UNODC Seminar On International Anti-Corruption Day

Of lately, RTI has gained prominence. Despite this, the country has witnessed an escalation in the corruption for over the past few years. After October 2005, when RTI came into existence from the corridors of the Parliament as a powerful weapon to maintain the system of checks and balances, people all over the country find it difficult to use this tool. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) organized a Seminar on December 8, 2008, on the eve of International Anti Corruption Day. The venue was UNODC Conference Hall, New Delhi.

The Seminar witnessed the confluence of many dignitaries on a common platform to express their thoughts on corruption and RTI. The subject of the Seminar was saying “No to Corruption”. The Seminar was attended by dignitaries like Former President of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, Chief Information Commissioner Dr. Wajahat Habibullah, Chief Vigilance Commissioner Mr. Pratyush Sinha, CBI Director Mr. Ashwani Kumar and many other prominent personalities.

Dr. Kalam opened the Seminar and presented his concerns regarding RTI Act and corruption. Mr. Pratyush Sinha, Chief Vigilance Commissioner of India threw light on the various aspects of RTI and stressed that until and unless everyone is made aware of the RTI Act, it will remain a silent weapon. CIC Mr. Habibullah, talked about the issues regarding the accessibility and use of the RTI Act, whereby he quoted some examples how aware and diligent people have made an effective use of the RTI. He was very much concerned about RTI being misused by people to settle personal scores or make their selfish interests. Mr. Shashank Shekhar Singh added to above topic as of how RTI can be promoted at all levels of the society and every single person’s contribution was indispensable.

Addtional Secretary, Ministry of Information technology, Mr. S.R. Rao laid the emphasis on the use of IT and how can this be made feasible and accessible to one and all. Mr. R. Swaminathan, Joint secretary, Ministry of External Affairs and Chief Passport Officer, cited examples where people used the RTI Act to know the status of their applications.

Prof. (Dr.) Mishra touched upon the issues that need immediate attention and raised questions like, how can the security of a person filing the RTI be ensured especially vis-à-vis rural areas? He raised the question to CBI Director as how can the CBI claim to be corruption free when it falls under the PMO. I too put up some questions before the CIC and the Joint secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, about the backlogs at the RTI offices in different parts of the country and why government is not spending enough to create awareness campaign for RTI.

At the end of the Seminar, it was concluded that RTI required a concerted effort from people from all walks of life and it’s not just about an individual. Moreover, adoption of e-governance will drastically minimize the corruption in various government departments as all the information will be accessible by anyone and everyone via website which will make the functioning of these departments much more transparent.

Noting in Cabinet file open to public – CIC

In a major decision by CIC that reinforces the spirit of RTI, CIC has held that government can’t withhold public notings made in the cabinet decisions which means that the notings made in the files made by Union and State Cabinets are open to public scrutiny despite secret opinions expressed by different ministers.

CIC also asserts that “notings” are an inextricable part of a record as defined under the RTI Act, unless a case has been specifically exempted. However, certain “file notings” that are in conflict with public interest, are excluded.

Source : RTI NGO

RTI Guide

Hi Friends,

If you need to know about Right to Information (RTI) Act then go to my website RTI NGO

Dishonest Contractor

This incident took place in Pithampur which is 35 Kms from Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Pithampur is the industrial area of Madhya Pradesh with many industries having their production plant in there. A contractor was given the responsibility of installing the street lights on the roads of Pithampur. He did the work and was paid for, but every now and then lights used to go off and many among them were not working but electicity board used to charge the total bill (including those not working).

Mr. Gautam Kothari who is President of Pithampur Industry Association filed an application under RTI Act and asked the contractor about what work he has done, how many lights he has installed, how many are in working condition and how much did he charge for his work. He filed another application with the electricity department and asked them how they are charging for the electricity which is not being consumed. After a month of hard work Mr. Kothari was in winning position and the contractor & corrupt officials of electricity board were brought to books. The contractor lost his contract and enquiry was initiated against corrupt officials.

Nannu Uses RTI

Nannu is a daily wage earner who lives in Delhi Welcome Mazdoor colony, a slum habitation. He lost his ration card and applied for a new one. He made several rounds to local Food & Civil supplies office for 3 months but there was no one to hear him or solve his problem. No one in the office paid attention to his request. They didn’t even bother to tell the status of his application. Ultimately, he filed an application under Right to Information (RTI) Act asking for the daily progress made on his application, name of those officials who were supposed to act on his application and what action would be taken against these officials for dereliction in their duty.

As a result of this action of Nannu, within a week he was visited by an official from Food Department who informed him that his card had been made and he could collect it from office. When Nannu went to the office to collect his card, he was given warm welcome and was requested to withdraw his application as his card had been made.

This shows the power of RTI as initially these officials were not giving any response to Nannu but as he filed the application under RTI, same officials treated him nicely and did his work without any problems.

Understand Right to Information (RTI) Act

Hello friends. Yesterday i gave you a glimpse of exactly what RTI is. From today i will try to explain every minute detail about it. So without wasting a single minute lets start with the legal definition of Right to Information (RTI) Act. RTI can be explained as “An Act to provide for setting out the practical regime of right to information for citizens to secure access to information under the control of public authorities, in order to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority, the constitution of a Central Information Commission and State Information Commissions and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.”

The RTI Act came into force on the 12th October, 2005 (120th day of its enactment on 15th June, 2005). However before that nine state governments have passed the state Acts. These were J&K, Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Goa.  Some provisions have come into force with immediate effect viz. obligations of public authorities, designation of Public Information Officers and Assistant Public Information Officers and, constitution of Central Information Commission constitution of State Information Commission, non-applicability of the Act to Intelligence and Security Organizations and power to make rules to carry out the provisions of the Act.

Now it’s imperative to understand what exactly information means? Information means any material in any form including records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force.  But it must be kept in mind that the information gained by the use of this Act is copyrighted information of the concerned authority and cannot be made public.

When the Act came into force, “file notings” were exempted from disclosure but Central Information Commission in one of its orders on January 31, 2006 clarified that “file notings are an integral part of the government file and are subject to disclosure under the Act.”

So today, i will end it right here as it is very imporatant to understand these three things discussed today:

1. Definition of Right to Information (RTI).
2. When did it come into force?
3. What does information means as per this Act?

Understanding of the first and third point will help the individual to proficiently use this Act to get the exact information needed by him/her. The second point also hold significance as it shows (unfortunately) that this right was granted to citizens of India (largest democracy of the world) after 58 years of Independence.

If you want to work for the cause then visit my website working to spread the awreness about Right to Information (RTI) Act.

What is RTI Act?

Right to Information (RTI) Act came into force on 12^th October, 2005. The UPA government of India brought this Act so that the common man of India can actively participate in the governance of country. Till now people were able to show their strength only at the time of election but now they can make their representative or any government official accountable for its action.

 

This power of this Act lies in the fact that a person using RTI Act can ask the government official to show the ATM withdrawal slip of his salary. All the government organizations are under its purview. Earlier private organizations were totally kept out of this Act but now it is not so. The private organizations which serve the common man are also made accountable.

 

Some government agencies are kept out of this Act due to security reasons but they are still accountable. My RTI NGO is working to educate the masses about its use. It empowers every citizen of India to get answers of their questions from government establishments. Moreover, these establishments can’t deny the information asked for. It’s imperative for them to answer within 30 days or else they will be penalized by State Information Commission (SIC) or Central Information Commission (CIC) as the case may be.

 

For detailed information about RTI Act visit http://www.rti-ngo.org/RTI-Act-document.pdf.