Despite threats, activists soldier on, ask for support
times of india, chennai edition page no.4, 8th july 2011
Karthika Gopalakrishnan | TNN
When RTI activist V Gopalakrishnan gets a call on his mobile from an unknown number he starts recording the call. “Do you hear the beep? It’s recording. Please cut the call and call back later,” he says after he is convinced that the caller is not going to threaten him.
For Gopalakrishnan, threats are par for the course. They come with the territory of RTI activism.
Last year, he had filed an RTI request asking for the property details of an official when he got a call from a local politician asking Gopalakrishnan to withdraw his request. But Gopalakrishnan had used his mobile phone to record the conversation and used it as audio evidence in a complaint to the police. Though not much came of the complaint, such precautions help, he says.
P Balasubramaniam, an activist in Cuddalore, says that he was threatened by a builder when he filed an RTI request asking if government poromboke land had been converted to housing plots.
The threats first start
as soft and polite conversation, says V Balakiruttinan, an activist in Vayaloor, Vandavasi. Those who could land in trouble due to the RTI request then send those known to the activist with a request to compromise. “We explain to them that we are doing this for a larger social cause. We want solutions and are not interested in compromise,” he says.
Balakiruttinan explains that networking with other activists and working as a team helps to handle threats. The activists, however, are convinced that threats and attempts to browbeat can be beaten back if there is a critical mass of people joining the fight against corruption using the act.
At the same time, many TOI readers, while supporting RTI as a tool to fight corruption, ask for more details. They want to know how to file RTI requests and take follow up action. But, already, many NGOs have taken up the cause of promoting awareness of RTI and popularizing it among the people.
Various fora have come up to address this gap starting from RTI clubs in educational institutions such as the one run at Shree Niketan Matriculation School. Institutions of higher education such as Vellore Institute of Technology have an RTI chapter, set up in association with Fifth Pillar India, a non-governmental organisation.
“We distribute ‘zerorupee’ notes at schools as a symbolic gesture of our bid to discourage corruption and talk to students from classes VI to XII about the RTI Act and how they can use it,” said T Jayaseelan, Manager — Administration and RTI, Fifth Pillar Indian NGO.
He suggested that each district collectorate could conduct RTI awareness programmes every Monday as grievance redressal meetings were held on the same day. Gopalakrishnan said that advertisements in Tamil dailies and allocation of funds from the government for non-governmental organisations to carry out awareness campaigns on RTI, as carried out by National Aids Control Organisation on HIV-AIDS, would help carry the message to the grassroots, Gopalakrishnan suggested.
Social studies textbooks in schools should describe the RTI process
Information commissioners should be non-bureaucrats so they have no vested interest
Funds can be given to NGOs promoting awareness like in the AIDS control programme
Signboards in all offices needed to explain the process
Friday, July 8, 2011
‘How many know about RTI?’
‘How many know about RTI?’
times of india, chennai edition page no.4.
TOI Readers Are Enthusiastic About Fighting Corruption Through RTI. But Many Want To Know How
• How many of us know about RTI? Hardly a single digit percentage of population is aware of such an act. Even those like me who know a bit about the act don’t know all the details such as where to file an application andhow to file. There are many questions about the act. Awareness among the common people is important. —Shalji V
• Culprit government officers should be traced and punished. —S Murali
• Charge a moderately good amount from the public for services rendered by government departments and pay incentives to employees, but take strong action to root out their delaying tactics. —Ravindranath Kavuri
• Officers work best under fear here so create the fear to get things done.
—Sudarshan
• The government must be creative to bring awareness to the common man about RTI. But unfortunately there is a resistance to following rules and regulations. Officials must be taught to follow rules. As punishment, officers should be sent to experience how the common man is affected for not disclosing information at the right time.
—Iruthayaraj Teresa
• Create awareness among common people. —Akila
• RTI is useful only for educated and courageous people as the government and its employees are quite powerful and will intimidate the people who demand their rights. But RTI should not be the only tool to corner the corrupt. Those who protest against corruption should be protected. At the end of the day, common people also engage in and encourage corruption. Punishing the officers who do not disclose information is the right thing to do. This is a good action. Make officials follow the rules. The concerned lower-level employees should also be punished as the these officials are more involved in corruption than higher officers. Online filing will help those who are busy. Having a grievance mechanism to follow up on the complaints is a very good idea. Along with reprimanding and punishing the concerned officials, the victims should also be compensated by this mechanism. —N Lokanathan
• If we make the process of filing RTI easier, i.e, through online and so on, a huge volume of petitions will come in, which could be difficult to manage and track. So we need to recruit more people to handle RTI complaints or link the RTI process with a state-level Lokayukta to handle the work load.
—Aananth C N
• Try to spread RTI in rural areas.
—Sabina
• Appoint public relations officers in each government office who can give details about RTI. —Chinnasamy
• Making it easier to file RTI applications online would enable more users to address their concerns. —Ashok
• RTI is the golden "key". To use this key, especially in critical situations, everyone should understand the law very well. To use this key, knowledge is essential. Only the state government can educate people and make them aware. State and central governments can take many steps to promote RTI awareness. One way is to educate and motivate people to use RTI. RTI should be included in social studies subjects in schools. They should be made part of the curriculum. College-level seminars on RTI should be arranged to encourage students. Social clubs and NGOs also have an important role to play in increasing awareness. Ultimately, people who have regular jobs in companies should be able to use RTI if they are only keen and alert.
—V Srinivasan
• Create a grievance mechanism so that information unearthed by RTI is followed up and corrective action taken!
—S Venugopalan
times of india, chennai edition page no.4.
TOI Readers Are Enthusiastic About Fighting Corruption Through RTI. But Many Want To Know How
• How many of us know about RTI? Hardly a single digit percentage of population is aware of such an act. Even those like me who know a bit about the act don’t know all the details such as where to file an application andhow to file. There are many questions about the act. Awareness among the common people is important. —Shalji V
• Culprit government officers should be traced and punished. —S Murali
• Charge a moderately good amount from the public for services rendered by government departments and pay incentives to employees, but take strong action to root out their delaying tactics. —Ravindranath Kavuri
• Officers work best under fear here so create the fear to get things done.
—Sudarshan
• The government must be creative to bring awareness to the common man about RTI. But unfortunately there is a resistance to following rules and regulations. Officials must be taught to follow rules. As punishment, officers should be sent to experience how the common man is affected for not disclosing information at the right time.
—Iruthayaraj Teresa
• Create awareness among common people. —Akila
• RTI is useful only for educated and courageous people as the government and its employees are quite powerful and will intimidate the people who demand their rights. But RTI should not be the only tool to corner the corrupt. Those who protest against corruption should be protected. At the end of the day, common people also engage in and encourage corruption. Punishing the officers who do not disclose information is the right thing to do. This is a good action. Make officials follow the rules. The concerned lower-level employees should also be punished as the these officials are more involved in corruption than higher officers. Online filing will help those who are busy. Having a grievance mechanism to follow up on the complaints is a very good idea. Along with reprimanding and punishing the concerned officials, the victims should also be compensated by this mechanism. —N Lokanathan
• If we make the process of filing RTI easier, i.e, through online and so on, a huge volume of petitions will come in, which could be difficult to manage and track. So we need to recruit more people to handle RTI complaints or link the RTI process with a state-level Lokayukta to handle the work load.
—Aananth C N
• Try to spread RTI in rural areas.
—Sabina
• Appoint public relations officers in each government office who can give details about RTI. —Chinnasamy
• Making it easier to file RTI applications online would enable more users to address their concerns. —Ashok
• RTI is the golden "key". To use this key, especially in critical situations, everyone should understand the law very well. To use this key, knowledge is essential. Only the state government can educate people and make them aware. State and central governments can take many steps to promote RTI awareness. One way is to educate and motivate people to use RTI. RTI should be included in social studies subjects in schools. They should be made part of the curriculum. College-level seminars on RTI should be arranged to encourage students. Social clubs and NGOs also have an important role to play in increasing awareness. Ultimately, people who have regular jobs in companies should be able to use RTI if they are only keen and alert.
—V Srinivasan
• Create a grievance mechanism so that information unearthed by RTI is followed up and corrective action taken!
—S Venugopalan
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Soon, track status of RTI plea online
Soon, track status of RTI plea online
Karthika GopalakrishnanKarthika Gopalakrishnan, TNN | Jul 4, 2011, 05.40am IST
CHENNAI: In a move to promote greater transparency, the State Information Commission (SIC) will soon help individuals, who have sought information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, know the status of their application through phone, SMS and the internet. Set to be implemented in phases, the new software that is being procured from the National Informatics Centre (NIC) for this purpose is likely to be put through a trial run starting July 15, state chief information commissioner K S Sripathi told TOI.
"Our original target was to bring this into effect in June but there was a delay as NIC was sorting out a few issues with the software. We are hoping to do a trial run of people calling by phone to check the status of their application starting July 15," he said. By August, the commission plans to introduce the option for applicants to check the status of their case through SMS and through the SIC website.
Pointing out that this would spare applicants the effort of making a visit to the commission in person to enquire about the status, Sripathi added that the SIC was also working on organising its files with an efficient retrieval system now in place and trained personnel to handle files dating back three years.
RTI applicants say that the commission has come a long way in the last year. "About eight months ago, the commission did not even put up copies of its orders online or maintain a record of the number of cases that were received every month. This system can be used by applicants to file RTI applications every month just to find out the status of their original application. Otherwise, they would have no idea what happened to their original application," said V Madhav, an RTI activist.
Other activists such as V Gopalakrishnan concur with the observation. "This move will help people from the districts get access to information. For instance, if a person has filed an RTI query from Kanyakumari, he or she need not come all the way to Chennai to enquire about the status of his application," he said.
Karthika GopalakrishnanKarthika Gopalakrishnan, TNN | Jul 4, 2011, 05.40am IST
CHENNAI: In a move to promote greater transparency, the State Information Commission (SIC) will soon help individuals, who have sought information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, know the status of their application through phone, SMS and the internet. Set to be implemented in phases, the new software that is being procured from the National Informatics Centre (NIC) for this purpose is likely to be put through a trial run starting July 15, state chief information commissioner K S Sripathi told TOI.
"Our original target was to bring this into effect in June but there was a delay as NIC was sorting out a few issues with the software. We are hoping to do a trial run of people calling by phone to check the status of their application starting July 15," he said. By August, the commission plans to introduce the option for applicants to check the status of their case through SMS and through the SIC website.
Pointing out that this would spare applicants the effort of making a visit to the commission in person to enquire about the status, Sripathi added that the SIC was also working on organising its files with an efficient retrieval system now in place and trained personnel to handle files dating back three years.
RTI applicants say that the commission has come a long way in the last year. "About eight months ago, the commission did not even put up copies of its orders online or maintain a record of the number of cases that were received every month. This system can be used by applicants to file RTI applications every month just to find out the status of their original application. Otherwise, they would have no idea what happened to their original application," said V Madhav, an RTI activist.
Other activists such as V Gopalakrishnan concur with the observation. "This move will help people from the districts get access to information. For instance, if a person has filed an RTI query from Kanyakumari, he or she need not come all the way to Chennai to enquire about the status of his application," he said.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Chennai Corporation spent Rs 50 cr on advertisements
Chennai Corporation spent Rs 50 cr on advertisements
[ Date : Mar 10th, 2011 ]
The Chennai Corporation has spent a Rs 50 crore in the last five years towards advertisement cost. This included tenders, and repeated tenders, as contractors failed to show up in the initial rounds due to rise in prices of construction items. The administration, however, said the increased spend on advertisements reflected its increased infrastructure development.
In its reply to the city-based RTI activist V Gopalakrishnan, the local body said Rs 17 crore was spent towards advertisement charges in 2008-2009. The expenditure was Rs 14.8 crore in 2007-2008. In the previous two fiscals, it spent Rs 13 crore. At the end of its last fiscal of its previous term, the AIADMK-led elected council managed spent only Rs 1.35 crore under this head.
The RTI reply said the department availed only budgetary allocations. The civic budget has a separate provision for advertisement charges and the council had cleared the expenses every year. “It only proves the fact that infrastructure development has really taken place,” a senior official said.
One of the probable reasons for the increased expenditure on advertisements is the poor response from contractors for several projects, forcing the corporation to repeat tender advertisements. Contractors had stayed away from work after price of construction materials increased in 2007. There were instances, when the civic body had to issue more than five tenders for a project, for want of contractors. If an automated parking system at Broadway terminus demanded four calls, modernization of Perambur abattoir required several more calls.
The local body is relying heavily on property tax collection this fiscal to meet expenses arising out of the sixth pay commission recommendations. The budgetary provisions for this year show that a Rs 510 crore is required for implementing pay commission recommendations to hundreds of civic staff, even as the revenue department is likely to raise only Rs 410 crore under the property tax head. The agency is now eyeing external funding agencies for loans for various works.
Sources said Rs 1,378.4 crore worth development works had taken place during the last five years. “It is sad that a large part of the money is used for advertisements, when allotment for basic services for urban poor got cancelled” said A Subramani, a CPI councillor. This is because; many beneficiaries could not shell out their share of cost to construct a tiny house.
[ Date : Mar 10th, 2011 ]
The Chennai Corporation has spent a Rs 50 crore in the last five years towards advertisement cost. This included tenders, and repeated tenders, as contractors failed to show up in the initial rounds due to rise in prices of construction items. The administration, however, said the increased spend on advertisements reflected its increased infrastructure development.
In its reply to the city-based RTI activist V Gopalakrishnan, the local body said Rs 17 crore was spent towards advertisement charges in 2008-2009. The expenditure was Rs 14.8 crore in 2007-2008. In the previous two fiscals, it spent Rs 13 crore. At the end of its last fiscal of its previous term, the AIADMK-led elected council managed spent only Rs 1.35 crore under this head.
The RTI reply said the department availed only budgetary allocations. The civic budget has a separate provision for advertisement charges and the council had cleared the expenses every year. “It only proves the fact that infrastructure development has really taken place,” a senior official said.
One of the probable reasons for the increased expenditure on advertisements is the poor response from contractors for several projects, forcing the corporation to repeat tender advertisements. Contractors had stayed away from work after price of construction materials increased in 2007. There were instances, when the civic body had to issue more than five tenders for a project, for want of contractors. If an automated parking system at Broadway terminus demanded four calls, modernization of Perambur abattoir required several more calls.
The local body is relying heavily on property tax collection this fiscal to meet expenses arising out of the sixth pay commission recommendations. The budgetary provisions for this year show that a Rs 510 crore is required for implementing pay commission recommendations to hundreds of civic staff, even as the revenue department is likely to raise only Rs 410 crore under the property tax head. The agency is now eyeing external funding agencies for loans for various works.
Sources said Rs 1,378.4 crore worth development works had taken place during the last five years. “It is sad that a large part of the money is used for advertisements, when allotment for basic services for urban poor got cancelled” said A Subramani, a CPI councillor. This is because; many beneficiaries could not shell out their share of cost to construct a tiny house.
RTI activists see red in info commissioners' appointment
RTI activists see red in info commissioners' appointment
Wednesday, 03.02.2011, (GMT+5.5)
Chennai: RTI activists are angry with the state government for having appointed three commissioners to the Tamil Nadu Information Commission just before the model code of conduct came into force, with zero transparency.
The government announced the appointments on Tuesday, hours before the election commission announced the poll date. Already, the appointment of former chief secretary KS Sripathi as the chief information commissioner is in a legal tangle after RTI activists alleging that there was no transperancy in the appointment process.
The appointment of Dr PA Ramiah, C Manoharan and Arumuga Nainar as the new information commissioners in the existing vacancy on Monday came as a surprise to many RTI groups and activists who have been urging the government to maintain transparency.
"Section 15 of RTI Act says any person 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 is eligible to apply for the post. We have been asking the government to issue newspaper advertisements calling for applications, shortlist the names and then go for selection. We want the government to clarify how the three commissioners came to know of filling up of the vacancies and applied for it,'' said V Gopalakrishnan, an RTI activist who was arrested for staging a demonstration in front of Raj Bhavan demanding transperancy in the appointment of chief information commissioner KS Sripathi in September last.
"Information commission is the place from where transparency should begin, but it is unfortunate that the appointments to such a commission is being made in a secret manner. This reduces the appointments to political in the eyes of the public. We, along with several other RTI groups, will convene a meeting this week to oppose this,'' said G Balaji of Public Awareness Campaign Energy Trust, Thirumangalam.
While the selection committee includes the chief minister, Opposition leader and a minister deputed by the chief minister, the decision of appointing the three commissioners was taken by chief minister M Karunanidhi and finance minister K Anbazhagan, in the absence of Opposition leader J Jayalalithaa.
"We don't question the government prerogative in selecting the commissioners, but want to point out that a proper interpretation of Section 15 of RTI Act can only be taken as there must be unanimity in the selection committee in the appointments and there is no question of majority opinion in it. When there are only three persons in a committee and two of them belong to the ruling party, it can only be the decision of the ruling party,'' said Anti-Corruption Movement state general secretary SM Arasu.
Wednesday, 03.02.2011, (GMT+5.5)
Chennai: RTI activists are angry with the state government for having appointed three commissioners to the Tamil Nadu Information Commission just before the model code of conduct came into force, with zero transparency.
The government announced the appointments on Tuesday, hours before the election commission announced the poll date. Already, the appointment of former chief secretary KS Sripathi as the chief information commissioner is in a legal tangle after RTI activists alleging that there was no transperancy in the appointment process.
The appointment of Dr PA Ramiah, C Manoharan and Arumuga Nainar as the new information commissioners in the existing vacancy on Monday came as a surprise to many RTI groups and activists who have been urging the government to maintain transparency.
"Section 15 of RTI Act says any person 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 is eligible to apply for the post. We have been asking the government to issue newspaper advertisements calling for applications, shortlist the names and then go for selection. We want the government to clarify how the three commissioners came to know of filling up of the vacancies and applied for it,'' said V Gopalakrishnan, an RTI activist who was arrested for staging a demonstration in front of Raj Bhavan demanding transperancy in the appointment of chief information commissioner KS Sripathi in September last.
"Information commission is the place from where transparency should begin, but it is unfortunate that the appointments to such a commission is being made in a secret manner. This reduces the appointments to political in the eyes of the public. We, along with several other RTI groups, will convene a meeting this week to oppose this,'' said G Balaji of Public Awareness Campaign Energy Trust, Thirumangalam.
While the selection committee includes the chief minister, Opposition leader and a minister deputed by the chief minister, the decision of appointing the three commissioners was taken by chief minister M Karunanidhi and finance minister K Anbazhagan, in the absence of Opposition leader J Jayalalithaa.
"We don't question the government prerogative in selecting the commissioners, but want to point out that a proper interpretation of Section 15 of RTI Act can only be taken as there must be unanimity in the selection committee in the appointments and there is no question of majority opinion in it. When there are only three persons in a committee and two of them belong to the ruling party, it can only be the decision of the ruling party,'' said Anti-Corruption Movement state general secretary SM Arasu.
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