Tanaya Thakur : a teenage girl of 17 years but walks on the legendary path

Tanaya Thakur is a 17 years old girl and a first-year law student at Chanakya National Law University, Patna. A young and dynamic lady, Tanaya considers herself to be a committed social activist who is ready to fight for justice and equally ready to oppose oppression and injustice. Thinking that her legal studies would be helpful in this purpose she is certain that she would act to liberate the world out of its present day condition and would not only help in establishing the rule of law but will also be a warrior where the law needs to be amended. Always dressed with a smile on her face, Tanaya can turn ferocious when she finds that injustice is being done. Her life seems to be a struggle in the present for a better future.

Works done by Tanaya

Tanaya thinks of herself as a social activist and RTI activist. She is a staunch believer that the functioning of democracy shall be transparent as democracy is a political system of the people, by the people and for the people. Thus being an advocate in transparency she is also a member of the National RTI Forum, an organization working in the field of governance and transparency throughout India. Tanaya has herself filed many RTIs regarding various causes in numerous departments. One such issue is regarding the cremation sites of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. She along with her brother Aditya asked the Ministry of Home Affairs about the legal validity of the cremation sites of these leaders. While she personally has got deep respect for these leaders who have played a really crucial role in shaping India’s destiny, the crux behind the whole issue is that while a large percentage of the nation’s population is poor, how can we allow such extravagancies to be done? 

Tanaya is also a rationalist and thinks that superstition should be opposed. In this war against superstition she and her brother Aditya filed an FIR against the Indian god-man Nirmal ‘Baba’, who claims to have a third eye and promotes blind-worship and superstition among his followers. Tanaya thinks that superstition has become an endemic disease in India among all classes and feels that it needs to be wiped out before it wipes us.

Ideas and Interests

Along with social activism, Tanaya is also interested in writing. She writes poems, short stories and articles in both English and Hindi. She is also a voracious reader and loves to read books, both fiction and non-fiction. Tanaya’s favourite subject is English literature. She has also developed a keen interest in law, being a student in that subject. She also has interest in Political science and sociology. Tanaya thinks that one should never find herself being bound in a certain syllabus and thinks that reading books out of the prescribed course are cardinal to the complete development of the individual. 

Tanaya has been working on a collection of short stories lately. She also considers writing to be both a hobby and career for her along with law. She also has her own blog that is thakurtanaya.blogspot.com.

Furthermore Tanaya has got interest in films and journalism. She is not only a self-described movie buff but also expresses interest in the history of cinema and film criticism.

Tanaya Thakur is the daughter of Mr. Amitabh Thakur and Dr. Nutan Thakur. Her father is an IPS officer who is also involved with social issues while her mother is a full time social activist. Tanaya thanks her parents for imparting not bookish education in her but instead giving her moral education. She thinks that her parents instilled in her the quintessence of education. She finds in her parents a mentor, a guide and a hero.

Tanaya is deeply concerned about the contemporary situation of the country as she thinks of herself as not only a good citizen but also a strong believer in humanity. She feels that something must be done and wishes to use the legal acumen she would acquire as a lawyer in the benefit of people at large. Her life has become a struggle for justice and a fight against oppression. Much needs to be done and the path would be long but Tanaya always feels optimistic about humanity’s future.  

 

Aditya Thakur : a teenage boy of 14 years but walks on the path of legendary

Aditya Thakur is a boy of about 14 years, presently studying in Standard XI. Despite being a student, he has been involved in both writing and social activism for a period that is no less than the past two years. He finds social activism to be a must for every student as there lies the essence of education: building a better tomorrow. Being a sensitive person, he feels sad for the world today as it succumbs in utter irony and injustice but then he realizes that feeling sad is no option and the real solution lies in working to get the world out of this state. Thus he thinks that his life would be a journey; a journey in which there is little rest and much to do.

 

Works done by Aditya

Though Aditya wants to expand his activism in every field- right from human rights to governance and economic injustice- till now his most important achievement has been made in the war against superstition. Being a self-professed rationalist and a bitter opponent of superstition, he along with his sister Tanaya Thakur filed an FIR against the god-man Nirmaljit Singh Narula aka Nirmal Baba at the local police station in Lucknow. Though the police initially refused to file the complaint, a long fight had to be drawn and the FIR was finally lodged through the intervention of court. This struggle targeted not only a single fraudulent ‘baba’ but also targeted a whole lot of such people who spread irrationalism and make fools out of people just to fill their own pockets.

Aditya Thakur also believes in access to education to all as education is not a just monopoly of the wealthy. Therefore he along with his sister also started giving free of cost education to the children in the neighborhood slums. Later they had to stop this due to ever-building pressure from studies of their own classes but this whole event opened their eyes to a whole new world.

Along with his activism related works Aditya writes poems and articles too. His poems are basically free-verse and sometimes show little poetic qualities but most of the times they are a serious attempt to express the phenomena in us and around us in words. He also has a blog- adityasphere.blogspot.com.

Future Plans, Ideas and Interests

Aditya has got deep interest in history and the social sciences. He considers history to be one of the best teachers available to human society. The past makes the present and so the understanding of past is indispensible to the understanding of the present and the understanding of the present is vital when you think of making a better and more luminous future. The past has got both a good and bad side, so Aditya thinks of taking inspirations from the better part of history and learning from the very mistakes that were made back then. Along with history, his favourite subjects are political science and economics. He also finds mathematics to be an interesting subject.

After Class XII, Aditya wishes to pursue law. This is so not only because of his liking for law but also because he thinks that having a sound knowledge of law and legal affairs is always beneficiary for someone who wants to work for bringing a change in the social system. Law and society are closely knitted and courts have also become a place to instill social change, thanks to the concepts of social justice and social legislation. With whatever glimpse he has got of legal studies till now Aditya has developed a taste for International law and Human Rights. International Law builds a sense of One World Theory and promulgates a world without borders, he feels. Although he deliberates that the notion of a single world shall be spread he doesn’t think that it has been achieved through the recent phenomena of globalization, which has developed since the 1990s. He feels himself as a part of the greater anti-globalization movement. 

Aditya advocates a decentralized government where power is distributed to all. He thinks that the smallest organ of the whole democratic system shall get access to the larger world while being self-sufficient and self-reliant. He considers that the local government encourages more public participation and thus is freer from corruption. Also a local government would be able to take better decisions on many fronts vis-a-vis a government which is not aware of the problems on the grass-root level. He thinks that the government should be made more transparent and accountable. It’s obvious that a decentralized government would be helpful in that. 

While not only having a dislike for big government, Aditya also feels that big corporations have negative influence on the society and hinder actual development. Development shall be for the people and by the people, he thinks, but big corporations discard the whole crux of development and rather help a few to stockpile wealth. He feels that the fruits of development should reach to all and for that a more eco-friendly and a more people-friendly mode of production and distribution shall be development. Such an industry might be developed by social entrepreneurship, which is both reliant and also helps in poverty alleviation. 

Aditya Thakur feels that while people can be destroyed by a variety of ways, their thoughts remain alive. Ideas are indestructible and are of great value. He considers himself a person whose whole life would be a quest in search of those ideas, and as it has been said before it would be a long journey where there would be miles to go before the traveller sleeps. 

 

 

Because the Crowds are Right, and our Prime Minister is Wrong

(The article given below is not an article only, it is a deep pain of honest, committed and ground activists, who have been sacrificing their lives for social betterment but they do not see seeds of social transformation in Anna's movement. If possible please try to read this article otherwise leave it.)

The author is a senior journalist and a very committed Right to Information activist and has done fast in village of Anna Hazare. He is abused and criticized because he does not wear photo badge of Anna, do not wear Anna Cap, do not shout song "I am Anna" and do not forward sms.

Yes, we are a nation OUTRAGED, no doubt about it. But please ask yourself: ARE WE A NATION AWAKENED?

SMS NO. 1
Late last night, someone SMSed me: “Ghar ka kutta kaisa ho, kapil sibbal jaisa ho!! Manmohan jiska tau hai, wo sarkar bikau hai!! Desh ka yuva jag gaya, dekho rahul bhaag gaya.” I get many such SMSes everyday. These slogans are no doubt energizing the crowds at Ramlila Maidan, Azad maidan and dozens of other rallying points around the country.

What I understand is this: 74-year-old Anna Hazare (Peace Be Upon Him, Victory to Him!) is a great man selflessly fasting against corruption. To support him, hundreds of people are fasting and organizing rallies, and thousands are circulating such abusive SMSes. Anna is smiling nobly; every sentence that he speaks and each gesture of his long-fingered hands sends out rays of sanctity on national television networks. Just by watching the crowds and breathless commentators on news channels, we are being cleansed of corruption. He is the messiah, the prophet come to liberate us from
the evils of Corruption, and he has shown us the way… and this is the way!

Finally, after 64 years of Independence, India shall be free of the menace of corruption. (Give thanks! Fall down and prostrate before the Lord!)

Contrast this with 79-year-old Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India and former Governor of Reserve Bank. No, he is NOT a great man; he is just an economist and administrator. He is not fasting against corruption, he is only running the Govt. of India; any fool can do this job. He is a weak-chinned man, a bureaucrat foisted on the country by an “Italian waitress” Sonia Gandhi to protect all the corrupt people of India. (Down with Manmohan, Down with Sonia!)

Manmohan Singh’s sympathizers don’t circulate SMSes abusing Anna Hazare. They are too cowardly to do so. They just stand there silently while Anna Hazare hangs the albatross of our nation’s collective failures around the neck of the Prime Minister. Every word that Manmohan Singh speaks in his own defense is full of cowardliness… and lies.

SMS NO. 2
This morning, I got another SMS: “Anti-corruption menu-card – Anna’s Jan Lok Pal Bill or Govt’s Joke Pal (or rather Danger Pal) Bill. What do you want to be served. You order.”

This one was sent by one of my dear activist colleagues – someone I respect. He’s a thoughtful chap, never swayed by mob sentiments. So presumably, he is doing his bit for spreading awareness and supporting Anna’s noble agitation.

Most of my colleagues have been organizing morchas and wearing caps saying, “I am Anna Hazare”. Some of them are fasting too. And here I am, sitting at home with a tiny minority of Doubting Thomases and cynics who don’t care about the country.

SMS NO. 3
Just now, I got another SMS from an activist friend: “Annaji has given call to continue FIGHT! Govt seems to be Blind and Deaf! Join Historic 1 Lac March, 21st August – 4.30 PM @Bandra W. rly stn”.

Yes, the clarion call for action has been given. But sadly, here I am, refusing to join the forces of good in their battle against evil. This is a time for Unity and Solidarity, and here I am, trying to divide the people of India with clever arguments, instead of uniting them by forwarding SMSes.

So I am not an RTI activist… not even a good citizen. I don’t want corruption to be gone. I am just a government stooge.

Anna Hazare (Peace Be Upon Him, Victory to Him) is endangering his life by fasting at Ramlila Maidan. The people supporting him are wet, hungry and sleepless…

And Manmohan Singh is no doubt sitting in airconditioned comfort at 7 Race Course Road, and exchanging evil ideas with Sonia, Rahul and their kutta Kapil Sibal.

And while India is on the warpath, here I am enjoying my cup of coffee.
Shame on me!

By:

Krishnaraj Rao

Report of RTI Union Mtg on 23 July at Dadar: Draft Self-Redevelopment Guide etc

Mumbai, Maharashtra

The RTI Union guides citizens in the use of RTI Act, MCS Act and other laws in dealing with land, building issues and housing society matters. It focuses on Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) i.e. Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai etc. At each meeting, we have experts who share their knowledge with those who have such problems. We also have many citizens from all walks of life, who seek to meet such experts and get guidance for solving their own problems, as well as the problems of society.

At our meeting last Saturday at Dadar, there were 33 participants including Medha Patkar’s colleagues Vivek Pandit and Dinesh Shinde, Kamlakar Shenoy (who is battling against Shivalik builders’ illegalities) and Milind Kotak, who focuses on accountability of police. Others experts -- people with experience and knowledge of various domains -- included J B Patel, G R Vora, Vasudev Shenoy, Sudhakar Malpe, Mohammed Afzal, Bharat Gandhi and Ramesh Jadhav.

Contact details of participants, including experts:
http://tinyurl.com/Participants-RTIUnion-23July

Meeting photos:
http://tinyurl.com/RTIUnion-23July-Photos

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MEETING:

1. NEED TO GET GOVERNMENT CIRCULARS OF RECENT POSITIVE ANNOUNCEMENTS. Maharashtra Government, MCGM, MHADA etc. have several positive announcements concerning efforts to curb various illegalities of builders. However, we have only read about them in the newspapers, and are unable to act upon them or advise citizens, as we do not have the announcements, which would be in the form of Government Resolutions (GRs) and Circulars issued by Municipal Corporation etc. Also, many positive changes are proposed in the new Development Control (DC) Rules. CONCLUSION: We should made efforts to collect all the GRs and circulars.

2. DRAFTING PEOPLE-FRIENDLY REDEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT & SELF-REDEVELOPMENT GUIDE. Jeby Patel and others in the Union have been planning to draft model redevelopment agreements that is “people-friendly”, as against the ones that are currently used, which are biased in favour of the builder. In the course of this discussion, Sulaiman Bhimani, an interior designer (who is battling the illegalities of RNA Builders and MMRDA) talked about the desirability of Self Redevelopment. He said that the housing cooperative society can itself form an association of persons or a company and engage various contractors to redevelop their own society in a hands-on way. Responding to doubts raised by Bharat Gandhi, he said that it was indeed difficult but not impossible. But it was worth it because, firstly, each member of the society can be richer by Rs 30-50 lakhs at least, and secondly, the housing society members would have to bear less financial risks than by entrusting their building to an outside developer, Bhimani argued. CONCLUSION: The overall opinion was in favour of evolving a procedural blueprint to guide those interested in doing self-development. For this, we shall involve the project management consultants and architects with whom we are in touch. We should take up this project on a priority basis.

3. KAMLAKAR SHENOY spoke on the various illegalities committed by Shivalik Enterprises promoter Ramakant Jadhav since the 1990s. He talked about the battles that he was fighting to blow the whistle on these crooked dealings. CONCLUSION: Kamlakar will actively participate in the RTIUnion googlegroup to mentor aggrieved people in taking on unlawful activities of other builders also.

4. VIVEK PANDIT talked briefly about his battle against crooked builders in Powai, especially Niranjan Hiranandani. He also talked about his association with Medha Patkar and her organization National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM). CONCLUSION: Vivek will actively participate in the RTIUnion googlegroup to guide others in fighting crooked builders. NAPM and RTI Union will cooperate wherever possible to strengthen the hands of citizens.

5. MILIND KOTAK talked about his efforts to compel the police to obey the lawful mandates of their job i.e. to register FIR without delay when cognizable offence is made out. Unwillingness of the police to take action against law-breakers was a major cause of corruption in the country, he stressed. CONCLUSION: Milind will reply to citizens’ queries on RTIUnion googlegroup to give guidance for lodging police complaints etc.

6. NEED FOR GUIDELINES TO STATE PROBLEMS WITHOUT NEEDLESS PERSONAL DETAILS. We faced a major hurdle at the meeting as many people failed to state their problems and frame their questions in a clear way. They could not clearly tell their stories and ask questions within 5-10 minutes given to them. They were unable to highlight the main legal aspects or pressure-points, and kept going on and on with useless personal details e.g. how the sub-police inspector wasted their time, how their society members made insulting comments, ignored them etc. This led to fruitless discussions and also to them being cut short by moderators. CONCLUSION: Activists like Ramesh Jadhav and G R Vora stressed the need to issue guidelines to people for presenting their grievances. So, we shall issue guidelines, which will also be helpful to the general public in analyzing their own grievances and presenting them before public authorities.

7. QUESTIONS ABOUT EFFECTIVENESS OF RTI UNION. In recent weeks, there has been soul-searching about whether we are being effective. The questions being raised are: Are we making a difference, or are we just wasting time and energy in meetings and other activities? Also, is giving advice, law points, practical tips, drafting RTI applications etc. the best way for us to support aggrieved persons? Shouldn’t we get involved hands-on in the problems of individual societies, redevelopment projects etc? At the meeting, D M Lokhandwala raised the point about effectiveness very strongly, by demanding to know how many wrong-doers have been punished due to the RTI Union’s actions. (The one-word answer is: None.) This provoked a lot of discussion. OPINIONS & ANSWERS:
(a) Vasudev Shenoy and others said that our actions should be aimed at creating systemic changes, and not settling personal scores.
(b) Vivek Pandit said that the ‘Paper War’ (i.e. writing letters, RTI applications, complaints etc.) was very important for cleaning up the system.
(c) Some like G R Vora stressed that given our present manpower resources, the best that we could do was enable citizens by advice, guidance and help in drafting complaints, RTI applications etc.
(d) My own opinion is that seeking law-enforcement against corrupt individuals is truly a worthy endeavour, provided those who advocate this approach take ownership of such projects and devote time and energy. Other RTI Union members and other experts will support them, provided these people themselves take the lead.
(e) The RTI Union will support even critics, provided they make efforts to campaign and mobilize support for their own ideas. In short, don’t say, “You should do this.” Also, don’t say, “We all should do this, but please excuse me because I don’t have the time.” Your mantra should be: “I am in the process of doing this thing, so will you please guide me, support me and participate in this?” If you do this, there will be less scope for criticism, and more for cooperation.

8. EXPENSES STATEMENT:
• Booking space at Chabildas School (Sulaiman Bhimani) – Rs 650.
• Tea (G R Vora) -- Rs 260
• Farsan (G R Vora) -- Rs 270
• TOTAL expenses -- Rs 1180
• Balance carried over from collections at previous meeting -- Rs 1,790.
• Rs 610 is carried over as SURPLUS carried over for the next meeting (G R Vora).
• We did not solicit contributions, and hence, we did not collect even one rupee.

9. COLLECTING RS 50 PER MEETING (UNLESS PARTICIPANT CANNOT AFFORD). In future, we are thinking of soliciting contribution of Rs 50 per head (with exemptions to people from slums etc), at the time of signing the attendance register. This will enable us to more-or-less meet the costs of venue, chai-nashta etc.

RTIUNION GOOGLEGROUP is a knowledge-sharing platform for helping people in Mumbai Metropolitan Region in land, building and society matters. To join it and participate in discussions, please email a request to moderator G R Vora at grvora@gmail.com, with your brief introduction, address, contact details, name of referrer, area of expertise, details of problems faced due to cooperative, land scam etc. and also your reason for wishing to join.

Report by:
Krishnaraj Rao

RTI: Wife/Husband can’t get official record about their own name!

Uttar Pradesh

A very important and interesting case has come up in Uttar Pradesh State Information Commission. This is related with a husband and wife who are having family dispute and are fighting Court cases on that.

Wife Smt Bhavna Srivastava is a housewife and husband Mr Amit is working in UP Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) Lucknow. They could not get along well and soon court case started between them in Family Court Allahabad. Bhavna had a feeling that her husband was hiding his salary and allowances. So she filled an RTI application to PIO of UPPCL Lucknow in Apr 2010 to know about salary, allowances and family details entered in Amit’s service documents. After not getting the reply she filled a reminder and then the 1st appeal to the Appellate authority. Then also she didn’t get any reply from PIO or Appellate Authority.

Then she naturally filed an appeal before UP State Information Commission (UPSIC) through case no S6- 1817/C/2010 Bhavna Srivastava Vs PIO UP Power Corporation Lko. In the final hearing UP State information Commissioner Ashok Kumar Gupta decided that Bhavna can’t get the information she was asking for. The SIC said- "Wife can’t get information about her husband's salary, allowances and family details available in service documents as it is confidential and personal information"

There are many important issues which we need to think in this case. The first is the section 4(1)(b)(x). It says- “ Every public authority shall publish within one hundred and twenty days from the enactment of this Act, the monthly remuneration received by each of its officers and employees, including the system of compensation as provided in its regulations”.

Thus this information about salary and emoluments shall anyway have been there on Internet for everyone to have a look. Even if it is not there or a person has asked the information, it shall be immediately given as per this above section. This implies to any person. And if the person is the husband or the wife, claim becomes doubly important. One fails to understand how the UPSIC refused to give information.

The second is section 8(1)(j). It prohibits information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information.

Here again, we can see that a husband or a wife is directly affected by the information about what name the employee has given in official records and thus it no longer remains a personal information which has no interest to the person asking for information. The person (husband or wife) is very much affected by any wrongful information in this regards. As far as I can think, even before the RTI Act, such information must have been given when a husband or wife wants to know what name has been given by the employee in official records. But here, even after coming of RTI Act, the information is not being given.

Report by:

Dr Nutan Thakur

Convener

National RTI Forum, Lucknow

3 days national seminar on "Social Economy, Self Sustained Green Society, Climate Change, Economic Justice, Local Governance and Alternative Media"

A three days seminar on 27th to 29th of the November 2010 is being co-organized by Local Governance & Decentralized Economy Social Group and Gokul University and co-sponsored by the Ground Report India.

on

"Social Economy, Self Sustained Green Society, Climate Change, Economic Justice, Local Governance and Alternative Media".

More than 70 persons as professors, organic farmers, social scientists, ground activists, journalists, naturopathy doctors, environmental activists, thoughtful businesspersons, bureaucrats and others from 10 states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Delhi, Maharashtra and other states have confirmed to participate in the seminar to explore possibilities of Social Engineering with mutual coordination & cooperation.

Programs & Venues:

1. 27th November at Samanvay Ashram, Bodhgaya, Bihar
09:00 – 11:00 AM : Opening Ceremony and sessions
11:00 – 11:15 AM : Tea
11:15 – 01:15 PM : Sessions
01:15 – 03:00 PM : Lunch & Rest
03:00 – 05:00 PM : Sessions
05:00 – 05:30 PM : High Tea
05:30 – 08:00 PM : Sessions
08:00 – 09:00 PM : Dinner
09:00 – 10:00 PM : Open Discussions & Cultural Activities

2. 28th November at Samanvay Ashram, Bodhgaya, Bihar
07:00 – 08:00 AM : Prabhaat Feri
08:00 – 09:00 AM : Breakfast
09:00 – 11:00 AM : Sessions
11:00 – 11:15 AM : Tea
11:15 – 01:15 PM : Sessions
01:15 – 03:00 PM : Lunch & Rest
03:00 – 05:30 PM : Sessions
05:30 – 06:00 PM : High Tea

3. 29th November at Goh, Aurangabad, Bihar
07:00 – 10:00 AM : Policy meeting of LGDES Group
11:00 – 04:00 PM : Mass meeting with around 200 to 300 progressive farmers

Sessions & Speakers:

• Special session: 

  Sh. Dwarko Sundrani, Bihar 

  SAMANVAY Ashram
• Special session: 

  Sh. Tripurari Saran, Bihar 

  Chairman- Bihar state Khadi and Village Industries Board
• Special Session:
  Prof. Dr Leo Rebello
  
• Self Sustained Green Society: 

  Prof. Jyotirmoy Goswami, West Bengal 

  Asst Professor- Vardhman University, West Bengal
• Economic Justice : 

  Roshanlal Agrawal, Chhattisgarh 

  Campaigner, Economic Justice
• Zero Budget Organic Farming : 

  Krishna Kumar Jakhar, Rajasthan 

  Chairman- Khet Khalihan Morcha 

  National Vice President- Akhil Bharatvarshiy Jat Mahasabha
• Relevance of Self-reliance in Local Governance : 

  Omprakash Dubey, NCR
  Lok Swaraj Abhiyan
• Cow Economy & concept of Gokul University : 

  Sanjay Sajjan Singh, Bihar
  Lawyer - Patna High Court
  Chairman- Gokul Foundation India
• Tribal Economy & Development : 

  Ramnarendra, Chhattisgarh 

  Koyawes Social Institute, Bastar, Chhattisgarh
• Earth is living God not a property : 

  Kaushal Ghai, Delhi 

  Social Thinker
• Nature Human Centric Viewpoint : 

  Sajjan Kumar, Rajasthan 

  Campaign Committee, NHCPM
• Backward Classes and Open Market : 

  Abhinandan Jahanvi, Bihar
• Naturalism, Health and Organic Farming : 

  Dr. Dheerendra Umrao, Uttar Pradesh
• DESI BEEJ and Agriculture : 

  Ajeet Kumar, Bihar
• Social Development:
  Gurudiyal Singh Sheetal

  Punjab
• Right to Information & Governance System : 

  Amitabh Thakur, Uttar Pradesh
  IPS (Indian Police Service)
  President- National RTI Forum 

• Environment & Human :
  Suneel Chheda, Maharashtra 

• Role of Media & Society : 

  Ashok Kumar, Uttar Pradesh
  IB(E)S (Indian Broadcasting Engineers Services)
  Doordarshan
• Women issues : 

  Rtd Prof. Sheela Daga, Uttarakhand 

  Delhi University 

  & 

  Mira Sinha, Bihar 

  Clinical Psychologist
• Role of professionals in the social development : 

  Rupesh Garg, Andhra Pradesh 

  Manager- Testing Services, AppLabs
• Role of spirituality in the social development : 

  Arvind Pandey, Bihar
  IPS (Indian Police Service)
  Inspector General, Bihar State Police Department 

• Local Governance & Alternative Media :
  Vivek Umrao Glendenning, Delhi 

  Founder Coordinator- Local Governance & Decentralized Economy Social Group 

  CEO- The Ground Report India
  

Open letter to CM, Dy. CM and Leader of the Opposition....: by RTI activists, Maharashtra

To,

The Chief Minister - Shri Ashok Chavan,

The Deputy Chief Minister - Shri Chhagan Bhujbal, and

Leader of the Opposition - Shri Eknath Khadse.

Sub. :-- Credentials of the Information Commissioners and the Chief Information Commissioner of Maharashtra selected by you as members of the "Selection Committee".

Respected Sirs,

We are concerned citizens of Mumbai and have used the RTI Act 2005 since it was introduced in India to get transparency and accountability from our Government.

We have known, through newspapers reports, that Mr Vilas Patil has been selected as the Chief Information Commissioner in place of Dr Suresh V Joshi. And Mr M S Shah, Mr P D Patil and Mr Deshmukh have been selected as Info. Commissioners of Nashik, Nagpur and Aurangabad.

So want you, as our political representatives and members of the "Selection Committee", answer our following questions regarding the selection of these Info. Commissioners :--

1. What are the qualifications of the selected commissioners.

2. What are the documents, track records, etc. which were studied inorder to come to the conclusion that these selected commissioners were the best option available to you for this important post which entails facilitating free flow of information from the Govt. records to the citizens and penalising the errant PIOs who withhold information.

3. Which were the qualities, skills, experience and qualifications of the selected commissioners which were not there in the other applications to these post.

4. If no scrutiny was made of the other applicants for this post, then kindly provide the reasons recorded for totally disregarding them.

5. What were the steps taken to inform all eligible citizens that four posts of Information Commissioners are vacant, as requiired under Sec. 15 (5) of the RTI Act 2005 which says that :--

Sec. 15 (5) says :--

15 (5)

“The State Chief Information Commissioner and the State Information Commissioners shall be persons of eminence in public life with wide knowledge and experience in law, science and technology, social service, management, journalism, mass media or administration and governance.”

6. What were the reason recorded for ignoring the directions of the Dept. of Personnel and Training "Search Committee's Guidelines 1994" Point No. 3 (1) (i), which states that :--

“It is to be kept in mind that as a rule, appointments in government are to be made on the basis of open advertisement.”

7. What were the reasons recorded to ignore the directions of the Point No. 4.1 (ii) of the DoPT Circular No. AB 14017 / 11 / 2004 Est (RR) dated 30/7/2007 which has given the detailed procedure to be followed for filling up of Government posts. The main part states that :--

“ Since, as a rule, appointments in Government has to be made on the basis of open advertisements , this requirement has to be followed without fail, and it is only in situations where advertisement may not result in adequate response that a Search Committee should normally be appointed”.

8. What were the reasons recorded for ignoring the directions of the Maharashtra Govt. GAD's letter to the Selection Committee in 2007 which has recommended selecting Info. Commissioners by openly advertising for the post in the print and electronic media.

We would appreciate if you could reply to the above queries as early as possible.

Thanking you.

Yours Sincerely,

G R Vora,

Sunil Ahya,

Mohammed Afzal and

Krishnaraj Rao,

Ms Vidya Vaidya,

On behalf of all RTI users and concerned citizens of Mumbai.

Plot - 275 / 3, Gope Nivas, Sion E, Mumbai - 22.

Cell : 09869195785

Writ Filed in High Court in the RTI matter related with Vigilance Department

A writ has been filed today by Dr Nutan Thakur, Convener of the National RTI Forum in the Allahabad High Court, Lucknow Bench. Sri Ashok Pande is the counsel for the petitioner. The writ is against the Notification No 2339/39-4-2010- 21/05, dated September 22, 2010 issued by Principal Secretary, Vigilance, Uttar Pradesh through which the Vigilance Department and Uttar Pradesh Vigilance Establishment have been brought out of the purview of the Right to Information Act 2005. This notification has been passed by the UP government by powers given under section 24(4) of the RTI Act. It said that providing information under RTI is having adverse effect in the “process of investigation and prosecution of offenders” and hence it is being stopped.

The interim relief sought is to direct the respondent not to give effect to this Notification till the disposal of the petition while the main relief sought is to quash this Notification.

The main plea taken by Nutan Thakur is that the twin objective of the passing of the RTI Act were to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority and this notification works exactly in opposition to these twin objectives. It also talks of section 8 (1) (h) of the Act which already excludes the information which would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders from the application of the provisions of RTI. Thus the petition says that with this provision already in effect, there was no need to bring this notification where other than the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders, all other information related with the Vigilance Department and Vigilance Establishment have been brought out of the purview of the RTI Act. The petition says that though section 24(4) of the Act gives power to the State governments to order exemption of certain organizations from the application of this Act but it also clearly mentions that this shall not apply for cases related with allegations of corruption and human rights violations.

The petition provides a comparative status of the UP Vigilance department vis-a-vis the Central Vigilance Commission and the Central Bureau of Investigation, which have the same function at the Central government level as Vigilance department has in the State. The petition says that the CVC gives all such Information like action on complaints, penal action, delays in conduct of disciplinary proceedings , sanction for prosecution pending over four months etc. where the list of the officers on whom criminal charges related with corruption are leveled along with actions being taken and the overall status in investigation and prosecution are being openly declared. Similarly the CBI provides information of details of cases pending for Sanction of Prosecution (under Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988) with Organisations/ Departments. Again neither the CVC nor CBI is kept out of the purview of the Act. The petition also says that hiding all such information related with corruption of officers will clearly aid and assist such officers and will remove any kind of societal and public pressure that a person has as regards a person’s misdeeds becoming public in nature. The petition specifically talks of Writ Petition No (M/B) 5074 of 2004 Nirdesh Kumar Dixit (P.I.L) vs State Of U.P. thru Principal Secretary (Vigilance) & 14 Others, where Amitava Lala, J and Ritu Raj Awasthi, J of the Allahabad High Court have in their order dated 12/05/2010 asked the State of UP to justify the posting of officers found guilty in a particular Vigilance enquiry on important posts and where incidentally one of the officers is Kunwar Fateh Bahadur, presently working as the Principal Secretary Vigilance Departments.

Tamil RTI Activist’s Murder in PDS Scam

Murugan, belonging to Devendrar, Scheduled Caste community, hailing from Thoothukudi District of Tamilnadu, died on 7 September under mysterious circumstances. Murugan was working as Assistant Quality Control Inspector in the State Civil Supplies Corporation, Thoothukudi. While on duty, he had noticed some pilferages and illegal smuggling of the stored food items of the Government storehouse which are for distribution under the PDS. Suspecting foul play by some colleagues and higher officials, he raised the issue with Divisional Manager, Civil Supplies Corporation through a written complaint.

As the Divisional Manager tried to pacify him and urged him to turn a blind eye, Murugan made a written complaint to Police in the Thoothukudi Sipcot Police Station. When the police made enquiries, the Divisional Manager has used his clout and threatened Murugan over telephone to withdraw the complaint. Deterred with this act of the superior officer, Murugan chose to wait and watch for some more time. However, he briefed his wife Selvi about these happenings and said that he feared for his life.

Murugan went to office on the morning of 7 September as usual. At around 3.30 pm, Selvi received a call informing her that her husband was admitted to Government General Hospital, Thoothukudi. Upon rushing to the hospital, she was told by hospital authorities that Murugan had consumed poison. She saw her husband in the hospital, dressed only in his trousers, with blood clots, contusions and bruises on his body. She could not find who had admitted him to hospital, and no one from his office was present. The hospital authorities said that Murugan was brought in a load auto, and that they were informed that he had consumed poison.

Selvi doubted this story, as there was no compelling reason and everything was normal at home. She believed that his office colleagues against whom Murugan had complained, had, with the connivance of higher officials beaten him and force-fed poison to divert police attention. Thus she lodged a complaint with the
district Superintendent of Police, Thoothukudi.

The police did not act on her complaint. Ignoring her complaint, the police filed a suicide case against her husband. Murugan died in hospital on 11 September.

The next day, the post mortem was conducted without proper enquiry and also without the signature of his wife or any of his relatives. Therefore Selvi and her relatives refused to accept the body, and she embarked on a fast-unto- death on 13 September in front of the district Collector's office, demanding arrest of the suspected culprits and rendering of proper justice. As the district administration did not act, political parties like the CPI, CPM, CPI(ML), BSP, Puthiya Tamilagam, DPI, Periyar Diravidar kazakam, Athi Tamilar peravai and Naam Tamilar kadsi took up the issue, participated in the fasting and also took processions in Thoothukudi demanding taking stern action against Divisonal Manager Mr Chidambaram, and others including Mr Ayya Pillai, Mr Isaac and Mr Ramesh from the department, who they alleged had perpetrated this heinous crime. Many parties and social activists in Tuticorin have joined in this agitation.

More details in English and Tamil at

http://jprabakar007.blogspot.com

J.Prabakar

09486251948

jprabakar@gmail.com

Kappikulam, Ottapidaram, Thoothukudi

by:

Krishnaraj Rao

Mumbai, Maharashtra

Video: Mumbai Activists give Mock Send-off to Chief Info Commissioner

By: Krishnaraj Rao

These are the proceedings of the Mock Send-off to the Chief Information Commissioner held on Thursday, 9th September, 2010 at Marathi Patrakar Sangh, Mumbai. The send-off was to show the government what RTI appellants feel about the current batch of Information Commissioners, both in Maharashtra and at the Centre. Despite concerns about propriety, it is necessary and urgent to organize such protests in all towns to give the government something to think about, before they non-transparently appoint the next batch of Information Commissioners.

The Send-off was held after a press conference organized by G R Vora, Krishnaraj Rao & friends. The press conference was held to highlight the connection between

a) murderous attacks on RTI activists and whistle-blowers

b) arbitrary and non-transparent appointment of political stooges as Information Commissioners & Vigilance Commissioners.

Fellow activists, it should be our utmost priority to organize many such send-off parties for existing Information Commissioners in many towns and villages in Sept-October ’10. We must send a clear message to the government that the era of nepotistic appointments is over.

For organizing details, read: http://www.box.net/shared/r91tch0s3g

By:
Krishnaraj Rao

Activists stage play on Activists’ killings, parody RTI Commissioner at mock sendoff

Mumbai, 10 September, 2010

RTI Activists allege that there is a direct link between the uptrend in attacks on whistleblowers and RTI activists, and the arbitrary political appointments of Information Commissioners and Vigilance Commissioners’ at the Centre and various states. A At a press conference held yesterday, organized by RTI Activists G R Vora, Krishnaraj Rao and others, theatre professionals enacted a 20-minute street play that depicted a nexus between unscrupulous ministers, builders and information commissioners, which ended in the death of an RTI activist.

Speaking on the occasion, former IPS officer Y P Singh said, “Honest officers are greatly outnumbered in the civil services. Citizens who approach the administration with complaints of serious wrongdoings often find themselves surrounded. The proposed Public Interest Disclosures Bill 2010 does nothing to mitigate the risks faced by whistleblowers. The Bill demands that the citizens must keep the facts top-secret and disclose them only to the Vigilance Commissioner; that is the most dangerous thing that a citizen can possibly do, because his safety depends on the facts being widely publicized!” Whistleblowers Suryakant Shinde, V B Singh and Ambar Mufti from customs & dockyard services shared their real-life experiences about how they were hounded and victimized through misuse of the law enforcement machinery after they successfully blew the whistle on corrupt colleagues.

G R Vora stressed the key role of transparent appointment of Information Commissioners, and also Vigilance Commissioners, in cleaning up the system. “The present crop of Commissioners owe allegiance to the Chief Ministers and other powerful politicians who have unilaterally selected them, sometimes going against the opinion of even opposition leaders. Many of them are already tainted. So from the first day of their jobs, they are keen to return favours by preventing the disclosure of key information that would embarrass their political masters. How can they ever deliver information, justice and good governance to citizens? He asked.

Afterwards, the activists held a mock sendoff party for the outgoing Chief Information Commissioner. Krishnaraj Rao played the role of the CIC, and allowed other activists to express their feelings by garlanding him with chappals, throwing footwear at him and blackening his face. “I feel that throughout this state, there is widespread anger against the Information Commissioners who have by-and-large let down the people very badly. In the coming weeks, we hope to organize similar events in every town along with local activists, so that RTI appellants will get a chance to express their true feelings to the Maharashtra Government,” he said.

Detailed press note:

http://www.box.net/shared/18su6gpudr

More event photos:

http://www.box.net/shared/gv4d06t34q

Brief introduction of four whistleblowers present:

http://www.box.net/shared/nue1d04q82

For details, call Krish 98215 88114 or G R Vora 98691 95785

By:

Krishnaraj Rao

Mumbai, Maharashtra