District Consumer Protection Centre M. Balasubramanian, the president of Perundurai Consumer Protection Centre K.R. Venkatachalam, and the Special Tahsildar of Civil Supplies Department M. Arumugam, who educated the SHG members about the usual methods adopted by salesmen at PDS outlets to sell lesser than specified quantity of products. He advised them to insist on using electronic weighing machines, and to ensure that their hands are off the machines when the products are weighed. Representatives of the consumer organisations underwent a ‘train the trainers’ programme at Mettupalayam last November, and are imparting the training to the participants in the Phase-II. The participants are provided with a stipend of Rs. 50 each a day for the two-day training, and their food expenses are also met by the Government. The SHG members, in turn, are expected to transfer the benefit of the consumer awareness training at the grassroots level under Phase-III. The aim is to complete the training process by March 15, the day of celebration of World Consumer Rights Day, said Mr. Balasubramanian. (The Hindu 13/2/14) CIC 'misplaces' file with order to bring parties un der RTI (1) NEW DELHI: After dragging its feet on action against political parties for not complying with the RTI act, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has "misplaced" the file related to its landmark order on the issue. Worse, it came to light only after an RTI applicant filed a complaint with the Commission alleging that the file was missing and a police complaint should be filed. Denying that the file was missing Chief information commissioner Sushma Singh said, "One file related to the order has been misplaced. I have ordered an inquiry to locate it." In a June 3 order last year, the transparency watchdog had directed six national political parties to appoint public information officers within six weeks. The parties included the Congress, BJP, NCP, BSP, CPI and CPM. The CIC's directive was ignored by the parties which are still not accepting RTI queries nor have they challenged the order or sought extension of time. The Commission only issued notices seeking explanation for non-compliance of its orders after a delay of six months on February 7. Alleging that this was a "cover-up" exercise, A K Jain who filed a complaint, said, "The fact that the files and records related to the case are missing has been kept a well-guarded secret. This is a matter of concern and points to some conspiracy in blocking and delaying the consideration of non-compliance of the complaint (political parties being brought under the RTI act) and enforcing the RTI act on political parties." Singh said the development would have no impact on the action being considered against political parties. "This will not have effect on any action in the case. We have the signed copy of the order given by the full bench of the CIC and that is relevant," she said. Jain said since all efforts to trace the files had failed, a police complaint should be filed to protect the records. (Times of India 14/2/14) RTI activist alleges misuse of funds in lake conser vation (1) Bhopal: Right To Information (RTI) and social activist from the State capital Ajay Dube has alleged that the State Government is misusing funds of crores of rupees in the name of Jheel Mahotsav. Despite having spent crore of rupees over lake conservation, no remarkable work has been done during the past

few years in Bhopal, he alleged. Dube in a statement here on Saturday said, “We all know that nowadays, Madhya Pradesh Government is spending crore of rupees in Bhopal over celebrations of ‘Jheel Mahotsav’ in which experts from various parts of the country and other countries are visiting as guests. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is making tall claims before them and is befooling the people of the State.” Dube further said, “I had been working on the environment conservation since last few years and as per my experience in the field I could the lies in the things the Chief Minister is saying.” Dube said that Chouhan was chairman of the governing body and president of the general body of the MP Lake Conservation Authority since it was constituted in 2004 besides the chairman of the State level coordination committee never called a meeting of the authority. This reflects that how serious and sensitive is he over the lake conservation and today he is only doing showoff over the issue before the world, he added. He said that the documents obtained through RTI reflects that despite spending crore of rupees over lake conservation Madhya Pradesh Government failed to do any commendable work. The then principal secretary of the housing and environment department of the State Iqbal Singh Bais has written in the year 2011 in the file in which it was decided to merge the MP Lake Conservation Authority in Environment Planning and Coordination Organisation (EPCO). While merging the authority into EPCO the Government decided that a lake and river conservation cell would be constituted in it but the Government turned out to be liar because till date it has not acted on this decision, he added. (Pioneer 16/2/14) Indian banks lose Rs 17,284 cr in fraud cases, reve als RTI (1) NEW DELHI: Indian banks lost as much as Rs 17,284 crore during 2012-13 due to fraud, in a near four-fold jump over the previous fiscal, ET has found out from information obtained through Right to Information Act. At a time when the lenders were reeling under burgeoning non-performing assets, 62 banks filed a total of 26,598 cases involving a sum equivalent to, for example, three years' budget of Indian Space Research Organisation. Many of these cases are being investigated by the CBI or the state police. Although private banks account for about 75% of the total number of cases registered, these lenders lost Rs 970 crore while the state-run banks lost as much as Rs 16,314 crore during the year. In comparison, all banks put together lost Rs 4,448 crore to frauds during 2011-12. According to the data, Punjab National Bank was the worst hit, with cases of fraud involving Rs 1,375 crore while Canara Bank lost Rs 1,166 crore. Other public sector banks that lost more than Rs 1,000 crore include State Bank of India, Bank of India and Oriental Bank of Commerce. Among the private sector banks, ICICI Bank topped the list with 5,280 cases of fraud, followed by Citibank and Standard Chartered bank, with 2,934 and 2,568 cases, respectively. These three banks together lost Rs 187 crore. Several banks disputed the figures furnished by the Reserve Bank of India under the RTI Act. Canara Bank's spokesperson said the bank had reported 78 cases of fraud amounting to Rs 583 crore while the central bank's data puts the figures at 156 cases and Rs 1,166 crore. Similarly, Standard Chartered Bank in its official response said it lost Rs 18.85 core in 1,284 cases while the RBI said the bank had lost Rs 37 crore in 2,568 cases. Citibank and PNB also disagreed with the data. "The information you have provided is not in accordance with our records, and significantly overstates both the number and the value of the cases," said a Citibank spokesperson. RBI did not respond to detailed query mailed by ET in this regard. The central bank had in July 2012 issued detailed guidelines to banks on how to report and tackle fraud cases. The guidelines specify seven different forms of fraud such as misappropriation, fraudulent encashment, cheating and forgery, and irregularities in foreign exchange transactions, among others. "Incidence of frauds, dacoities, robberies, etc, in banks is a matter of concern. While the primary responsibility for preventing frauds lies with banks themselves, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been advising them from time to time about the major fraud-prone areas and the safeguards necessary for their prevention," said the circular. Earlier, in March 2009 the central bank had directed all the banks to report names of professionals who facilitated the perpetration of fraud to the Indian Banks Association (IBA). The IBA prepares a "caution list" of such

people that is circulated among banks. However, the data for 2012-13 reveals that such efforts have failed to save banks from the rapid rise in incidents of fraud. (The Economic Times 20/2/14) CIC imposed fine in less than 0.66% cases (1) LUCKNOW: The central information commission (CIC), New Delhi, imposed penalties in less than 0.66 % cases. Against 147924 cases received till 2012-13, penalties were imposed in only 987 cases. In response to an RTI query by Sanjay Sharma, CIC said that penalty orders were revoked in 7 cases despite no specific rules to revoke RTI penalties. CIC received 442393 letters from 2007 to till February 2, 2014. Out of which 147924 cases got registered and 116333 (78%) were disposed till 2012-13. Maximum 86% cases were disposed in 2008-09 and minimum 59% in 2006-07. Average disposal rate of CIC is 78%. (Times of India 21/2/14) AAP seeks to reap Haryana's RTI bounty (1) CHANDIGARH: To put the spotlight back on corruption related issues ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the Aam Aadmi Party is planning to cash in on the RTI bounty in Haryana. The party has asked Haryanvis to provide it all documents related to scams and irregularities in the state that they have procured under the RTI Act. The state has thousands of RTI activists, including those associated with Haryana Soochna Adhikar Manch, which has around 5,000 members. AAP is planning to set up counters at its rally at Rohtak on February 23 to collect these papers, said party's national executive member Naveen Jaihind on Thursday. With activists having procured RTI information on explosive issues like discrimination against southern Haryana in development work and misuse of reservation policy for women in teachers' recruitment, AAP is seeing this as a way of gathering ammunition against its political opponents as well as finding more poll issues. Speaking to the Times of India, Jaihind said they hope to zero in on important issues with the help of RTI documents accessed by aam aadmi. "We have come to know that RTI activists have information related to irregularities in job recruitment and sugar mills apart from valuable information related to SEZs and land acquisition," he added. State convener of Haryana Soochna Adhikar Manch, Subhash, who doesn't want to be associated with any political outfit, said members of their manch are free to attend the rally. "Many of the RTI activists in Haryana have already joined the Aam Aadmi Party," he pointed out. Subhash said that RTI activists have information related to serious irregularities and misuse of funds. "Through RTI information, we have come to know how over Rs 2 crore from funds meant for the welfare of students were spent in honouring teachers a few months back. We also exposed a case of land grabbing involving a company that had encroached upon government land near the national highway in Karnal district," said Subhash. According to Subhash, they also found out how Haryana's Edusat (education through satellite) project—which is considered the largest network in Asia—could not function properly despite the over Rs 100 crore investment in it. (Times of India 21/2/14) RTI Arvind Kejriwal accused of 'running away' from RTI queries on AAP (1) New Delhi: Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today received flak for allegedly failing to implement RTI Act within Aam Aadmi Party. Rakesh Agarwal, who claimed to have played a vital role in making auto drivers join AAP during elections, today said that despite being called the "so-called hero" of the RTI movement, Kejriwal's party was running away from answering quesrins under the Right to Information Act. "I have filed 13 RTI applications since October 30, 2013 with the AAP but none of the applications have been acknowledged. Appeals were filed against two of the applications but even those have gone without a reply," Agarwal, secretary of Nyayabhoomi, told reporters here. He told reporters said that last year, party leaders Prashant Bhushan and Kejriwal advocated the implementation of RTI act within political parties, but AAP was now refusing to supply information under the RTI Act. "Why is Mr. Kejriwal not bringing out the details of every rupee spent on his rally despite the fact that he claimed that AAP was getting donations from public?" he asked. He said that his 13 RTI applications pertained to

funds received by way of donations and membership, details of expenses, statements of the party's bank accounts, internal elections, candidates selections process and the proof of corruption against politicians whom Kejriwal has called corrupt in the recent weeks. "While Arvind Kejriwal was in the chair, the chief minister's performance on RTI was at its worst ever. I had asked for reasons for the transfers of the two transport commissioners. The CM's office replied that the citizens have no right to ask why the transfer happen," he said. (The Financial Express 25/2/14) UP government's RTI record miserable: Study (1) LUCKNOW: Section 4 of the RTI Act says that every public authority shall maintain all its records duly catalogued and indexed and ensure that they get computerized so that all important details related to these public authorities get published within 120 days of enactment of this Act. However, a study conducted by RTI activists Amitabh Thakur and Nutan Thakur.reveals that ground realities of Uttar Pradesh government are contrary to the mandate. The couple studied the status of RTI in 81 Departments of the UP Government mentioned at the Home page of the website (http://upgov.nic.in/allsites.asp), particularly related to the mandatory information that needs to be provided under section 4(1)(b). The study found that almost none have provided the rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and records, required for discharging functions in the electronic form. It was also found that in many cases information provided was old. In fact, some of websites of departments are still carrying names of ministers in previous BSP rule - Nasimuddin Siddique in cane development, Narayan Singh in horticulture, Lalji Verma in parliamentary affairs and JN Rai in handloom department. These ministers left office in March 2012. Similarly, the names of retired officers like RK Sharma in the horticulture, Sri Krishna in handloom and SC Gupta in the IT department can also be found in respective websites. Names of the public information officers and Appellate Authority of many departments are also old. In many cases only names have been provided with no other necessary detail. Further, while many departments have not provided details of annual budget, some departments have uploaded budgets but they are of financial years 2008-09 or 2009-10. Departments like basic education, coordination, culture, finance, fisheries, infrastructure development etc have provided almost negligible information. Samagra gram vikas, small scale industries and export promotion departments do not even mention about the RTI Act while revenue and vidhai departments have links to the RTI section but these links are not operational. The governor office has information only in English while the chief minister office has limited information provided under RTI Act. (Times of India 26/2/14) Manch files RTI complaint against power regulator ( 1) PUNE: City-based Sajag Nagarik Manch has filed a complaint against the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (Merc), before state information commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad, saying that the commission had failed to make public why it was holding only one public hearing on the tariff revision proposal of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd ( MSEDCL). The distribution company earlier this month filed a petition seeking to recover Rs 9,312 crore from consumers, which would translate into a power tariff hike of 18 to 20%. As against the normal practice of holding public hearings at the revenue division headquarters, the commission decided to hold only one hearing in Mumbai. Sajag Nagarik Manch founder Vivek Velankar has said in the complaint, "The commission has scheduled a public hearing in Mumbai on February 28. The hearing is scheduled for an increase in tariff for all categories of consumers. Till date, every such hearing has been conducted in all the divisional headquarters, like Pune, Nagpur, Amravati, Nashik, Mumbai and Aurangabad. But this time, the commission has taken an administrative decision to conduct the hearing (only) in Mumbai. As a result, consumers and (representatives of) non-governmental organisations across the state will have to go to Mumbai for the hearing." He said the decision affects consumers from all divisional headquarters. Velankar said that as per section 4 (1) (C) and section 4 (1) (D) of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, the commission should have proactively published facts and reasons behind their administrative

decision to conduct the hearing only in Mumbai, but it has not done so. "Considering the above facts, I amsubmitting my complaint under section 18 of the RTI Act, against the commission for not publishing the facts and reasons behind their administrative decision," he said. He urged the information commissioner to consider the complaint on a priority basis and direct the commission to immediately publish the required information. (Times of India 27/2/14)

RTI is Cherished, Don't Misuse It: Delhi HC (1) NEW DELHI: Observing that the RTI Act was intended to be a "formidable tool" in the hands of responsible citizens to fight corruption and bring in transparency and accountability, the Delhi High Court has cautioned "not to misuse" the Act by impractical demands for disclosure. Justice Manmohan said the Right to Information (RTI) was a "cherished right" and seeking answers to "meaningless and vague queries" would adversely affect the efficiency of the administration and result in the executive getting bogged down with non-productive work of collecting and furnishing information. The high court was hearing a plea from the external affairs ministry challenging the order of the Central Information Commission (CIC) for imposing a cost of Rs.25,000 on the ministry after it failed to supply information within the prescribed time. A man named Praveen Gupta had sought information from the ministry on steps taken to improve Hindi language, steps taken to make Hindi the national language, and what kind of work was being done by ministry in Hindi, among others. Hearing the ministry's plea, Justice Manmohan said the primary duty of the ministry officials is to maintain good diplomatic relations with countries and to promote and protect the political and economic interest of India abroad. "If the limited manpower and resources of the ministry are devoted to address such meaningless and vague queries, this court is of the opinion that the office of the ministry would come to a standstill," the court said, setting aside the CIC order. The court said it has a view that the Act "should not be allowed to be misused or abused, to become a tool to obstruct the national development and integration, or to destroy the peace, tranquillity and harmony among its citizens".It said the Act should not be converted into a tool of oppression or intimidation of honest officials striving to do their duty. "The nation does not want a scenario where 75 percent of the staff of public authorities spends 75 percent of their time collecting and furnishing information to applicants instead of discharging their regular duties. "The threat of penalties under the RTI Act and the pressure of the authorities under the RTI Act should not lead to employees prioritising information furnishing at the cost of their normal and regular duties," Justice Manmohan said. The court also said it was necessary "to clear some misconceptions about the RTI Act".The RTI Act provides access to all information available and existing, but where the information sought is not a part of the record of a public authority, it does not cast an obligation upon the public authority to collect or collate such non-available information and then furnish it to an applicant, the court added. (New Indian Express 1/3/14) RTI activist shot dead for seeking information (1) Lucknow: Zakir Siddique, an RTI activist, was allegedly shot dead by the supporters of panchyat chief of Lalbojhi village in Uttar Pradesh’s Shravasti district, about 250 kilometres from here, late on Saturday night. The panchayat chief’s husband Jagdev Verma and other supporters have been charged with killing Zakir after the victim’s wife Kamanrunnisha lodged an FIR in this regard, police sources said. According to reports, Zakir had sought details of development works being undertaken in the village by the panchayat chief and had filed an application under the RTI Act with the district development officer. “He would often visit the district officials and complain about the lack of development works or misappropriation of funds by the panchayat office bearers and demand action,” Kamanrunnisha said. He also reportedly threatened to approach the state information commission as district officials were reluctant to provide him the information. The panchayat chief’s husband and his supporters had warned Zakir of serious consequences and asked him to withdraw his RTI query but he had declined. Jagdev Verma and

his supporters intercepted Zakir near his home on Saturday night and allegedly opened fire at him after an altercation. Zakir was rushed to the near by community health centre at Ikauna where he was declared brought dead. Four people were taken into custody in connection with the killing while a main accused was absconding and a hunt has been launched to nab him, the police said. RTI activists had been killed in the past for seeking information and threatening to expose corrupt public officials. An RTI activist had been killed in UP's Sonebhadra district earlier. (Deccan Herald 2/3/14) RTI applications pile up at Chennai Corporation (1) CHENNAI: A growing number of RTI applications have been gathering dust at Ripon Building because records have not been digitized. Activists are urging Chennai Corporation to follow the Pune model of proactive disclosure to bring transparency in the system. They said the civic body's health, revenue, land and estate, bus route roads and parks departments rarely provide information under the Right to Information Act on time. In Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation's 45 departments proactively disclose important records on its website (www.pcmcindia.gov.in) in a Frequently Asked Questions format. PCMC has also provided the timeframe within which every civic service has to be provided. The PCMC website has details of unauthorized constructions, reserved lands, rates of construction material and more. "We have developed a mobile phone application to track complaints. The status of the complaints is evaluated by higher officials every week," said a PCMC official. Similarly, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has opened an RTI library at its headquarters for people to get information and documents related to various civic works. "Every Monday, people can visit the library to access documents pertaining to contracts, minutes and agendas of council meetings," said a PMC official. On the other hand, the Chennai Corporation has disclosed very little information under Section 4 of the RTI Act, which mandates regular cataloguing and indexing of records. Eight years after the act came into effect, the corporation has failed to provide contact details about public information officers, despite instructions from the state information commission. The Chennai Corporation receives an average of 5,000 RTI applications every year from citizens. The queries relate to everything from delay in getting birth certificates to poor quality roads. "I have filed several RTI applications in various departments of the corporation but replies are always incomplete or vague. Many PIOs transfer applications to other departments to delay replies," said M Thuyamurthy, an RTI activist from Tondiarpet. Officials said the lack of digitized records delays replies. "Most particulars are in the respective zonal and ward offices and there is no connectivity with the headquarters. Only a few zones respond to the queries on time," said a PIO of the corporation. Officials said they plan to put details about building plan approvals and contracts on the corporation website. (Times of India 5/3/14) RTE, black money assurances still pending (1) New Delhi: The UPA government whose second term draws to a close has reneged on more than 40% of its promises made in Parliament. Different ministers in UPA II gave 7,456 assurances on the floor of the House, HT has found under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Out of these, 2,812 assurances are still pending and 299 have been dropped, the RTI revealed. As per ministry of parliamentary affairs, some of the important assurances pending include — strengthening laws to curb generation of black money, extradition of Union Carbide chairman Warren Anderson, a white paper on disinvestment and funds for implementation of right to education. If assurances had been met, eight hospitals on the line of All India Institute of Medical Sciences would have been established. Farmers would have been compensated for damaged crops, the Mangalore air crash victims’ families would have been compensated and the country would have had guidelines for pharmaceutical companies on clinical trial injuries and deaths. Whenever concerned ministers say they would consider a matter, take action or furnish information later, it is counted as an assurance. A Lok Sabha committee monitors time-bound implementation of such promises by ministers. Maneka Gandhi, chairperson of the committee on government assurances in the Lok Sabha, said, “We have been pushing ministries to fulfil their promises, but they are just not bothered.”

Congress MP and member of assurance committee Sukhdev Singh said, “The government is not taking its assurances seriously, they just make excuses.” All pending assurances will now have to wait for the new government to be formed in May. (Hindustan Times 5/3/14) RTI activists claim Special Task Force 'shielding' senior officials (1) BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) has sbeen shielding senior officials, who were deployed as observers for Madhya Pradesh Professional Examinations Board (MPPEB), alleged a group of RTI activists on Tuesday. Activists of Soochna Ka Adhikar Andolan (SAA) said the revelation has come to light in a reply to a query by Manoj Tripathi, a volunteer. It is learnt that about 30-40 senior officials including a former chief secretary of Chhattisgarh, former director general of police, MP, were among the observers deployed by the board for its various recruitment examinations held since 2010. "Move to deploy observers to oversee recruitment exams was taken after a scam broke out in 2009. Interestingly, even after their deployment the condition remained same," RTI Activist Ajay Dubey, who is convener of the organization told TOI. (Times of India 6/3/14) RTI activist cop fights to clean up police system ( 1) NOIDA: Sushil Kaushik (45) is not like any other constable deployed at the Gautam Budh Nagar SSP's office. A passionate RTI activist, Kaushik has filed several RTI applications against his own bosses. His upright stand against corruption has seen him facing frequent transfers and penalties, with a promotion being a wishful thought. It doesn't faze him, however, as he says that he is working to reform the police system from within and narrow the gap between cops and people. Kaushik said that he joined the UP police force as a constable in 1989 and was first posted in Bijnor district. "I was taken aback to see how corrupt police officials could be. I saw police taking money from contractors, vendors and scrap dealers.," he said. He would complain about his colleagues' wrongdoing to senior officials in his early days at the department. "Later, I came to know that some senior officials themselves shared the swag. The complaints went against me," he said. Over the last 15 years, Kaushik has been transferred to at least 15 places. "Sometimes I was transferred to a police station. When the SSP came to know about my past record, the same night I was transferred from there to other places," he said, stating that he had been transferred to Ghaziabad, Serkot, Kalagardh, Afzalgardh, Dadri, Podi Gadwal and Noida among other places. Fed up with the frequent transfers, the constable went on medical leave in 1996, the same year he got married. He joined the force at the Dadri office soon after. When the RTI Act came into force in 2005, Kaushik found a new way to tackle the system. He has filed over 100 RTIs, mostly against senior police officers. "I filed an RTI application against five SPs from Baghpat district that year. The police department had been deducting Rs 20-30 every month from constables' salaries in the name of education, entertainment, a mess fee and sports. This money was not audited and we did not know where it was spent," he said. Such deductions came up to over Rs 80 lakh a month and Kaushik's RTI ensured that such deductions were stopped. Kaushik's struggle has had its obstacles. In 2005, an SP against whom he filed an RTI application, hired goons to teach him a lesson. Through his time in the force, Kaushik continued to study and completed an MA-LLB to better comprehend legal aspects. All police officials are not same, he says, particularly admiring Gautam Budh Nagar SSP Preetinder Singh. "He is a good person and is dedicated to serving people. I get his support in my work and he appreciates what I do," said Kaushik, who has launched a campaign titled 'Agar Police Satayen, Toh Hume Batayen' (If the police trouble, tell us) to narrow down the gap between police and people. Preetinder Singh said that Kaushik is an ideal constable and he has done good work in seeking information through RTI. "I support him in his works. Once Kaushik sought for voluntary retirement, but I advised him against it," SSP Preetinder Singh said. Kaushik then dropped the idea. Singh said he has planned to organize a Jan-Chaupal where people can discuss problem they face with police. (Times of India 8/3/14) ‘Passport details can’t be disclosed to third party ’ (1)

NEW DELHI: Passport information, just like the Permanent Account Number of an individual, is personal information and cannot be disclosed to a third party under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the Delhi High Court has held while deciding a bunch of petitions moved by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). “This Court is also of the view that if the passport number of a third party is furnished to an applicant, it can be misused. For instance, if the applicant were to lodge a report with the police that a passport bearing a particular number is lost, the Passport Authority would automatically revoke the same without knowledge and to the prejudice of the third party,” a Bench of Justice Manmohan said. “After all, passport number is not only personal information but also an identification proof, specifically when one travels abroad,” the Bench added. The MEA, through counsel P. Roychoudhary, had moved the High Court challenging the order of the Central Information Commission (CIC) directing it to provide copies of passports of third parties along with their birth certificates, educational qualifications and identity proofs to certain applicants under the RTI Act. The CIC had held that the information is not personal and that citizen’s right to information is to be given primacy over their right to privacy. Initially, the petitioners, who had either sought passport information of their estranged spouse or any other third party, were denied information by the passport office. In appeal, the Chief Passport Officer also refused to part with the information so sought. The petitioners then moved the CIC, which directed the information be shared. The CIC in its order had said: “Given our dismal record of mis-governance and rampant corruption which colludes to deny citizens their essential rights and dignity, it is in the fitness of things that the citizen’s right to information is given greater primacy with regard to privacy.” Justice Manmohan, however, held that the CIC neither examined the issue of larger public interest nor considered Section 11 of the RTI Act, which mandates that views of third party whose information has been sought needs to be invited and considered in such cases before deciding whether to disclose the information or not. The Bench said even if the CIC concluded that passport information was not exempt from disclosure under the RTI Act, it would still have to follow the third party information system under the RTI Act. (The Hindu 10/3/14) PIL Challenging Info Panel Appointments Dismissed ( 1) Bangalore” The high court on Monday dismissed a PIL challenging the appointment of the president and four other members of the Karnataka State Information Commission under the RTI Act. A division bench comprising Chief Justice D H Waghela and Justice B V Nagarathna dismissed the PIL filed by S Umapathi, an RTI activist. The PIL questioned the appointments of A K M Nayak as Chief State Information Commissioner as well as the appointments of D Thangaraj, a retired IAS officer, M R Pujar, a retired IPS officer, T Rama Naik, an advocate and social activist from Shimoga and Shekhar D Sajjanar, a medical practitioner from Gadag. The petitioner alleged that in addition to appointing persons with political affiliations, in violation of the provisions of the RTI Act, the selection was made in a non-transparent manner in the absence of any guidelines. No Spl Counsel in Nithyananda Case The high court on Monday stayed the appointment of a special counsel in a petition against self-styled godman Nithyananda. He was accused of rape by a former disciple Arathi Rao. Hearing a petition by Vallabha Neni, the third accused in the case, Justice Abdul Nazeer stayed the appointment of Govindhan as counsel. The petitioner had contended that the State government cannot appoint a counsel in this matter. (New Indian Express 11/3/14) Guj activist says Ramdev flouted poll code; CEO see ks report (1) Navsari: Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer Wednesday asked the district collector to submit a report on whether yoga guru Ramdev violated the Model Code of Conduct by making political comments during a religious function here as alleged by an RTI activist. "I have asked the collector to submit a report. We will take appropriate action after verifying the claims made in the complaint," CEO Anita Karwal told reporters in Gandhinagar. City-based RTI activist Kanu Sukhadia had lodged a complaint with Navsari collector against Ramdev on March 6 for allegedly making political comments during a religious function. Sukhadia said Ramdev while attending a ritual at Ramji temple in Navsari town on March 5 exhorted people to vote

for BJP, even as some local political leaders were present in audience. "On March 3, I had informed the district collector to keep a watch on the function and stop it from becoming a political event as poll code is in effect. But, Ramdev made several political comments and openly asked people to support BJP in elections," Sukhadia said. Sukhadia said he recorded Ramdev's speech and the entire event and lodged complaint with collector on March 6. The CEO has now asked the collector to submit a report in this regard. (Zee News 12/3/14) RTI loses bite as pending appeals choke system (1) New Delhi: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi mentioned RTI 33 times in his TimesNow interview two months back. He claimed that the UPA government's biggest contribution in its fight against corruption was the Right to Information (RTI) Act. However, HT has found that the transparency Act is slowly becoming ineffective due to pending appeals, non-action on erring information officers and attacks on RTI activists. More than 1.5 lakh appeals are pending before the central information commission (24,000 appeals pending) and state information commissions (SIC), HT has found. The Congress-ruled states of Maharashtra and Karnataka are among the worst performers, with 35,000 and 24,000 pending appeals respectively. Some of these appeals are pending since 2011. Besides, lack of disciplinary action against erring public information officers (PIOs) has led to more applications getting rejected. Across states, PIOs are penalised in less than 5 per cent of the cases, HT has found. As per the Act, the CIC or SICs can impose a penalty if the PIO has not furnished the information sought within 30 days, or knowingly given incorrect, incomplete or misleading information. But since such penalties are scarcely imposed, genuine applicants get replies such as "the query is not specific", "the documents are voluminous", "information not available" or "the information is in public domain". HT filed more than 100 RTIs in the past six months and found that a majority of the applications did not elicit a proper reply. Former Central Information Commissioner Sailesh Gandhi explains that in the eight years since the Act came into being, penalties have been imposed on PIOs in only 1,000 cases of the more than 1.7 lakh appeals that were disposed. "This is pathetic. If PIOs don't have the threat of penalty, then RTI is under threat," he added. Despite Gandhi mentioning in his RTI applications that he is a former CIC, PIOs in various Maharashtra state departments did not even bother to reply. "Most first-timers get discouraged if the PIO rejects their application on frivolous grounds. Very few go in appeal but even then the cases remain pending or the order is given after years," says Rama Nath Jha, lawyer and director of Transparency International. As if rejections were not enough, threats to the lives of RTI activists are scaring information seekers. As per the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) data, to date around 250 individuals have been allegedly attacked, harassed, their property and belongings damaged and some even murdered for seeking information under the Act. Chief Information Commissioner Sushma Singh could not be reached for comments despite repeated attempts. However, TY Das, secretary, CIC, said: "The 24,000 appeals are pending because we have a limited number of commissioners. They dispose of appeals as and when these reach them…. I would not like to comment further." (Hindustan Times 14/3/14) RTI commissioner pulls up Chittoor officials (1) State RTI Commissioner Tantiya Kumari on Thursday, flayed the negligent attitude of officials in implementing the Right to Information Act and maintained that there was zero percent awareness among officials in Chittoor district. Hearing the RTI cases in revenue, higher education at Sri Venkateswara University (SVU), she directed the officers to furnish the requested information, without fail, to the appellants within the specified period. She further instructed them to maintain files and records of every case in the RTI register. Out of the 30 cases, Mr. Kumari solved 4 and adjourned the remaining. Earlier on Wednesday, Ms. Kumari adjourned nearly 50 RTI cases pertaining to Revenue Department and sent ‘show cause notice’ to the officials. She maintained that it was appalling to find the implementation of RTI Act in such deplorable conditions in the district. “It is imperative that the concerned officials (RDOs, MROs

and PIOs) convey the requested information to appellants within 30 days, but many cases have surpassed the time limit. We will take strict action on the officials who have not discharged their duties properly”. Mr. Kumari also urged the government to take up awareness programmes in order to uphold the real intention of the Act. (The Hindu 14/3/14) Plea for women in anti-corruption body (1) Shillong, March 14: RTI activists have demanded the inclusion of women in the Lokayukta in Meghalaya, while asking the state government to expedite the process of making the anti-corruption body functional. The state government will table the Meghalaya Lokayukta Bill, 2014 during the ongoing budget session of the state Assembly. The bill is slated to be tabled on Tuesday, the last day of the session. The bill is in tandem with the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act as enacted by Parliament recently, and it will repeal the Meghalaya Lokayukta Act, 2013. Welcoming the new bill, Meghalaya Right to Information Movement (MRTIM) leader Michael N. Syiem said the bill is far stronger than the previous law. He also stated that information seekers through the RTI Act, 2005 would have the opportunity to place their findings before the anti-corruption body once the bill is passed and notified. Hitherto, RTI findings largely remain within the domain of the media. But once the anti-corruption body is established, people would have the opportunity to lodge complaints based on the information collected through the RTI Act. MRTIM member Angela Rangad expressed the hope that some percentage would be considered for women to become members of the anti-corruption body. As per the bill, there would be a chairperson and four other members who would constitute the Lokayukta, and 50 per cent of them would be judicial members. However, Rangad said the bill should not be too harsh on the complainants. Else, it would deter people from filing complaints before the Lokayukta. According to the bill, whoever makes “false and frivolous or vexatious complaint”, shall, on conviction, be punished with imprisonment for a term, which may extend to six months and with fine, which may extend to Rs 1 lakh. At the same time, she demanded that the Lokayukta comprise persons who have not been involved in any kind of corruption. She also said that a timeframe should be set for the notification of the law. )The Telegraqph 15/3/14) EC Squatting on 200 Cases Fit for Disqualification, Says RTI Activist (1) CHENNAI: Coimbatore-based RTI activist M Loganathan, a practising advocate and coordinator of the Federation for Sustainable Development, an NGO, has unearthed nearly 200 cases wherein no action has been initiated by the Election Commission (EC) on removing those who have been convicted of electoral malpractices from the electoral rolls. Speaking to Express, Loganathan said the information provided in the representation was gathered from replies given by various police stations across the State through RTI queries and convictions done up to October 2012. “By this time, more persons would have got convicted,” he added. “Handing out warning after warning to people to eschew electoral malpractices will not help much. Only news about punishment given to those involved in these crimes will act as a greater deterrent,” he said and added that on this count, the Election Commission has failed to act. “When a person gets convicted in electoral malpractices, the police should inform the Collector who, in turn, apprises the Election Commission. But, this is not happening at present. Due to this procedural lacunae, even after conviction, the names of errant persons continue to be in electoral rolls”, he said and urged the EC to pay serious attention to this and issue guidelines to all concerned to enforce the law. In this connection, he showed a letter from the Coimbatore Collector, dated January 10, 2011, to the Chief Electoral Officer requesting him to delete the name of a person who was convicted of indulging in malpractices during the by-election toThondamuthur Assembly constituency in 2009, Loganathan said. He said the police and the district administration should have sent similar letters to the EC, but it didn’t happen. When contacted, the CEO said, “We have received a list of persons reportedly convicted for electoral malpractices. We will send it to the Collectors for verification. If found true, the law will be followed in this regard.” The Coimbatore-based NGO has been engaged in protecting natural resources in

the State and has been carrying out a campaign against genetically modified crops. (New Indian Express 18/3/14) College fined for denying info under RTI (1) Bangalore: Taking the Karnataka Information Commission (KIC) casually proved costly for the principal of Basaveshwara Engineering College, Bagalkot, who has been ordered to pay a penalty of Rs 15,000 for denying information to an RTI applicant. As the college receives government aid, it has to abide by the rules followed by any government college and also have a similar fee structure. Two years ago, Umapathi, a resident of Bangalore, had filed an RTI application seeking some information from the college management, but it was not provided to him. The management did not entertain the application saying the institution did not come under ambit of the RTI Act. Later, Umapathi approached the KIC. While hearing the case, Information Commissioner M R Pujar ruled that the college be brought under the RTI Act, as it enjoyed government aid and other benefits. In his next order passed on December 2, 2013, Pujar directed the college principal Dr R N Herakal to provide information if there was no High Court stay on its show-cause notice dated December 14, 2012. But the principal did not comply with the order. On March 11, when the matter was heard again, the commissioner found that the principal had overlooked his orders. Pujar ruled, “The respondent had not filed his written application for the show-cause notice issued against him on December 14, 2012, though three opportunities were given to him. Hence, it is treated that he (principal) has no explanation to offer for the show-cause notice and the commission has come to the conclusion that it is a fit case to impose penalty.” The commission imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on Herakal and directed him to pay the amount lump sum or in three installments of Rs 5,000 per month to the government. He also directed him to pay a compensation of Rs 1,000 to Umapathi “for the loss and other detriments suffered by the petitioner.” (Deccan Herald 21/3/14) RTI activists begin three-day hunger strike today ( 1) AHMEDABAD: RTI activists from across the state will stage a three-day hunger strike against the RTI commissioner at Sector 6 in Gandhinagar from Monday. The activists alleged that they were not given information by the commissioner and several of their appeals are pending till date. Around 1,000 RTI activists are likely to gather at Satyagrah Chhavni in Gandhinagar. Bharatsinh Zala, an activist, said, "Today, there are around 50,000 RTI appeals pending with the information commission and in most of the cases, neither information has been given nor fine levied on the public information officers concerned for the delay. To protest this, we will go on hunger strike, which will start from 10 am on Monday and continue till 6 pm on March 26." Zala alleged that apart from the 50,000 appeals that are pending with the panel, around one lakh RTI applications are still awaiting answers in various departments of the state government. He said that the applicants who have been waiting for their reply, will come together to oppose this. (Times of India 24/3/14) RTI activist kills self, names 52 (1) Pune: Right to information (RTI) activist Vilas Baravkar committed suicide at his Chakan residence by hanging himself in the Pune district on Tuesday early morning. The Chakan police has recovered a suicide note from the spot, in which he has allegedly mentioned names of approximately 52 people, including some politicians and senior police officials. This includes the name of one of the top politicians in the state and an IPS officer currently posted in Mumbai. However, the police informed that they had registered an accidental death report and will take appropriate action only after investigation is complete. Baravkar was working as an RTI activist who had exposed certain illegal constructions by co-operative societies in the Chakan area. The incident came to light at around 7.30 am on Tuesday, when Baravkar’s family members got suspicious when he did not open his room’s door in the morning and did not respond despite repeated knocking, according to the police. When they broke open the door, they discovered his body. They then informed the Chakan police about the incident. “We rushed to the spot after being

informed by the family members and recovered his body and the suicide note from the spot. We sent his body to Chakan Rural Hospital for further medical process,” Kishor Patil, assistant police inspector of Chakan police station said “As of now we have registered a case of accidental death. We have recovered a suicide note, but we are investigating the facts. We will take action after investigation is complete,” the API added. The family members of the deceased demanded action against the people named in the suicide note. Baravkar expressed his desire to donate his body in the suicide note. (Asian Age 26/3/14) Ropar RTI activist booked after mining expose on Ak alis (1) CHANDIGARH: Ropar-based advocate and RTI activist, who had recently exposed three Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders for allegedly conducting illegal mining of sand and gravel in Punjab, was charged with attempt to murder on Thursday. The FIR accused him of engineering assault on a tax collection agent. The Ropar Police booked well-known crusader Dinesh Chadha, also a district lawyer for attempt to murder and criminal conspiracy following a complaint made by one Amarjit Singh on Wednesday. In his FIR, Amarjit alleged that a group of men, under instructions from Chadha, battered him at night when he demanded the mandatory royalty tax from them for carrying mined sand at Nurpur Bedi area of Ropar. Chadha, however, hit back at the police for fabricating the charges against him as none of the attackers knew him personally. The activist also said that neither the area Nurpur Bedi fell under the tax zone nor the complainant was authorized to collect tax in that area in the absence of a government employee at night. The Ropar Police later relented and said Chadha would not be arrested. "We have set up an inquiry. If charges are proved untrue, we will instead file an FIR against the complainant for misleading us," said Gurpreet Singh Toor, SSP Ropar. "I am shocked that the police did not act on my complaints on March 4 when we exposed the illegitimate tax being collected at Nurpur Bedi and booked me instead. Even the timing of the FIR, which is 12:05 am, raises a stink. Which agent collects tax at night when the hours prescribed are between 9 am and 6 pm," said Chadha. There are only five certified quarries in Ropar - Surewal, Bhalan, Kiratpur Sahib, Palasi and Dayapur. The FIR triggered a series of reactions from opposition Congress, which charged Akali Dal of trying to scuttle the whistleblower's expose on its leaders. Chadha, who has been spearheading campaigns against mining mafia in Ropar, had only two weeks ago launched a series of protests with the support of more than 1,000 local villagers against illegal collection of tax by mining site owners. While the government rate is fixed at Rs 30 per tonne, Chadha has alleged that agents on behest of SAD leaders had been collecting arbitrary tax at Rs 5 per square foot for gravel and Rs 12 per square foot for sand. The excavation at Ropar quarries had been banned for three years by Punjab and Haryana high court in 2010 until it was revoked last July. (Times of India 28/3/14) Info on MLAs’ Assets Held up for 16 Months (1) HYDERABAD: For nearly 16 months the information on year-by-year appreciation of the declared assets of MLAs and MLCs sought under RTI Act continues to elude the RTI applicants as the Assembly and Council authorities delaying their response. This, despite the authorities admitting that RTI petitions on the subject were piling up. The information sought being a public document according to Assembly rules makes RTI activists wonder what prevents its disclosure. Rule 364 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in AP Legislature states, “Every member should declare his/her assets and liabilities to the Speaker within 30 days of taking oath and, thereafter, shall declare only whenever there is a change in his/her assets and liabilities before July 31 next, while in office. Such declaration shall be treated as a public document.” Secretary of the AP Legislature Secretariat S Raja Sadaram, however, cites suspended animation of the legislature as the latest hurdle in the process. “Of course, it is a public document but the issue is still pending with the ethics committee which does not exist now. Some legislators have declared their assets but a considerable number have not. It is not a penal offence,” he says. Rakesh Kumar Dubbudu, who had filed a petition seeking details of year-by-year appreciation of

assets of MLAs and MLCs in November 2012, is yet to receive a response even after a second appeal. “Since it is a public document, there is no question of hiding it under the pretext of ethics committee or any other committee. A public document has to be in the public domain. This is once again an attempt to hide information which is supposed to be public in the first place,” he points out. Chief information commissioner Jannat Hussain, without admitting that many petitions on second appeal were pending before him, just said that it was a public document and had to revealed. Another official at his office, suggested, “Since the commission is keeping silence, it is best to file an ad-joinder petition before the High Court keeping the upcoming elections in mind.” The second appeal, made in February 2013, is still pending despite Dubbudu’s appeals to the CIC several times in writing. “I have requested the CIC multiple times in writing that this hearing be expedited since this is an important issue with elections approaching. The SIC has decided not to act on this. With elections just a month away, I hope that the SIC does something on this,” he hopes. Responding to Dubbudu’s RTI, Assembly officials said some information was available on their website and as for the rest of the information the issue is pending with the ethics committee. A webpage meant to divulge the said information on the AP Legislature website launched in July 2012 is still under construction. (New Indian Express 2/4/14) No RTI reply, BMC to pay Rs 50,000 to South Mumbai man (1) MUMBAI: The state chief information commissioner (CEC) has directed the BMC to pay Rs 50,000 compensation to south Mumbai resident Nandu P Kapadia who had sought information under an RTI application, but did not get it within the 30-day stipulated period resulting in his house on Princess Street being demolished. This is the second such landmark ruling by the state CEC. In 2013, the Mumbai University was told to pay Rs 1 lakh compensation to an RTI applicant, who had sought records of the minutes of the management council meetings in the last 10 years. After hearing Kapadia's complaint, state CEC Ratnakar Gaikwad directed the first appellate officer to ensure payment of the compensation before April 30, and issued a show-cause notice asking the officer to appear before him for clarifications. "If not, then a penalty will be imposed on the officer," the order said. The penalty can be up to Rs 25,000. On October 11, 2013, Kapadia filed an RTI plea seeking information from the C ward office on certain documentary proof related to his property, which was under litigation, that had to be presented in court. When he did not get the information, he approached the first appellate officer on December 6, 2013. The officer ordered that Kapadia get the information within seven days, but he never got it. Kapadia told Gaikwad that the official neither responded to his plea properly nor told him that he had to deposit an amount to get photocopies of the required documents. "He has suffered an irreparable loss following the inability of the officials in giving information within the stipulated timeframe," the order said. (Times of India 2/4/14) HC stays CIC order on withdrawal of security cleara nce to GVHL (1) New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has stayed a Central Information Commission order directing the Ministry of Home Affairs to disclose the reasons behind withdrawal of security clearance to Global Vectra Helicorp Limited (GVHL), the country's largest private helicopter company. Justice Manmohan was of the "prima facie" view that the ministry was exempted under the Right to Information (RTI) Act from providing the information as directed by the commission. The order had come on the plea of the ministry which has contended that security inputs of government agencies cannot be disclosed as it would impede the process of ongoing probe by agencies like Enforcement Directorate. "Having heard counsel for petitioner, this court is prima facie of the view that exemption under Right to Information Act 2005 are attracted to the present case. Consequently, the order of the CIC dated November 20, 2013 is stayed till further orders," the court said. The Central Information Commission (CIC) had directed the ministry to broadly provide the reason, as available on the record of the public authority, for withdrawal of the security clearance of GVHL, after which the company's Non-Scheduled Operator's Permit was suspended by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. The CIC had passed the order on the plea of an RTI applicant

Rakesh Soni. The court also issued notice to Soni and others and has sought their responses by the next date of hearing September 30. (Business Standard 6/4/14) RTI impact: Neither transparent, nor opaque but tra nslucent (1) New Delhi: The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre lists the Right to Information (RTI) Act - enacted in 2005 - among its foremost contributions during a decade in power. While Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi insists the Act brought transparency into governance, Congressmen say it has become the party's bane. The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, an international non-governmental organisation that works for human rights, estimates four million RTI applications were filed across the country in 2011-12. A majority of these, 33.8 per cent, were filed in Maharashtra, followed by 32.5 per cent with the central government. Armed with a right to seek information from public authorities, citizens have been using it to expose corruption and misgovernance. Prominent scams unearthed through the RTI include the Adarsh Housing scam in Mumbai and the mismanagement of finances during the Commonwealth Games held in Delhi. Venkatesh Nayak from the Access to Information Programme of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative in New Delhi, said, "Even in the ninth year of its implementation, the RTI has not realised its potential. As far as imbibing the values of transparency in governance and responsibility of citizens are concerned, these areas need to be developed." Even the government did not realise the extent to which the RTI could be used to demand accountability, he added. So, when the Central Information Commission ruled that the six national political parties were covered by the RTI, the Congress-led UPA government moved the Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2013, to curtail it. But the controversy it generated forced Members of Parliament (MPs) to send the Bill to a parliamentary standing committee. The main obstacle to the RTI fulfilling its potential are bureaucrats who still treat it as a burden and provide information on a need-to-know basis. Nayak emphasises the right must be viewed holistically as a provider of information, supplemented by digitisation of records and routine disclosures. Transparency in governance also entails administrative reforms the authorities are reluctant to undertake. The ineffectiveness of information commissions is another factor hampering the RTI. Activists have been opposing the government's practice of appointing retired bureaucrats as information commissioners. Those who spent their professional lives opposing disclosure of information are unlikely to be votaries for access to information, activists claim. The UPA has also failed to implement the awareness activities it was required to undertake in the countryside, thereby restricting the Act's impact to cities. Maharashtra and Karnataka lead in the number of RTI applications filed mainly because these states enacted their own laws much before the central legislation. Again, several state governments appoint favourably disposed information commissioners and the commissions themselves are poorly staffed. As the band of dedicated RTI activists grows, several have become targets. Approximately 250 activists have been killed in the past nine years. This group is keenly awaiting presidential assent for the much-needed Whistleblowers Protection Act, 2011. Taking the right to information campaign a step further, organisations like the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative are working with the Comptroller and Auditor General, on social audit of public authorities. Politicians who have been attacking the CAG for its zeal in unearthing scams like those over selling air waves to telecom companies and allocation of coal blocks, could face a formidable challenge if ordinary citizens armed with the RTI were to aid the auditor. (Business Standard 7/4/14) Modi picks holes in RTI, NREGA (1) Bagalkot (Karnataka): A day after his rival, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, picked holes in Gujarat’s development, BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi derided as ineffectual the Right to Information Act (RTI) and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) that the UPA government counts among its achievements. Addressing a rally here on Tuesday, he noted that while it was possible to get information through the RTI Act, corrupt officials or politicians could not be punished under it. “What is the use of getting information through the RTI Act

when we cannot punish the corrupt?” he demanded. Calling the MGNREGS a mere eyewash, he accused the Congress of failing to keep its promise of providing at least one job to every household. “It has generated merely 1.25 crore jobs during its tenure, while the NDA government had created more than six crore jobs in a mere five years. The Congress has looted crores of rupees through MGNREGS and failed to redress the country’s unemployment problem,” Mr Modi charged. (Asian Age 9/4/14) Political Parties are Public Bodies, RTI Act Should Apply (1) HYDERABAD: Political parties can by no means evade public scrutiny as they are essentially public bodies and should be brought under the ambit of the Right to Information Act Central Information Commission member Madabhushi Sridhar has said. Taking exception to political parties rejecting CIC’s order to come under the purview of RTI, Sridhar said at a seminar organised by the department of communication of Osmania University here on Wednesday, “The Congress, BJP, CPI, NCP, CPM and BSP _ whom we have asked to appoint public information officers _ have replied in unison that they need not divulge information to the public as they are not public bodies. If a political party is not a public body, then is it a private, family-run organisation? How absurd is this?” he asked. He mooted the idea of a provision that will make the contesting candidates disclose in their affidavit about the number of parties they have switched in a decade. “The affidavit for filing nomination should include this provision. Also, an elected representative should be brought under RTI by terming them as a public authority,” he suggested. He questioned the logic behind not letting the Election Commission of India to deregister and derecognise political parties. “Today, there are 1,147 registered political parties, most of which do not contest. In fact, some of these have never contested at least in one election. They exist just because, as registered political parties, they can avail income tax exemptions,” he pointed out. In view of this, the Election Commission should be given a free hand to derecognise all defunct political parties by amending the Representation of People Act 1951, he said. He observed that the RTI Act was benefiting a large sections of people. (New Indian Express 10/4/14) Information panel member wants political parties un der RTI (1) HYDERABAD: Political parties can by no means evade public scrutiny as they are essentially public bodies and should be brought under the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act says Central Information Commission (CIC) member Madabhushi Sridhar. Taking exception to political parties rejecting CIC’s order to come under the purview of RTI, Sridhar said that “the Congress, BJP, CPI, NCP, CPM and BSP–whom we have asked to appoint public information officers–have replied in unison that they need not divulge information to the public as they are not public bodies. If a political party is not a public body, then is it a private, family-run organisation? How absurd is this?” he quipped. He was addressing a seminar organised by the department of communication of Osmania University The Hyderabad-based journalist-turned-RTI activist mooted amendments to election law that will make the contesting candidates disclose in their affidavit about the number of parties they have switched in a decade. “The affidavit for filing nomination should include this provision and the elected representative, be it MLA or MP or MLC, should be brought under RTI by terming them as a public authority,” he said. Sridhar, who has authored several publications on RTI Act, questioned the logic behind restrictions on the Election Commission of India to deregister and derecognise political parties. “Today, there are 1,147 registered political parties, most of which do not exist in public domain and contest elections. In fact, some of these have never contested at least in one election.” He said most of them exist only because, as registered political parties, they can avail income tax exemptions and their public platforms could be exploited for different purposes other than public service. In view of this, the Election Commission should be given a free hand to derecognise all defunct political parties by amending the Representation of People Act 1951, Sridhar asserted. (Deccan Herald 11/4/14) Govt departments find loopholes in RTI Act to delay , deny information (1)

CHENNAI: From redirecting queries to giving vague replies, or just ignoring the envelopes that land on their tables, officials in some government departments in the state are gaining notoriety for delaying information under the Right to Information Act. While the RTI Act was introduced to promote transparency in government departments, a section of them are misusing specific clauses in the legislation to stave off questions. A recent RTI filed by TOI is a case in point. The department of personnel and administration reforms - the nodal agency for the RTI Act - denied information on the grounds that it would affect its routine work. The public information officer (PIO) of the department cited Section 7(9) of the act, which says "Information shall ordinarily be provided in the form in which it is sought unless it would disproportionately divert the resources of the public authority or would be detrimental to the safety or preservation of the record in question." Officials are also coming up with ways to delay information in instances that clearly would not require "disproportionate" diversion of resources. Metrowater, the transport department and TNEB keep passing the buck through their warrens of rooms, while departments like social defence, Tasmac and police are reluctant to collate information and insist that applicants file separate RTIs to different sub-departments. This is a violation of the act. Seven of the the 15 zones in Chennai corporation - Royapuram, Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, Ambattur, Anna Nagar, Teynampet, Kodambakkam and Valasarvakkam - are regular defaulters in furnishing information. A PIO in the corporation admitted they don't have a centralised system to gather information from corporation zones. "Many PIOs are busy with other work and don't have the time to furnish the information within the stipulated time," he said, adding that the corporation also lacks a separate RTI cell to gather data from various departments and zones. The department of social defence has also consistently violated Section 6 (3) of the act, which mandates transfer of the information request to the concerned authority if the application is not meant for the department. "If the information relates to more than one public authority, the application need not be transferred to all. It is informed that the petitioner may send individual application to each of the public authorities concerned," an RTI reply from the department to a query said. For most PIOs, staff shortage, lack of records and pressure from higher officials, are favourite picks from their pool of excuses to delay and deny information under the act. Activists have pinned the blame on the state information commission for these delay tactics. "The main threat to the RTI Act is the state information commission, which has failed to impose fines on PIOs," said M Thuyamurthy, an RTI activist from Tondiarpet. "The PIOs are under no pressure to answer queries. So these delay tactics come as no surprise," he said. (Times of India 14/4/14) Bring political parties under RTI: Aruna Roy (1) ANAND: Eminent social activist Aruna Roy has called for a fight to bring all the political parties under the purview of the Right To Information (RTI) Act. The Magsaysay award winner and architect of the RTI Act told media persons after delivering her address at the 33rd annual convocation of Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA) here on Wednesday, "Political parties do not want to be transparent. The day they too come under RTI, people will come to know about the sources of the funds they receive. But we will have to fight for that. In her convocation address she also hit out at the political parties for failing to talk about poverty in their poll manifestoes. She also took questions from the media on Gujarat model being propagated by BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. She said that each state has its own advantages and short falls. "Development depends on the definition one uses to define it. If you talk about roads, that is one aspect. If you talk about 9.5 per cent growth that is another aspect. But one has to also consider how much debt the state has taken. How much interest a state is paying? What is the condition of poor, the marginal farmers and the land that they own? I don't see any particular shinning example when it comes to the condition of poor here," she said. Roy stressed that soon after Independence, Gujarat was always considered a better state compared to others. "People here are business-minded. The co-operative movement has grown here since the time of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) popularized through film 'Manthan'," she said while adding that a growth model popularised by corporate houses isn't going to resolve problems of the poor and unemployed

youths. "Such a model will bring in more machines instead of generating employment for youths," she said, adding that if Kerala is a good state in terms of social indicators, Tamil Nadu is a better state when it comes to mid-day meal scheme. "Similar is the case of Himachal Pradesh when it comes to primary education," she said. "The marginalization of the poor and the indifference to them is dangerous in a country so contrasted by the gap between the rich and the poor. That is why a concept like the MGNREGA, which empowers workers to demand work and equality, is anathema to 'profit wallahs'. In my youth they were called 'box wallahs'. We are branded as 'jhola wallahs'," said Roy. (Times of India 16/4/14) RTI activist shot dead in UP, police gives security to family (1) HAPUR: A 70-year-old RTI activist was shot dead by three unidentified assailants outside his house here on Monday, prompting authorities to transfer the probe to special task force and provide security to his family. Mangat Tyagi, who had filed around 14,000 RTI applications and unearthed various cases of corruption in government departments, was shot dead by three car-borne assailants when he was standing outside his house in Bankhanda village on April 14. "In view of threats to Tyagi's family, district and police administrations have decided to provide round-the-clock security to them. From today, two police personnel will be deployed outside their house," Hapur district magistrate Rajesh Kumar Singh told PTI. "We have recommended STF probe into Tyagi's murder and it will begin soon. All accused will be arrested," he added. Meanwhile, police sources said they have got some leads in the case. "Police have got some important cues and the case would be solved soon. Police are also scanning the role of corrupt officials, against whom Tyagi had filed RTI applicants," a senior police officer sad. (Times of india 19/4/14) Modi rally held sans NA tax: RTI (1) Mumbai: An RTI reply has revealed that BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s rally held at the MMRDA Grounds in BKC on December 22, 2013 was organised without paying Non-Agricultural (NA) tax. It has also been revealed that security deposit of `28.68 lakh paid to the MMRDA for the rally has not been claimed by BJP yet. It has also come to fore that not only the BJP, but almost 65 per cent of event organisers at the said grounds have not paid the NA tax. According to the rulebook of the MMRDA, which is the nodal agency for the MMRDA Grounds, security deposit is returned only when the organiser furnishes the bill for NA tax paid to collector, and fire brigade, traffic police permission. Activist Anil Galgali had sought information from the MMRDA asking for a list of organisers or exhibitors who had applied for rallies and meetings at the MMRDA Grounds. In reply, public information officer C.K. Abhang informed that the BJP paid `36,92,635 as rent and `28.68 lakh as security deposit for 1,97,161 sq metres of land. According to the RTI reply, the party did not submit proper documents for refund. Mr Galgali said, “If the BJP, which talks about transparent governance, had followed the pre-requisite conditions, it would have definitely applied for the refund of the security deposit. It clearly says that party did not bother to follow the rules and organised the rally by flouting them.” He has demanded the Mumbai BJP come out clean on the issue. Although BJP Mumbai president Ashish Shelar did not respond to the calls and messages, a senior BJP leader said that they have some issues with the MMRDA regarding the refund of the deposit and would sort it out. He added, “Every necessary action was taken for Narendra Modi’s rally. We are very busy in poll preparations and would apply for the refund as soon as the election process is over.” According to the RTI reply, in 2013, almost 65 per cent of the organisers did not claim their security deposit totalling `2.88 crore, which includes `28,68,637 from the BJP. The party had taken the land for four days from December 20 to December 23, 2013 and paid `36,92,635 as rent. Apart from BJP, the Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (`78,10,875), Maharashtra Tourism (`7,68,052), Sahara Housing (`9,33,375), Percept (`15,49,313), British Dy High Commission, Mumbai (`17,429) are amongst the many who have not take the refund for their security deposits. (Asian Age 20/4/14)

RTI query on government nominated MLCs stonewalled (1) NAGPUR: One of the UPA government's boasts on 'clean' governance relates to the Right To Information Act that it brought about in 2005. Yet, it is found that getting information from the government remains a cumbersome process. Often such an effort meets dead-end. A city-based social activist Sampat Ramteke discovered this when he sought information on criteria for getting nomination as member of the state legislative council from governor's quota. Under Article 171 section 5, the governor has the powers to nominate 12 persons as members of the Maharashtra legislative council. The term of 12 such members expired on March 12 and the governor is expected to nominate a new batch soon after Lok Sabha election process ends on May 16. As per the stipulated norms, the nominee selected by him should be an eminent person from the field of literature, arts, social service, sciences or the cooperative movement. The 12 governor nominees whose term has ended are Subhash Chavan, Mohan Joshi, Alka Desai, Suresh Navle, Charansingh Sapra and M M Sheikh (all from Congress). The six from NCP are Fauzia Khan, Vidya Chavan, Ram Pandagale, Vijaysinh Mohite Patil, Ramesh Shendge and Sumant Gaikwad. Ramteke is president of Sickle Society of India. He has strived for years to bring to the national conscience problems of sickle cell anaemia, a blood disease typical to a section of the society mainly in Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh belt. In his RTI application sent on March 27, he had specifically sought details of educational and other qualification of the 12 retiring members and the area of their work. He had also sought information on documents that needed to be selected for getting the governor's nomination and details of the nomination process. Much to Ramteke's chagrin, his application was passed on by the governor's office to the chief minister's secretariat on April 1 with a plea that CM secretariat is the right quarter to get the information sought. But a week later, the CM secretariat said it could not help in the matter and passed on the application to the legislative secretariat. "Time is running out for the next batch selection by the governor. I have little hope of getting the specific information," Ramteke rued. "I have observed that the ruling parties while recommending the names to the governor do not follow the set norms. Hence the selection process is unconstitutional. It is the political leaders or those that the ruling party wants to favour who get the nomination," Ramteke alleged. (Times of India 23/4/14) Students can get answer sheets for Rs 2 per page: H igh court (1) NEW DELHI: In an order that would help students across the capital, the Delhi high court held that a student can obtain copies of answer sheets by paying Rs 2 per page, in line with the RTI Act, instead of the amount asked by the educational institution. A division bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Pradeep Nandrajog has said that under the Right to Information (Regulation of Fee and Cost) Rules, 2005, Rs 2 will be charged for each page (A4 or A3 size paper) copied and no fee will be charged in the first hour of inspection. The court's order came on the plea filed by a student of The Institute of Company Secretaries of India, who had challenged the institute's demand of Rs 500 for obtaining a copy of the answer book under the Act. Petitioner Paras Jain had applied for the inspection of his answer sheets under the RTI Act. On August 12, 2013, inspection was allowed by the ICSI but the institute refused to provide the copies at the rate of Rs 2 per page as prescribed under RTI Rules, 2012, he claimed. The petitioner claimed that after two days, the examination committee of ICSI decided to charge Rs 450 for the inspection of answer sheets. "Fee of Rs 500 per subject/answer books payable for supply of certified copies of answer books and Rs 450 per answer book for providing inspection thereof respectively. The fee shall be paid through demand draft drawn in favour of The Institute of Company Secretaries of India, payable at New Delhi," the guidelines of the institute stated. "This was a move to discourage students to inspect their answer sheets under the RTI Act, 2005," Jain said. Holding that the demand of the institute asking for a fee of Rs 500 per subject/answer book copy is "not sustainable", the HC said, "We dispose of appeal quashing guideline number 3 notified by the respondent (institute) and declare that for the answer sheets copy is sought by the appellant (Jain) he shall be charged fee as per Rule 4 of the Right to Information (Regulation of Fee and Cost) Rules, 2005". The court added, "It is trite that an executive

instruction if in violation of a statutory rule or a regulation must yield to the statutory rule or regulation". (Times of India 26/4/14) Disclosing identity of UPSC interviewers may be har mful: Delhi HC (1) New Delhi: The possibility of a failed candidate attempting to take revenge on the selection commission members of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) cannot be ruled out, said Delhi High Court as it agreed that disclosing their names will "expose them to danger".This was decided by Justice Manmohan while setting aside a Central Information Commission (CIC) order to disclose name of the interviewers along with their designation under the RTI Act. The court said that disclosure of names, addresses and qualification of the selection commission members would "endanger the life and physical safety" of those experts and it is, consequently, exempt under Section 8(1)(g) of the RTI Act. "The disclosure of names and addresses of the members of the interview board would ex facie endanger their lives or physical safety," the court said, keeping secret the identity of interviewers who were part of the committee to select candidates for the post of Drug Controller of India. The court said that in the event of such information being made known, a "disgruntled examinee" who is not satisfied with the evaluation of the answer books, may act to the prejudice of the examiner by attempting to endanger his physical safety. "Any apprehension on the part of the examiner that there may be danger to his physical safety, if his identity becomes known to the examinees, may come in the way of effective discharge of his duties", Justice Manmohan remarked. This applies not only to the examiner but also to the scrutiniser, coordinator and head examiners who deal with the answer book," it opined. UPSC had sought dismissal of the plea arguing that the marks, views, opinions of the experts, who were on the interview board is held by the Commission in a fiduciary relationship. It contended that the information relates to the core functioning of UPSC and its disclosure would "seriously endanger the process of secrecy and confidentiality of the selection process" as well as "jeopardize the total functioning and activity of UPSC" by rendering it amenable to manipulation or misuse by interested individual or groups. The court disposed of the case saying that disclosure of the identity of board member would not serve any fruitful purpose. (Times of India 27/4/14)

Noida RTI activist killed, family blames land mafia (1) New Delhi: A 38-year-old RTI activist mysteriously died after the car he was travelling in caught fire in Greater Noida late on Thursday night. His charred body was identified Friday morning. Chandra Mohan Sharma, the deceased, who was an employee at Honda Siel, was one of the first Aam Aadmi Party members from Greater Noida. While the police is examining the case from all angles, the deceased’s relatives alleged that it was murder as Sharma was getting threats from the land mafia, whom he had been exposing through his activism. Police officials said Sharma was returning home around midnight when his Chevrolet Aveo car caught fire due to a technical glitch near Eldeco Chowk, but his family gave a different version. His wife Savita Sharma said: “If the car caught fire while driving, it should be in the middle of the road, but it was found parked at the corner.” Savita added: “Contrary to police claims that the car windows were closed, my husband had been driving with windows open for the past few days as the air conditioner was not working. There was no central locking which could have jammed the doors. The CNG kit was also removed a few days ago.” Inspired by the Anna Hazare movement, Sharma had unearthed several irregularities in land allotments in Greater Noida. He had recently exposed the illegal capture of land in the Kasna area, and was allegedly on the land mafia’s radar. “He was fighting against the encroachers in the area, and had got threats of dire consequences several times. On April 28, while he was returning home, his car was overtaken and stopped by goons who threatened to kill him if he continued with his activism,” Savita said, adding: “We had asked the police to give him protection and take action against suspected persons, but no action was initiated. Now the police is trying to turn the murder into an accident.” On the basis of the complaint by the family members of the victim, the police

has registered an FIR against five people at Kasna police station, and have sent the viscera samples to determine the exact cause of death. Technical assistance is also being sought to find out the cause of the fire, the police said. (Asian Age 3/5/14) Difficult to get RTI information from Gujarat: Acti vist (1) MUMBAI: Obtaining information from Narendra Modi's Gujarat government is not just difficult but practically impossible as was found by RTI activist Anil Galgali. Galgali has been asked to travel to Gujarat and inspect the files personally for the information he had sought. Galgali in March this year had sought information under RTI on the expenses incurred for opposing the appointment of Justice R A Mehta as the state's Lokayukta by the then governor Kamala Beniwal, details of advocates who appeared in high court and Supreme Court, their fees paid by the government. He sought case wise expense details as well as the total expense. He had also asked information on the nature of dispute with Beniwal who had appointed Justice Mehta in August 2011 which was opposed by the Modi government. Galgali said his RTI was tossed from one department to another. Galgali said in a second letter he was informed by Vora, Public Information Officer and dy secretary, law, D A Vora "Case wise information cannot be provided and the advocate wise information is not being denied but if I want the information I should come to Gujarat and inspect the files for the information. I had not sought inspection of the files and knowing that I am not from Gujarat, the government is resorting to such delaying tactics," he said. The General Administration Department (GAD) sent it to the Law Department and within the Law department it was put up to the H branch and back again to GAD. Public Information Officer and dy secretary, law, D A Vora in a letter to Galgali said the fees were paid as per the Law Officer Rules 2009 and the expenses incurred are maintained by the GAD. He added that such simple information should be put up on the Gujarat government's website and it was strange the government would want to suppress the information when Narendra Modi himself talks of a transparent government. (Times of India 5/5/14) RTI finds chinks in Aadhar-linked gas supply (1) HYDERABAD: After the over enthusiastic administration made people run around by linking Aadhar card with Gas supply, it has now come to light that the gas agencies never even accessed the Aadhar database to verify the authenticity of the Aadhar cardholders. Worse, the agencies have given away the subsidies after just checking with the banks concerned, raising serious questions over bogus beneficiaries. This major flip-flop was exposed in a case hearing at the Central Information Commission (CIC) pertaining to a Hyderabad based RTI activist, C.J. Karira against UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India). Mr. Karira had approached the CIC over unsatisfactory reply from UIDAI to some of his queries. “The respondents (Aadhar official) stated that the use of the UID number, provided by the appellant to his gas agency and bank, was for the limited purpose of ensuring that the person being provided the gas cylinders and subsidy was the same. It did not involve authentication/matching by those agencies with the data held by the respondents,” read one of the contents of the order passed on March 18, 2014 after the completion of arguments from both sides. It also came to light that the UIDAI does not have a procedure in place for those who want to get their data surrendered or deleted from the database. “The Aadhar is a national fraud which caused a loss of Rs 500 crore. What is the use of forcing people to waste their time and energy to take Aadhar card for gas subsidies when the gas agencies do not even check the database,” wondered Mr. Karira. The RTI activist also realised that anybody could get a gas subsidy by telling random Aadhar number. “I was also shocked to know that UIDAI does not have a fool proof system to record all those accessing the data raising security concerns. How can they not have a mechanism to delete Aadhar users when the Supreme Court has declared that Aadhar is not mandatory?” he asked. (The Hindu 6/5/14) State pays electricity bill of 4 Uttarakhand ex-CMs worth Rs 29 lakh (1)

Four former chief ministers of Uttarakhand consumed electricity worth Rs 29 lakh for free for over five years. According to an RTI reply got by an NGO, Rs 29 lakh of public money was spent in over five years for the power consumption of three former chief ministers of the BJP and one of the Congress. The reply from the Public Works Department of the state revealed that the highest amount of Rs 15.5 lakh was spent for B C Khanduri from 2010 to 2014 followed by Rs 8.5 lakh for R P Nishank from 2008 to 2014, both of whom belong to the BJP. Congress veteran N D Tiwari consumed power worth Rs 2.5 lakh from 2008 to 2014 while BJP's Bhagat Singh Koshiyari used Rs 1.5 lakh worth electricity between 2007 and 2014, Padma Shri awardee Avdhash Kaushal, who heads the NGO that sought the RTI information, said in a statement here producing official documents. "Though often touted as Urja Pradesh, the reality in Uttarakhand is that, 2,574 million units of electricity worth Rs 829.5 crore is being purchased from the open market to ensure supply in the state." "Despite this dismal scenario, according to information received through RTI, ex-chief ministers are recklessly using electricity worth lakhs of rupees at the expense of the tax payers' hard earned money," Kaushal said. "Does being former chief ministers give them the right to plunder the state's resources?" he asked. (CNN-IBN 7/5/14) Citizens’ movement tries to create awareness about Lok Adhikar Act (1) Mumbai: A citizen movement called Lok Adhikar launched in April has started working towards creating awareness among public about a little-known Act, which after Right to Information Act (RTI), is the second law that gives power to the public and guarantees timely delivery of public services. The members attached with the movement have also written a letter to chief minister Prithviraj Chav-an and are trying to meet him to demand a better implementation of the Act. The Maharashtra Government Servants Regulation of Transfers and Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Official Duties Act, 2005, was passed in the same year as the RTI, however, few are aware of it. The Lok Adhikar is calling it the “Right to Service Act” and to create awareness, it had organised a public meet on Tuesday at the Indian Merchant Chambers that was attended by many prominent citizens and member of NGOs like RTI activist Shailesh Gandhi, Sanjay Ubale, Nitai Mehta of Praja, Gerson da Cunha of AGNI, Shashi Baliga, Bhaskar Prabhu of Mahiti Adhikar Manch and many others. This law mandates all agencies of the state government to declare timelines within which it will provide public service through the Citizens Charter. Incidentally, a government department must have a Citizens Charter detailing the nature of services it offers the citizens and the time frame within which those services are to be provided. As a Citizen Charter is an important factor of this Act, it says this should be displayed prominently in the department as well as be available on its website. It is also to be noted that while the RTI only provides information, this Act can take things to the next level and get work done, as citizens can file complaints against timelines of Citizens Charter not being followed. (Asian Age 9/5/14) 812 personnel deployed for security of 84 VIPs in M aharashtra: RTI (1) Mumbai: A combined total of 812 police officers and security personnel have been deployed for the security of 84 VIPs in Maharashtra, with 52 men accorded to guard only Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and his MLA daughter, a RTI query revealed. The information came in response to the query filed by Pune-based RTI activist Vihar Dhurve, who sought to know the total number of police and security force deployed for the protection of political and non-political VIPs in Maharashtra. Sushilkumar Shinde and his daughter Praniti have been accorded Z-Plus security, and have a total of 52 security personnel guarding them, while Union Home Minister’s wife Ujwala Shinde has been granted a Y-category security and has a total of 14 personnel for her security. However, Ms. Praniti, while speaking to PTI said the security provided to her family was “unnecessary” and they want their security withdrawn. “We are provided security as per protocol, but we have not asked for any security. We do not even use the security provided to us. I have even written a letter to the state Home Minister and the Director General of Police to withdraw our security. We want it to be used for better purposes,” she said. The 12 VIPs that are entitled to Z-plus category security include Maharashtra Governer K. Sankaranarayanan,

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Home Minister R.R. Patil and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar. While there are a total of 46 security personnel guarding Mr. Chavan, there are 31 for Ajit Pawar. 25 personnel are deployed for the security of PWD minister Chhagan Bhujbal. Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray, MNS chief Raj Thackeray and Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria are among the 18 persons that have been granted Z-category security and have 15-22 personnel guarding them. A total of 19 VIPs in Maharashtra that have been provided with Y-category security include Former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, Samajwadi Party Maharashtra Unit President Abu Azmi, sitting Congress MP Milind Deora and former Petroleum Minister Murli Deora. Justice Mridula Bhatkar has also been provided with Y-category security while Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, Ratan Tata is among the 27 VIPs that have been provided with X-category security. Both of them, however, have declined to accept any police protection. Additional Commissioner of Security and Protection Branch Kiran Shelar said the protection to VIPs is provided on the instructions of the committee which reviews the security threat to them. “There is a committee that makes an assessment and reviews the threat perception on VIPs frequently. Then committee then instructs us to provide security cover based on their assessment. No security is provided to anybody without specific orders from the committee,” Mr. Shelar added. Activist Vihar Durve, who obtained the information through RTI, has demanded that security cover for VIPs should be reduced and diverted to safeguard women. “A large number of security contingent provided to VIPs is a cause of concern for the common man. Their security can be reduced and diverted to provide security to women and senior citizens. Public money should not be wasted on unnecessary security for VIPs,” Mr. Durve said. (The Hindu 12/5/14) Whistle-blowers Bill gets President’s assent (1) NEW DELHI: President Pranab Mukherjee has given assent to the Whistleblowers Protection Bill, 2011, which was passed by the Rajya Sabha in February. The law provides for an institutionalised mechanism to protect, and thus encourage, those who disclose information on corrupt practices or abuse of power by government officials. The Bill was first passed by the Lok Sabha in 2011. The law makes a provision for inquiry into the disclosures and also prescribes punitive measures to curb frivolous complaints. According to the Centre, it supplements the Right to Information Act in fighting corruption. In 2004, the government introduced a resolution to empower the Central Vigilance Commission for protecting whistle-blowers. (The Hindu 14/5/14) EC Has No Data on Status of Poll Code Violation Cas es of Last Three LS Polls (1) MUMBAI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has no data or records on 'status' of various cases pertaining to violations of the model code of conduct in last three Lok Sabha elections, an RTI query has revealed. City-based activist Anil Galgali had filed an RTI query in this regard. He also sought to know the "minimum and maximum action" being initiated by the ECI against politicians concerned in the mandatory time limit, if any, in cases of poll code violations. "There are no records or data maintained with the Election Commission on the status of cases of violation of model code of conduct filed before it," the ECI Under Secretary A K Pathak said in his reply. The official said there is no standard policy or the mention of any provisions of law enforced that enables the body to take specific action against the violators of the poll code. Pathak said there was "no specific time limit to decide on a particular case of violation and that the actions are taken on the basis of priority as per the prescribed procedure".The reply stated that since there has been no compilation of information on record, the RTI query seeking information on the 'status of cases of violation of model code of conduct stood rejected under section 7 (9) of the RTI Act, 2005. Pathak said the compilation of record would have put unnecessary burden on the resources of the ECI. Reacting to this, Galgali said, "It is disheartening to see that there is no time limit under which the EC would be bound to take action against errant politicians. Strong policies need to be formulated to change the image of the EC, which is now largely seen as a toothless tiger." (New Indian Express 15/5/14)

RTI activists nail govt on huge expenditure (1) Shillong, May 14: The Meghalaya government is incurring huge expenditure on political appointees, with whistle-blowers calling it “mind-boggling”. According to RTI activists, the government spends an astounding amount on such “unnecessary appointees”. This money, they said, could have been utilised for various development activities or help solve unemployment in the state. The expenditure incurred on political appointees came to light today when members of the National Khasi Union (NKU) exposed it through information they had received through the Right to Information Act, 2005. The union sought the information from the Meghalaya finance department on the perks and facilities provided to political appointees holding various posts such as chairman, co-chairman and deputy chairman, among others. The union said only for one political appointee, who holds the post of chairman, the government spends nearly Rs 10,54,000 per annum (Rs 87,833 in a month), including one-time amount of Rs 2 lakh for furnishing hishouse. The total expenditure incurred only for one chairman comes to around Rs 12,54,000 in a year. The other expenditure incurred for the chairman includes travel and dearness allowance, expenditure on office staff such as stenographer, special assistant, personal assistant, typist, driver, additional driver, one grade-IV staff in office and five at the residence. The chairman has got one telephone in office and a phone at home. The chairman’s post, especially in government-run public sector undertakings (PSUs), is drawn mostly from sitting legislators or former members of Parliament or former legislators. For a person holding the chairman’s post, his/her rank in the government is categorised as A+ and enjoys the same TA/DA as provided to a grade-I officer. NKU general secretary Samborlang Diengdoh told reporters that according to information received so far, there were around 60 political appointees appointed in various boards and corporations run by the state government. “There are more political appointees and more information is awaited. If one political appointee can avail of huge benefits from the government, the kind of money spent on other political appointees is mind-boggling,” Diengdoh said. Stating that political appointees were “unnecessary” as it resulted in wasteful expenditure of public money, Diengdoh said crores of rupees were spent by the government on political appointees. The NKU also sought to know from the government contribution of political appointees to the state. “What have these political appointees contributed to the state? Instead of spending onthem, the government could have utilised the money for various development activities in rural areas, including the border, pay salaries of teachers and Anganwadi workers as well as create jobs for educated unemployed youths in the state,” Diengdoh said. The NKU will soon compile a list of educated unemployed youths who could have benefited from this money, Diengdoh added. (The Telegraph 15/5/14) Information Commission exempted from bifurcation (1 ) HYDERABAD; While every other State government department is speeding up the process of internal bifurcation before the appointed day, the A P Information Commission’s static status seemed to have created confusion among RTI activists and appellants. In the Finance Department Government Order (GO) Ms No. 100 dated May 12, 2014 which pertains to the reorganisation of government departments, the commission also found a mention. “Many of us were of the opinion that the department will be divided. Some of the complainants were also confused on whom to approach in case it is divided,” said an RTI activist. However, the commission has been listed in the tenth schedule of the Union government which exempts the commission along with a few other departments from being bifurcated for a certain period. This would mean the information commissioners will continue to hold the same portfolios and discharge their duties. “The commission will function as it is for a period of one year,” said Jannat Hussain, Chief Information Commissioner. (The Hindu 19/5/14) Former IB chief Rajiv Mathur takes over as new CIC (1) New Delhi: Former IB chief Rajiv Mathur today took over as the new Chief Information Commissioner in the Central Information Commission. He was administered the oath of office by President Pranab

Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan. 64-year-old Mathur succeeds Sushma Singh, who demitted office yesterday, as the sixth chief of the transparency watchdog. His name was recommended by a three-member selection panel headed by outgoing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "My priority would be to reduce pendency of appeals and complaints, and to strengthen RTI apparatus. One of the priorities of the Commission would be to ensure adherence of Section 4 of RTI Act (which mandates public authorities to disclose information related to their working in public domain) by various government departments," Mathur told PTI. There are about 14,000 appeals and complaints pending with the CIC, he said. He will have a tenure till August 23, when he attains 65 years of age. According to rules, CIC is appointed either for a maximum of five-year term or till 65 years of age, whichever is earlier. Mathur, a retired IPS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, was Director of Intelligence Bureau for two-year term from December 31, 2008 and was instrumental in revamping the intelligence set up and raising the quality of intelligence gathering and sharing. He also galvanised the IB machinery and provided leadership to the organisation to face challenges, according to Mathur's official biodata. He is recipient of the Indian Police Medal for Meritorious Service and the President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service. Mathur had in March 2012 joined as Information Commissioner in the CIC. His predecessor Sushma Singh had joined as CIC on December 13, last year. Deepak Sandhu, Satyananda Mishra, A N Tiwari and Wajahat Habibullah have also served as CICs. There are seven Information Commissioners-- Vijai Sharma, Basant Seth, Yashovardhan Azad, Sharat Sabharwal, Manjula Prasher, M A Khan Yusufi and Prof Madabhushanam Sridhar Acharyulu-- against the Commission's strength of 10. The CIC is mandated to resolve appeals and complaints filed by information seekers, under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, against government departments or public authorities. (Business Standard 22/5/14) RTI activists blow their top against info panel (1) CHENNAI: It was a war cry against the Tamil Nadu State Information Commission. Sore with the commission's attempts to deny them information under the Right to Information Act, several activists gathered in front of its Teynampet headquarters on Wednesday and blew conches to register their protest. They raised slogans and demonstrated for a while before being arrested. They were later released. "No other information commission has disrespected the RTI Act the way TNSIC has. The act is aimed at bringing transparency in governance and also to expose corruption but TNSIC is least bothered to protect the rights of RTI applicants" said Siva Elango, a member of Satta Panchayat Iyakkam, a group that led the protest. Most public information officers (PIOs) in state government departments refused or delayed providing information to RTI applicants, he said. "TNSIC has failed to implement the RTI Act even eight years after its enactment. RTI applicants from other districts are disappointed because of this attitude of the commission." Commission staff even berated RTI applicants, he alleged pointing out that an inactive commission was a waste of tax payer's money. Activists also demanded the removal of chief information commissioner K S Sripathi and commissioners P Thamilselvan and S F Akbar. "We blew conches to awake the sleeping commission which has done nothing for the RTI Act in the state. We are also planning to file a petition to the governor seeking the dismissal of the commission," said Satta Panchayat Iyakkam general secretary Senthil Arumugam. Sripathi, however, could not be reached for a comment. Earlier, in reply to a RTI query filed by TOI, the commission said it did not have records of applications filed since 2007 despite having instructed government departments to upload details about themselves on their websites. According to Sections 4 (1) (a) and 4 (1)(b) of the act, cataloging of registers is mandatory. The commission also said it did not have the number of RTI applications received by each departments or the total number of appeals. "If the commission itself violates the act, how will other departments follow," asked Arumugam. A comparison with websites of information commissions in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala shows that TNSIC has disclosed very little information, while its counterparts have provided comprehensive data on annual reports, awareness programmes and action taken against PIOs. (Times of India 22/5/14)

RTI consultant ready for the job (1) NEW DELHI: S C Agrawal, Delhi government’s newly-appointed Right to Information (RTI) consultant, is planning to publicise the list of post offices where applications under the transparency law can be filed by people. “Giving people the details about the post offices where they can file their RTI plea would help them use the law more efficiently,” said Agrawal, fresh from a visit to Nepal where he represented India at a Transparency International’s conference. Within a few days of being appointed as consultant by the administrative reforms department, Agrawal, who himself has been active in filing RTI applications, has chalked out a blueprint for smoothening the process of Delhi government departments sharing information with public. “I also have in mind a strategy for briefing all public authorities on how to handle nuisance petitions,” said Agrawal, who would be holding workshops for government officials and college and school students. A qualified mechanical engineer from Chandni Chowk, it is Agrawal’s activism and knowledge in the RTI field that has landed him the crucial assignment of improving the Delhi government’s response to public queries. The 64-year-old consultant, who also holds the Guinness World Record for most number of published letters to the editor in newspapers, plans to give suggestions to government officials to simplify RTI procedures and save public money. “One of my suggestions to the officials will be regarding the size of the paper used for giving a reply to an RTI applicant. Some departments use legal size paper which is longer than a normal A4 sheet. I am going to suggest disuse of legal size paper as it is difficult to photocopy,” he said. Agrawal also has a plan to improve intra-departmental communication on giving responses to RTI queries. “At present, if a query requires response from various offices of a department, each office sends a separate reply to the applicant. Not only are a bulk of these replies in the negative, the RTI applicant is flooded with dozens of letters. We are going to iron out the system for reducing paper work,” said Agrawal. The veteran RTI applicant, who takes pride in being the first Indian to use the transparency law on January 3, 2005 by filing a plea in the Supreme Court, said he was also working towards introduction of an ‘RTI stamp’, like a revenue stamp, for replacing a postal order which every RTI applicant is required to attach with a query. He said on his suggestion the post and telegraph department was also considering to increase the number of post offices in the country where citizens can file an RTI application. (Deccan Herald 25/5/4) Nine years on, RTI yet to get fully functional in s tate: RTI Manch Rajasthan report (1) JAIPUR: After nine years of its introduction, Right to Information Act 2005 is yet to see its proper implementation in the state, says a detailed report on status of RTI prepared by RTI Manch Rajasthan along with the Right to Information Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) during a public hearing held at Kanoria College in Jaipur on Monday. The report was presented amid presence of noted social activist Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey. The report found irregularities in many departments and government offices. Many key offices dealing in public centric issues were found to have not kept RTI manuals, which were mandatory. It includes — Election Commission, Rajasthan Secretariat, Employment Department, Social Justice and Empowerment Department, colleges, Minority Affairs, Local Self Government etc. Some find it least important to put RTI boards indicating its office or location. Such examples include — Excise department, Finance Department, Health Department, Medical Department, Minority Affairs etc. The report doesn't stop here. It also includes a survey prepared by interns of People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL). The survey says 86% people were not given information on the 30-day time period according to the act. Whereas, 83% respondents say nothing happened in the first appellate, which indicates the slow pace of affairs. The survey presents an exhaustive picture of the state on the bases of 33 districts covered and information sought from 20 departments. The startling revelations say that only 42% people got the information within the first year followed by 32%, who got it between the first and the second year of them filing the query, while for rest it took over 2 years to get the information. The government's laxity for RTI is indicated by the fact that in many departments and offices it was found that officers in-charge were lacking information relating to RTI. The survey found that 41.66% of the total departments don't have a single widow system for the processing of RTI queries. Also, government officials failed to present

RTI section 4 manual when asked. The manual, which is mandatory to keep, was found missing from various government offices. "Every government and government aided offices should implement the section 4 of this act with immediate effect without which we will not able to achieve its desired objectives," said Roy. Section 4 of the RTI Act directs that offices which come under RTI purview that they should suo moto put the information before the public through various means of communication, including internet, so that the public need not formally apply for obtaining information. (Times of India 27/5/14) Over 14,000 RTIs pending in rajasthan (1) Jaipur: Rajasthan, the state pioneered Right to Information (RTI) is now a laggard. While, the government’s reluctance is understandable and babus would create hurdles in providing information was also expected but surprisingly state information commission has also failed to meet the expectations. A report prepared by RTI Manch Rajasthan and Right to Information Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) reveals that more than 14,000 appeals have been pending before the state information commission. This is after the commission rejects more than 50 per cent appeals filed with it. The incremental rate of application has also increased since the central RTI act was implemented in 2005. The fact that the government never fulfilled all posts of information commission has also hampered its work to a great extent and raises doubts about the government’s intentions. Yet, it is about more about attitude so when the commission rejects appeals in big numbers, the government and bureaucracy are unlikely to bother, which shows in the report based on information collected on 20 departments in 33 districts, only 42 per cent people got information in the first year. (Asian Age 30/5/14) UPA spent Rs 187 crore on Bharat Nirman ads in 2013 -14 (1) NEW DELHI: The UPA-2 government spent nearly Rs 187 crore on publicizing its much touted 'Bharat Nirman' programme in 2013-14, 80% more than the previous year. In response to an RTI query by activist Subhash Agrawal, the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity said the Manmohan Singh government spent Rs 186.98 crore in the election year 2013-14 compared to Rs 100.95 crore in 2012-13, Rs 86 crore in 2011-12 and Rs 47 crore in 2010-11. However, the details of NDA government's spending on "India Shining" campaign were not available, according to DAVP, the nodal agency of government spending on advertisements. The DAVP said it did not have records pertaining to expenses incurred on 'India Shining' campaign run in the election year in 2003-04 during the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. "Our campaign wing has intimated that records pertaining to the campaigns — India Shining and Mera Bharat Mahan — are no longer available with it. Computerization of records was done from 2007 onwards," the central public information officer of DAVP said. (Times of India 2/6/14) Private schools too come under RTI Act: CIC (1) NEW DELHI: In a significant order, the Central Information Commission has ordered that private schools, whether public authority or not, must provide information on service records and salaries. The order came on an RTI plea filed by an ex-employee of Jindal Public School with Directorate of Education seeking a certified copy of service book and other details from her past employer. The Directorate of Education provided the information available with them but the school refused to furnish the reply, saying RTI Act did not apply on it. Private unaided schools had challenged an earlier CIC order in court which said that schools must give information related to vacant seats, EVS quota but would be exempt from providing information on disbursement of salaries, public budget estimate of receipts etc. Information commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu directed the school to provide the information, reasoning that provisions of RTI Act applied on private schools since they were governed by laws such as the Delhi Education Act. Directing the school to disclose information sought by its ex-employee, CIC said the school was duty bound under Sections 4 and 8 of Delhi Education Act, 1973 to abide by the regulatory conditions of service, payment of salaries as prescribed for which the school has to maintain records which provide an "inherent and implied" right to information to their employees. "Under Right to Education Act, 2009 also, the recognized

school is under an obligation to appoint eligible teachers and provide them with prescribed wages. This also reveals that it has given inherent right to information to the teachers from their employers," Acharyulu said. (Times of India 5/6/14) Only 0.6% RTI pleas frivolous: Study (1) A study, "Who uses the RTI Act and for what?" conducted by the Right to Information Assessment and Advocacy Group (RAAG), was presented in the 'Western India RTI Convention 2014'. The convention, a joint initiative by the Mahiti Adhikar Manch and Department of Civics and Politics of the University of Mumbai, was held at the Kalina Campus of the Mumbai University. RAAG initiated the study in the backdrop of the earlier statements made by former PM, Manmohan Singh that the RTI Act was misused and "vexatious" applications were filed. "The idea was to see how many vexatious applications were filed as was suggested by the PM,"said Anjali Bharadwaj, one of the authors of the study. Around 4,000 applications were filed across the country with various SICs asking for details about, and copies of, the applications by people between 2005 and 2008. "Since there is no definition of vexatious applications, we tried to derive one of our own," said Amrita Johri, co-author of the study. Applications that can be tagged for the "misuse" were divided under several heads like vexatious, frivolous, requiring voluminous response, infringing privacy, seeking information covering a long time span, very lengthy application or asking too many questions or questions on too many topics, among others. "Our findings indicate that less than 0.6% of the applications were conceivably vexatious or frivolous, or sought to infringe privacy," said Bharadwaj. Only 2% required voluminous responses, and 1% sought information that covered a long time span (over 10 years). The study stressed that the government continued to be reluctant to provide suo motu information as 54% applications were asking information that should have been declared by the government on its own. About 20% applications were such that they did not require usage of the RTI Act. Only 26% of the applications asked for information that was not required to be disclosed proactively, either publicly or privately to the applicants. The study stated that 68 % of the information was sought as a response and only 44% wanted documents for their applications. A bulk of the applications were about one or more public authorities (26%), followed by information about specific villages or sub-districts (10%). Specific locations (17%) and specific localities (4%) were other popular subjects. An overwhelming 90% citizens felt that political parties should come under the RTI Act. Average length of the applications was 119 words, but after revised updates, it was 116.2 words, as compared to the 150 words permitted. A number of recommendations were suggested, including nomination of public information officer responsible for ensuring proactive disclosures and private sector be informed about their obligation to give information and governments bring out a guide indicating what types of information can be accessed from private bodies under what provisions "any other law." (DNA 8/6/14) Table pending reports in Tamil Nadu assembly: RTI a ctivists (1) CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government, which has displayed extraordinary lack of compliance with rules under the Right To Information Act, 2005, will have a chance to come good in the upcoming session of the Tamil Nadu assembly. Activists have strongly urged the government to place all pending reports of the state information commission in the House during the session. The state government last tabled reports on RTI applications in 2006-07. Annual reports by the Tamil Nadu State Information Commission should declare the number of RTI applications received by public information officers (PIOs) of overnment departments, cases disposed of and fines imposed on PIOs by the commission for violation of rules under the RTI Act. State chief information commissioner K S Sripathi recently pleaded helplessness over the information not being made public, saying his department had sent reports till 2010-11 to the government, which tabled reports only till 2006-07 in the assembly . "We can't publish annual reports before they are placed in the assembly ." A survey by NGO Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative found that Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Manipur, Sikkim and Tripura have all failed to table reports of their RTI cases in the assembly or put them online, which is mandatory under the RTI Act.

Gujarat recently made amends. Maharashtra, which has an impeccable record, has placed annual reports in the assembly every year to evaluate the implementation of the legislation in the state. Publishing the annual reports makes government departments accountable and enhances transparency in administration, activists say. "The Tamil Nadu Information Commission and the personnel and administrative reforms department have not reacted to several petitions on the matter," NGO Satta Panchayat Iyakkam member Siva Elango said. "It is disturbing that the government has not tabled reports in the assembly since 2006." "In this assembly session, the government should place all reports till 2013 in the House. No data is currently available on the number of appeals the commission received and disposed of and those that are pending or of action taken against errant PIOs," he said. Deepak P B, of NGO Voice of India, says people have a right to know which departments receive the most RTI applications and those that stonewalls petitions. "It is unfortunate not a single MLA has raised the issue in the assembly," he said. The TNSIC receives an average of 55,000 appeals under the RTI Act every year, but officials say an acute shortage of manpower and funds has hampered disposal of petitions, leading to a huge backlog of pleas. (Times of India 10/6/14) Assets disclosed by just 57% ministers (1) Mumbai: A directive from chief minister Prithviraj Chavan to his ministers to disclose their assets seems to have fallen on deaf ears, because only 57 per cent of ministers have done so. An RTI query this year has revealed that only 24 out of 42 ministers in the state have given details of their assets to the chief minister’s office. An RTI query seeking the details of the all ministers and details of the assets declared by them to the CM’s office filed by activist Anil Galgali has found that 18 out of 42 ministers in the Cabinet have not provided details of their assets to the state. Last year, the same RTI query had revealed that just 22 out of 40 ministers had followed the CM’s directives. Prithviraj Chavan, after being sworn in as the chief minister on December 10, 2010 had asked his ministers to declare their assets, so that people have greater faith in the government. “This shows that the CM has no hold on his colleagues. He is a weak administrator and working under pressure. His ‘Mr Clean’ image is a farce,” said Anil Galgali. Chief secretary of state J. S. Saharia remained unavailable for comment. (Asian Age 13/6/14) UP government refuses to provide information about inquiry commissions (1) LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh government has refused to provide information about the various inquiry commissions formed by it since 1947 to probe various scams, scandals and riots among other issues. RTI activist Nutan Thakur had asked the chief secretary and home department to provide her information about the inquiry commissions formed under section 3 of the Commission of Inquiries Act 1952 after independence, their composition and membership, date of formation, increase of time duration and the interim and final reports submitted by them. While the chief secretary office transferred the matter to home department, the home department declined to provide the information saying that it was too lengthy. Thakur has said that information cannot be denied for being lengthy and she had sought this information because of the common perception of governments forming such commissions in times of crisis and later forgetting them. This perception has been strengthen by the refusal to provide information, she added. (Times of India 14/6/14) Rationale behind passing judgement can't be reveale d under RTI: SC (1) New Delhi: The rationale behind passing judgements or orders by courts cannot be disclosed to litigants under the Right to Information Act, Supreme Court has said. An appellate authority of the Supreme Court, constituted under the RTI Act, dismissed the plea of an RTI activist who had sought information on the rationale for passing orders on review petitions without holding a hearing and without giving any reasons. "It will be of essence to state that the CPIO is not the authority or the person from whom information can be sought on the rationale behind the delivery of judgements by the court as has been attempted to be done by the appellant in this case," the authority said in its order. It dismissed an appeal filed by Ravinder

Raj, an advocate, who approached the appellate authority after the information officer of the apex court refused to furnish information on the issue. (Zee News 15/6/14) Parties Should Embrace RTI, Says Chennithala (1) KOCHI: Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala has reiterated that he is in favour of bringing political parties under the purview of Right to Information (RTI) Act. Inaugurating the ‘RTI Knowledge Meet 2014’ held at Hotel Presidency here, he said that a ‘Right to Hearing’ Act will soon be passed and that a discussion regarding the same is taking place in the government. “It is high time that the political parties come out of their iron veils. There should not be anything secretive about them. All people’s representatives, including MPs, MLAs and ministers, are accountable to the public. The Act will help evaluate their performances and perform better” he said. “For transparent governance, it is important that the parties reveal the details of their activities. The functioning of political parties need not be conducted clandestinely. People have the right to know what is happening inside the party. This will make people more aware and active in decision-making. The Act will strengthen democracy by making it participatory. The Right to Hearing Act will only add to the existing power of the people” he added. The meet was organised under the aegis of National Constitution Club, Thalassery, in collaboration with the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), New Delhi. Colloquiums were held on topics such as ‘RTI Act and its Social Impact’, ‘Right to Services Act-a Corollary to RTI Act’, ‘RTI Act and Good Governance’ and ‘RTI in News Reports’ by Chief Information Commissioner Siby Mathew, Venkatesh Nayak of CHRI, New Delhi, former Central Information Commissioner Shylesh Gandhi, Kerala Press Academy chairman N P Rajendran and journalist P Mohamed Nazeer. RTI People’s Assembly was also held on the occasion. Over 100 delegates, including RTI activists, Public Information Officers and bureaucrats were present for the event. Director General of Prosecution T Asaf Ali presided over the meet. National Constitution Club vice-chairman P Sherafudheen also attended the meet. (New Indian Express 16/6/14) 2 proposals in BMC making citizens vulnerable, say RTI activists (1) Mumbai: Activists have slammed two proposals, one on complainants and another on the Right To Information (RTI) Act in the BMC which they say are aimed at making complainants vulnerable. This, they will be doing so by exposing their identity and setting several conditions on them. Activists have slammed two proposals on the Right To Information (RTI) Act in the BMC which they claim are aimed at making the complainants vulnerable by exposing their identity and setting several conditions on them, thereby diluting the power of the Act. The first proposal pertains to seeking details of complainants. An advertisement by the corporation states that complaints in ward offices "should be accepted along with the proof of education, occupation, identity and residence of complainant...name of complainant and information sought by him/her to be displayed on the notice board." The other proposal pertains to several expectations from the complainant. In its January 30 edition, dna had reported the notice of motion moved by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) corporator Manisha Chaudhury. In her motion, she had said that RTI applicants should submit a "letter of guarantee" regarding constructive work related to the information they sought. The proposal suggested that the RTI applicant must submit a letter of guarantee regarding constructive work for which information is sought along with application and submitting proper reason in writing in case he or she is withdrawing the application. "What they have suggested is ridiculous and has been done to only make the position of the complainant vulnerable. We will be soon approaching the municipal commissioner. It is due to the complaints which are followed up by RTI that illegalities are coming out. These proposals are making citizens vulnerable to illegal elements," said Bhaskar Prabhu, an activist. Activist have already written a letter to the BJP city president complaining about the issue. "What she (Chaudhary) has stated is against our fundamental rights through which we can seek information. Constructive work may not be constructive for someone if the information is exposing him. This Act is passed by Parliament and amendments can be done only by it," said Anand Castelino, another activist. The proposals, in fact go against the rules of the RTI Act itself. Section 6 (1) of the RTI Act clearly states

that the purpose of the application cannot be sought from the applicant. According to the section: An applicant making a 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. Manisha Chaudhury was not available for comment. Talking earlier to dna on the same issue, she had said, "There are some people who are misusing the Act. Hence I have put this up." BMC commissioner Sitaram Kunte said that he would have to look at the advertisement and then comment. On the issue of rules for RTI, he told dna, "Notice of motion by itself comes in a form as a suggestion. It is put in house and comes for remark to the commissioner. We will apprise them (corporators) of the legal position when it comes up." (DNA 21/6/14) Stingy Government Puts RTI Awareness in Limbo (1) THRISSUR: The Right to Information Act of 2006 and Right to Services Act of 2012 might have removed the veil of secrecy of government functioning from the common man. But the genuineness of government in creating mass awareness about how to effectively use them is under question. For the past eight years ever since the RTI Act came into effect, both the LDF and UDF governments have not spent a single paisa during the period to carry out public campaigns on the laws. But on the other hand, the government had spent as many as `81.12 crore for giving advertisements on other government schemes through electronic and print media between May 2006 and July 2013, reveals a reply to an RTI query. Even though the General Administration Department, under the jurisdiction of which the State Information Commission functions, claims that several awareness campaigns were conducted on RTI, no money has been spent for giving ads during the period. Under Secretary of the Department M Harshan told Express that ultimately it was up to the government to decide on whether to give advertisements. The department would take up the matter with the Public Relations Department that deals with the advertisements given by the government, he said. Human Rights activist P B Satheesh, who had filed the RTI application in this regard, said that only a minority was effectively making use of both the RTI and RTS laws, which could be used with much more vigour against the endemic corruption and inefficiency in the system of governance. “Creating awareness about the Acts is essential because the citizens themselves have to file applications to access information. “If the data sought pertains to human rights violation and corruption, it needs to be given to the applicant within 30 to 35 days,” he said. (New Indian express 23/6/14) Activist slams postal department over RTI stamps (1 ) Panaji: The postal department’s idea of allowing ordinary postage stamps of definitive series towards payment of Right to Information (RTI) fees had to be rejected outright requiring amendment to the RTI Act, said RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal. Mr. Agrawal revealed how the postal department could not issue RTI stamps due to shortage of paper in two printing presses at Hyderabad and Nashik and as such came out with an idea of allowing ordinary postage stamps of definitive series towards payment of RTI fees, which was struck down as impractical. He recalled the postal department earlier accepting full bench Central Information Commission (CIC) verdict in August 2013, recommending issue of RTI stamps as mode of payment of RTI fees and accepting RTI petitions addressed to central public authorities at 25464 post offices rather than present 4710 post offices without postal charges. "CIC had for such reasons recommended issue of exclusive RTI stamps on lines of erstwhile stamps issued by postal department in respect of licence fees for radio and TV sets. Postal department has also backed out on its earlier commitment to accept RTI petitions addressed to central public authorities allegedly because of lack of infrastructural facilities," Mr. Agrawal said on Monday. (The Hindu 23/6/14) Information doesn’t come cheap under RTI (1) Hyderabad: While the RTI Act is usually seen as an empowering tool of a common man entitled to receive information by just spending Rs 10, some provisions in it has literally made it out of reach of the applicants. For instance, Kalyan J. Yakaiah, founder-cum-president, Hyderabad Intellectuals Forum had

applied for a certified copy of a sanctioned plan of a plot in Punjagutta under the RTI Act recently. The Town Planning Department of GHMC replied asking Mr. Kalyan to pay Rs. 17,775 for the copy of the plan which was calculated at Rs. 150 per 100 sq. mt. “We go by the provisions of the Act which say we have to charge as per the actual cost of the plans. There is no other way of providing this information without charging for the plans or maps,” said B. Raghu, chief city planner, GHMC. According to the AP rules of the RTI Act, the copies of plans and maps which are more than A4 size can be charged as actual cost. However, the RTI activists have been saying that this has been misinterpreted by the officials and they should be either photocopied or furnished in a soft copy. RTI activist Rakesh Reddy too had a similar experience and wanted the officials to consider cheaper and easier ways of furnishing information. “I was asked to pay Rs 1 lakh for the building plan of a commercial complex in Ameerpet. But instead we asked for soft copy of the plan and paid around Rs 200. Just because there is a provision, the public information officers should not deter the applicants by charging huge amounts and instead look for cheaper ways of furnishing this kind of information.” The RTI applicant, Mr. Kalyan, felt that RTI Act was not being taken seriously in the government departments. “I did not get any explanation from the GHMC staff on why I need to pay so much for a plan. My experience with electricity and education department too has been disappointing as I failed to get proper replies for my RTI queries,” he bemoaned. (The Hindu 26/5/14) Activists want provisions for handling RTI cases at dist-level (1) Mangalore: RTI activists in the city have largely felt the need for the State Information Commission to make provisions to handle Right to Information cases at the district-level. Majority of the activists, specially senior citizens found it inconvenient to travel all the way to Bangalore to approach the appellate authority for the hearing of cases. In a programme to discuss the loopholes in the Right to Information Act and suggestions to improve the Act, organised by DK Anti Corruption Forum at Roshni Nilaya School of Social Works on Saturday, RTI activists said that there were instances of the appellate authorities defering the hearing even 10 to 11 times. It is practically not viable for the applicant to travel to Bangalore everytime only to return futile when the hearing is deferred. Apart from setting up a mechanism in the district level, a law should be enforced to limit the defering of the case hearing not more than twice, RTI activists demanded. A senior citizen C A Shenoy said that several times, when the public information officer realises that the applicant has approached the appellate authority, it is then that he acts on the application and furnishes information to avoid the penalty. The appellate authorities too entertain this act by closing the case and leaving the officers without imposing the penalty which is not justifiable, he said. RTI activist Adoor Krishna Rao pointed at the loophole in the State Information Commission, which has restricted the applicants to limit their questions and number of words in an application to 150. The Central Information Commission has nowhere put such a restriction, rather the Commission allows an applicant to ask any number of questions and use any number of words in the application. Another participant accused the public information officer (PIO) of not maintaining confidentiality of the RTI applicants. At times, the applicants get threat calls from the opponent party, which is due to the PIO leaking information about the application to the opponent party. Some of the suggestions mooted at the discussion programme include, appoint more number of commissioners for the speedy disposal of cases, bring the CRPC provisions under RTI so that criminal action could be initiated against erring officials, make arrangements to pay TA, DA and cost of appeal to the applicant soon after the judgement is in his favour. DK Anti Corruption Forum office-bearer Vidya Dinker said that the suggestions would be forwarded to the law ministry, Central and State Information Commission. (Deccan Herald 28/6/14)

Haryana cooperative sugar mills under RTI ambit: St ate information commission (1) CHANDIGARH: In a major relief to Haryana farmers, who want to seek information regarding their pending payment from the cooperative sugar mills, the state information commission on Tuesday held that the mills were liable to furnish information under the RTI Act. A three-member bench of the state

commission, comprising chief information commissioner Naresh Gulati and commissioners Hemant Atri and Sajjan Singh, asked the officials of sugar mills situated in Jind, Panipat and Rohtak to designate state public information officers without any delay. The Punjab and Haryana high court had forwarded the matter to the commission to take a call on the matter. Four residents of different villages and towns had alleged that these sugar mills were not providing information to them under RTI. According to a villager of Jind district, Amit Kumar, his RTI application was returned by the Jind sugar mill that told him that in the wake of law laid down by the apex court, the cooperative societies don't fall under the ambit of the Act. Another applicant Mahabir Singh claimed that Panipat sugar mill denied the information to him despite the fact that the sugar mills of Karnal, Meham, Sonipat and Gohana were furnishing details to the information seekers. The commission bench noted that although the mills don't receive any direct financial support in the form of grants, but they do receive indirect support in the form of share capital to the extent of over 90% of the total share capital from the government to conduct its business. Withdrawal of financial assistance by the government would put the cooperative sugar mills in a situation where they would struggle to exist, the bench stated. According to the commission order, the sugar mills of Rohtak, Panipat and Jind have received loans ranging from Rs 45 crore to Rs 128 crore from the government, but there were no evidence which suggested that the loans have been returned. (Times of India 2/7/14) Fill all posts of information commissioners by Augu st 14: HC (1) JODHPUR: The Rajasthan high court on Friday ordered the state government to fill up all the vacant positions of the information commissioners by August 14 in order to ensure speed up disposal of the pending appeals in the state information commission. The court has also asked the government to make functioning of the commission effective in tune with the fundamental principles of the RTI Act so that the common man need not face any hurdle in obtaining information. A division bench of the court comprising Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice Banwari Lal Sharma gave passed the order while disposing of the petition filed by Dinesh Bothra. The petitioner said the state government has appointed only one Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) in state, whereas the Act demanded appointment a minimum of one and a maximum 10 information commissioner with the CIC. Bothra's counsel B S Sandhu argued in the court that in absence of information commissioners, the commission was not authorized for second appeals and hearing the petitions as per the provisions of the Act. "But the despite need of the commission as a multi-personnel structure, the state government has not appointed the information commissioners as provided by the Act," Sandhu argued. In reply to Sandhu's arguments, the Additional Advocate General informed the court that the process for appointment of information commissioners has already been initiated. "The government has received 119 applications, which are being screened by a committee comprising the chief minister, the leader of opposition and a cabinet minister. This committee would submit the list of short-listed candidates to the governor after completing the screening by July 24, after the approval of which, the appointments would be made," the AAG informed. Hearing both the sides, the court ordered that the government must complete the process and ensure appointment of information commissioners by August 14. Besides, the court also direct the government to make the functioning of the commission effective for the common man. (Times of India 5/7/14) ‘Govt. should amend RTI Act’ (1) Bidar: L. Bhairappa , president of the Karnataka State government employees association State unit, has complained that the RTI Act was being misused to harass government employees. RTI has become a tool for torturing hard working, honest government employees. It had also become fashionable for some so called RTI activists to pose questions about the personal life of employees or some irrelevant issues only to insult employees, he said. The association has therefore, asked the government to recommend to the Centre to amend the Act to limit the questions only to development issues and ban personal questions and to take action against those who misuse the Act, Mr. Bhairappa said. He was speaking at the district conference of the association. He demanded the government take steps to initiate the seventh

pay commission and address long pending problems of employees like differences in the pay scales of employees of Union and State government. Rajendra Kumr Gandage, district unit president and others were present. (The Hindu 6/7/14) 66,000 RTI complaints pending in six info panels, M aharashtra tops list (1) MUMBAI: The aam aadmi's favourite law, the Right to Information Act, turns nine this year. Information commissions were set up to decide on complaints and appeals filed by people against government authorities for blocking access to information. How have they performed? At present, over 66,000 complaints and appeals are pending at six information commissions. Maharashtra tops the list with 34,158, followed by the Central Information Commission (CIC; Delhi). Kerala, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Jammu & Kashmir are next. The states are the only ones to provide pendency figures besides Sikkim and Tripura, which showed no pendency. The findings are by the non-profit Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI). The data raises questions about the composition of the commissions. While much has been said about the need for more women in parliament, their representation in the commissions is abysmal. Goa is the only state whose commission is headed by a woman. A woman information commissioner in Tripura is serving as the acting chief information commissioner. Only 11 of 93 information commissioners in India were women as of May 2014. A former director of the Intelligence Bureau now heads the CIC, the country's apex decision making body on RTI appeals. IB is one of the few organizations exempt from providing information under RTI, except in cases of corruption and human rights violation. "The problem with a former IB director heading the CIC is that such an individual has no experience of embedding transparency in administration. The RTI is path-breaking because it aims to replace a regime of secrecy with one of transparency. But IB has deliberately been kept out of RTI purview. Will a person with a background in IB be adequately able to champion transparency?" asks RTI activist Venkatesh Nayak, who headed the CHRI research on information commissions. That the vast majority of information commissioners are retired civil servants raises fears of the information commissions turning into a geriatric bureaucratic ward; 69% of CICs are retired IAS officers. In 2013, the Supreme Court directed governments to identify candidates other than retired civil servants as information commissioners. The Supreme Court has also asked governments to identify candidates for the post of information commissioner, with expertise in the fields mentioned in the RTI Act, which includes law, science and technology, social service, management, journalism, mass media, and administration and governance. (Times of India 7/7/14) Aruna Roy Advocates Safety of Whistle-blowers (1) BHUBANESWAR: Eight million citizens have used the Right to Information (RTI) Act so far. But accessing information through this Act has also taken a heavy toll with 40 rights activist losing their lives and more than 200 being brutally attacked ever since RTI was enacted in 2005. The Whistle-blower’s Protection Act is therefore an essential tool to safeguard the life and property of rights activists and their families, said social activist Aruna Roy. The use of RTI Act should not be limited for retrieving information only, it must also act as a tool for grievance redressal, expression of dissent and accountability, she added. Roy was addressing a workshop on the Whistle Blower’s Protection (WBP) Act, here on Tuesday. She stressed on forming pre-legislative discussion forums which would enable the common man to participate and voice their views on a bill, before it is enacted as law. “The SEZ Act of 2005, was not even sent to a Select Committee and passed within two days. Such a law which acquires land from the poor and uses it for industrialisation, required an intensive debate?, remarked Roy. Speaking at the workshop, National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI) Convener, Nikhil Dey said though the WBP Act has certain important safeguards for whistle-blowers, many provisions which the NCPRI had suggested were omitted from it. “Setting a time limit for investigation and allowing anonymous complaints should be allowed under ambit of the bill,” suggested Dey. Introduction of multiple exemptions into RTI Act was an attempt by the Government to weaken it, opined both of them. They added that the WBP Act was passed

hurriedly through an ordinance by the previous government and was not equipped enough to protect the whistle-blowers. Representatives of more than a dozen social rights organisations and RTI activists from across the State participated. Among others, Congress MLA Prafulla Majhi, BJP Legislative Party Leader Basanta Panda, BJD MLA Amar Satpathy, senior journalist Rabi Das and State Convenor of NCPRI Pradeep Pradhan were present. (New Indian Express 9/7/14) RTI activist, family take refuge in Chennai (1) CHENNAI: D Selvendran's fight against corruption in his native Chittilabakkam near Kalpakkam has proved costly. His children have been unable to go to school and the family of four, facing a threat from local politicians, has taken refuge at a relative's house at Siruthavoor near Thiruporur. At an event organised by Satta Panchayat Iyakkam, an NGO, in the city on Wednesday, the 34-year-old RTI activist said everything in his village, from ration cards to widow pensions, had to be bought. While he fought against this and some politicians drove his family away, police took no action on his complaints, he said. "I erected a banner with a message against corruption in front of my house. I also spread word on the RTI Act and asked villagers not to pay bribe for any government services" said Selvendran, a driver. In his complaint to police, he said AIADMK's Thirukazhukundram taluk joint secretary Selvaraj, advocate Dinesh Kumar, village assistant Swami Das and Arumugam, who works at Kalpakkam atomic power station, came to his house at night on June 19 and asked the family to leave. "They were upset about my anti-corruption messages as they were collecting 2,000-3,000 as bribe for government services," he said. He said water supply to his house was cut. "We didn't have any other alternative other than leaving the place," he said. His wife Reeta, a dalit, said: "My husband is unable to go to work. Our children have not gone to school for more than ten days. We returned home on Tuesday after we lodged complaints with the CM's cell, DGP office and collector's office hoping they will protect us." However, the local AIADMK leader and a few others threatened them with dire consequences. "They hurled stones and tried to set our house afire. The villagers are also helpless. But where will we go with these children?" she wept. She said they would have to commit suicide if threats continued. "They will be responsible if something happens to our lives." When contacted, Selvaraj said, "I didn't threaten anyone or ask them to vacate the place." Dinesh Kumar, too, denied the allegations. Sub-inspector of Sadras police station S Vijakumar was unavailable to commentSatta Panchayat Iyakkam president Siva Elango said some politicians were running a ?khap panchayat' (kangaroo court) in the village. "It's unfortunate that a family is being excommunicated for creating awareness against corruptionThe government is responsible for protecting the family." (Times of India 10/7/14) RTI pleas seeking similar information will be rejec ted: CIC (1) NEW DELHI: Repeated RTI applications seeking similar information could be grounds for rejecting it, the Central Information Commission has said. "The citizens have no right to repeat the same or similar or slightly altered information request under the RTI Act, 2005, for which he already got a response," the Commission said. Information Commissioner M Sridhar Acharyulu said once an RTI application is answered the appellants shall refrain themselves from filing another RTI application against the public authority "...as once information is received and held by them or posted in public domain, because such information is deemed to have ceased to be 'held' by the public authority," he said basing his arguments on the observations given by previous information commissioners and objectives of the RTI Act. Dismissing the appeals of an RTI applicant Nitesh Tripathi who was repeatedly seeking "information which are highly voluminous," Acharyulu said the first appellate authority (within the department) and Commission may be right and reasonable to consider this as a ground for rejecting the first or second appeal, respectively among other reasons. "An applicant or appellant repeating the RTI application or appeal either once or multiple times, suppressing the fact of earlier application and receipt of the answer, the CPIO of the public authority may reject it forthwith after intimating it along with reasons," he said. Tripathi had filed a number of RTI applications to various authorities in the health department and

hospitals seeking details on several issues. The data submitted by these authorities showed Tripathi had filed at least 12 applications every year at directorate of health services, 17 at department of health and family welfare, 62 to Hedgyan Arogya Sansthan, 200 applications at the rate of 30-31 applications per day at Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, 100 at Acharya Bhikshu Hospital of which CIC decided in 16 cases on the same issue among others. The information commissioner said applications filed by Tripathi are "wide-ranging requiring lot of effort by authorities to collect the voluminous information which is difficult to be answered in one go''. "The Commission considers this case as the case of repetitive use of RTI assuming the proportion of harassment to the public authority and reckless abuse of RTI," Acharyulu said in his order. (Times of India 12/7/14) Most Information commissions fail transparency test (1) NEW DELHI: Information commissions — watchdogs for the transparency regime under the RTI Act — are some of the most opaque organizations according to an independent report. Of the 29 commissions in the country, only 17% have the facility of online filing of appeals and complaints, 42% do not display information on the cases that will be heard that day or that week, 58% do not display the updated status of pending appeals and complaints while 35% do not have a system of making their orders public within a reasonable timeframe. The report prepared by Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) also revealed that there was a steady increase in the number of RTI queries in 2012 as compared to the previous year. While Gujarat and Odisha saw a 46% increase in applications, Karnataka witnessed 29% increase. There was a 19% increase in RTI appeals with the Central Information Commission (CIC). More than three-fourths of the commissions do not have a website in the local language. The CIC and state information commissions of Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh have local language websites. Only 17% of information commissions provide online facilities for submitting appeals or complaints or both. While the CIC, Gujarat and Tripura commissions accept online filing of both appeals and complaints, their counterpart in Bihar provides this facility for filing second appeals only. About 42% of information commissions do not display cause lists on their websites that will help the public know what cases are likely to be heard by the commission. These include commissions in Assam, Bihar, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Sikkim that continue to resist the idea of displaying cause lists on their websites, the report said. About 58% of commissions including Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal do not provide data on disposal of cases and pendency of appeals and complaints. Nineteen of the 29 commissions have made their orders public but the commissions of Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur and Uttar Pradesh do not have updated information for the last 2-4 years. Incidentally, this comes at a time when there has been a sharp increase in RTI applications. Gujarat and Odisha have seen a 46% increase in applications while Karnataka has recorded 29% increase. At 26%, Chhattisgarh witnessed the third highest increase in the number of RTI applications received in 2012 followed by Mizoram at 20%. (Times of India 14/7/14) Corporation Official Gets it for Failing to Send RT I Reply on Dump Yard (1) COIMBATORE: The State Information Commission has ordered the Coimbatore Corporation Commissioner to take disciplinary action against the Deputy Commissioner for failing to provide information regarding Vellalore dump yard under the Right to information (RTI) Act to an applicant. According to the order copy available with Express, City Corporation commissioner G Latha can take disciplinary action against Deputy Commissioner S Sivarasu, who has failed to provide few details regarding the Vellalore dump yard. RTI applicant K S Mohan who is the secretary of the Kurichi Vellalore Pollution Prevention Action Committee has sought answers to 14 questions related to the dump yard from the city Corporation. Mohan and his committee members are fighting for about a decade to shift the dump yard from the present locality. The DC had failed to provide details about the total amount spent for the

Vellalore dump yard so far, besides the total amount handed over to the private company which is maintaining the dump yard. However, Sivarasu provided answers to the other queries sought by Mohan such as inspection report carried out at the scientific closure site. The State Information Commission Christopher Nelson has also ordered the Public Information Officer Natarajan to pay `25,000 as fine for failing to provide details to few questions sought in the RTI. (New Indian Express 15/7/14) Disclose info sought by 'murdered' RTI activists: A runa Roy (1) BANGALORE: A group of campaigners has urged the government to make public all information sought by 'murdered' RTI activists. Claiming that more than 40 such activists have been killed in India, political and social activist Aruna Roy told TOI on Wednesday: "We are pushing the government to reveal the information wanted by such applicants so that citizens don't have to risk seeking the same again." Stating that it won't be possible to amend the law and allow people to seek information anonymously, she said: "We must show that we can act collectively. Let 100 people demand the same information, we'll see if all of us can be murdered".Roy was conducting a workshop on public policy at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), along with her colleagues Nikhil Dey and Shankar. Even with all its advantages, RTI is still not a magic wand, remarked Nikhil. "...It's time for us to further our campaigns and put in place legislation that enhances our rights. We need literate India to understand and participate in the campaign for the need for pre-legislative consultation policy (PLCP)", he said. Roy said: "...the rulers we send to Parliament for five years are sent on a social contract. They cannot make laws arbitrarily on our behalf." NLSIU professor and Aam Aadmi Party member Babu Mathew said it is essential that certain elements of the proposed law must stand the scrutiny of people before being introduced in the house. "This has been mandated by the constitution in South Africa, why is Indian bureaucracy scared?" he asked. The activists also urged people to join the campaign for introducing and passing the Grievances Redressal Bill, which, Nikhil said: "...has somehow not been passed despite all parties having arrived at some consensus." As part of the workshop, students participated in debates on the Lokpal Bill, Grievances Redressal Bill and pre-legislative consultation policy (PLCP). They offered suggestions on how to take them forward. and what these bills should include to the National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI), which will take it up with the government, eventually. At the end of the three-day session, students presented their views on RTI in innovative ways. While one group performed a skit, others conveyed the message through song and poetry. "I am thoroughly impressed. I'm taking the material with me and will use it in our future campaigns," Aruna said. (Times of India 17/7/14) CIC upholds PMO's refusal to declassify three Netaj i files (1) Kolkata: The Central Information Commission (CIC) has upheld the Prime Minister's Office's contention of keeping, as classified, three files on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, on grounds their declassification would adversely affect foreign relations. Researcher Chandrachur Ghose in April last year filed a Right to Information (RTI) application seeking copies of documents contained in three PMO files relating to the widow and daughter of the nationalist leader. But the PMO turned down the request contending the disclosure of the documents would prejudicially affect relations with foreign countries and as such they were exempt under the RTI Act. When Ghose's appeal was too turned by the PMO director, he took the matter before the CIC which Thursday upheld the PMO's stand of refusing the declassification of the files. "It is not for us to substitute our judgment on the applicability of exemptions to that agency duly authorized to determine such issues. "In view of the above, and Central Public Information Officer's submission that due diligence has been exercised, we uphold the decision of denying the information," CIC Rajiv Mathur said in his decision. Ghose was represented by author and researcher Anuj Dhar at the hearing before Mathur. Ghose and Dhar are part of a group called "Mission Netaji", which since 2006 has filed several RTI applications concerning Netaji. (Business Standard 19/7/14) Rs 17.60 lakh spent on Modi's oath-taking ceremony (1)

An expenditure of at least Rs 17.60 lakh was incurred on the oath-taking ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan, an RTI reply has found. The reply provided by the President's Secretariat said approximate cost incurred on the arrangements of the oath-taking ceremony, attended by 4017 guests, related to tentage, stage, furniture and other allied items is Rs 17.6 lakhs. In its response to activist Ramesh Verma, the Secretariat said that it does not maintain the records of expenditure function-wise. "Hence the information sought for cannot be provided. It is informed that the expenditure on functions in incurred by the spending units from the annual budget allotted to respective head of accounts," a reply from CPIO Saurabh Vijay said. The activist had sought to know from the President's Secretariat "head-wise" details on the expenditure incurred on the oath-taking ceremony of Modi and total number of persons who attended the ceremony. Modi took oath of office on May 26 at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan which was attended by Presidents, Prime Ministers and senior leaders of the SAARC countries among other dignitaries. (DNA 20/7/14) No plans to bring co-operative societies under RTI: Govt (1) New Delhi: Government is not planning to bring any amendment in the Right to Information Act to include co-operative societies under it, Lok Sabha was informed Wednesday. "No" was the response of Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh to a question from a member seeking to know whether the Government is planning to amend the RTI Act and bring the co-operative societies within the ambit of the transparency law. (Zee News 23/7/14) RTI activists demand dismissal of info panel (1) CHENNAI: Continuing their protest against the indifference of the Tamil Nadu State Information Commission, RTI activists from across the state staged a day-long hunger strike at Valluvar Kottam here on Wednesday. The protesters planned to take out a rally to the TNSIC headquarters at Teynampet and lock the gates of the office at 5pm but police arrested 52 activists at the venue of the fast. They were later released. During the protest, more than 200 activists, including senior citizens, demanded the dismissal of the TNSIC and urged the Tamil Nadu government to table the pending RTI annual reports before the assembly. They also wanted an online facility to check the status of appeals filed before the commission. "The governor should dismiss this inactive commission functioning against the RTI Act. This sleeping commission is a waste of tax payers' money," said Siva Elango, president of Satta Panchayat Iyakkam, which organised the protest. Satta Panchayat Iyakkam general secretary Senthil Arumugam said the decision to strike received an overwhelming response. "Not even one RTI applicant is satisfied with the commission. There are complaints that commissioners are misbehaving with applicants." V Gopalakrishnan, who had filed more than 1,000 RTI applications, said he had stopped filing second appeals. "Replies are either vague or incomplete. But commission disposes appeals without providing any information. It never imposes fines on PIOs." C Duraisamy, a 70-year-old who travelled here from Coimbatore to take part in the strike, said it was no surprise that all government departments were rejecting RTI applications without any basis. "PIOs know the commission will not take any action even if they don't provide information to applicants." RTI activists have been conducting a series of protests since 2010 when K S Sripathi was appointed state chief information commissioner. (Times of India 24/7/14) Patients have a right to their medical records, say s CIC (1) NEW DELHI: Patients have a right to get their medical records from hospitals, both public and private, Central Information Commission has directed, ordering disclosure of information to a former RAW official. Nisha Priya Bhatia, a former official of Research and Analysis Wing, sought her medical records from Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences where she was admitted on the orders of Delhi High Court. These records were refused to her as the institute cited Section 8(1)(h) of the RTI Act which allows an authority to withhold information which would impede an investigation. Rejecting the contention, information commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu said patients have a right to their medical records which is

rooted in Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution and respondent hospitals have a duty to provide it. He said information commissions can enforce this right to information of patients against both government and private hospitals, whether they are public authorities or not, as per Section 2(f) of the RTI Act, 2005. The commissioner said hospitals have a duty to provide the same under Right to Information Act, 2005, Consumer Protection Act, 1986, the Medical Council Act, 1956 and world medical ethics read with constitutional rights. Bhatia had alleged before the commission that her superiors got antagonized against her for no reason, started withdrawing her privileges as an officer, gradually and ultimately her chair was also removed leaving her with no place to sit and work. She alleged a "deliberate conspiracy" and attempt to depict her as a mentally sick person just because she had filed complaints against her superiors. (Times of India 25/7/14) Air Force sports complex comes under RTI Act, says CIC (1) NEW DELHI: Air Force Sports Complex is a public authority under the Right to Information Act, a full bench of the Central Information Commission has held rejecting its contention that it was a private body. AFSC had argued that it was a private body which was not substantially financed by the government and hence it was not liable to provide any response to RTI applicants. A full bench comprising chief information commissioner Rajiv Mathur and information commissioners Sharat Sabharwal and M Sridhar Acharyulu rejected the arguments as it found that the government had given the complex substantial land which was a kind of indirect funding. Documents supplied by the Defence Estate Officer showed that according to their records, IAF authorities were in occupation of 126.948 acres of ministry of urban development land at Air Force Station, Race Course. According to DEO, out of 100 acres allotted to defence ministry for construction of race course area, 52.80 acres was formally transferred to defence ministry on which the complex is located. It also came to the notice of the commission that top defence officers were in control of the AFSC management. (Times of India 28/7/14) CBI to seek shield against RTI for its graft-tainte d officials (1) NEW DELHI: The CBI wants to stop disclosing details of allegations of corruption against its own officials under the RTI Act, something the agency currently provides under the transparency law. The agency will challenge before the Delhi high court an order of the Central Information Commission directing it to disclose information about its officials Vivek Dutt and Rajesh Karnatak who are facing allegations of corruption. RTI activist Subhash Agrawal had sought to know details of allegations against these officers who were part of CBI's probe in the coal scam and were arrested by the agency while allegedly taking bribe to favour a businessman. "This is to inform you that CBI is going to file an appeal before the Delhi high court against the order of CIC," DIG Arun Bothra said in a communication to Agrawal. CBI, a central investigating agency, was exempted from the transparency law by the UPA government which was facing serious allegations of corruption probed by the agency. The UPA government had brought it under Section 24 of the RTI Act which lists security and intelligence agencies exempted from provisions of the RTI Act. The section, however, makes it clear that such exemption from RTI Act shall not be applicable if any material sought by an information seeker and held by a public authority pertains to "allegations" of corruption. CBI had said the agency was exempt from making disclosures under the RTI Act. Rejecting the CBI's arguments, chief information commissioner Rajiv Mathur held that Section 24 of the RTI Act had exempted certain organizations from the purview of the RTI Act including CBI. "However, information pertaining to allegations of corruption and human rights violations have been excluded," Mathur said in his order. (Times of India 30/7/14)

Govt amends RTI Act to correct names of 2 exempted intel units (1) New Delhi: Nearly nine years after the Right to Information Act came into force, the government has made changes in the Act to correct the names of two intelligence organisations exempted from providing

information under the transparency law. The 'Aviation Research Centre of the Cabinet Secretariat' and 'Special Frontier Force of the Cabinet Secretariat' have been incorporated in the list of exempted organsations under the RTI Act, as per the amendments notified by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) late last month. Earlier, the names mentioned in the Act were Aviation Research Centre (ARC) and Special Frontier Force (SFF). Though the DoPT did not offer any clarification as to why the Act was amended, sources said the changes have been made to rightly show allegiance of the two organisations to the Cabinet Secretariat. Both the ARC and SFF are among over 20 intelligence and security agencies including IB, RAW and CBI exempted from providing information under the RTI Act to any citizen. "The ARC and the SFF do not have dedicated websites. Except for a mention about their inclusion in the list of notified organisations under Schedule 2 of the RTI Act in reply to a query in the Lok Sabha in 2005, no other question has been asked about these organisations in Parliament during the last 15 years," said Venkatesh Nayak, who works with the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), an NGO. According to the 2012-2013 annual report of the Central Information Commission, the Cabinet Secretariat is said to have rejected only 18 RTI applications under Section 24. "It is not clear whether ARC and SFF received any RTI applications at all last year," he said, raising questions on the government move to amend the RTI Act about nine years after it came into force. The ARC is the air wing of external intelligence agency RAW. The SFF is said to have been raised at the end of the Indo-China war in 1962. (Zee News 3/8/14) Mass RTI against builders in Greater Noida (1) NOIDA: Around 100 flat buyers have decided to submit an RTI application against builders with the Greater Noida Authority to learn about the status of their ongoing projects, in the coming week. Indris Gupta, co-founder, Noida extension flat owners welfare association said individual buyers have not only been evaded by builders, but also the authorities have not always "satisfactorily" answered their queries. "We have been pursuing individuals for information. Most of them dodge queries from buyers directly, so now, we have made a list of builders from whom we request information about change of design, construction plans," said Gupta. "We are getting together close to a 100 buyers who have decided to come forth and take the issue to a bigger level of protest in Noida and Greater Noida. We really hope that this application would be paid heed to. We are also seeking an appointment with the Greater Noida Authority Chairman so that gives our grievances a fair hearing" Gupta added. (Times of India 4/8/14) Graft information can be sought from CBI under RTI: Govt (1) New Delhi: Information pertaining to allegations of corruption and human rights violations can be sought from CBI under the Right to Information Act as exemption given to the organisation does not cover such records, Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday. Minister of state for personnel and training Jitendra Singh said CBI has been included in the Second Schedule to the Right to Information Act, 2005, thereby exempting it from the purview of the Act except in respect of information pertaining to the allegations of corruption and human rights violations. In a written reply, the minister said some representations have been received objecting to the inclusion of CBI in the second schedule of the RTI Act, 2005. "The government decided to include the Bureau in the Second Schedule after satisfying itself that it qualifies to be included in the schedule as a security and intelligence organisation and that it is necessary to do so in the interest of the security of the state," the minister said. Organisations listed under Section 24 of the RTI are exempted from disclosure under the Act except when information held by them pertains to allegations of corruption or human rights violation. In such cases, disclosure would be judged by provisions of the RTI Act. Former chief information commissioner Satyananda Mishra had clarified in one of his decisions that if any information held by an exempted organisation pertaining to allegations of corruption or human rights violation is sought by an applicant, its disclosure would be judged by the RTI Act and the exemption will not apply. (Hindustan Times 6/8/14)

Sports bodies receiving 10 lakh and above to come u nder RTI (1) NEW DELHI: The government of India has declared today that all sports bodies receiving a grant of Rupees 10 lakh or more annually will come under the purview of Right to Information (RTI) act. "Government has declared all National Sports Federations (NSFs) receiving grant of Rs.10 lakh or more in a year as Public Authorities under Section 2(h) of the Right to Information (RTI), Act 2005," said a Youth Affairs and Sports Ministry release. "Further, as per the provisions under Section 4(2) of the RTI Act, 2005 it has been made incumbent upon all the public authorities to suo-moto disclose information on the various activities carried out by them. This is the requirement of good governance and transparency in sports bodies," the release added. The government has also directed the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the NSFs to place a detailed information of all their 'spendings' and regulations on their respective websites by August 20. Complete details of officials, who were sent to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow by IOA/NSFs along with the amount paid such as air fare, boarding and lodging, local transportation, daily allowance etc. has to be shared on the website. List of players (along with support personnel) who actually participated in the CWG will also be needed. Further, the IOA and NSFs have been asked to post all the detailed information on their website with regard to all international events to be held in India and abroad. From the details of coaching camps organised to the list of participants, support staff and coaches, the selection criteria of such events and the performance criteria which formed the basis of selection will all be required to be listed on the website as per the new government guidelines. (Times of India 7/8/14) Homebuyers file 100 RTI pleas on 34 projects in Gr Noida (1) NOIDA: Homebuyers in Greater Noida and Noida Extension came together on Friday to file 100 right to information applications on projects of 34 builders. The common theme in most RTI applications was the date of completion and handover of apartments in the housing projects. The buyers also inquired about the quality of material being used by builders, safety measures undertaken, changes in layout plan, if any and the floor area ratio. The 'mass RTI', as the homebuyers chose to describe it, was filed at the office of the Greater Noida Authority. "We have expedited the RTI submission and have requested the Authority to give us a speedy response," said Shweta Bhatri, general secretary of the Noida Extension Flat Owners' Welfare Association. One of the buyers, Arvind Kumar Singh, told TOI, "I own a house in a 21-floor project in Greater Noida. Though people are now residing in the apartments, the project has till date not received a completion certificate from the Authority. There are no safety measures and all our lives are at stake, but because the buyers are scared of not getting their flats, they have moved in. I am one of them." Aditya, another buyer who participated in the 'mass-RTI' exercise, said, "We are scared that in a rush, the builders are using sub-standard material. We need to know what material is being used. If layouts are being changed, we should be made aware." Harish Verma, assistant CEO, Noida Authority, said, "We will respond to they buyers' queries, but it is important that the buyers pose their questions to the builders directly at the time of buying their apartments. They should be fully aware of the fine-print before making an investment." (Times of India 9/8/14) Give department-wise details of whistleblowers comp laints: CIC to CVC (1) New Delhi: The department-wise details of whistleblowers' complaints of corruption in government departments can be made public, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has held. Exercising his Right to Information, Venkatesh Nayak had sought from Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) details of complaints against government servants received under the Public Interest Disclosure and Protection of Informers (PIDPI) Resolution, also known as whistleblowers resolution. The CVC in its reply had maintained that PIDPI data is maintained as per the names and designation of officials concerned or organisation-wise to which the officials belong. ive department-wise details of whistleblowers complaints: CIC to CVC According to an official data, CVC had received 698, 804 and 901 complaints under the PIDPI Resolution during 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively. "The information sought by the appellant

may be available in the individual files of the Commission and culling and compiling from all the files pertaining to PIDPI complaints would involve deployment of additional manpower and would disproportionately divert the limited resources," the CVC had said while disposing of the application and appeal. Aggrieved over the rejection, Nayak had moved CIC. "The Commission directs the Central Public Information Officer to provide the information to the appellant," CIC said in its order. According to an official data, CVC had received 698, 804 and 901 complaints under the PIDPI Resolution during 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively. "CVC disposes of most of the PIDPI cases saying 'requiring no action' and gives no explanation. The public in general and most importantly, the whistleblowers themselves, have the right to know the reasons for this kind of disposal," said Nayak, who works with NGO Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, and demanded more transparency in disposal of these cases. The Whistleblowers Protection Act, 2011, which provides a mechanism for protecting the identity of whistleblowers -- a term given to people who expose corruption -- got the assent of President Pranab Mukherjee in May this year. The Act also provides for a system to encourage people to disclose information about corruption or willful misuse of power by public servants, including ministers. As per the law, a person can make a public interest disclosure on corruption before a competent authority, which is at present the CVC. (CNN IBN 10/8/14) With no leader of opposition, govt in a spot over a ppointment of CIC NEW DELHI: The absence of a leader of opposition could put the Modi government in a spot with the appointment of a new Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) likely to come up soon. The present CIC Rajiv Mathur retires on August 22 leaving the position vacant. According to the RTI act, the CIC is appointed by the President on the recommendation of the appointments committee that includes the PM, leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha and one union minister nominated by the PM. However, with the government adamant on not allowing Congress the position of LoP, the appointment could be delayed. Sources said the government is looking at options provided in the rule book by which the process can be completed without the presence of a designated LoP. The RTI Act does provide for the exceptional case when there is no LoP. Section 12(3) of the Act says, "The leader of the single largest group in opposition of the government in the House of the People shall be deemed to be the Leader of Opposition." A former director with the country's spy agency, Intelligence Bureau, Mathur has had a short 3-month tenure as CIC. He was appointed as information commissioner in March 2012. Other information commissioners including Vijai Sharma and Basant Seth are the senior-most after Mathur. Traditionally, the government has appointed the senior-most IC as the CIC even if they have a short tenure. This time, however, there is a buzz that the government may chose to ignore precedents and appoint Yashovardhan Azad as the chief. Currently, there are seven information commissioners including Yashovardhan Azad, Sharat Sabharwal, Manjula Prasher, M A Khan Yusufi and Prof Madabhushanam Sridhar Acharyulu besides Sharma and Seth. The Commission is supposed to have a strength of 10. (Times of India 13/8/14) RTI ‘warriors’ to take on the corrupt VIJAYAWADA: The United Forum for Right to Information Campaign (UFRIC) is grooming a strong force of ‘RTI warriors’ to demolish red-tapism and the ‘firewalls’ that usually shield the ‘evil forces’ eating into major chunk of the public funds. “We want to have a strong network in every nook and cranny of the State and we intend to put them on the task of scrutinising expenditure of each government department bringing transparency into public domain,” says the Forum convenor B. Ramakrishna Raju. District-level RTI committees are being formed and in places like Karimnagar, Srikakulam and parts of Warangal and Khammam, the forum has formed mandal-level panels as well. The Forumhas been relentlessly working to spread awareness on this crucial law. (The Hindu 16/8/14) Centre sits on Whistleblower Act as toll soars

NEW DELHI: More than 40 whistleblowers have been threatened, attacked or murdered so far, but the government continues to drag its feet on the Whistleblowers Protection Act which got Presidential approval in May and awaits notification of rules. "Since the time the act was passed by Parliament, at least three more people have been allegedly killed for exposing corruption. These whistleblowers could have been afforded protection had the act been enforced," Anjali Bhardwaj, National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) member said. The NCPRI has now written to the PM and minister for personnel, public grievances and pensions Jitendra Singh urging that the issue be taken up with urgency. The NCPRI has even drafted model rules for the act which was passed in Parliament in 2014 after a sustained campaign by the NGO and families of slain whistleblowers. Activists fear that any further delay could endanger more lives. *Seventy-year-old RTI activist Mangat Tyagi, was allegedly murdered in April 2014 in Hapur district of Uttar Pradesh for exposing corruption in public works. He had filed around 14,000 requests for information under the RTI Act in a bid to expose corruption and was shot dead outside his village by three assailants. *Chandra Mohan Sharma, aged 38, had filed over 300 requests for information regarding encroachments on government land, costs for building government roads, the functioning of residents' welfare associations and allotment of land by the government. His body was recovered from his car near his house in Greater Noida in May 2014; both he and the vehicle were badly charred. *RTI activist Sanjay Tyagi was shot dead in Meerut on May 25, 2014 following which a case of murder against unknown persons was registered… (Times of India 17/8/14) RTI activist demands inquiry against Himachal minis ter for wrong information SHIMLA: Alleging that health and revenue minister Kaul Singh Thakur has concealed vital information in his affidavit filed during assembly election, an RTI activist has wrote a letter to chief election commissioner seeking an inquiry on the issue. In his complaint to chief election commissioner, RTI activist Dev Ashish Bhattacharya has alleged that minister has concealed some information about the plots owned on lease by him at housing society in Heeranagar in Shimla. He said that while the lease rule says that no commercial activity could be carried from the land given on lease, the minister has rented out the premises which amounts to commercial activity. To substantiate his allegation, Bhattcahrya has also enclosed the copy of lease deed with his complaint. He said that in his affidavit filed during the assembly election the minister has termed the building as commercial while as per the rule the building was to be used only for residential purpose. (Times of India 19/8/14) TN info panel puts up annual RTI reports, but only till 2008 CHENNAI: Nine years after the Right to Information (RTI) Act came into effect, the Tamil Nadu State Information Commission (TNSIC) has uploaded annual reports on its website (www.tnsic.gov.in). Disappointingly, however, is that the latest reports are of 2008. TOI had carried a series of articles about the delay in uploading annual reports of the information commission on its website. RTI activists had been demanding the same. But the commission had so far been reluctant to upload annual reports even once though Act came into effect on 2005. An annual report of a commission is to declare the number of RTI applications received by public information officers (PIOs) of government departments, cases disposed of and fines imposed on PIOs by the commission for violation of rules under the RTI Act. According to the annual report for 2008, the commission received 41,520 letters from applicants, of which it had issued orders on 18,016 appeals in 2008. "Show cause notices were issued against PIOs in 355 cases. It had recommended disciplinary action against public authorities in 90 cases and imposed penalty in respect of 28 public authorities," said the report. The commission's annual report shows that the revenue department received the maximum number of RTI applications - 27,178 - among all government departments in the state, followed by school education (11,714) and home, prohibition and excise department with 10,365 applications in 2008. The commission had imposed maximum fines against public authorities in revenue department (2.27 lakh) for delaying and denying information to applicants. It is followed by PIOs of rural development department and housing department, which were penalised with

1.24 lakh and 1.13 lakh in fines. Many RTI activists welcomed the commission's move, but said they were disappointed with the delay in updating information. Vijay Anand, coordinator of 5th Pillar, an NGO, said: "Ideally, information commission should set an example for other departments by making proactive disclosures. But it is re yet to update its own information. We hope remaining reports will be updated." Asked why the revenue department tops in RTI application, Anand said: 'Every individual is a victim of the department because of the delay in getting services." A survey by NGO Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative found that Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Manipur, Sikkim and Tripura have failed to table reports of their RTI cases in the assembly or put them online, which is mandatory under the RTI Act. State chief information commissioner K S Sripathi recently pleaded helplessness over the information not being made public, saying his department had sent reports till 2010-11 to the government, which tabled reports only till 2006-07 in the assembly. (Times of India 20/8/14) Won’t hear RTIs of personal nature: central informa tion commissioner (1-2) New Delhi: The central information commissioner (CIC) has directed that the Right to Information (RTI) applications seeking personal details to settle personal scores on frivolous grounds should not be entertained. Information commissioner M. Sridhar Acharyulu said since there was no provision in the law against persons who misuse the RTI in such a brazen manner to settle scores with their disputants, the commission was helpless in making such order, but thinks it proper to advise such persons to desist from misusing the RTI. A senior government official said that the order, which would act as a deterrent against frivolous RTI applicants, has been circulated to all the principal secretaries, secretaries, heads of departments and heads of local and autonomous bodies. The commission had passed these directions on an appeal related to a RTI seeking information about Delhi government employee Ramesh Chander Gupta and his family in March 2012. The RTI, filed by Mr Gupta’s brother, had sought information related to his date of birth, his appointment in the city administration, details of movable and immovable assets held by him, his mother, his wife and children, details of his bank accounts, his source of investments, medical expenses claimed by him in his office and details related to the properties developed by him by virtue of will. In response to the RTI, the principal information officer had delivered copies of three annual returns to the applicant. When the applicant demanded a copy of the gift deed mentioned in one of the returns, the PIO denied the same to him. The commission observed that there was no public interest in the RTI application which was being used to harass the applicant’s brother for personal reasons. (Asian Age 21/8/14) Amend your RTI rules: CIC tells Delhi High Court New Delhi: The Central Information Commission has directed the Delhi High Court to amend its RTI fee rules for local courts bringing them in conformity with the provisions of the Right to Information Act. The case reached Central Information Commission after Patiala House court demanded Rs 50 from an applicant for filing first appeal against the reply provided by its Central Public Information Officer under the RTI Act. The Delhi High Court while exercising its power under Section 28 (1) of the Right to Information Act made the Delhi District Court (Right to Information Rules, 2008) under which which Rule 11 deals with the provision concerning charging of fees during First Appeal. According to the RTI Act, fee can only be charged at the stage of filing of the RTI Act. The transparency law does not have any provision of levying fee at the stage of first appeal within a department or second appeal before the Commission. "Imposing a fee of Rs 50 as mandatory requirement at the first appeal level is not in consonance with the fee structure prescribed by Act and Rules by Central Government. Except Rs 10 fee at the stage of filing request for information with the PIO, the law does not prescribe any fee at any stage including at the second appeal level at the Information Commission," Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu said in his order. The Commission recommended Delhi High Court to amend the rules to bring it in conformity with RTI Act, for effective provision of access to information and to bring uniformity with the rules made by DoPT which are also followed by the Supreme Court. "Right to information can be

culled out from fundamental right to life and liberty under Article 21 and from freedom of expression under Article 19(1)(a) which was more specifically guaranteed by Right to Information Act," Acharyulu said. (Zee News 24/8/14) RTI activists urge TN to follow Bihar helpline mode l CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu may claim to top in fields like healthcare and Public Distribution System (PDS), however, it lags behind several other states when it comes to transparency in governance. To overcome this, RTI activists have urged the state to follow a Bihar model where citizens submit RTI applications by dialing a helpline. Citizens in Bihar just have to make a call to the Jaankari helpline, launched in 2007, to file RTI applications. The telephone operator receiving the call drafts the application and sends it to the concerned Public Information Officer (PIO) for providing the requisite information to the applicant. The applicant also gets a reference number of the application. In case information is not provided by authorities, the applicant is entitled to file appeals through the helpline. A 10 RTI application fee is added to the telephone call charge. "This model would empower people and bring transparency as well as accountability. It will also help people get government services without paying a bribe," said RTI activist Senthil Arumugam. "Under the RTI Act, every citizen has the right to know about the status of ongoing projects and reasons for delay. The dial-to-information facility will make procedures easier." Madras high court advocate V S Suresh said the Jaankari project would help even illiterate citizens use RTI. "It will help senior citizens and the disabled obtain data under the Act without any hassle." The Bihar Information Commission has also started an online system to register complaints against errant PIOs for delaying and denying information under the RTI Act. It has also introduced an online appeal filling system on its website for the applicants. Tamil Nadu, however, is yet to introduce an online filing system despite repeated petitions. Chief information commissioner K S Sripathi was unavailable for comment. (Times of India 25/8/14) RTI activists take to street for quicker replies COIMBATORE: A group of 100 members of RTI Activists' Association held a protest to complain about the lethargy of RTI officers at Gandhipuram on Monday evening. They said public information officers failed to provide information on their petitions filed more than two years ago. Under the Right to Information Act, public information officials should maintain all records and provide data sought by people within a reasonable time. "As these officers delay answering our petitions unnecessarily, we are appealing to the government to take action and let us know why we are being denied information we seek," said M Selvaraj, head of the association. The members of the association have filed several RTI applications with the corporation, commissioner's office and taluk offices. More than 60 petitions have remained unanswered. "According to the act, the information should be given within 30 days. When that did not happen we appealed to the senior officials who could again take 30 days' time to respond. But they have not responded either. We also appealed to the state-level officers. These officers also seem to delay the process," said Manoj Arun, a member of the association. "At least, let us know the reason behind this delay," he added. The association said shortage of officers might be a reason for the delay. "Where 10 officers should be appointed only four have been appointed," he said. (Times of India 26/8/14) Cops probe if RTI activist had faked his death GREATER NOIDA: Three months ago, the charred body of RTI activist and Aam Admi Party member Chandra Mohan Sharma was found in Greater Noida. But police are now investigating if this was a case of the 38-year-old activist faking his own death. Police said they had received information that Sharma had been spotted in Karnataka and near the Nepal border and that he could be living with another woman. "On receiving the information, several teams were formed and they were sent to Nepal, Karnataka and Haryana," said Preetinder Singh, senior superintendent of police (SSP), Gautam Budh Nagar. "While the team from Haryana has returned the other teams in Karnataka and Nepal are still

investigating the information about Sharma," Singh said. "So far, there is no confirmation that Sharma is alive and living in another city. We are still awaiting evidence," he added. Adding fuel to the speculation is Savita Sharma, the activist's wife. She told TOI that she had been hearing rumours of Sharma being alive for several days. She claimed the police had got suspicious after scanning Sharma's cell phone call details. "There was a young woman whose frequent calls had figured on my husband's phone," Savita said. She claimed the woman lived close to their house and had gone missing about a month after Sharma's ?death'. But if there's any merit in the speculations, a key question needs to be answered first. If Sharma is alive, then whose body was found in the car? The charred body was found in Sharma's gutted car barely a kilometre from his residence in Greater Noida, on the night of May 1. The police had said that it appeared to be an accidental death, but family members had alleged foul play as they said the victim and his family had been receiving threats to life for over a year. Greater Noida police had sent the body for DNA examination but even after three months the result is awaited. The autopsy report had said the victim had died due to asphyxiation and there were no external injuries on his body. Sharma's family had at the time alleged that they suspected the local police were manipulating the case details and had demanded a CBI probe. A team of forensic experts had also visited the spot and examined Sharma's car to get some leads in the case. Cops had also summoned experts from Chevrolet to examine the burnt car (an Aveo). The experts had said the fire probably started at the dashboard. Though Sharma's family named five people for his ?murder', the police had not made any arrests in the case. (Times of India 27/8/14) Disclose report of Mudgal Committee on lobbying: CI C to Centre New Delhi: The Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed the Centre to disclose confidential file notings related to the constitution of the Justice Mukul Mudgal Committee which probed alleged lobbying by Walmart in India. CIC also directed the government to make public the committee's report along with the steps taken by the Centre to prevent possible lobbying in the country by foreign companies. The one-member committee of former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court Mudgal was constituted by the UPA government to investigate alleged corruption charges against retail giant Walmart in India. The Committee had to probe if Walmart undertook activities in India in contravention of any Indian law and any other matter relevant or incidental to the case. The case came before the CIC on a plea by activist Subhash Agrawal, who had sought the information from the Corporate Affairs Ministry, which had refused to provide it. "Information needs to be provided under Section 8(2) of RTI Act which mentions providing of information if public interest overweighs the harm protected. "There is definitely public interest involved in the whole matter where media reports indicate attempt at lobbying by private foreign companies with even those in PMO," Agrawal said in his appeal. Agreeing with Agrawal, Information Commissioner Yashowardhan Azad directed the ministry to provide the information, along with the file notings, related to the constitution of the committee. He also directed it to provide report of the committee along with the file notings. The Commissioner directed the ministry to forward the RTI application to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion for its response as regards the details of the steps taken to prevent any lobbying in India by foreign companies. (Business Standard 31/8/14) Departmental Promotion Committee proceedings can be sought under RTI (1) RAIPUR: In a significant decision, Chhattisgarh State Information Commission has ruled that proceedings of Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) shall be treated as non-confidential and open documents which can be supplied to information seeker under Right to Information (RT) Act. Allowing an appeal filed by Sarita Tiwari, deputy commissioner (Development), state's chief information commissioner Serjius Minj also recommended to state government to review and re-consider General Administration Department (GAD) circular of 2006 that declared DPC proceedings as confidential. Tiwari had filed an application with public information officer of Chhattisgarh state Public Service Commission (CGPSC) seeking proceedings of DPC but was denied information on basis of a GAD circular which stated that DPC proceedings are

confidential and it did not fall under the purview of RTI. After the first appellate authority also upheld the decision, the applicant preferred a second appeal with the state information commission. The state commission quoted in its order decisions of union public service commission (UPSC) and Central Information Commission (CIC) to point out that DPC proceedings shall be treated as non-confidential and open documents and allowed to be accessed by anybody who seeks it. Allowing second appeal filed by deputy commission, the state commission ordered PIO and first appellate officer of state public service commission to provide relevant documents as sought by the applicant, free of cost within 15 days. Besides, the commission also recommended that GAD circular be re-considered for withdrawal or cancellation. (Times of India 2/9/14) Centre taps over 1 lakh phones a year; many more by states (1) New Delhi: Big brother watching? Men speak on their mobile phones on a seafront in Mumbai. Reuters Reuetrs photo for representation only More than one lakh phone tapping orders are issued by the central government every year, but the total number of such interceptions can be of a 'staggering scale' after taking into account the directions from state governments, a new study has found. The study, 'India's surveillance state', prepared on the basis of RTI replies given by the government, also found that 26 companies including foreign firms expressed interest in setting up Internet monitoring systems for the government. These included companies offering "far more potent surveillance technologies including phone interception, social media network analysis and data mining and profiling".The study was conducted by Software Freedom Law Centre, a non-profit legal services organisation, and was released at recently held Internet Governance Forum in Istanbul. "...on an average, more than a lakh of telephone interception orders are issued by the central government alone every year. On adding the surveillance orders issued by the State Governments to this, it becomes clear that India routinely surveills her citizens’ communications on a truly staggering scale," the 68-page report said. The state surveillance of citizens' private communications is authorised by legislative enactments such as the Indian Telegraph Act and the Information Technology Act, which allow Indian law enforcement agencies to closely monitor phone calls, texts, e-mails and general Internet activity on a number of broadly worded grounds. The issue of phone tapping has often led to controversies in India including in 2010, when tapped conversations of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia with businessmen, politicians and journalists got leaked. Only a few agencies in India are authorised to tap phones and a rigorous screening process is said to be in place for grant of such authorisations. As per the report, Network Traffic Analysis (NETRA) storage servers will be installed at more than 1000 locations across India. The Controller of Certifying Authorities uses Section 28 of the IT Act, an ambiguous provision, to collect user data from technology companies. An RTI request revealed that they have made 73 requests under this provision in 2011. (Deccan Herald 4/9/14) RTI activist shot at after seeking info from villag e head in UP (1) Meerut: A 48-year-old RTI activist was shot at near his home in Tofapur village here after he had sought information from the village head about the development works undertaken in the area. The victim, identified as Kailash, was attacked yesterday and is now out of danger, police said. Resident of Tofapur, Kailash had twice sought information under the RTI from the village head about the development works undertaken in the area and the expenses on them, SHO, Inchauli police station, T S Yadav said. After being allegedly denied information by the village head ('gram pradhan'), Kailash lodged a complaint in this connection with the State Information Commission in Lucknow and the SIC had fixed a hearing on September 5, Yadav said. The activist was shot at near his house when he was on his way to Lucknow yesterday, he said. He was taken to nearby hospital where the doctors removed the bullet he had sustained in the attack, he said. Four persons including the village head have been booked after a complaint filed by the family of the victim, police said. (Zee news 5/9/14) Now, track your RTI appeal online (1)

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu state information commission, often in the news for the wrong reasons, is now set to facilitate a system where applicants seeking information under the Right to Information Act can track their appeals. The system, through which case details will be provided to RTI applicants via SMS, is expected to be in place by month-end. Those filing appeals with the state information commission will receive an SMS mentioning the case number and the date of hearing. The commission now sends notices to applicants by post. The facility will be available to only those who mention their mobile phone numbers on appeals and make a specific request to avail of the facility. The commission had conducted discussions with Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (Elcot), National Informatics Centre (NIC) and mobile service providers like BSNL to develop the software and integrate the messaging service. Under the plan, every RTI petitioner will receive three text messages - the first when the case number is generated, the second after the case is posted for hearing and the third when it is disposed. Initially, an information commission official said, they would send only the first message to applicants on a trial basis. The petitioner will be able to track the application by the case number. "Applicants can also use case numbers to get information and check the status of the case on www.tnsic.gov.in," he said. Details such as the names of petitioners and respondents, case number and address will be available on the website, he added. The commission, which each year receives as many as 56,000 appeals, is hamstrung by a severe shortage of manpower and funds. Asked if there was a plan to introduce an online appeal filing system for applicants on the lines of the a system in Bihar, he said a proposal had been sent to the government. "We haven't received any response." Under the system that is in vogue in Bihar, citizens can file RTI applications by simply dialling the Jaankari helpline number that was launched in 2007. The operator receiving the call drafts the application and sends it to the Public Information Officer (PIO) of the department concerned for providing the requisite information to the applicant. RTI activists in Tamil Nadu have for long been demanding that the government replicate that system in the state. (Times of India 9/9/14) MCG backs RTI pleas, but finds them too 'cumbersome ' to answer (1) GURGAON: Much as the MCG might claim it favours RTI applications, the fact of the matter is it doesn't care much for the rationale behind and dynamics of the Right to Information Act. While the Act mandates that information be provided within 30 days of application, in many cases it takes more than four months to do so. Recently, the MCG also trashed an application saying the question asked was too "cumbersome" to answer. On several occasions, the state information commission has reprimanded the MCG for failing to respond within the stipulated timeframe and also asked it to compensate applicants. Residents, on the other hand, complain that most RTI replies sent by the municipal corporation are vague and officials often shift the onus to other departments like HUDA or the deputy commissioner's office. "The MCG never provides information on time. On many occasions, the RTI application gets automatically forwarded to the first appellate (the MCG joint commissioner) because the officials, who are supposed to reply, keep transferring the application from one department to the other. And many a time, even the first appellate does not respond in time and I have had to go to the second appellate (the SIC) at least 75 times because of this. On at least five occasions the SIC has directed the MCG to compensate me for delay in providing the information," says RTI activist Aseem Takyar. He said he was forced to file the RTIs because the MCG does not provide basic information on its website. "Things like details about sanitation contracts should be made available on the MCG website. Because of lack of general information, residents like me are forced to file RTIs. Even their grievance portal does not work efficiently," he said. Though the CIC had directed government departments to appoint a transparency officer, the MCG is yet to do so. Officials acknowledge that there is absolutely no transparency and accountability. "Whenever an RTI application is received by an executive engineer of any department, they have a tendency to mark it to another executive engineer on some pretext or the other," said an official. (Times of India 10/9/14)

President’s intervention sought on appointment of C IC (1) New Delhi: Former Chief Information Commissioners and several Right to Information (RTI) activists on Thursday sought the intervention of the President in ensuring the appointment of the CIC in the Central Information Commission without any further delay. The post has been lying vacant since August 22 and this has never happened for a day since the Commission was set up in 2005. The practise till now has been for the senior-most Information Commissioner to be appointed CIC and the announcement was in the past made before the post fell vacant. The President was petitioned after a similar plea to the Prime Minister by the National Campaign for Peoples’ Right to Information on September 2 yielded no result. Citing Section 12 (4) of the RTI Act which states that the “general superintendence, direction and management of the affairs of the Commission shall vest in the CIC’’, the signatories to the petition said the vacancy has the “potential to adversely impact the effective functioning’’ of the Commission. Asked about the delay in the appointment, Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh on Tuesday said it was in the process. Also, according to him, the Ministry was awaiting the Lok Sabha Secretariat’s opinion on the selection committees for the appointment of several such posts in the absence of a Leader of the Opposition (LoP). However, the petitioners pointed out in the letters to both the President and the Prime Minister that the RTI Act clearly specifies that in the absence of a LoP, the leader of the single largest party in the Opposition in the Lok Sabha can be made a member of the committee to appoint the CIC. According to the petition, there is already a huge backlog in the Commission with close to 25,000 appeals and complaints pending. “Often people have to wait for more than a year for their appeals and complaints to be heard. The lack of a Commissioner will cause the pendency in the Commission to further increase.’’ The signatories to the petition include former CICs Wajahat Habibullah and Deepak Sandhu, former Information Commissioner Sailesh Gandhi, besides RTI activists Aruna Roy, Nikhil Dey, Anjali Bhardwaj, Venkatesh Nayak and Shekhar Singh. (The Hindu 12/9/14) CIC Issues Notices to Six Political Parties (1) NEW DELHI: The Central Information Commission (CIC) has issued showcause notice to the chiefs of six political parties for not acting on its order bringing them under the ambit of the RTI Act. It was on Wednesday that the CIC had served notice on the presidents and general secretaries of the BJP, the Congress, the NCP, the CPI, the CPM and the BSP asking them why an inquiry should not be instituted in matter of non-compliance of its order to implement the RTI Act. Acting on the plea filed by RTI activist Subhash Agrawal, the CIC had declared six national parties -- the Congress, BJP, NCP, CPI, CPM and BSP -- as public authorities, thereby bringing them under the ambit of the Right to Information Act. However, none of the parties contested the decision in court or followed the instructions of the panel. The Commission had earlier issued a notice on February 7 and March 25 to these political parties seeking their detailed comments on Agrawal’s complaint. “Therefore, a notice is issued to show cause within four weeks as to why an inquiry should not be initiated in the matter of non-compliance of the Commission’s order dated June 3, 2013, under Section 18 of the RTI Act, 2005. Take further notice that if you fail to respond within the prescribed time, the matter will be processed on the strength of material on record, in accordance with law,” the notice said. The move comes close on the heels of a Delhi High Court order which directed the CIC to decide in six months on a complaint against Sonia regarding the issue of non-compliance with the transparency panel’s directions that the party was answerable under the RTI Act. Refusal to provide information or not furnishing complete information is deemed an offence under the RTI Act and attracts a penalty for the public information officer of the public authority of Rs 250 per day from the date the information became due to the day it was furnished. None of the parties have so far obtained any stay order against the CIC’s decision declaring them to be public authorities, which implies that they must adopt the procedures for processing RTI applications. (New Indian Express 15/9/14) RTI reveals MPs, MLAs defaulter in payment to HPTDC (1)

SHIMLA: Fund starved Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) has failed to recover Rs 180 lakh outstanding from the VIPs who after availing boarding lodging or transportation facilities had failed to make the payment. An RTI information has revealed that many VIPs including MPS and governor have not paid the HPTDC since long. RTI Activist Dev Ashish Bhattacharya on June 5 this year had sought information about MPs, ex-MPs, MLAs, ex-MLAs besides members and board of directors of HPTDC who had not cleared their dues. In response to his application, PIO of HPTDC informed that out of total number of payment defaulters, so many are MPs, ex-MPs, MLAs and a sitting minister. RTI documents shows that former BJP MP Rajan Sushant ows Rs 53,200 since 2009, Chander Kumar, ex-MP Congress Rs.30,150 since 2005, BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Bimla Kashyap Rs 57,056 since 2010-11 and Suresh Bhardwaj, ex-MP BJP and sitting MLA Rs 6230 since 2006. They all owe the money to HPTDC due to the boarding and lodging facility being availed by them at Himachal Bhawan, Delhi. BJP MP Anurag Thakur ows Rs 1,07,650 to HPTDC since 2010-11 as boarding and lodging charges in Himachal Sadan Delhi. Same is the case with BJP MP Virender Kashyap who owns Rs 9350 since 2009-10, BJP's Rajya Sabha MP J P Nadda ows Rs 46,700 since 2012-13 they too had availed the boarding and lodging facilities at Himachal Sadan Delhi. Mani Shankar Aiyyar, Congress MP also failed to pay Rs 11,603 since 1995 for availing boarding and lodging facility at Himachal Bhawan Delhi. transport minister of Himachal Pradesh G S Bali also ows Rs 36,403 as the cost of boarding and lodging at Dharamsala. Kuldeep Kumar, Congress MLA, ows Rs 11,846 for availing boarding and lodging facility at Peterhoff, Shimla since 2013. Lat Sat Mahajan, Congress leader, ows Rs 7280 for boarding and lodging charges being availed at Himachal Bhawan Delhi in 1996. "Matter of concern is this that one of the members of the Board of Directors of HPTDC Surender Sethi also ows Rs 9315 to HPTDC for availing Transport Facilities and is not bothered to pay back the dues despite the media disclosure earlier," said Dev Ashish Bhattacharya who obtained the information under RTI. He said that as on December 31, 2013 accumulated debts of HPTDC has risen to 180.37 lakh. He said that a letter from HPTDC managing director dated February 22, 2014 further revealed MD has put the entire blame on the Junior officers and did not have the courage to issue the reminders to these politicians through his hand and seal. "It is also found from the records provided to me that the reminders were only issued to Kuldeep Kumar and not to any of the MPs and the transport minister," he claimed. He said that latest information prior to this because of the constant follow up and media revelations, the payments were realised from Shanta Kumar, Pratibha Singh, Harsh Mahajan and part payment from GS Bali and Virender Kashyap. (Times of India 16/9/14) HC Changes Rules of RTI game, wants Purpose Specifi ed (1) CHENNAI: Redefining the scope of the Right to Information Act (RTI), Madras High Court has held that anyone seeking information under the statute must show that the purpose is either personal or of public interest. Under both circumstances, the RTI applicant must disclose at least the minimum details as to what is the personal or public interest requiring such information. If such details are either absent or not disclosed, such query cannot be construed as the one satisfying the requirement of the RTI Act, the Court further ruled. A Division Bench of Justices N Paul Vasanthakumar and K Ravichandrabaabu made the observation, setting aside an order of the CIC, directing the High Court Public Information Officer (PIO) to furnish information to an applicant, refused on the ground that it fell under the restricted category. The Bench was allowing a writ petition from the PIO, seeking to quash January 23, 2013 order of the CIC. The order directed the PIO to furnish answers to a set of umpteen number of questions, raised by one B Bharathi with regard to the fate of his complaint against the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in Egmore and appointment of Registrar-General to the High Court. Holding that the information sought for by the applicant fell under the restricted category, the PIO refused to furnish the reply and Bharathy moved the CIC. Setting aside the order of the CIC, the Bench observed on September 17 that the word ‘Right’ is not defined under the RTI Act. In the absence of any definition of ‘right’, it has to be understood to mean that such a right must have a legal basis. Therefore, the ‘right’ must be coupled with an object or purpose to

be achieved. Such object and purpose must, undoubtedly, have a legal basis or be legally sustainable and enforceable. It cannot be construed that a request or query made ‘simpliciter’ will fall under the definition of ‘right to information’.“Therefore, we are of the view that the impugned order of the CIC is bereft of any material particulars in so far as those applications referred to in the order and the direction issued to the PIO in that regard is also not sustainable,” the Bench said. The Bench also pulled up Bharathi for overloading the HC Registry by making several queries or complaints under the RTI Act. It cannot be the way to redress his grievances. He cannot overload a public authority and divert its resources while seeking information and the dispensation of information should not occupy the majority of time and resource of any public authority, the Bench added. (New Indian Express 19/9/14) Give reasons for seeking information under RTI: Mad ras High Court (1) New Delhi: In a serious blow to transparency regime in the country, the Madras High Court has said RTI applicants must give reasons for seeking information as it gave relief to its Registry from disclosing file notings on a complaint against a chief metropolitan magistrate. A division bench comprising justices N Paul Vasanthakumar and K Ravichandrababu said an applicant must disclose the object for which information is sought and also satisfy that such object has a legal backing, a decision which may have far reaching implications on getting information under the RTI Act and which was decried by legal experts and activists. "If informations (sic) are to be furnished to a person, who does not have any reason or object behind seeking such informations, in our considered view, the intention of the Legislature is not to the effect that such informations are to be given like pamphlets to any person unmindful of the object behind seeking such information," the bench said.The Madras High Court has said RTI applicants must give reasons for seeking information as it gave relief to its Registry. However, the Legislature while passing the RTI Act has specially incorporated Section 6(2) which says an applicant making request for information "shall not" be required to give any reason for requesting the information. The Madras High Court order does not mention Section 6(2) of the Right to Information Act. "We should not be mistaken as if we are saying something against the intention of the Legislature. What we want to emphasise is that a Legislation, more particularly, the one on hand, must achieve the object, viz, concrete and effective functioning of the public authority with transparency and accountability by providing the information which are under the control of such public authorities," it said. Terming the order "illegal", senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan said it is against "letter and spirit" of the Act. "It's a self-serving order by the High Court in line with a number of earlier orders of High Courts and Supreme Court virtually preventing administrative transparency of the court," he said. (CNN IBN 21/9/14) RTI/RTS commissioners appointed as per rules, Harya na govt writes to governor (1) CHANDIGARH: Claiming that commissioners for right to information commission and right to service commission were appointed as per rules, Haryana government has submitted a report to governor Kaptan Singh Solanki. The government recently informed the Raj Bhawan that the appointments were made after necessary approval from the governor. However, sources said that the government is silent on some of the crucial aspects related to the issue. Amid controversy over the appointments, Solanki on August 1 had sought a report from Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led government. Hooda had administered oath to five commissioners hurriedly at his official residence on July 27 despite secretary of administrative reforms department Pradeep Kasni refusing to issue appointment letters to the new appointees, raising various objections on the process. Even after Solanki taking oath on the same day, Hooda had administered oath to them on the basis of authorization by outgoing governor Jagannath Pahadia. On the basis of same authorization from Pahadia, Hooda on August 1 administered oath to the outgoing chief secretary S C Choudhary as chief commissioner of right to service commission. "The government has not explained why no permission was sought from the new governor to administer oath to the chief commissioner of right to service commission even after five days tenure of Solanki. The oath to the commissioners was administered despite Pahadia not mentioning on file specifically about their

appointment orders. But the government did not explain this point also," sources said. When contacted for comments, chief secretary Shakuntla Jakhu just said they have sent the report to governor. Hooda has been claiming that the commissions had not been constituted in a hurry and that all members had been appointed in keeping with the constitutional norms. (Times of India 23/9/14) AAP sends RTI request to Madras High Court (1) Palakkad: A recent Madras High Court order insisting Right to Information (RTI) applicants to disclose the reason for seeking the information has received a different kind of response on Wednesday when 20 activists of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Palakkad sent requests to the Madras High Court seeking copies of the order under RTI Act. Further more, they mentioned the reason for seeking copies of the order under RTI Act as ‘‘to generate a debate in legal and social circles on the order as it violates the key fundamentals of the act passed by Parliament in 2005.’’ ‘‘The order has already sparked a debate with several legal experts and activists calling it an attempt to derail the RTI Act. Section 6(2) of the Act clearly says an applicant making request for information shall not be required to give any reason for requesting the information. This court order contradicts the very essence of the law,” said AAP State committee member S. Karthikeyan. The activists sent their requests from central post office here on Wednesday noon. District convener T. Venugopal was present on the occasion. (The Hindu 25/9/14) Govt sits on proposals for good governance (1) BHOPAL: Madha Pradesh government has been dithering on recommendations of 'Manthan 2009', an initiative chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for good governance and policy initiatives. Of the 850 odd recommendations for good governance proposed 300 are gaining dust for five years now. While the state government failed to act on recommendations made in the past, 'Manthan 2014' began at RCVP Noronha academy of administration here on Saturday. Documents procured under RTI Act by activist Ajay Dubey states a total of 964 such recommendations aimed at bringing good governance in state were made in 2009 of which 96 were rejected by the state government and of the remaining 878 government has failed to act on 338 till date. However, Chouhan said 'Manthan' held in year 2007 and 2009 has given better results and a lot of administrative changes have taken place on the recommendations made during these brainstorming. He termed it as attempt to improve governance and empower people of the state. "Manthan and programmes like these are just an eyewash if government is not determined to bring in transparency and a lot of public money is wasted on organizing them," Dubey said, adding, "All we demand from government is to make the expenditures made on organising past 'manthans' and this one, public on its website". (Times of India 28/9/14) CIC asks Tihar to make Afzal Guru's death warrant p ublic (1) NEW DELHI: The Central Information Commission has directed Tihar prison to make Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's death warrant public along with copies of communication sent to his family about the date of execution. Mohammad Afzal Guru was convicted for his role in the December 2001 terrorist attack on Parliament and hanged on February 9, 2013. The case was exceptional because he was the first Indian citizen to be hanged after nine years and only the second after Mumbai terror attack convict Ajmal Kasab. Information Commissioner M Sridhar Acharyulu said any RTI application (in this case seeking details of Afzal Guru's execution) cannot be rejected lock, stock and barrel without application of mind and citing exemption under Section 8 without justifying the defence. The commission directed the Tihar authorities to provide to RTI applicant Paras Nath Singh certified copy of death warrant for the execution of Guru. Singh had sought details of the death warrant and video recording of Guru's execution. The Tihar authorities refused to provide any information, saying it would endanger national security. "The commission observed that denying copy of death warrant, copy of communication sent to the family of Afzal Guru about execution is devoid of reason and thus arbitrary and unreasonable," Sridhar said. The Information Commissioner asked the Central Public Information Officer of Tihar how disclosure of death

warrant of Guru would endanger national security to which he said it might create a law and order situation and endanger lives of the people. The Tihar CPIO later agreed that endangering the nation is totally different from the possibility of creating law and order problem, the commission noted in his order. On the issue of sharing video recording of Guru's execution, the CPIO said he would have to check whether the execution was video recorded or not. "The commission agrees that seeking video recording of execution of Afzal and name of the officer who fixed the date of execution are hit by 8(1)(g) and even though the petitioner tried to prove public interest in this, it cannot be given as per the RTI Act," he said. Sridhar directed the CPIO to not give video recording of execution of Guru but inform the application whether there was a video recording or not. He also directed the authorities to withhold the name of official who fixed the date of execution as it could cause serious risk to the life of the officer. (Times of India 2/10/14) State Info Commission want errant PIOs blacklisted to stall promotions (1) BHOPAL: What's ironical about Right to Information Act in Madhya Pradesh is that public information officers guilty of stonewalling info and rendering the transparency tool toothless are often rewarded with promotions by the government. Their service records are shown as impeccable during promotions despite aberrations in dispensation of duty and fines slapped on them for concealing information under RTI. Now, the state information commission wants general administrative department (GAD) to fortify RTI Act by blacklisting public information officers (PIOs) penalised for denying information. "Their service records should be red-marked every time they misuse their powers. This will act as a huge deterrent to PIOs, who are undeterred by penalties. They will then think twice before denying information once their promotions are stalled," said an official at the state information commission. The commission penalizes at least 50 PIOs every month for refusing information to RTI applicants, but hefty penalty has not stopped their career graph from soaring. At least 400 PIOs, who were penalized, were promoted within a three-year span. Take the case in point of public information officer, Surendra Kumar Upadhyay, who was senior official with higher education department in February 2007. He was fined Rs 25,000 for denying information to an assistant professor of economics, S K Wagle, a resident of Dhar. Wagle had filed a RTI plea seeking information on authenticity of a letter issued by principal of government college of Kannod in Dewas district. The petitioner felt the signature on the letter was suspect and wanted an authorized copy. On being denied information by Upadhyay, he filed first and second appeals. But in the interim period, Surendra Kumar was promoted as CEO, Zila Panchayat, Bhopal. "He was elevated to IAS rank despite the fact the PIO was guilty of concealing information and was slapped with a penalty," said an officer with the information commission. If GAD fails to bring a law, information commissioners are planning to direct the administrative department of the errant public information officers to take disciplinary action against them under Section 2 of RTI Act. Speaking to TOI, information commissioner, Heeralal Trivedi said, "To protect transparency and accountability in RTI Act, we will take the strong step to direct the administration to include the penalty imposed on PIOs in their service record. If not imposed by GAD, I will myself direct the order in my next trial." "Nowadays, depositing a penalty of Rs 25,000 is not a big deal for PIOs. But by bringing a strong deterrent like blacklisting their service books will definitely set things right," said undersecretary, state information commissioner, Parag Karkare. (Times of India 6/10/14) Info panel defunct in absence of commissioners (1) JAIPUR: Even after a month of expiry since the deadline fixed by the Rajasthan high court for filling up all vacant positions of information commissioners in the state information commission to ensure speedy disposal of pending appeals nothing much has moved. The deadline expired on August 14. The Rajasthan Information Commission (RIC) just has a chief information commissioner but not a single information commissioner. The information Act prescribes a minimum of two and a maximum of 10 information commissioners in a state. Moreover, the Supreme Court recently made it mandatory for the information commission to hear appeals by at least a two-member bench. Hence, in the absence of

information commissioners, the commission has remained defunct. According to estimates, more than 12,000 second appeals are pending for hearing with the commission and the time period of appeals filed now is almost two years. The high court's orders were made on a petition filed by a resident of Jodhpur and RTI activist Dinesh Bothra. The petitioner said the state government has appointed only one chief information commissioner (CIC) in state, whereas the Act demands appointment a minimum of one and a maximum 10 information commissioners. Sources revealed that the government has received 119 applications for the post of information commissioners but the list of short listing of candidates by the committee comprising the chief minister, the leader of opposition and a cabinet minister is not yet done. "Transparency is a fading in the current government. It is carving out new laws and the Land Acquisition Bill is yet another step towards it but there is no transparency. Even the minimum wage for labourers that was to be raised has not happened till now," said Kamal Tak of the Rozgar Evum Suchna Ka Adhikar Abhiyan. Incidentally, Rajasthan was instrumental in bringing about the RTI Act in the country which has now become the biggest showpiece legislations of the UPA. But till the time the state puts its act together and appoints an information commissioner soon, it may well be justice delayed for many seeking justice under the Act. (Times of India 6/10/14) Over 500 in race for job of information commissione rs (1) NEW DELHI: Over 550 people including sitting and former bureaucrats are among the applicants for four vacant posts of information commissioners at the Central Information Commission. The list of applicants given in an RTI response includes former I&B secretary U K Varma, former textile secretary Zohra Chatterjee, former secretary in the department of personnel Shyamal Kumar Sarkar, former defence secretary Sangita Gairola, former secretary in social justice and empowerment ministry Stuti Narain Kacker, former road secretary Brahm Dutt, shipping secretary Vishwapati Trivedi, DD DG (news) Archana Dutta apart from lawyers, activists and others. Other bureaucrats who have applied include Railway Board chairman Arunendra Kumar, board member (mechanical) Alok Johri, former secretary in HRD Ashok Thakur, diplomats like Nagesha Rao Parthasarthy, Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty and Ashok Kumar Attri. Lt Gen (retd) Anil Chait, Lt Gen (retd) N C Marwah, former CRPF DG Vikram Srivastava also figure in the list which includes activists Girish Mittal and Varun Arya among others. The department of personnel and training disclosed this list in response to a RTI query by Lokesh Batra adding that 553 applicants applied for the post of information commissioners in the CIC. It said a search committee chaired by the cabinet secretary has been constituted to shortlist names for placing before the selection committee chaired by the Prime Minister. According to RTI Act, the CIC can have a chief information commissioner and 10 ICs whereas there are only seven ICs in the commission at present. The transparency panel became headless in July after the retirement of then chief Rajiv Mathur and no new appointment has been made since. (Times of India 9/10/14) RTI weakened by neglect, say activists (1) NEW DELHI: An independent assessment of the functioning of the Right to Information Act 2005 in the last two years in five States has found alarmingly high levels of pendency of appeals and several instances of violations of mandatory norms of pro-active disclosure under Section 4 of the RTI Act. Releasing the report, ‘People’s Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13’ on Friday, activists criticised the systematic weakening of the law in the study period. They pointed out that while previously three attempts to dilute the law by the central government through amendments in 2006, 2008, 2013, had failed following public outcry; the Act was now being weakened through neglect of important appointments and lack of provisions of resources at State level. “The Central Chief Information Commission is headless since no chief has been appointed since August when the post fell vacant. This will increase the already massive pendency of over 25,000 cases. The delay in this appointment raises issues about the legal validity of orders passed in the interim,” said Anjali Bhardwaj, Coordinator of the study done by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group and Samya-Centre for Equity Studies and member,

National Campaign for People’s Right to Information.With delays in disposal of cases and information commissions working at less than required strength, there is increasing pendency of cases in many states. The study calculated that given the existing backlogs, if an applicant filed an application in Madhya Pradesh Information Commission which had disposed only 6 percent cases , the hearing would be expected to come up for hearing in 60 years. The same number for West Bengal was calculated at 18 years. Nearly two thirds of the RTI applications in the sample were found to be seeking information that should have been proactively made public under section 4 of the RTI Act. “Despite a strong provision for pro active disclosure under section 4, there is poor compliance as authorities do not put up boards with required proactive disclosures or make available publications in their offices which citizens could inspect to access information on public issues,” said Shekhar Singh, the study's coordinator. The researchers who relied on over 800 RTI applications to various information commissioners, inspections, interviews, group discussions, found several states commissions had not published mandatory annual reports on RTI implementation since over five years. An assessment by the activists in 2009 had found better implementation as well as high awareness levels on the Act, especially in rural areas. (The Hindu 11/10/14) 15,500 sign petition to urge PM Modi to name CIC (1 ) NEW DELHI: For the first time in 10 years of the RTI act the Central Information Commission (CIC) is headless after the retirement of chief information commissioner Rajiv Mathur on August 22. A petition urging PM Narendra Modi to appoint the CIC has gained some traction garnering over 15,500 signatures in the last few weeks. The delay in appointing a new chief is severely hampering the working of the commission. Not only is there a huge backlog with close to 25,000 appeals and complaints pending, but the commission's orders can be challenged in a court in the absence of the chief. The petition initiated by National Campaign for People's Right to Information ( NCPRI)'s Nikhil Dey, Anjali Bharadwaj and Amrita Johri points out, "This ever-increasing backlog of cases challenges the citizen's fundamental Right to Information and creates roadblocks in fighting corruption, big and small. PM Modi, you have often stressed on 'anti-corruption' and 'quest for transparency' as the driving forces of your good governance program. How can then such a key institution to fight corruption remain rudderless?" Demanding that the position be filled immediately Bharadwaj said, that according to media reports, the delay in appointing a new chief is because there is no leader of opposition. However, the RTI Act clearly states that in the absence of a leader of opposition, the leader of the single largest opposition party should be part of the committee to appoint the new chief. (Times of India 12/10/14) Over 150 activists gather in city, celebrate 10 yrs of RTI (1) COIMBATORE: More than 150 RTI activists from Coimbatore district gathered in the city to celebrate the beginning of the tenth year of the RTI Act. Many shared their stories and a few even raised questions regarding the Act. Several activists had travelled from Pollachi, Tirupur and Ooty as well for the meeting. "The meeting which should have been held by the government is being held by us," said V Easwaran, MDMK, Youth Wing, State Secretary. Bhaskaran, an eminent RTI activist from Pollachi was felicitated at the meeting for his commendable contribution to society through the Act. He has been using it since its inception in 2005. "This Act allows the public immense power but few people recognize its true potential," said Bhaskaran. In 2007, an old woman had approached him for help after postal department officials refused to release her son's insurance money. "Her son, who had died in 2007, had taken out an insurance policy in 2002. The officials not only refused to give her the money but also insulted her saying that she was more interested in the money than her son," said Bhaskaran. He filed several RTIs asking for information and also appealed to the higher authorities using RTI. "Within 19 days she received the insurance amount. That is the power of the Act," he said. Other activists shared similar stories. "Often, we don't get appropriate answers. Sometimes, it takes a while before we get any response from them. Just as we organize meetings, the relevant officials also hold meetings trying to figure out how to avoid giving

the requested information," said M R Krishnamurthy. Many said the student community needs to be made aware of the power of the RTI and should be included in the crusade. "The present corrupt system and fast life has made the students completely unaware of their rights and responsibilities. But if they start questioning the government, many changes will happen," said Thiyagarajan, RTI activist. "Illegal encroachments, official negligence, land grab cases and other corruption cases have been brought to light by activists through the RTI," said V Easwaran. Even though several people who were in politics were present at the meeting, the activists wanted the meeting to be devoid of any political intentions. "We wanted to make sure that this doesn't have any political intent and all common men participate in it to use the act in a better manner," said Manoj Arun, RTI activist. (Times of India 13/10/14) Do not file RTI to know results: UPSC to candidates (1) New Delhi: The Union Public Service Commission has advised candidates not to file RTI applications to know results of civil services preliminary examination. "The Commission puts up the mark sheets of all candidates who takes the civil services examination. Despite this, candidates file RTI applications to know their results. We have been informing them that mark sheets will be uploaded on our website once the entire selection procedure of this year's exam gets over," a senior official of the UPSC said. The results of civil services preliminary examination, 2014 were declared yesterday by the UPSC. "Candidates are also informed that marks, cut-off marks and answer keys of civil services (preliminary) examination 2014 will be provided only after the entire process of the civil services examination, 2014, is over i.e. after the declaration of the final result." "Therefore, no application under RTI Act, 2005 or otherwise will be entertained in this regard," the UPSC has said in a statement. As many as 16,933 candidates have qualified in the civil services preliminary examination. A total of 4,52,334 candidates have taken the test held on August 24 at 2,137 venues across 59 cities in the country. The civil services examination is conducted in three stages -- preliminary, main and interview -- to select candidates for prestigious Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) among others. (Zee News 15/10/14) ‘Commission is acting against the spirit of RTI’ ( 1) GULBARGA: Senior Right to Information (RTI) activists have charged the Karnataka Information Commission (KIC) with acting against the letter and spirit of the RTI Act, 2005 by delaying the process of hearing of the petitions, filed by people seeking action, against those who denied information sought by the general public. The RTI activists under the banner of newly formed organisation Paradarshikate (Transparency), in a letter addressed to the Governor Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala, and submitted to the Deputy Commissioner in Gulbarga on Wednesday, said it was highly regrettable that the complaint or appeal filed before the KIC wass taken up for the first hearing after a period eight months to one year. The signatories to the memorandum included former registrar of the Karnataka State Law University K.S. Bagale, who is the secretary of the organisation, and president Deepak G. Gala. They said that the Commissioners were not following set procedures for hearing the complaints, appeals and to adjourn the cases. Seeking the intervention of the Governor to put back the functioning of the KIC on the rails, they said there is no uniformity in hearing the number of cases per day. (The Hindu 16/10/14) 13 parties’ tax-free income Rs 1,381cr in 2 yrs (1) NEW DELHI: The tax-exempted income of 13 major political parties of the country, in last two years, amounts to Rs 1,381 crore, according to an RTI reply. Of this, Congress and BJP have cornered around 80%.During 2012-13 and 2013-14, Congress had a tax-exempted income of Rs 743.76 crore and BJP had Rs 338.95 crore. Congress in 2012-13 had income worth Rs 318.08 crore whereas the amount rose to Rs 425.68 crore in 2013-14, BJP though had an income of Rs 17.42 crore in 2012-13 and it was Rs 321.53 crore for 2013-14. According to the income tax department, SP's Rs 164 crore was tax-exempted, whereas BSP had registered Rs 20.76 crore for the same period as exempted. Among other parties,

CPI(M) registered an income of Rs 92.90 crore, CPI Rs 2.62 crore, JD(U) Rs 13 crore and RLD Rs 4.48 crore, it said. RJD in 2013-14 had a tax-exempted income of Rs 41,411. Political parties are exempted from tax on income through section 13 A of IT Act 1961. They have to, however, maintain a book of account for donations or income above Rs 20,000. (Times of India 20/10/14) Ministries to put up RTI replies online from Oct 31 (1) NEW DELHI: Taking transparency to another level, the government on Tuesday directed all its ministries and departments to suo motu display RTI applications and responses thereof, on their respective websites from October 31. However, the DoPT instructions in this regard do leave scope for withholding RTI replies that contain personal information relating to an individual. "It may be noted that RTI applications and appeals received and their responses relating to the personal information of an individual may not be disclosed if they do not serve any public interest," said the DoPT note circulated to all Union ministries and departments on Tuesday. To facilitate uploading of RTI applications and appeals received and their responses on the website, a new feature has been added to the CPIO/FAA module on the 'RTI Online' portal on pilot basis for DoPT. Through this feature, an option is given to the central public information officers (CPIO) and first appellate authority (FAA) to upload the reply to RTI query and the first appeal respectively on to the department's website. This particular feature will now be extended to other ministries and departments as well. To display the RTI applications received in the ministry/department and the reply given using this feature, web services will be provided through a URL to each ministry or department by NIC or DoPT. "The concerned ministry/department needs to consume this web service (by writing a program) to display the desired contest on its respective website," the DoPT note said while asking the ministries and departments to take the help of NIC or DoPT experts in this regard. "An immediate action is requested so that the facility to upload the reply to RTI application and first appeal respectively on the website of the respective ministry/department may be started with effect from October 31, 2014," directed the DoPT. (Times of India 22/10/14) From Oct 31, get RTI replies online (1) New Delhi: The Centre, in an attempt to achieve better transparency in governance, has directed all its ministries and departments to post responses to RTI applications on their websites. So far, only the RTI applicant seeking information from a ministry or any other office used to get the reply through post. The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has issued an official memorandum recently directing all ministries and departments to take immediate action to ensure uploading of responses to RTI applications and first appeal on their websites starting on October 31. The DoPT,which issued the guidelines in April last year, has reminded the departments that the public authorities are obliged to proactively disclose RTI applications and appeals received by them and their responses on their websites. However, it added, the RTI applications and appeals received and their responses relating to the personal information of an individual may not be disclosed, if they do not serve any public interest. The DoPT has already initiated the process of uploading RTI responses on the RTI online portal through a new feature which is being extended to other ministries and departments. For displaying the RTI applications and replies, an option is provided to the Central Public Information Officers (CPIO) and First Appellate Authority (FAA) to upload these information. (Deccan Herald 24/10/14) 401 LS members yet to declare assets details (1) New Delhi: Over 400 incumbent Lok Sabha members, including Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Lal Krishna Advani and Rajnath Singh, have not yet declared their assets and liability details, according to an RTI reply. Lok Sabha Secretariat said in an RTI query said the assets details of 401 members of Lok Sabha are still awaited. According to the Members of the Lok Sabha Declaration of Assets Rules 2004, a member is supposed to declare his assets within 90 days of taking oath. The Lok Sabha MPs who have not yet submitted the assets and liability details include Union ministers Sushma Swaraj, Uma Bharti,

Nitin Gadkari, and SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav. Lok Sabha Secretariat said no communication in this regard was sent to the members until September 26, when the RTI was received. According to the RTI reply, there are 209 BJP MPs who have not yet submitted their details. There are 31 members from Congress, 27 from TMC, 18 frm BJD, 15 from Shiv Sena, 14 from TDP, nine from AIADMK and eight from TRS. Seven members are from YSR Congress, six from Lok Janshakti Party and four from NCP, CPI(M) and SP each, three members from Akali Dal, RJD, and AAP each, and two each from JD(U) and Apna Dal. Action against the members who have not submitted their asset details are taken under the Assets and Liability Declaration Rules 2004, Provisions 5 and 6, and the Representation of the People Act 1951, Section 75(A). Other MPs who have not yet submitted their details include Union minister Harsh Vardhan, Radha Mohan Singh, Anant Geete, Anant Kumar, Ramvilas Paswan, Capt Amarinder Singh, Veerappa Moily, Mehbooba Mufti, Upendra Kushwaha, Kiren Rijiju and Supriya Sule. (Hindustan Times 26/10/14) Women make up just 9% of RTI applicants (1) Mumbai: A compilation of the data of RTI applications filed online has found that it is a male-dominated area as 91 per cent applicants were men and only nine per cent were women. Experts said as it involved writing and paperwork, women were not turning up in large numbers. The facility of filing RTI applications online was started in August 2013 for only central government establishments. Figures obtained from Department of Personnel and Training through an RTI application shows that numbers of applicants are dwindling. In August 2013, when the online facility was launched, 7,734 men and 489 women filed online applications. In August 2014, 6,993 men and 676 women filed online applications. In last 14 months, since online facility has been launched, a total of 1,08,306 men (91 per cent) and 10,353 (nine per cent) women have filed applications online. C.J. Karira, an activist, said, “Women have always been shy of those fields that involves interactions especially with government bodies. The nine per cent women are those who have filed application in ration card offices or hospitals and it may be personal.” Mr Karira said he was trying to encourage women to file RTI applications. A recent study had shown that there were only seven per cent women applicants in the country. Hence, women have bettered in online filed at least. Aftab Siddiqui, a city based woman RTI activist, said, “Women are genuine RTI applicants while I know of men who file 25 queries, most not related directly to them. I would say such men are defeating the purpose of RTI, while women applicants are choosy and focused. That is why women are in fewer number in this field.” Maharashtra is at third position in filing RTI applications (11,776) online while Delhi (21,528) and Uttar Pradesh (14,354) occupy first and second position. .. (Asian Age 28/10/14) ‘Poor using RTI to get things done’ (1) NELLORE: In the findings of a field-level research, two Yale University scholars reported that a poor person in a Delhi slum had to make use of the Right to Information Act, 2005, to get a ration card without paying any bribe. At the same time, he was not the person to get this service faster as his fellow resident got it more quickly just because he paid a bribe to the authorities concerned. Thus it came to the notice of the Central Information Commission (CIC) that there were countless instances in which the common man was receiving deserving services by making a simple Rs. 10 worth query under the RTI Act. “Asking questions is an art. One should do thorough research before posing the question as any small mistake would lead to denial of right sort of information,” said Central Information Commissioner Madabhushi Sridhar. He addressed a gathering of UNESCO clubs representatives who arrived from different parts of the country to attend a training programme organised at the Vikrama Simhapuri University (VSU). Referring to the instance of Yale University scholars, Mr. Sridhar said that the applications made for issue of ration cards in the normal process were completely ignored by the authorities. When such genuine attempts failed in getting a government benefit, people could effectively use the RTI Act to mount pressure on the issuing authorities and resolve their problem accordingly, he added. Stating that questions concerning emotions and policy matters would not come under the purview of RTI Act, Mr. Sridhar clarified that public interest should remain the sole objective of an RTI query or else the

information being sought could be made public without causing harm to personal safety of the people concerned. He informed that a woman, who was kept in the dark by her husband about his place of new posting in a public sector undertaking, could get the details by making use of RTI provisions. At first, the officials ignored her plea for giving details but they quickly fell in line after the RTI query was made. Mr. Sridhar said that in a recent instance, the CIC had made it clear that information about salary of an employee could be shared. This came as a big relief to the management of the APSRTC as they were receiving many submissions from wives seeking to know salary of their spouses who, on the other hand, were insisting on keeping it a secret. (The Hindu 2/11/14) Panchayat members looted Rs 1.90cr, reveals RTI (1) COIMBATORE: The panchayat authorities in Nilambur were not only looting the government exchequer by producing forged bills and unnecessary expenditure, but were also siphoning off panchayat funds under the name of fake contractors. RTI replies obtained by a social activist has revealed that five contractors were granted contract to carry out non-existent projects by Nilambur panchayat. By claiming Rs 9.09 lakh just for repair work of street lights to claiming salaries for bogus workers, the panchayat president, vice-president and another staff have allegedly siphoned off funds to the tune of Rs 1.90 crore. According to panchayat records, the civic body had paid money to Sri Ram Engineering Works, Charu Engineering from Tirupur, Sri Palani Andavar Earth Movers and Suganthi Traders in Coimbatore. But these contractors are not officially authorized to carry out projects in the panchayat. K Ramamoorthy, the RTI activist, who brought out the irregularities alleged that these companies don't exist at all as there was no TIN number in the bills, which is mandatory. ''The authorities were also supposed to issue crossed cheques for payment to the contractors. But the panchayat had issued ordinary cheques. Bank records also reveal that the cheques were encashed in Nilambur instead of Tirupur ot Coimbatore where they said to be registered,'' Ramamoorthy said. The RTI reply by a block development officer, Sulur, has revealed that there are 30 registered contractors authorized to carry out projects in Nilambur. ''But none of these contractors were granted contract,'' Ramamoorthy said citing RTI replies. Yet another glaring example of irregularities in the panchayat was awarding contract much after the work was completed. An inspection by the district administration revealed that tenders for a storm water drain project were invited on July 16, 2012 and the last date for bidding was July 20. But the report by the inspection team submitted to the district administration found out that work orders were issued on July 10 itself. The RTI replies revealed that the panchayat had spent Rs 85,000 every month for purchasing bleaching powder and labour salaries that were claimed for 20 people when actually only 10 were employed. Insecticides worth 67 thousand was bought from three different companies in Gandhipuram, R S Puram and Thudiyalur but the cheque was issued to just one company. Collector Archana Patnaik said she would take action against the accused. ''We have issued a show cause notice to the panchayat president under Tamilnadu Panchayat Act. We will initiate action soon,'' she said. (Times of India 6/11/14) CBI probes Air India's 68 Boeing aircraft order (1) Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing Air India's purchase of 68 Boeing planes, the civil aviation ministry has said in a Right to Information (RTI) Act response. Air India had placed an order for 68 aircraft, including Boeing 737s, 777s and 787s, all valued at $11 billion in December 2005. While the then-civil aviation minister Praful Patel has denied any wrongdoing and said the decision to order 68 planes was approved by an empowered group of ministers and later by the Union Cabinet, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its 2011 report faulted the purchase as it had a significant impact on the airline's financial health. The CBI probe into the purchase of aircraft has come to light after Air India's former executive director Jitender Bhargava wrote to the civil aviation ministry seeking files on the aircraft order. In a response to Bhargava's RTI request, the civil aviation ministry on October 31 replied that the case was under CBI investigation and the CBI had informed that the disclosure of information may impede the process of investigation. Initially the Air India board had proposed the

acquisition of 28 planes but the decision was revised and the order size increased. CAG had also questioned the hurry in placing the order for 68 planes. In its report, CAG said Air India was advised to revisit its proposal by the ministry into expanding its requirement of aircraft. Whilst the earlier proposal for 28 aircraft had taken two years (January 2002 to January 2004) to prepare and submit, the revised long-term fleet for the 50-aircraft plan was completed in four months (from August to November 2004)… (Business Standard 8/11/14) Initiative to give more power to RTI (1) Mumbai: A national-level initiative has been undertaken to impart more teeth to the RTI Act and provide legal assistance to RTI users and activists. Twenty-four units have been set up across the country, including two in Maharashtra (one in Mumbai and one in Nagpur) by Supreme Court lawyer and head of Human Rights Law Networks (HRLN), Colin Gonsalves, to offer services to RTI users free of charge. Advocate Kranti L.C. in Mumbai and Advocate Nihalsingh Rathod in Nagpur have been roped in to offer free services as part of this initiative. According to the former Central Information Commissioner, who pioneered setting up of the Mumbai unit, legal help available to RTI users and activists will address two major problems — threats and attacks while trying to challenge corruption and illegalities and the staying of significant orders from information commissions by courts. An RTI activist said, “Most RTI users do not have the resources to fight the stays that continue and information never gets revealed, or cases are lost since arguments for disclosure and upholding the decisions of the information commission are never made before the courts.” Another said, “This is a great step and opportunity for everyone in the country. This can help us strengthen the Right to Information Act and our democracy.” (Asian Age 9/11/14) No need for model format for replying to RTI query: Govt panel (1) New Delhi: A government-appointed committee has rejected the need for having a standard format for replying to applications filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. It also suggested that Central Public Information Officers (CPIOs), who replies to RTI queries, should mention email ID and telephone numbers among others mandatorily while answering the applications. A three-member committee was recently formed by the government to evolve model format for RTI replies, comprising one representatives each from Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), nodal department to see implementation of the transparency law, Ministry of Home Affairs and Central Information Commission. During its meeting held late last month, the Committee observed that there is neither any provision in the RTI Act or rules for a model or standard format of filing application or replies. "There should not be a model or standard format for reply to the RTI application, as there is no such provision in the RTI Act or the RTI rules," the panel said in its report submitted to the DoPT. However, the panel suggested certain mandatory points for adherence by the CPIOs. "The name, designation, official telephone no and email ID of the CPIOs should be clearly mentioned (in the RTI replies). In case the information requested for is denied, reasons for denial quoting the relevant sections of the RTI Act should be clearly mentioned," it suggested. In case the information pertains to other public authority and the application is transferred, details of the public authority to whom the application is transferred should be given, the panel said. In the concluding para of the reply, there should be clearly mentioned that the First Appeal, if any, against the reply of the CPIO may be made to the First Appellate Authority within 30 days of receipt of reply of CPIO. "The name, designation, address, official telephone no and e-mail ID of the First Appellate Authority should also be clearly mentioned," it said. Wherever the applicant has requested for certified copies of the documents or records, the CPIO should certify the documents or records by putting a seal of his name, designation and signing with date. "Above the seal, the remarks that 'documents/records provided under the RTI Act' should be endorsed," the panel has suggested. The DoPT will issue necessary guidelines on the basis of the committee's recommendation. (Zee News 11/11/14) Don't decide RTI appeals without hearing applicants : CIC (1)

New Delhi: Deciding first appeals against RTI replies without hearing the appellant by a public authority is illegal, the Central Information Commission has said in its order against the Law Ministry. Under the Right to Information Act, an appellant gets a chance to appeal twice against the order of the Central Public Information Officer who receives and answers the application. The First Appeal is filed before an officer, senior to CPIO, within the department where application is filed. The Second appeal is filed before the Central Information Commission. It is a common practice that at the First Appeal stage, public authorities do not invite applicants for hearing and decide the case on the basis of appeal filed by them. The order of Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu may help in curbing the practice of deciding the first appeals without giving a chance to the applicant to explain himself during the hearing. The case relates to number of RTI applications filed by activist R K Jain from the Law Ministry. "Passing orders in first appeal without hearing or sending hearing notice is illegal and will render the order invalid. The Commission sets aside the order of First Appellate Authority for violating RTI Act and breach of natural justice by denying the appellant a chance of presenting his case and by raising entirely a new defence which was never claimed," Acharyulu said in the order. He said, "It deserves action though the concerned officer retired from service and recommends Public Authority to initiate disciplinary action against the concerned FAO for acting totally against the RTI Act in this case". (Zee News 13/11/14) UP officers fined for not providing information und er RTI (1) Lucknow: A fine of Rs 25,000 each was imposed on 50 officers of various departments on charges of not providing information sought under the Right to Information Act. Taking serious note of not providing information sought under RTI, the Uttar Pradesh State Information Commission has imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 each on 50 officers of various departments, an official release said here. During the meeting chaired by Information Commissioner Hafiz Usman, directives were also issued to take departmental action against some officers, it said. The commission issued notice of disciplinary action against Divisional Commissioner of Faizabad Vishal Chauhan and issued order of personal appearance on January 30. (Zee News 15/11/14) Tihar averse to sharing Guru info, to move High Cou rt (1) New Delhi: The Tihar prison authority decided to challenge the Central Information Commission order before the Delhi high court to disclose the document related to Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru’s hanging. The prison authority decision to challenge the CIC records of Guru’s hanging are unlikely to be made public soon. A communication in this regard has been sent to Aligarh-based RTI applicant Paras Nath Singh by director general of prisons at Tihar. “It is informed that prison department is going to file an appeal before the high court of Delhi against the decision of CIC,” said law officer (Prisons), Sunil Kumar. On September 26, information commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu had directed the Tihar authorities to make public specific records related to the execution of Guru. The commissioner had given 10 days to the authorities to comply with the order. According to the legal position, Tihar authorities should have either procured a stay from the high court through a writ petition or provided the information. The CIC had directed the country’s largest prison to make public Guru’s death warrant along with copies of communication sent to his family informing about the date of execution. (Asian Age 17/11/14) 74% accounts in Jan Dhan Yojana are with zero balan ce (1) New Delhi: Around Rs 5,400 crore have been deposited in banks in over seven crore bank accounts opened under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana of which 74% accounts are with zero balance, according to an RTI reply. The data provided by Department of Financial Services says that as on November 7, 2014 a total of 7.1 crore bank accounts have been opened of which 5.3 crore were accounts with 'Zero balance'. The reply provided to activist Subhash Agrawal said as on November 7, the total balance in these accounts was Rs 5,482 crore. Majority of these accounts, over 4.2 crore, have been opened in rural areas, whereas in urban areas 2.9 crore have been opened. The highest number of accounts, under the

scheme, have been opened by State Bank of India which started over 1.2 crore new accounts followed by Bank of Baroda which opened 38 lakh accounts and Canara Bank 37 lakh accounts, it said. PMJDY is national mission for financial inclusion to ensure access to financial services, namely, banking and savings and deposit accounts, remittance, credit, insurance, pension in an affordable manner. It focuses on coverage of households as against the earlier plan which focused on coverage of villages. An overdraft facility upto Rs 5,000 would be available to one account holder of PMJDY per household after six months of satisfactory conduct of the account. (Business Standard 18/11/14) Depts ignoring DoPT rules in RTI matters: notice is sued (1) New Delhi: Even nine years after enactment of the Right to Information Act, officials have been found to be rejecting applications with fee drawn in favour of 'Accounts Officer' as mandated by the Central Government. Taking a stern view against the practice, the Central Information Commission recently issued a show-cause notice to the Delhi Government for rejecting an RTI application on the grounds it was drawn in favour of "Accounts Officer" and not in favour of "Executive Engineer" as per their internal rules. This is not the only case where application has been rejected. In a number of cases, public authorities like Army and Indian Air Force demand fee drawn as per their rules and do not follow the DoPT norms. The application sought details of MPLAD funds and their expenses during the last five years on flood control measures. It was returned by the Irrigation Department claiming that name of the payee was wrong on the fee submitted by the applicant. "The Commission directs Rajesh Singh, Executive Engineer: Civil Division:IV to show cause as to why penalty u/s 20 should not be imposed upon him for not accepting the IPO in the name of the Accounts Officer despite clear instructions from DoPT. "He is directed to submit his response so as to reach the Commission within three weeks of receipt of this order," Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu said. If the officer fails to explain the reason for rejecting the application, the Commission may penalise him at the rate of Rs 250 per day from the day the application was filed subject to a maximum penalty of Rs 25,000. He also directed the PIO to ensure that while responding to the RTI application, the PIO should ensure that reference date is mentioned so that appellants do not find it difficult to link it to their RTI application. "Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has repeatedly reminded public authorities to accept all payments under RTI Act made in 'Accounts Officer'. But difficulties are being faced by RTI petitioners because of public authorities not complying with DoPT circulars," RTI applicant Subhash Agrawal said. (Business Standard 20/11/14) 55 info officers to be fined Rs 25,000 each (1) MEERUT: State Information Commissioner (SIC)Rajkeshvar Singh, on a visit to Meerut on Saturday, instructed the district magistrate to penalise 55 information officers from different departments with a penalty of Rs 25,000 each. The SIC was in the city to address a meeting of officials on the Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005. On getting to know that there were as many as 832 RTI applications pending in Meerut, the official said those responsible for the large pendency - and Meerut has the dubious distinction of being the district with the largest pendency of RTI applications in the state - should be penalised. Chaudhary Charan Singh University accounts for 116 of the pending RTI applications. The SIC asked the district magistrate to recover Rs 13,75,000 from the 55 information officers who showed laxity in responding to RTI applicants. He directed all departments to dispose of pending applications in a period of one or two months. Addressing the media, he said, "Awareness of RTI Act is a big reason of the increasing pendency. Information officers are not intentionally showing laxity. This is the system. It is not so perfect. Under the law, information must be provided in 30 days." The SIC explained that departments that have the largest public dealings also have the highest pendency. "Following the CCSU, the revenue department is at second position, having 100 pending cases. Power Corporation and Meerut Development Authority have 60 and 54 pending applications respectively." Asked about threats to RTI applicants, the SIC said, "The protection of RTI activists is not in the hands of the Information Commission. It is the responsibility of police and district administration." He urged citizens to refrain from

misusing the RTI Act. If bizarre information is sought, it takes up time and energy that could be better spent elsewhere, he said. "Information on a private person cannot be provided. Information that affects business interests is also not given. There is a provision to consider the needs of secrecy," the SIC explained. A special hearing of RTI applications is scheduled in Lucknow on December 27. RTI applications that pertain to the Meerut Development Authority and the city municipal corporation will be heard on January 17 next year. (Times of India 22/11/14) PM Modi's wife Jashodaben files RTI on her security cover (1) Mehsana: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's wife Jashodaben has filed an RTI application with Mehsana police to seek clarity on security cover given to her and wanted to know what she is entitled to. Mehsana Superintendent of Police(SP) J R Mothalia said that Jashodaben wants to know what are her rights as PM's wife as far as the security aspect is concerned. "Today, she came to our office and filed an RTI to know about her rights as PM's wife with regard to security cover. We will give our written reply to her in stipulated time," said Mothalia. Jashodaben lives with her brother Ashok Modi at Unjha town of Mehsana district. After Modi was sworn-in as PM, she has been given security by Mehasana police. "We have deployed ten of our policemen, including armed guards, for her security. They work in two shifts, five each in one shift." said Police Inspector of Mehsana Special Operations Group(SOG) J S Chavda. In her application, Jashodaben sought several documents from the police department related to her security cover given as per the protocol, including the certified copy of actual order passed by government about providing security. She also wanted to know the laws and related provisions in Indian Constitution about security cover given to a PM's wife. She asked the government to explain the definition of protocol and sought details about what is included under it and what other benefits she is entitled for as per that protocol. She also expressed unhappiness about the current security set-up, where her guards travel in government vehicles like car, while despite being a PM's wife she has to travel in public transport. Jashodaben noted that late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was killed by her own bodyguards and that she felt scared of her guards. She asked the government to make it compulsory for each guard to produce copy of deployment order. (Business Standard 25/11/14) Govt ignoring monthly reports: RTI (1) What's the best way to ensure your government works? The answer may lie in the monthly summaries that every ministry and department must submit to the cabinet secretariat on the work they've been doing. But when transparency activist Venkatesh Nayak attempted to obtain reports for 27 departments under 10 ministries through the Right to Information Act, only six replied in full. More than half didn't bother writing back at all. And some replied without giving him the information. Nayak, programme coordinator with Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, is now set to petition the government to disclose these monthly summaries on all ministry and department websites. Filing monthly summaries is mandatory under the 'Rules of procedure in regard to proceedings of the cabinet,' a manual compiled in 1987 which itself was kept secret until Nayak battled the administration through RTI in order to get hold of a copy. Nayak filed an RTI query in August this year, asking for monthly summaries for departments under key ministries such as home, finance, defence, external affairs, social justice and water resources. While Nayak received the maximum number of replies from departments under the ministry of finance, his applications were rejected by the ministry of defence. The department of defence under the ministry of defence rejected the RTI application to provide monthly reports on the grounds that it was exempt from disclosing information under section 8 (1) (a) of the RTI act, dealing with national security. "This is a complete misreading of the clause. Information is exempt only if disclosure will affect national security. The department did not bother to explain how the entire monthly summary attracts this provision," says Nayak. Ironically the department of personnel and training, which looks after the implementation of the RTI and the Lokpal Act, did not reply to the RTI query on monthly submissions. Strangely, while Nayak did not receive any information from the departments of disinvestment and financial services under the

ministry of finance, sister departments such as expenditure, revenue and economic affairs were prompt with their response. "One of the reasons for what was believed to be policy paralysis under the previous government may have been a lack of adequate monitoring of the work that each department did. If a report does not come at all, or a report with the word 'nil' is filed, how will the cabinet secretariat or the prime minister even get to know if work is progressing well or has slowed down?" asks Nayak. (Times of India 27/11/14) U-turn: BJP govt won't make Netaji files public (1) NEW DELHI: The BJP-led government has declined to make public nearly 39 classified files on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in sharp contrast to the demands of disclosure raised by its senior leaders when in opposition. In January, when the Lok Sabha election campaign was at its peak, the then BJP president Rajnath Singh, during a visit to Cuttack — the birthplace of Netaji — on the occasion of his 117th birth anniversary, had demanded that the UPA government make public the records related to the freedom fighter. Singh is now the home minister. The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in a recent RTI reply accepted that there were 41 files related to Bose, of which two had been declassified, but refused to disclose them, taking a position similar to that of the erstwhile Congress-led UPA government. "Disclosure of documents contained in these files would prejudicially affect relations with foreign countries. As such, these files are exempted from disclosure under Section 8(1)(a) read with Section 8(2) of the Right to Information Act," the PMO said in its reply to RTI activist Subhash Agrawal. Singh had claimed during the election campaign that there was larger public interest in the disclosure of the documents, but the PMO under Modi seems not to be in agreement as is evident from the reply which considered the larger public interest disclosure clause — Section 8(2) — of the RTI Act — but chose to withhold the documents. (Times of India 1/12/14) How to File An RTI Application Online (1) With more and more Indians connecting to the Internet, it's no surprise that many of our government agencies are also going online. Because of this it's easier than ever to do things like apply for a passport or get a copy of your Aadhaar card. Since these digital services are new, people don't always know how to make use of them, but we're here to help. This week, we're going to show you how to file a Right to Information (RTI) application online. The Right to Information Act 2005 makes it mandatory for the Indian government to issue a timely response to citizens' requests for information in the public domain. Filing an RTI application is a very simple process unlike most other requests to the government. You can easily file an RTI application online, but you need to know a few details to do so. For one thing, you can't file an RTI application for certain kinds of information such as matters concerning national security or if the data you seek could compromise someone's safety or privacy. You can find the full list of information you can't request here. The Right to Information is powerful, and these restrictions are in place to ensure that it isn't misused. The other important thing about filing an RTI plea online is that you need to submit it to the correct authorities. There are different RTI authorities for Central and state governments, and you will have to send your query to the correct department as well. RTI applications for State Authorities will be rejected, but according to the website, if your application is sent to the wrong Public authority in the Central government, it can be transferred to the correct authority by the nodal officer. The full government guide to RTI is available here. The following steps will tell you how to file an RTI plea online in just few minutes This guide focuses on sending an RTI application to Central government bodies. Not all state government bodies let you file an RTI application online yet - on most of the state's sites, you can just download the forms. Here's how to file the application with the Central Government. 1. Go to the RTI website and click on Submit Request. Alternatively, click to go to the RTI application page, here. 2. Check I have read and understood the above guidelines and click Submit. You can now begin filling in the form for submitting an RTI application. Pick the correct Ministry and department and fill in your contact details. You have to enter your email id to complete the application, but if you want SMS alerts about the status of

your application, then you can also enter your mobile phone number. If you don't know the public authority to file your application with, use the search bar on top - it will help choose the ministry/ department and public authority. 3. You have to fill the entire form - so for example, even if you are not below the poverty line, you need to choose the correct option from the drop down menu. Click the menu, and select No (or Yes, if applicable - this waives the fee for submitting the plea). 4. Next to Text for RTI Request application, you can write your RTI request. This form limits you to 3,000 characters. 5. If your request exceeds 3,000 characters, or if you need to submit documents to support the application, click Choose File next to Supporting document. You can upload a pdf file up to 1MB in size with your plea. 6. Enter the characters in the image next to Enter security code. 7. Click Submit. 8. The fee for submitting an RTI application is Rs. 10. You can pay that via credit/debit card or net banking on the next page. 9. Once you've paid, you will be shown an acknowledgement with a unique registration number for your RTI plea. This will be sent to you via SMS and email as well. 10. You can check the status of your RTI application on this page. (NDTV 3/12/14) RTS topmost on Fadnavis’ priority list (1) Mumbai: After the Employment Guarantee Scheme and the Right to Information Act, Maharashtra will set up the new Right to Service (RTS) Act. The Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government has prioritised RTS legislation which if implemented will ensure that work is done at government offices within a stipulated period. Across the country, 19 states already have the Guarantee to Services Act, Madhya Pradesh being the first to implement it, followed by Bihar. Mr Fadnavis tabled the non-governmental bill of RTS in November 2011 when he was in the Opposition. If the bill is passed in both Houses of the state legislature, the beneficiary or applicant will get the documents concerned and certificates within a certain period.If the officer concerned fails to provide a certain certificate within a stipulated period, the applicant can appeal at first or second appellate authority within 30 days. If the appellate authority is of the opinion that the lower level officer failed to provide the service, he could be charged a penalty from Rs 500 to Rs 5,000, the bill has suggested. “If the RTS Act is implemented in the state, disciplinary action can be initiated against the officer responsible for any delay in services,” said a senior official from the law and judiciary department on condition of anonymity. Mr Fadnavis along with Eknath Khadse has suggested in the non-official RTS Bill that the state should institute a public service providing committee which will supervise services provided at government offices. The bill has suggested tabling the annual report before the legislature every year to ensure the Act is binding on all. The department, which provides the best service in the year should be awarded, the bill has suggested. RTS Bill will be tabled in the upcoming winter session of the state legislature, which starts December 8 at Nagpur. The RTS Act was mooted at a meeting of all chief ministers in the country in 1997 held by the then prime minister at New Delhi. The policy was drafted in that meeting to provide better services to the people. (Asian Age 4/12/14) 'Corrupt' officials let mills function illegally, r eveals RTI (1) PILIBHIT: An RTI filed by a local activist revealed that the district food and marketing department has been indulging in corrupt practices for the last three years by allowing five blacklisted rice mills to operate despite orders from the district administration as well as the regional food controller. Activist Ankit Mishra, on Wednesday, produced details of the department's records, that he had obtained under an RTI, before additional district magistrate (finance and revenue), Alok Singh, at the district headquarters in Pilibhit. Mishra told TOI that five rice mills of Puranpur tehsil area in Pilibhit, which earlier also had trading licenses for the purchase of grains, had been allowed to purchase wheat in the procurement year 2012-13. These mills were Bharat Rice Mill, Dayal Rice Mill, NK Sons, Nav Bharat Rice Mill and Guru Nanak Rice Mill. Providing copies of official records to TOI, Mishra said that these five mills had purchased wheat from farmers on behalf of government agencies. However, instead of supplying the purchased wheat to the government, they illegally sold a major portion of the stock in the open market. As the market price that time was higher than the minimum support price, they earned heavy profits on the sale. Finding

them guilty of illegal practice and in breach of the government contract, the district administration blacklisted these mills and registered FIRs against them. The administration had also initiated proceedings of recovery against these defaulters but they are still pending. The regional food controller at Bareilly had issued guidelines to the district food and marketing officer, Pilibhit, in a letter dated November 20, 2012, that the blacklisted rice mills as well as those having FIRs in their names would not be provided with the paddy supply for hulling under any circumstances. However, ignoring the food controller's orders, the food and marketing department attached these five mills to government paddy purchase centres in the same year. This reveals a nexus between the rice mills and the food and marketing department as the attachment process of the mills with purchase centres is still continuing, explained Mishra on the basis of the official records he got. When asked by TOI about the irregularities, the ADM said that he would promptly set up an enquiry on the matter and see that strict action is taken against defaulters. He said that the concerned employees as well the official of food and marketing department would also be enquired upon and necessary action would be taken. (Times of India 5/12/14) Files on Netaji: MDMK to Hold Protest on December 2 3 (1) MADURAI: Continuing his attack on the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, MDMK chief Vaiko today said the party would organise a 'peaceful protest' at Chennai on December 23 demanding the facts related to the mysterious disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose to be made public. In a release, NDA ally Vaiko said the BJP had earlier wanted all the facts on the matter to be made public but now was claiming that it would affect diplomatic ties. He said the MDMK would hold a 'peaceful demonstration' on December 23 demanding release of all files regarding Netaji's disappearance and to condemn the Centre for not disclosing the facts. Vaiko had last week condemned the BJP-led NDA government for declining to make public the classified files on Netaji's disappearance and said his party would hold a protest pressing for the truth. Recently, the Prime Minister's Office in a RTI reply accepted that there were 41 files related to Bose, of which two had been declassified, but refused to disclose them taking a position similar to that of the erstwhile Congress-led UPA government. The state BJP has recently slammed Vaiko for his criticism of the NDA government on various issues including Prime Minister Narendra Modi's greetings to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and 'imposition' of Hindi. (New Indian Express 7/12/14) States Human Rights Commissions lack in transparenc y: NGO (1) New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir and Manipur are among six states which do not have dedicated websites for their Human Rights Commissions (HRCs) and most of the other states have inadequate compliance of suo-motu disclosures mandated under RTI Act, a report released by an NGO has claimed. According to a compilation released by Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) on the occasion of Human Rights Day being observed globally today, besides J&K and Manipur, the HRCs in Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand and Sikkim also do not have their websites, making it difficult for people to register their grievances or to reach them. Interestingly, the link to Himachal Pradesh Human Rights Commission website--http://www.Himachal.Nic.In/hphrc-- does not open-up, the CHRI said. The websites of Human Rights Commissions in Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Haryana, Kerala and West Bengal lack on suo-motu disclosure as mandated under Section 4 of the RTI Act, it said adding that most of the contents on them are available in English only. Whereas, Bihar Human Rights Commission has bilingual website--English and Hindi--and Maharashtra's portal is in English and Marathi, the report said. "Most States Human Rights Commissions do not have their websites. The content mentioned on them are not updated regularly. It is difficult for the common man to raise their grievances with them," said Venkatesh Nayak, who works with the CHRI. The data also shows rise in number of RTI applications pending with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in past five years. There were as many as 865 RTI applications pending with the NHRC in 2008-09 which rose to 2,409 in 2012-13, it said. There were

1,454, 2,034 and 2,455 RTI applications pending with the NHRC in 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12, respectively, the compilation said. (Business Standard 11/12/14) Consumer forum can’t act on RTI cases’ (1) CHENNAI: A consumer forum cannot decide whether there is negligence or deficiency in service on the part of public information officers (PIO) or other authorities under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, said the Tamil Nadu State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. In an order last month, a bench comprising commission president Justice (retd) R Regupathi, judicial member J Jayaram and member P Bakiyavathi said the Supreme Court had said the Consumer Protection Act was in addition to the provisions of other law "unless there was a clear bar." Whereas, the RTI Act had a provision which specifically said it was beyond the jurisdiction of courts. The matter relates to a petition filed by S Jeyaram who said that under the RTI Act, he had sought some information regarding Apollo Hospitals from the public information officer and deputy/under secretary of the health and family welfare department. As the PIO failed to furnish the details, he moved north Chennai district consumer disputes redressal forum. The forum rejected the petition stating the complaint was not maintainable. Jeyaram then filed an appeal in the state commission. He said that the relevant section of the Consumer Protection Act said: "The provisions of this act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of the provisions of any other law for the time being in force." As such, a person seeking information under the RTI Act could approach the consumer forum, he said In 2013, the national commission had said that a person seeking information under the RTI Act could not be considered as a consumer as according to the relevant provision of the RTI Act, he/she had the remedy of approaching the appellate authority. Also, the RTI Act provided PIOs with independent decision making authority to decide whether disclosure of information was in public interest, said the bench. Without being a consumer one could not seek remedy under the Consumer Protection Act, said the bench adding that after exhausting the options under the RTI Act, one could only approach the appellate forum for further reliefs and redressal of grievances. (Times of India 12/12/14) RTI lessons help cops to understand cases better (1 ) New Delhi: Lessons in handling Right to Information applications are doing good to Delhi policemen who are discarding frivolous pleas at initial stages itself with the help of a Delhi government consultant. “Many of the officials do not know that they can refuse to entertain a plea which uses more than 500 words,” said S C Agrawal, the RTI consultant who conducts lectures for officers and low-rung cops. Now, police officials have started counting wordage of the RTI pleas they get before getting down to answering them, he said. “Sub-inspectors and SHOs keep calling me on my phone for instant advice on how to go about dealing with applications,” he said. Agrawal, a qualified mechanical engineer, said from his interaction with police officers he came to know that RTI was being used mostly in dowry harassment or maintenance cases between estranged couples. “I have been telling police public information officers that they need not pass all information to the RTI applicants if it could harm the privacy of the ‘third party’,” he said. “My stress has been on educating policemen to invoke Section 11 of the RTI Act and seek the consent of the person about whom the RTI applicant has sought information. The affected party’s approval is needed to give out personal details,” he said. Section 11 for inviting comments of the ‘third party’ must be invoked within five days of receipt of Right to Information petition, and not in 30 days of receipt of RTI petition, as has been usually observed, he said. Late transfer of a plea or seeking comments from the ‘third party’ can attract penalty-proceedings under Section 20 of RTI Act, he said. Agrawal, 64, who also holds the Guinness World Record for most number of published letters to the editor in newspapers, said while interacting with policemen he also found a tendency to deny information to RTI applicants in cases under investigation. “Due to lack of knowledge of the transparency law, policemen are denying information to even genuine applicants.” “Information can be withheld if its sharing impedes investigation but the policemen tend to block details even if the information is harmless and unlikely to influence the probe,” he said. He is also working on police department’s public information

officers to avoid Right to Information communication that do not mention the dates of receipt of Right to Information petition. “Non-providing of date of receipt of RTI petition by the responding officer also results in filing of petitions in the Information Commission for alleged delay, while it may not be the case, thereby harming man-hours and money spent by all concerned including of Information Commissions, public-authorities and petitioners,” he said. (Deccan Herald 15/12/14) Rs 2,000 crore Nirbhaya fund remains unspent (1) New Delhi: It has been two years since the announcement of symbolic Nirbhaya Fund in wake of the December 16, 2012 gangrape, but apparently the allotted Rs 2,000 crore has not been spent at all, with the Central government seemingly undecided where the money could be utilised. There is ambiguity about any expenditure made by the government ,utilising the fund that was started in 2012 for the empowerment and security of women. Observers assert most of the Nirbhaya Fund has not been utilised, with ambitious plans like installation of GPS on public transportation, alarm buttons on mobiles, women’s helpline and one stop crisis centres staying mostly restricted to paper. The UPA-II government had sanctioned Rs1,000 crore for the fund in 2013 and another Rs 1,000 was added by the new NDA government in May this year. The fund was part of a series of reactionary measures by the government after the incident, in which it announced the fund for the safety and empowerment of women as tribute to the 23-year-old victim. An RTI last year, however, revealed that not a penny from the much-publicised Rs1,000-crore fund had been spent, even after a year. The director of the Centre for Social Research, Dr Ranjana Kumari, however, said that there has been no real clear roadmap of how the funds should be spent and there has been complete “ambiguity” about the projects on which the could be money used, if at all. “It seems the announcements were only for political gains. Women’s security was a political plank for all the major parties in the previous elections and many women perhaps voted for the new government for that reason.” Ms Kumari said that many of proposals by the women and child development ministry under then Nirbhaya Fund were either not approved or didn’t take off, and thus “technically” the money remains unused. “It is very distressing and a disappointment for all, in particular, for those who led the Nirbhaya movement.” The activist said the Union women and child development minister has not kept any communication or dialogue with the NGOs or with the civil society, so there has been no “clarity” on what the ministry has done with the fund. BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi, last week, also said that the Nirbhaya Fund hadn’t been utilised fully, and noted the Union government had sanctioned finances under the fund for installing CCTV cameras in important places, but the Delhi administration had failed to use the fund in the absence of an elected government. (Asian Age 17/12/14) 6 RTI activists killed in 5 years, accused still at large (1) Patna: Six RTI activists have been killed in Bihar in the last five years for daring to seek information from different authorities. Two of them — Rahul Kumar and Ram Kumar Thakur — were murdered in Muzaffarpur district in March 2012 and March 2013, respectively, while Murlidhar Jaiswal was killed in Munger district in March 2012, Rajesh Kumar in Bhagalpur district in December 2012, Ram Vilas Singh in Lakhisarai district in December 2011 and Shashidhar Mishra in Begusarai district in February 2010. In three cases, the main accused are yet to be arrested. Family members of Ram Vilas, who was killed at his native village Babhangawan under Lakhisarai police station area, were so much terrorized that they shifted his son Abhishek Kumar to New Delhi. "I have returned to my district town just a month back, but all my well-wishers and relatives are advising me to go back to Delhi. They say I may be killed any day as the main accused in my father's murder case, Bumbum Singh, is still roaming free," Abhishek told TOI. "Thakur, a lawyer and RTI activist, was shot dead near Purushottampur village in Muzaffarpur district when he was returning by his cycle from the district court with his nephew. He was shot dead by six persons and none of them have been arrested yet despite a named FIR lodged against them. Raj Kumar Sahni is the main accused in the case. Similarly, the main accused in Jaiswal murder case — Bablu Mandal — is yet to be arrested," National Campaign for Peoples' Right to Information (NCPRI) activist

Ashish Ranjan said. A delegation of NCPRI led by Ranjan and noted RTI activist Shiv Prakash Rai recently called on Bihar DGP P K Thakur and drew his attention towards alleged 'police inaction' in cases of RTI activists' murder. "We have time and again been pressing the police for arresting the persons who killed six RTI activists. But to our dismay, the main accused in the three cases are roaming free and threatening the deceased's family members," Rai told TOI. He also said he has planned to file a PIL in the Patna high court, if police failed to take necessary action in these cases. When contacted, DGP Thakur said he had sought reports from the district police concerned in all six cases. ADG (law and order) Alok Raj, who is looking into the matter, said the police headquarters had demanded file of all the six cases from the district police. "After review at headquarters level, we will, if necessary, constitute special teams to nab the accused evading arrest," Raj said. (Times of India 22/12/14) Medical reimbursement of SC judges exempted from RT I: HC (1) New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has held that reimbursements of medical expenses of the Supreme Court judges cannot be disclosed under the Right To Information (RTI) Act, saying it does not serve any public interest. Justice Vibhu Bakhru held that the Central Information Commission (CIC) was in error to direct the Supreme Court Registry to provide the information sought, saying "medical records are not liable to be disclosed unless it is shown that the same is in larger public interest"."In the present case, the CIC has completely overlooked this aspect of the matter. Further, the extent of medical reimbursement to an individual is also, in one sense, personal information as it would disclose the extent of medical services availed by an individual. "Thus, unless a larger public interest is shown to be served, there is no necessity for providing such information. Thus, a direction for maintaining records in a manner so as to provide such information is not warranted," the court said. The court made the observations in its judgement on the plea of the Supreme Court registry against CIC's order directing the apex court to maintain details of medical reimbursement availed of by each of its judges in the last three years to be furnished to information-seekers. The high court held CIC's order as "erroneous". (Zee News 22/12/14) CIC to decide if corporate debt restructuring falls under RTI (1) MUMBAI: The Central Information Commission (CIC) will soon have to decide whether a body set up by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), whose principal task is of restructuring corporate loans, falls under the public scrutiny through Right to Information (RTI) act. The Corporate Debt Restructuring Cell (CDRC) set up by the RBI has refused to provide details of total amount sacrificed by public sector banks as a part of CDR packages and also the mechanism by which it was approved to an application under the RTI. In its reply to former CIC and RTI activist Shailesh Gandhi, who had sought the information, the CDRC has said that it does not fall under the category of ‘public authority’ as it is neither owned, controlled or substantially financed by directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate government. Subsequently, Mr. Gandhi’s first appeal too was rejected and he had now gone in to second appeal with the office of CIC. The appeal said that the CDRC website shows that it has restructured corporate debt of Rs. 3.7 lakh crore for 505 customers — an average of Rs. 668 crore per customer. It is also claimed in the appeal that 80 to 90 per cent of the restructuring is of borrowers from Public Sector banks. “The CDR cell has been created by a RBI circular. Despite having 38 members who are public sector banks and institutions and only 14 private sector banks it claims an independent status. Five of its seven core group members are public sector employees and 13 of its 19 employees are also employees who are getting their salaries from public sector banks,” said the application by Mr. Gandhi. While the CDRC in its reply to the first appeal did not dispute these numbers, it implied that the bank officers are not government servants. He added that the initial finance of the CDRC was provided by IDBI, a public sector bank and much over 75 per cent of subsequent finance is from public sector banks and institution. “It does not appear to have any legal structure and despite being created by a RBI circular, claims a virtual presence not accountable to anyone. If such an argument is accepted, all government organisations could create such virtual cells and deny information and accountability,” he said. (The Hindu 25/12/14)

PM's wife denied information under RTI (1) Ahmedabad: The Mehsana police have denied information sought under RTI by Jashodaben, wife of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the security cover given to her, on the ground that her queries were related to local intelligence bureau (LIB) which is exempted under the RTI Act. “The information sought by her (Jashodaben) was related to the LIB . Therefore, it could not be given to her and we have sent a written communication about this development to her,” Superintendent of Police J R Mothaliya of Mehsana district said. The reply given in writing to her also says the same thing. “The information sought by you (Jashodaben Modi) was related (to) the LIB and as per the Gujarat Home Department’s resolution number SB 1/1020018203/GOI/62 dated November 25, LIB has been exempted from RTI Act and therefore, the asked information cannot be given to you,” said the letter written to her by the public information officer and Mehsana Deputy Superintendent of Police Bhakti Thakar. In her RTI application filed before Mehsana Police on November 24, Jashodaben had sought several documents related to the security cover given to her as per the protocol, including the certified copy of actual order passed by government about providing security. She also wanted to know the laws and related provisions in Indian Constitution about security cover given to a prime minister’s wife. Jashodaben, 62, had asked the government to explain the definition of protocol and sought details about what is included under it and what other benefits she is entitled for as per that protocol. She also expressed unhappiness about the current security set-up, where her guards travel in government vehicles like car, while she, despite being the prime minister’s wife, has to travel in public transport. She also said that as former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was killed by her own security guards, she feel scared of her guards. She asked the government to make it compulsory for each guard to produce the copy of deployment order. Jashodaben, a retired school teacher, lives with her brother Ashok Modi at Unjha town of Mehsana district. After Narendra Modi was sworn in as Prime Minister on May 26, she has been given security by Mehsana police. Mehsana police has deployed 10 policemen, including armed guards, who work in two shifts. (Deccan Herald 28/12/14)