Commonwealth Ministers Meet
A real opportunity or more rhetoric?
Maja Daruwala
http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=6210
The next two weeks will see London abuzz with various foreign ministers and permanent representatives from across the Commonwealth coming to deliberate on what gets into the communiqués of the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Meeting this November (CHOGM). The process of creating these communiqués is long drawn. Issues bubble up from the earlier meetings of foreign, women's affairs and finance ministers that take place in the two years between CHOGMs, and also from the continuum of work developed from mandates given to the Commonwealth Secretariat by the Heads of States at earlier CHOGMs. Officials at the Commonwealth Secretariat gather together all these threads in draft paragraphs, which then get distilled by negotiations like the ones being held this week. Past mandates have included promoting and mainstreaming women's rights into the work of the Secretariat, helping ensure better election practices, raising awareness of HIV/AIDs, leading on debt forgiveness, getting reports back on progress on the Millennium Development Goals, and assisting with constitution making. What the communiqués say decide the future work at the secretariat. A good deal of this is concerned with providing technical assistance to countries that ask for it, raising awareness, and gently pushing unwilling governments to comply with membership obligations in the Fundamental Political Principles of the Commonwealth -- founding documents which are very much based on being obedient to internationally agreed human rights standards. After governments have indicated their priorities and current concerns, a consensus document goes to the Heads of States at their biennial meeting for finalisation. Secretariat officials whose full time job this is, the countries that contribute the most to the Commonwealth's coffers, the host country -- this time Uganda -- and the more populous nations like India and Nigeria, make the running. Since the Commonwealth is not on everyone's political front burner as the most influential of multilateral associations, many officials who go to its meetings are often not properly briefed and, but for a handful, civil society ignores its deliberations: perhaps with good cause. Unfulfilled promises enthusiastically made by Heads of Governments lie scattered like the paper hats, torn streamers and used paper napkins after some annual lodge bash, for the sad janitor to dump into the dustbin till the next jolly occasion comes around. Nevertheless, the potential for taking real action still makes the Commonwealth's meetings a party worth attending, in the hope that some, at least, of the promises will be realised. Last time around, Mugabe's nervousness at being named and shamed for his terrible overlordship of 12 million of his countrymen forced him to pre-empt censure by pulling out of the association, rather than facing the discredit of being suspended. This time around, prior to the November meet, General Musharraf will be careful to doff his general's uniform as promised for something that at least looks like the fig leaf of democratic functioning -- even if Fiji, Maldives and Bangladesh hang on to their exercises in democratic governance. Because the Commonwealth works like a club of leaders acting through consensus it is, in fact, a very safe place for officials and governments to go beyond the posturing and really get to grips with the issues of the day. Barring a handful of very affluent countries the Commonwealth is essentially an association of grindingly poor countries where well over half the population of near 1.4 billion lives on less than $2 a day. These people need real solutions and not rhetoric. The people all know what's wrong. One of the big things that is wrong in most Commonwealth countries is policing. Every year, very few nations from Antigua to Zambia -- and all the other letters of the alphabet in between -- escape the ignominy of being cited for abusive, violent, discriminatory and corrupt policing. Millions experience it everyday. They all know that most police forces need a total overhaul. Governments know how to do it: re-order policing; re-examine how it is actually done on the ground; make recruitment fair, training better and management result oriented, provide reasonable resources, and be strong in monitoring performance and punishing the guilty. This is one side of it, but the most important bit of the improvement project is to make the police more accountable to law and less subservient, less obsequious, to those momentarily in power, and to create systems where the policy is laid down by government and operational responsibility for ensuring the safety and security of the population at large is in the hands of the police leadership. In other words, re-envision police establishments so that they run like essential services for the population, much like the fire service or the post office and not like the coercive force of some foreign power. That old way of policing belongs to colonial times. It should not be the way for democratic governments to use the police. Keeping to those past values and systems is an admission of our inability to be free from the worst influences of that time, and to shame ourselves as sovereign nations. Many excuses are put forward for stalling reforms of essential systems. The issue of lack of resources is always a favourite, never mind the fact that the reform of management practice does not inevitably require or necessitate additional funding. There is, as well, a need to examine if present resources are really well spent and could not be more logically allocated to go further than present wasteful ways allow. Equally, it is more than probable that unreformed policing costs the state and its people much more through significantly impeding internal development, foreign investment and consequent prosperity.In modern times, another crucial reason for looking at a new type of policing is the truth that unreformed policing has proved that it cannot prevent or reduce crime or calm fears about the threat from terrorism. Only policing that has the confidence of the people can do this. This is a singularly important building block for achieving good governance as well.To help the process of moving from grandstanding to implementing workmanlike solutions to bring about good governance -- a key Commonwealth concern -- the Commonwealth could make a start this week by agreeing to bring together a group of experts to help it lay down a new vision of policing. The group could lay down what a new kind of policing should look like; what principles should guide this policing and how this can be brought about, given that countries are struggling for capacity and resources. It could mandate the kind of future technical help the Commonwealth can provide its members so that the process of police reforms is well informed and hastened. There is very good practice on policing in the Commonwealth. Governments will not have to reinvent the wheel, but with a little help from their friends can tap into and adapt experiences of those that have gone some way toward making improvements. For instance, Nigeria has designed a very strong national police accountability mechanism. South Africa has an excellent method for evaluating police performance. The Australians and the UK are constantly struggling to defeat institutional racism, and improving policing in multi-ethnic communities. New Zealand is involved in reviewing its police functioning. The experience of police reform in Northern Ireland is a lesson in creating confidence in minority groups after years of head to head conflict, and the turn around of the Hong Kong police has lessons to offer on drastically reducing corruption. Pakistan's experiments in local control over local policing and, India's recent Supreme Court orders seeking to guide the reforms process, are all at the service of the Commonwealth's membership, if it is willing to listen. Eighteen African nations of the Commonwealth will be represented in London this week. Later, all will be at CHOGM. It seems a shame, if not down right unethical, for leaders of essentially poor countries to spend money on debating fine words rather than sincerely working toward designing workmanlike solutions to fundamental problems that are today blocking democratic and economic development. This summit is in Kampala. African heads need to lead on issues of concern to the continent and not leave it to others to finger point. It's not always easy, but someone has to take a deep breath and take the first step. Otherwise, it is always going to be Big Brother pointing and looking askance at "these nations," and wondering, if anyone will ever get their act together.Maja Daruwala is Director, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Right to Information Act, going rural
Right to Information Act, going rural
Having woven many a success story in cities, the (RTI), which completes two years of coming in the statute books in October is reaching the rural areas too with villages using its provisions to redress their grievances.
Sidhakahna Jot Keshav village in Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh is one such example. Five inspired residents of the village filed RTI applications and questioned the district administration about the conditions of the village roads and drains. They also raised questions as why there were no allotments under the 'Indira Awaas Yojna'.
The administration immediately acted and the construction of the roads and drains began in the village. Since then, 32 villagers have been allotted the houses under the 'Indira Awaas Yojna' and the administration has displayed a list on the village wall, containing the names of the villagers eligible for the allotments under the scheme.
RTI activist and Magsaysay award winner Arvind Kejriwal says that the RTI is the way to empowering villages, "The very movement started from the rural Rajasthan. RTI is like a life line to the rural India. The Act has shown a great potential to transform the life of rural society." He however admits that there are some hurdles, "The true potential of RTI is still to be explored, specially in the rural India where villagers find it very cumbersome to file RTI applications. The procedure should be simplified and made people friendly." Kejriwal cites the example of Bihar, "Bihar has set a great example by creating a dedicated phone line for RTI. Where RTI can be filed through a phone call. Even an illiterate villager can file his RTI application by a call."
The Act is influencing people to come forward and question the progress on various welfare schemes, creating a positive change in the most backward areas like Eastern UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Assam and in Maharashtra. According to Chief Information Commissioner, Wajahat Habibullah, "Though the villages are less aware about the Act than the cities, yet there are villages where RTI is being used. In the villages of Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra awareness about the Act is quite good and they are using the Act. In fact, slum areas of Mumbai have very high level of awareness regarding the RTI Act." Asked whether the government was planning anything special to spread awareness about the Act in the rural sectors, he said, "No, there is no specific programme on it right now but the NREGA(National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) matches the spirit of RTI." He however praised the efforts being done by media and civic agencies in spreading awareness about the Act.
Maharashtra' s State Information Commissioner Vijay Kuvalekar says, "Villages have recently started using RTI to seek information related to their problems. I have seen some cases where the illiterates come up with RTI application filed by some help from others. The villages are waking up to the power of RTI." He however admits that there is still a lot to be done to create awareness at grassroot level.
Most questions in RTI applications are related to public distribution system, Ration card, BPL card, 'Indira Awaas Yojna', lands, irrigation, corruption in the welfare schemes and day to day working of local village administration says Major Sanjay Yadav, Information Commissioner in UP. RTI applications are being filed on the basic issues of getting rations on the card.
In Ghara Katara village of Shankar Garh block in Allahabad, daily wagers had a tough time arranging a proper meal as they were not receiving rations on their cards. On 19th December 2006 some 21 villagers prepared RTI applications and questioned the administration, the very next day all the ration card holders got their rations. Even the most backward sections of rural societies as dalits, people living below poverty line and women are seeking information related to Prime Minister Employment Scheme, Indira Awaas Yojna, ration card, midday meal, uniform distribution in the schools and the conditions of village roads. There are still some problems in the implementation of the Act in villages but these success stories are the examples of change and through proper awareness and guidance the Act can do wonders. RTI Activist in Rajasthan, Nikhil Dey feels that the key of empowering villages is in the proper implementation and promotion of Right to Information Act.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
NREGA - Guaranteed Jobs or Guaranteed Corruption
NREGA - Guaranteed Jobs or Guaranteed Corruption
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) has been in operation for almost 18 months now. From the initial 200 the job guarantee scheme has been extended to 130 more districts since April this year. Katni is one such district in Madhya Pradesh. While the dedicated website of NREGA (http://nrega.nic.in) contains stories of successful implementation in different parts of the country, for people living in the villages of Katni corruption and mismanagement are the only guarantee. Here is a sample:
· Mohari a resident of Matwar Padariya village worked for 4 days and was paid Rs. 260/- But the entry in his job card states that he worked for 6 days and was paid Rs. 400/-. Somebody had pocketed Rs. 140/-
· Mohari’s unlettered wife Pyaribai worked for 2 days but had not received a penny in wages until 14th July when activists of Suchana Adhikar Abhiyan visited the village. Somebody had pocketed the entire amount.
· Heerabai and Vidyabai - residents of the same village worked for 1 day each and paid Rs. 60/- But their job card contains an entry for 4 days of work and payment of Rs. 400/- per person. Somebody had pocketed Rs. 680/-.
· Yashodabai and Kamalesh also of Matwar Padariya approached the Sarpanch with a request for jobs but the Sarpanch sent them away claiming that no jobs were available and that they would be informed when jobs turned up. Somebody forgot to give them their unemployment allowance.
· Verification of job cards in the villages of Matwar Padariya, Ghangri Khurd, Ghangri Kala, Kailwara Kala, Badera by Abhiyan activists revealed that the job cards did not have photographs pasted on them. Villagers claimed that they posed for photographs in May-June. Records obtained using the Right to Information Act showed that an NGO based in Katni had been awarded the contract for photographing villagers who applied for job cards, through an open tender process. They were paid Rs. 3.50 for every photograph taken. Somebody forgot to paste photographs on the job cards distributed in these villages. Somebody else forgot to cross-check whether the contract had been completed satisfactorily or not.
· In many cases the Sarpanch or the Secretary collected job cards from the villagers, made entries in the safety and comfort of their own homes and returned them to the unsuspecting owners. Somebody forgot to monitor the activities of the functionaries responsible for implementing NREGA at the village level.
· In Ghangri Khurd people who applied for jobs were asked to dig 70 sq ft of earth to earn Rs. 67/- the minimum wage payable under the NREGS. People worked for 1½ days and gave up as it was impossible even for the best of their able bodied men and women to meet the target. The soil was simply too hard. They informed the Secretary of the Gram Pancayat in writing about their inability to continue work in that manner. The Secretary forwarded their petition to the Chief Executive Officer of the Janpad Panchayat (Block level Panchayat). None of those who toiled for 1½ days has been paid. No action yet on their petition. Somebody forgot to pay these people their dues. Somebody forgot to take action on their petition in a timely manner.
· In 10 out of the 18 villages surveyed by Abhiyan activists in Katni district, work under NREGS began without anybody applying for jobs. The residents were simply asked to go to the work site by the Secretary or the Sarpanch and start work from a certain appointed date. Somebody forgot to educate the residents of these villages that they could formally apply for jobs and indicate the number of days that they wanted to work.
· Many families of Deora Khurd applied for job cards and posed for photographs as well. But their job cards were not handed over. Somebody forgot to distribute the job cards.
Thankfully for the residents of Deora Khurd when Abhiyan activists went visiting, they found a helping hand. Within a day of the activists making enquiries the Sarpanch distributed more than 500 job cards – all done in two days flat (19th and 20th July). Not everybody would be so lucky particularly where there are no civic minded citizens watching over implementation of this law meant to curb poverty and create publicly owned assets in rural areas.
Suchana Adhikar Abhiyan has been actively working for spreading awareness about RTI in the Vindhya Mahakoshal region of Madhya Pradesh for more than four years. Abhiyan activists started educating people about their rights and entitlements under NREGA soon after the State Government announced that the employment guarantee scheme would be extended to Katni. An advanced capacity building workshop was held in June this year for its core members in collaboration with the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. Activists familiarised themselves with the nitty gritty of NREGA and developed a strategy to use RTI for securing documents and verifying implementation at the ground level.
Five members of the Abhiyan- Dr. Rakesh Ranjan (Convenor), Vishwajeet Maity, Yogesh Pandey, Pramod Pandey and Deepak Srivastava launched a implementation verification campaign on 7th July. They videographed testimonies of people who claimed to have worked under the scheme; the state of their job cards and the entries they contained and the documents that they obtained by using the RTI Act. They submitted a copy of the recording to the District Collector on 16th July based on a major portion of the data about corruption and mismanagement that they had collected. Even as they requested the district administration to conduct an investigation into the matter, the verification campaign continued in other villages. When approached with proof of corruption the District Collector expressed surprise. Her surprise was not at the levels of corruption exposed but the fact that ‘NGOs’ were meddling in government affairs. She is reported to have told the Abhiyan activists that the RTI Act and NREGA were laws passed by the Government. Activists and NGOs did not have any role to play in its implementation!
Abhiyan activists persisted in their efforts. They have sent copies of the recording and the petition to the Secretary Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj. The local media highlighted these instances of corruption. When pressured by mediapersons about the action taken on the exposé the District Collector is reported to have convened a meeting of officials on Sunday the 22nd and entrusted the matter to the Block Development Officer for investigation. FIRs are likely to be filed against the Secretaries and Sarpanches of Matwar Padariya and Deora Khurd. Abhiyan activists believe that this is the tip of the proverbial iceberg and corruption would not be possible without collusion between the Panchayat functionaries and their seniors at the Block and District level. They plan to take this campaign to its logical conclusion.
Compiled by Venkatesh Nayak & Rakesh Ranjan for CHRI, New Delhi
(Suchana Adhikar Abhiyan is a state-wide network of CSOs and activists involved in public education, advocacy and monitoring of the RTI Act. Sandhan-Katni is the secretariat of the Abhiyan and Dr. Rakesh Ranjan its Convenor. CHRI collaborates with the Abhiyan on RTI related issues.)
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) has been in operation for almost 18 months now. From the initial 200 the job guarantee scheme has been extended to 130 more districts since April this year. Katni is one such district in Madhya Pradesh. While the dedicated website of NREGA (http://nrega.nic.in) contains stories of successful implementation in different parts of the country, for people living in the villages of Katni corruption and mismanagement are the only guarantee. Here is a sample:
· Mohari a resident of Matwar Padariya village worked for 4 days and was paid Rs. 260/- But the entry in his job card states that he worked for 6 days and was paid Rs. 400/-. Somebody had pocketed Rs. 140/-
· Mohari’s unlettered wife Pyaribai worked for 2 days but had not received a penny in wages until 14th July when activists of Suchana Adhikar Abhiyan visited the village. Somebody had pocketed the entire amount.
· Heerabai and Vidyabai - residents of the same village worked for 1 day each and paid Rs. 60/- But their job card contains an entry for 4 days of work and payment of Rs. 400/- per person. Somebody had pocketed Rs. 680/-.
· Yashodabai and Kamalesh also of Matwar Padariya approached the Sarpanch with a request for jobs but the Sarpanch sent them away claiming that no jobs were available and that they would be informed when jobs turned up. Somebody forgot to give them their unemployment allowance.
· Verification of job cards in the villages of Matwar Padariya, Ghangri Khurd, Ghangri Kala, Kailwara Kala, Badera by Abhiyan activists revealed that the job cards did not have photographs pasted on them. Villagers claimed that they posed for photographs in May-June. Records obtained using the Right to Information Act showed that an NGO based in Katni had been awarded the contract for photographing villagers who applied for job cards, through an open tender process. They were paid Rs. 3.50 for every photograph taken. Somebody forgot to paste photographs on the job cards distributed in these villages. Somebody else forgot to cross-check whether the contract had been completed satisfactorily or not.
· In many cases the Sarpanch or the Secretary collected job cards from the villagers, made entries in the safety and comfort of their own homes and returned them to the unsuspecting owners. Somebody forgot to monitor the activities of the functionaries responsible for implementing NREGA at the village level.
· In Ghangri Khurd people who applied for jobs were asked to dig 70 sq ft of earth to earn Rs. 67/- the minimum wage payable under the NREGS. People worked for 1½ days and gave up as it was impossible even for the best of their able bodied men and women to meet the target. The soil was simply too hard. They informed the Secretary of the Gram Pancayat in writing about their inability to continue work in that manner. The Secretary forwarded their petition to the Chief Executive Officer of the Janpad Panchayat (Block level Panchayat). None of those who toiled for 1½ days has been paid. No action yet on their petition. Somebody forgot to pay these people their dues. Somebody forgot to take action on their petition in a timely manner.
· In 10 out of the 18 villages surveyed by Abhiyan activists in Katni district, work under NREGS began without anybody applying for jobs. The residents were simply asked to go to the work site by the Secretary or the Sarpanch and start work from a certain appointed date. Somebody forgot to educate the residents of these villages that they could formally apply for jobs and indicate the number of days that they wanted to work.
· Many families of Deora Khurd applied for job cards and posed for photographs as well. But their job cards were not handed over. Somebody forgot to distribute the job cards.
Thankfully for the residents of Deora Khurd when Abhiyan activists went visiting, they found a helping hand. Within a day of the activists making enquiries the Sarpanch distributed more than 500 job cards – all done in two days flat (19th and 20th July). Not everybody would be so lucky particularly where there are no civic minded citizens watching over implementation of this law meant to curb poverty and create publicly owned assets in rural areas.
Suchana Adhikar Abhiyan has been actively working for spreading awareness about RTI in the Vindhya Mahakoshal region of Madhya Pradesh for more than four years. Abhiyan activists started educating people about their rights and entitlements under NREGA soon after the State Government announced that the employment guarantee scheme would be extended to Katni. An advanced capacity building workshop was held in June this year for its core members in collaboration with the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. Activists familiarised themselves with the nitty gritty of NREGA and developed a strategy to use RTI for securing documents and verifying implementation at the ground level.
Five members of the Abhiyan- Dr. Rakesh Ranjan (Convenor), Vishwajeet Maity, Yogesh Pandey, Pramod Pandey and Deepak Srivastava launched a implementation verification campaign on 7th July. They videographed testimonies of people who claimed to have worked under the scheme; the state of their job cards and the entries they contained and the documents that they obtained by using the RTI Act. They submitted a copy of the recording to the District Collector on 16th July based on a major portion of the data about corruption and mismanagement that they had collected. Even as they requested the district administration to conduct an investigation into the matter, the verification campaign continued in other villages. When approached with proof of corruption the District Collector expressed surprise. Her surprise was not at the levels of corruption exposed but the fact that ‘NGOs’ were meddling in government affairs. She is reported to have told the Abhiyan activists that the RTI Act and NREGA were laws passed by the Government. Activists and NGOs did not have any role to play in its implementation!
Abhiyan activists persisted in their efforts. They have sent copies of the recording and the petition to the Secretary Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj. The local media highlighted these instances of corruption. When pressured by mediapersons about the action taken on the exposé the District Collector is reported to have convened a meeting of officials on Sunday the 22nd and entrusted the matter to the Block Development Officer for investigation. FIRs are likely to be filed against the Secretaries and Sarpanches of Matwar Padariya and Deora Khurd. Abhiyan activists believe that this is the tip of the proverbial iceberg and corruption would not be possible without collusion between the Panchayat functionaries and their seniors at the Block and District level. They plan to take this campaign to its logical conclusion.
Compiled by Venkatesh Nayak & Rakesh Ranjan for CHRI, New Delhi
(Suchana Adhikar Abhiyan is a state-wide network of CSOs and activists involved in public education, advocacy and monitoring of the RTI Act. Sandhan-Katni is the secretariat of the Abhiyan and Dr. Rakesh Ranjan its Convenor. CHRI collaborates with the Abhiyan on RTI related issues.)
Yogakshemam Vahāmyaham: Slowly, Slowly, Unless You Prod Me With RTI
Yogakshemam Vahāmyaham: Slowly, Slowly, Unless You Prod Me With RTI
Ask any officer who knows something about the RTI Act and he/she will tell you, this law is being ‘misused’ by people to settle grievances. This story is about one such ‘misuse’.
Sukhlal son of Gadhau of Ramnagar in Anuppur district, Madhya Pradesh bought an insurance policy worth Rs. 25,000/- from the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) in September 1989. He had named his wife Smt. Rambai as the nominee and paid the premiums regularly. The insurance policy was to mature in the 15th year, in September 2004. Sukhlal was killed in a road accident in January that year. The grieving widow informed the LIC office of the accidental death and claimed the insurance amount that was due to her. On 30th September the LIC office sent a cheque for Rs. 25,000/- in the name of Sukhlal and washed its hands off the case. However under the terms of the policy his wife was entitled to double benefit in case of death by accident. She should have been paid Rs. 50,000/- and the cheque should have been drawn in her favour. So Smt. Rambai returned the cheque with a request that the full amount be paid as per the terms of the policy agreement.
Then began the long wait and her frequent visits to the LIC office situated at Kothma Block of Shahdol district adjacent to Annuppur. The huge bureaucracy went on processing her claim without telling her when she would see the light at the end of the tunnel. Fed up with the ‘kind’ treatment at the hands of the LIC office, for 30 months, Smt. Rambai contacted Mr. Sunil Chaurasia a journalist. He also doubles up as the Chairperson of the District Consumer Forum in Anuppur. Mr. Chaurasia made telephone calls to the Branch office enquiring about the progress made on her claim. He was assured that the claim was being processed and that the payment would be made soon. Still there was no sign of the money. On 31st May 2006 Mr. Chaurasia sent a written complaint to the Branch Manager informing about the lack of progress made on the claim. LIC did not bother to respond to that complaint at all.
Fed up with the lack of response Mr. Chaurasia filed an RTI application with the PIO of the Branch five months later. On 23rd November he submitted an RTI request seeking the following information:-
1) Details of action taken on the complaint sent by him in May that year.
2) Name and designation of officers responsible for not finalising Smt. Rambai’s claim along with information about legal provisions for punishing such officers.
3) Details of additional facilities and benefits available to nominees whose claims had been put on the backburner in this manner.
4) By which date would the cheque in lieu of payment would be sent to Smt. Rambai.
5) Reasons for non-payment of the claim till date.
Mr. Chaurasia did not even receive an acknowledgement from the PIO. As has become tradition in many government offices after the enforcement of the RTI Act Chaurasia’s application set the wheels in motion. The officers of the LIC Branch held a meeting on the 24th. They issued a cheque for Rs. 33,344/- being the first instalment of the payment on the 25th and made sure that it was delivered to Smt. Rambai on the 26th! Hail RTI! It worked like a magic wand. Smt. Ramabai’s story had a happy ending.
Nevertheless Mr. Chaurasia was not about to sit contented. Accountability of erring officials had to be fixed. After waiting for 30 days for a response from the PIO he filed an appeal with the Appellate Authority. LIC returned his appeal letter asking him to file it before the Appellate Authority (AA) at Shahdol. Earlier in May when Mr. Chaurasia had sought details of the PIO and Appellate Authorities the LIC office had informed him that all appeals under the RTI Act would have to be sent to Bhopal. Another case of a public authority misleading citizens under the RTI Act. Mr. Chaurasia filed a second appeal before the Central Information Commission on 19th March 2007.
The CIC issued notice to the PIO and the AA. Both parties were summoned for a hearing on 25th July, 2007. Meanwhile LIC sent a rejoinder to the appeal filed by Mr. Chaurasia. The Zonal Manager argued that Mr. Chaurasia was asking about the claims of a nominee without proper authorisation letter and that he was unrelated third party to the case. Nevertheless LIC claimed that it had sent him a letter on 12th December informing him that the cheque for Rs. 33,344/- had been sent to Smt. Rambai. It must be noted here that this letter never reached Mr. Chaurasia. He received a copy of that letter only with the rejoinder sent to his second appeal filed before the CIC. The Zonal Manager stated that a technical problem in the computer module was the reason for the delay in payment as a result of which the payment could not be processed on time. He stated that on 9th July 2007 Rs. 4,707/- had also been paid as interest for the period of delay. He also claimed that Shahdol was a remote place and officers were being transferred frequently. Hence the RTI application could not be processed on time and that they would ensure proper training for officials.
On the day of the hearing the PIO and another officer representing the AA attended the hearing. Mr. Chaurasia preferred to send an authorised representative to argue his case. The Commission asked the PIO to explain the case. When he explained the details of the case and stated that the insurance amount had been paid along with interest the Commission asked the appellant’s representative as to what further cause remained to be examined in this case. The Commission was reminded that the appeal was not about the claim of Smt. Rambai. It was about the details of action taken on Mr. Chaurasia’s complaint. There was simply no question of treating him as third party in this case. Though information was given on points #3 and 4 the information requested at # 2 and 5 was pending. This related to accountability of officers responsible for the delay. The Commission agreed with the view that fixing accountability was important as there was undue delay in the settlement of the claim. The LIC officers agreed that the delay was of an inordinate nature. But they could not pinpoint responsibility of officers for technical problems faced with the computer system. This was another case of a public authority misleading the Commission. The appellant’s representative pointed out that the chain of decision making, supervision and accountability mechanisms have to be disclosed proactively under the Act. This RTI application sought similar information with reference to a particular case.
Then the LIC officers pushed forward a letter purportedly signed by Smt. Ramabai with her thumb impression in the presence of two witnesses stating that her claims had been settled and no further action was necessary. The appellant’s representative argued that such documents are often created by using pressure and coercion, so not much attention need be paid to it. Furthermore the LIC officers had to justify why they did not provide the appellant with all the information requested. The Commission agreed with this view and ordered LIC to disclose the identity of all officers who were involved in the decision making process on Smt. Rambai’s claim.
Mr. Chaurasia had indeed ‘misused’ the RTI act to settle a grievance. This had become necessary because the existing mechanism for grievance redressal simply did not work for months on end. The statutory time limit for responding to RTI applications, the threat of penalty for contraventions and most importantly the humiliation of having to record reasons for acts of omission and commission are the main reasons why RTI works where nothing else does. Within 2 days of filing the RTI application the first instalment was paid. Within a month of receiving the notice from the CIC the interest was paid. RTI can have an electric effect when LIC forgets its motto – Yogakshemam vahāmyaham.
But merely using RTI like a magic wand is not enough. Accountability must be fixed. Mr. Chaurasia is waiting for the name of officers who worked on Smt. Rambai’s claim. He plans to take the matter up with the insurance ombudsman - the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority.
(Yogakshemam Vahāmyaham the motto of LIC is a phrase picked from Lord Krishna’s statement in Chapter 9 of the Bhagavad Gita. The Lord promises to be the purveyor of the wellbeing of his devotees who repose their faith in him.)
Compiled by Venkatesh Nayak for CHRI Delhi.
(Sunil Chaurasia is Chief Editor Koylanchal Times and a core group member of the Suchana Adhikar Abhiyan network on Madhya Pradesh. CHRI works with the Abhiyan on RTI related issues.)
Ask any officer who knows something about the RTI Act and he/she will tell you, this law is being ‘misused’ by people to settle grievances. This story is about one such ‘misuse’.
Sukhlal son of Gadhau of Ramnagar in Anuppur district, Madhya Pradesh bought an insurance policy worth Rs. 25,000/- from the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) in September 1989. He had named his wife Smt. Rambai as the nominee and paid the premiums regularly. The insurance policy was to mature in the 15th year, in September 2004. Sukhlal was killed in a road accident in January that year. The grieving widow informed the LIC office of the accidental death and claimed the insurance amount that was due to her. On 30th September the LIC office sent a cheque for Rs. 25,000/- in the name of Sukhlal and washed its hands off the case. However under the terms of the policy his wife was entitled to double benefit in case of death by accident. She should have been paid Rs. 50,000/- and the cheque should have been drawn in her favour. So Smt. Rambai returned the cheque with a request that the full amount be paid as per the terms of the policy agreement.
Then began the long wait and her frequent visits to the LIC office situated at Kothma Block of Shahdol district adjacent to Annuppur. The huge bureaucracy went on processing her claim without telling her when she would see the light at the end of the tunnel. Fed up with the ‘kind’ treatment at the hands of the LIC office, for 30 months, Smt. Rambai contacted Mr. Sunil Chaurasia a journalist. He also doubles up as the Chairperson of the District Consumer Forum in Anuppur. Mr. Chaurasia made telephone calls to the Branch office enquiring about the progress made on her claim. He was assured that the claim was being processed and that the payment would be made soon. Still there was no sign of the money. On 31st May 2006 Mr. Chaurasia sent a written complaint to the Branch Manager informing about the lack of progress made on the claim. LIC did not bother to respond to that complaint at all.
Fed up with the lack of response Mr. Chaurasia filed an RTI application with the PIO of the Branch five months later. On 23rd November he submitted an RTI request seeking the following information:-
1) Details of action taken on the complaint sent by him in May that year.
2) Name and designation of officers responsible for not finalising Smt. Rambai’s claim along with information about legal provisions for punishing such officers.
3) Details of additional facilities and benefits available to nominees whose claims had been put on the backburner in this manner.
4) By which date would the cheque in lieu of payment would be sent to Smt. Rambai.
5) Reasons for non-payment of the claim till date.
Mr. Chaurasia did not even receive an acknowledgement from the PIO. As has become tradition in many government offices after the enforcement of the RTI Act Chaurasia’s application set the wheels in motion. The officers of the LIC Branch held a meeting on the 24th. They issued a cheque for Rs. 33,344/- being the first instalment of the payment on the 25th and made sure that it was delivered to Smt. Rambai on the 26th! Hail RTI! It worked like a magic wand. Smt. Ramabai’s story had a happy ending.
Nevertheless Mr. Chaurasia was not about to sit contented. Accountability of erring officials had to be fixed. After waiting for 30 days for a response from the PIO he filed an appeal with the Appellate Authority. LIC returned his appeal letter asking him to file it before the Appellate Authority (AA) at Shahdol. Earlier in May when Mr. Chaurasia had sought details of the PIO and Appellate Authorities the LIC office had informed him that all appeals under the RTI Act would have to be sent to Bhopal. Another case of a public authority misleading citizens under the RTI Act. Mr. Chaurasia filed a second appeal before the Central Information Commission on 19th March 2007.
The CIC issued notice to the PIO and the AA. Both parties were summoned for a hearing on 25th July, 2007. Meanwhile LIC sent a rejoinder to the appeal filed by Mr. Chaurasia. The Zonal Manager argued that Mr. Chaurasia was asking about the claims of a nominee without proper authorisation letter and that he was unrelated third party to the case. Nevertheless LIC claimed that it had sent him a letter on 12th December informing him that the cheque for Rs. 33,344/- had been sent to Smt. Rambai. It must be noted here that this letter never reached Mr. Chaurasia. He received a copy of that letter only with the rejoinder sent to his second appeal filed before the CIC. The Zonal Manager stated that a technical problem in the computer module was the reason for the delay in payment as a result of which the payment could not be processed on time. He stated that on 9th July 2007 Rs. 4,707/- had also been paid as interest for the period of delay. He also claimed that Shahdol was a remote place and officers were being transferred frequently. Hence the RTI application could not be processed on time and that they would ensure proper training for officials.
On the day of the hearing the PIO and another officer representing the AA attended the hearing. Mr. Chaurasia preferred to send an authorised representative to argue his case. The Commission asked the PIO to explain the case. When he explained the details of the case and stated that the insurance amount had been paid along with interest the Commission asked the appellant’s representative as to what further cause remained to be examined in this case. The Commission was reminded that the appeal was not about the claim of Smt. Rambai. It was about the details of action taken on Mr. Chaurasia’s complaint. There was simply no question of treating him as third party in this case. Though information was given on points #3 and 4 the information requested at # 2 and 5 was pending. This related to accountability of officers responsible for the delay. The Commission agreed with the view that fixing accountability was important as there was undue delay in the settlement of the claim. The LIC officers agreed that the delay was of an inordinate nature. But they could not pinpoint responsibility of officers for technical problems faced with the computer system. This was another case of a public authority misleading the Commission. The appellant’s representative pointed out that the chain of decision making, supervision and accountability mechanisms have to be disclosed proactively under the Act. This RTI application sought similar information with reference to a particular case.
Then the LIC officers pushed forward a letter purportedly signed by Smt. Ramabai with her thumb impression in the presence of two witnesses stating that her claims had been settled and no further action was necessary. The appellant’s representative argued that such documents are often created by using pressure and coercion, so not much attention need be paid to it. Furthermore the LIC officers had to justify why they did not provide the appellant with all the information requested. The Commission agreed with this view and ordered LIC to disclose the identity of all officers who were involved in the decision making process on Smt. Rambai’s claim.
Mr. Chaurasia had indeed ‘misused’ the RTI act to settle a grievance. This had become necessary because the existing mechanism for grievance redressal simply did not work for months on end. The statutory time limit for responding to RTI applications, the threat of penalty for contraventions and most importantly the humiliation of having to record reasons for acts of omission and commission are the main reasons why RTI works where nothing else does. Within 2 days of filing the RTI application the first instalment was paid. Within a month of receiving the notice from the CIC the interest was paid. RTI can have an electric effect when LIC forgets its motto – Yogakshemam vahāmyaham.
But merely using RTI like a magic wand is not enough. Accountability must be fixed. Mr. Chaurasia is waiting for the name of officers who worked on Smt. Rambai’s claim. He plans to take the matter up with the insurance ombudsman - the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority.
(Yogakshemam Vahāmyaham the motto of LIC is a phrase picked from Lord Krishna’s statement in Chapter 9 of the Bhagavad Gita. The Lord promises to be the purveyor of the wellbeing of his devotees who repose their faith in him.)
Compiled by Venkatesh Nayak for CHRI Delhi.
(Sunil Chaurasia is Chief Editor Koylanchal Times and a core group member of the Suchana Adhikar Abhiyan network on Madhya Pradesh. CHRI works with the Abhiyan on RTI related issues.)
Friday, June 1, 2007
Resolution passed by the national convention of RTI activists in Pune
Resolution passed by the national convention of RTI activists in Pune held on 12th and 13th May with respect to the functioning of CIC and SICs.
If any PIO says that information cannot be provided because the files are missing, the following action should be taken in all such cases:
Public authority should be asked to provide a list of officials who were supposed to be the custodians of that file before it went missing.
An FIR should be registered against those officials by name
Simultaneous departmental enquiry should be ordered by the Commission to fix responsibility within a week.
Commission should direct the public authority to impose penalty on guilty officials within the next 7 days of fixing responsibility.
The Commission should direct reconstruction of file and the information should be provided to the citizen.
For every case of loss of file, the Commission should also enquire whether it was some deficiency in record maintaining systems of the department which led to loss of files. If so, they should direct appropriate changes in systems under section 19 (8)
If files are reported lost at Information Commission itself, the Commission should take all the steps listed above for loss of files by PIO.
Show cause notice must: If there has been any delay in responding to an RTI application, a show cause notice should compulsorily be sent to the PIO to explain the reasons for delay or denial of information. If it relates to denial of information under section 8 or any other section and the citizen alleges malafide, then the Information Commission must compulsorily issue a show cause notice. There should be an open hearing thereafter the issue of show cause notice in which both the parties should be called. An order for either imposing penalty or dropping penalty should be passed in open court rather than behind the back of the parties.
Case should not be closed till complete information is received and the citizen reports satisfaction.
If any public authority does not receive RTI application, does not accept fee or harasses citizen in any other manner in submitting application or providing receipt or acknowledgement, such complaints should be directly accepted under section 18.
For every second violation by any PIO, Information Commission should invoke section 20 (2) in addition to section 20 (1)
Information Commissions should ensure that the penalties imposed by them are recovered and are entered in the ACRs of the officials.
If a citizen invokes life and liberty clause, the Commission should directly entertain such complaint under sec 18 and should dispose it off within 48 hours.
“Life and liberty” should be defined as provided under article 21 of the Constitution.
It has been seen that some Information Commissioners are accepting the hospitality of public authorities whose cases, they are hearing. This is being done under the garb of holding RTI workshops in those public authorities. Information Commissioners should immediately stop doing this. The Commissions should come out with a model code of conduct on the lines as it exists for judges.
If any state has more than one Information Commissioner, they should be spread out in the state rather than holding hearings from only one city.
No Information Commissioner should be allowed to deal with any Department where he/she served any time in the past, as there is a direct conflict of interest.
Both parties should be treated equally. Often, the officers from public authority are seen to be having tea with the Commissioner before hearing. This severely affects the independence of the commissioner and his ability to ac against the officials.
Both parties should be heard in every case. Principles of natural justice should be respected.
Many Commissioners do not pass orders in open court, which is violation of rules. Every order should be passed in open court.
All Information Commissions should themselves abide by section 4 disclosures.
No format should be insisted upon for filing an appeal. Similarly, only one copy of appeal should be asked rather than three or five copies as is being done today.
Many Information Commissions have not submitted their reports under section 25 of RTI Act. It is requested that they submit it soon.
Some information commissions are providing orders for a cost. This should be stopped forthwith. Orders should be provided free of cost.
Every case in which decision is passed in favor of the citizen should lead to appropriate compensation for costs incurred and for mental harassment. This should be recovered form the salary of the responsible officer as in the case of Chhattisgarh.
PIO and AA should not be allowed to be represented by anyone including lawyers. They should appear in person.
All orders should be in a format so that the basic information about that case is reflected in every case. We are developing such a format through consultations and will make our suggestions soon.
Acknowledgement no should be given to the complainant/ appellant on the spot, if he is filing by hand or should be dispatched within 24 hours of receipt by post.
The Commission should ensure that the first hearing in every matter should take place within 30 days of receipt of complaint/ appeal and there should not be a gap of more than 10 days between two hearings.
“Human Rights” should be interpreted to mean a defined in various international treaties to which India is a signatory.
The offices of Information Commissions should be made disabled friendly and should be at such places where they are easily accessible to the public.
All hearings at Information Commissions should be video recorded.
The Information Commissions may like to create awareness, but they should do it themselves rather than sub-letting funds to NGOs or other agencies.
If any PIO says that information cannot be provided because the files are missing, the following action should be taken in all such cases:
Public authority should be asked to provide a list of officials who were supposed to be the custodians of that file before it went missing.
An FIR should be registered against those officials by name
Simultaneous departmental enquiry should be ordered by the Commission to fix responsibility within a week.
Commission should direct the public authority to impose penalty on guilty officials within the next 7 days of fixing responsibility.
The Commission should direct reconstruction of file and the information should be provided to the citizen.
For every case of loss of file, the Commission should also enquire whether it was some deficiency in record maintaining systems of the department which led to loss of files. If so, they should direct appropriate changes in systems under section 19 (8)
If files are reported lost at Information Commission itself, the Commission should take all the steps listed above for loss of files by PIO.
Show cause notice must: If there has been any delay in responding to an RTI application, a show cause notice should compulsorily be sent to the PIO to explain the reasons for delay or denial of information. If it relates to denial of information under section 8 or any other section and the citizen alleges malafide, then the Information Commission must compulsorily issue a show cause notice. There should be an open hearing thereafter the issue of show cause notice in which both the parties should be called. An order for either imposing penalty or dropping penalty should be passed in open court rather than behind the back of the parties.
Case should not be closed till complete information is received and the citizen reports satisfaction.
If any public authority does not receive RTI application, does not accept fee or harasses citizen in any other manner in submitting application or providing receipt or acknowledgement, such complaints should be directly accepted under section 18.
For every second violation by any PIO, Information Commission should invoke section 20 (2) in addition to section 20 (1)
Information Commissions should ensure that the penalties imposed by them are recovered and are entered in the ACRs of the officials.
If a citizen invokes life and liberty clause, the Commission should directly entertain such complaint under sec 18 and should dispose it off within 48 hours.
“Life and liberty” should be defined as provided under article 21 of the Constitution.
It has been seen that some Information Commissioners are accepting the hospitality of public authorities whose cases, they are hearing. This is being done under the garb of holding RTI workshops in those public authorities. Information Commissioners should immediately stop doing this. The Commissions should come out with a model code of conduct on the lines as it exists for judges.
If any state has more than one Information Commissioner, they should be spread out in the state rather than holding hearings from only one city.
No Information Commissioner should be allowed to deal with any Department where he/she served any time in the past, as there is a direct conflict of interest.
Both parties should be treated equally. Often, the officers from public authority are seen to be having tea with the Commissioner before hearing. This severely affects the independence of the commissioner and his ability to ac against the officials.
Both parties should be heard in every case. Principles of natural justice should be respected.
Many Commissioners do not pass orders in open court, which is violation of rules. Every order should be passed in open court.
All Information Commissions should themselves abide by section 4 disclosures.
No format should be insisted upon for filing an appeal. Similarly, only one copy of appeal should be asked rather than three or five copies as is being done today.
Many Information Commissions have not submitted their reports under section 25 of RTI Act. It is requested that they submit it soon.
Some information commissions are providing orders for a cost. This should be stopped forthwith. Orders should be provided free of cost.
Every case in which decision is passed in favor of the citizen should lead to appropriate compensation for costs incurred and for mental harassment. This should be recovered form the salary of the responsible officer as in the case of Chhattisgarh.
PIO and AA should not be allowed to be represented by anyone including lawyers. They should appear in person.
All orders should be in a format so that the basic information about that case is reflected in every case. We are developing such a format through consultations and will make our suggestions soon.
Acknowledgement no should be given to the complainant/ appellant on the spot, if he is filing by hand or should be dispatched within 24 hours of receipt by post.
The Commission should ensure that the first hearing in every matter should take place within 30 days of receipt of complaint/ appeal and there should not be a gap of more than 10 days between two hearings.
“Human Rights” should be interpreted to mean a defined in various international treaties to which India is a signatory.
The offices of Information Commissions should be made disabled friendly and should be at such places where they are easily accessible to the public.
All hearings at Information Commissions should be video recorded.
The Information Commissions may like to create awareness, but they should do it themselves rather than sub-letting funds to NGOs or other agencies.
Third National Convention of the NCPRI
On behalf of the National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) we would like to invite you to participate in the third National Convention of the NCPRI. NCPRI will host its third National Convention on Right to Information from September 28-30 2007 in Ranchi, Jharkhand. The first Convention was held in Beawar, Rajasthan in 2001 and the second convention wa sheld in New Delhi in 2004. The Convention will offer an opportunity for all of us to share our experiences on the Right to Information. Since representatives of various campaigns and groups working on the RTI from across the country will participate in this Convention, it will also work as a platform for all of us to network with like-minded groups and individuals and take our work forward. We hope you and representatives from your campaign, group and or organisation can join us for the Convention. Since NCPRI is a Campaing run on donations made by citizens, we will request all participants of the Convention to bear their own costs for travel to Ranchi. A registartion fee of Rs. 100 will also be charged from each participant to cover basic food and accomodation costs. This is a preliminary letter to inform you all about the Convention, we hope you will block these dates. A more detailed letter of invitation, along with the agenda and programme details will follow soon.
Friday, April 20, 2007
RTI restores people’s right to water in Keolari
RTI restores people’s right to water in Keolari
In the more developed countries of the West RTI is often understood as a civil liberties issue closely connected with people’s right to freedom of speech and expression. In many countries of Eastern Europe it is connected with the freedom of the print and electronic media to report on the actions and decisions of government bodies. While there is no gainsaying this position, experience in developing countries like India shows how crucial RTI is for the realisation of fundamental economic and social rights for the underprivileged. The International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) ratified by more than 150 countries including India recognises every human being’s fundamental right to food, water, education, housing, health and gainful employment and makes it mandatory for signatory States to take steps to make these rights available for their citizens. The Supreme Court of India has on more than one occasion declared that the rights to food, water, shelter, health and adequate housing are implied within the meaning of the fundamental right to life and liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. They have the same constitutional status as other fundamental rights explicitly mentioned in the Constitution and any person who is denied these rights may move the courts seeking redress.
Over the decades judicious interpretation by international human rights bodies has expanded the scope of these fundamental rights beyond mere physical access to basic amenities and services such as food, water, housing, health and education. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), set up under the ICESCR to monitor compliance of signatory States on a regular basis, recognises information accessibility as an inseparable component of these rights. For example, the CESCR declared in 2002 that the right to water includes every human being’s right to access information about water related issues that affect him/her. “Individuals and groups should be given full and equal access to information concerning water, water services and the environment, held by public authorities or third parties” the committee said. (for a complete text of CESCR’s General Comment on the right to water click on http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/a5458d1d1bbd713fc1256cc400389e94?Opendocument) The experience of the residents of Keolari demonstrates how information accessibility can protect and restore people’s right to water.
Keolari village situated within the jurisdiction of Katni janpad panchayat in Katni district, Madhya Pradesh, is home to about 2,500 people. Munnalal Patel is an elected Pancha (member) of the Keolari gram panchayat. His father had donated an open well to the panchayat in 1997 hoping that it would be maintained by them for people’s use. This well situated on the edge of the public road that leads to the panchayat office is one of the only two sources of potable water available within Keolari. The second is a tube well sunk for the use of the government run middle school situated nearby. A third source – another open well – is situated on the outskirts of the village at a distance of more than 1 km from the panchayat office. Except for a handful of rich families which own private tube wells on their property, most of the residents of Keolari depend on the well located in the middle of the village.
In December last year (2006) Munnalal began constructing a house on a small plot of land adjacent to this public well. On the 11th of the same month he encroached upon almost 10 ft of land belonging to the panchayat and constructed a boundary wall around the well in a bid to claim it for himself. Villagers whose access to the well was cut off tried to reason with Munnalal, in vain.
Later the same day, about 65 villagers drafted a complaint letter against this encroachment and submitted it to the Sarpanch. The Sarpanch Smt. Panchhibai Patel maintained that there was no case of encroachment and that Munnalal had acted within his rights on his own land. Not willing to be cowed down by the inaction of the Sarpanch the complainants posted copies of their complaint to the Tehsildar and the chief executive officer of the janpad panchayat praying for remedial action. Neither officer bothered to respond to the complaint.
On 9th January (2007) a samsaya nivaran shivir (public grievance redressal camp) was held in Keolari. Such camps are routinely organised by the district administration to help resolve problems of villagers on the spot. This camp was attended by senior officials various departments. Villagers filed their complaint about the encroachment of panchayat land and the illegal take over of the public well by Munnalal. No action was taken on this complaint. It seemed like the entire administration was colluding with the wrongdoer.
Two days later the disappointed villagers sent their complaint to the District Collector. No action was taken at this level either. Meanwhile Munnalal began threatening the families of villagers who had signed on the complaint. Fed up with the inaction of the gram panchayat and janpad panchayat officers the villagers managed to get the local editions of popular hindi newspapers like Dainik Bhaskar and Navbharat to publish this story. Even this move did not have any effect on the administration. Deprived of access to the common well, residents began drawing water from the tube well situated at the village school. Munnalal and his henchmen began troubling the women relatives of the complainants who walked up to the tube well to fetch water. When authorities refuse to take action against wrongdoers they only end up providing a cloak of impunity to the latter.
Ravi Patel, one of the complainants heard about RTI at an awareness camp organised by the Madhya Pradesh Suchana Adhikar Abhiyan in a nearby village. On 21st February he visited the office of Sandhan, the secretariat of the Abhiyan situated in Katni, seeking advice for solving Keolari’s problem. Volunteers of the Abhiyan coached him in the uses of the RTI Act and helped him draft an information request. In his application Ravi Patel asked the following questions –
1) Name and designation of the officer who was responsible for taking action on the complaint filed by the 65 signatories.
2) Daily progress report of action taken to investigate the complaint.
3) Name and designation of all officers who are empowered to take action on the basis of such complaints.
4) What action would be taken by the administration against officers who were negligent to take action on the complaint?
5) The period within which action would be taken to clear the illegal encroachment on panchayat land and end illegal custody of the public well.
Ravi Patel and Vishwajeet Maity, an Abhiyan volunteer managed to submit the application at the janpad panchayat office on 22nd February. However when they visited the Tehsildar’s office to file a similar application they met with resistance. The Tehsildar reasoned that the information they sought was exempt from disclosure under Section 8, so there was no point to accepting the application. Dr. Rakesh Ranjan, Convenor of the Abhiyan visited the Tehsildar’s office the next day to find out why he had refused to receive the information request. He demanded that the Tehsildar record his refusal in writing as requestors had a right to know the reasons for refusal. The Tehsildar, hard pressed by the persistence of Ravi Patel and the Abhiyan, assured them that he would investigate the complaint and that there was no need to file the RTI application.
Not to give up easily, the requestors and the Abhiyan volunteers demanded that he reply to the RTI application first instead of acting upon the complaint. They also warned him that they would write to his senior officers about his lack of compliance with the RTI Act. Fearing the possibility of a penalty and disciplinary action under the RTI Act, the Tehsildar agreed to receive the information request and advised the applicant and the Abhiyan volunteers to come back to his office on 10th March for a reply. He also summoned the Deputy Tehsildar and the Revenue Inspector in their presence and rebuked them for not acting upon the complaint.
Meanwhile Ravi Patel wanted to strengthen their case with documents to show that the disputed well was indeed common property. He filed an RTI application with the secretary of the gram panchayat seeking copies of the gift deed signed by Munnalal’s father and details of any funds spent by the panchayat on the maintenance of the well. Ravi Patel received the requested information within two days. The documents showed that Munnalal’s father had indeed gifted the well to the panchayat in 1997. The panchayat had spent Rs. 11,608/- in July that year for strengthening its platform and walls.
Armed with this information, volunteers of the Abhiyan visited Keolari on 23rd February to collect photographic evidence of the encroachment and the illegal occupation of the well. They were pleasantly surprised to see the Revenue Inspector and the village patwari taking measurements of the disputed property. They categorically told Munnalal that he had illegally encroached on Panchayat land and taken custody of the well. They served a notice on him requiring him to demolish the wall within a week. If not the panchayat would demolish the wall and realise the demolition related expenses from Munnalal.
Ravi Patel visited the office of the Abhiyan on 28th February with the good news that Munnalal had begun demolishing the wall. Villagers were able to collect water from the well as before. Ravi Patel is waiting for 10th March to collect the information from the Tehsildar’s office
Meanwhile Munnalal’s brother continues to threaten people for complaining to the authorities. But the villagers are not so scared like before because they have realised they have the power of RTI with them now. They have learnt that when nothing else succeeds, RTI will help them force the public authorities to work according to the established rules and norms. They have succeeded in protecting their fundamental human right to water using their right to information as a tool.
{Dr. Rakesh Ranjan is Convenor and Vishwajeet Maity, an active volunteer of the Madhya Pradesh Suchana Adhikar Abhiyan – a network of advocates and activists working to spread awareness about RTI in more than 20 districts. CHRI works with the Abhiyan to build capacity of civil society to use RTI to improve governance in Madhya Pradesh.}
In the more developed countries of the West RTI is often understood as a civil liberties issue closely connected with people’s right to freedom of speech and expression. In many countries of Eastern Europe it is connected with the freedom of the print and electronic media to report on the actions and decisions of government bodies. While there is no gainsaying this position, experience in developing countries like India shows how crucial RTI is for the realisation of fundamental economic and social rights for the underprivileged. The International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) ratified by more than 150 countries including India recognises every human being’s fundamental right to food, water, education, housing, health and gainful employment and makes it mandatory for signatory States to take steps to make these rights available for their citizens. The Supreme Court of India has on more than one occasion declared that the rights to food, water, shelter, health and adequate housing are implied within the meaning of the fundamental right to life and liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. They have the same constitutional status as other fundamental rights explicitly mentioned in the Constitution and any person who is denied these rights may move the courts seeking redress.
Over the decades judicious interpretation by international human rights bodies has expanded the scope of these fundamental rights beyond mere physical access to basic amenities and services such as food, water, housing, health and education. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), set up under the ICESCR to monitor compliance of signatory States on a regular basis, recognises information accessibility as an inseparable component of these rights. For example, the CESCR declared in 2002 that the right to water includes every human being’s right to access information about water related issues that affect him/her. “Individuals and groups should be given full and equal access to information concerning water, water services and the environment, held by public authorities or third parties” the committee said. (for a complete text of CESCR’s General Comment on the right to water click on http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/a5458d1d1bbd713fc1256cc400389e94?Opendocument) The experience of the residents of Keolari demonstrates how information accessibility can protect and restore people’s right to water.
Keolari village situated within the jurisdiction of Katni janpad panchayat in Katni district, Madhya Pradesh, is home to about 2,500 people. Munnalal Patel is an elected Pancha (member) of the Keolari gram panchayat. His father had donated an open well to the panchayat in 1997 hoping that it would be maintained by them for people’s use. This well situated on the edge of the public road that leads to the panchayat office is one of the only two sources of potable water available within Keolari. The second is a tube well sunk for the use of the government run middle school situated nearby. A third source – another open well – is situated on the outskirts of the village at a distance of more than 1 km from the panchayat office. Except for a handful of rich families which own private tube wells on their property, most of the residents of Keolari depend on the well located in the middle of the village.
In December last year (2006) Munnalal began constructing a house on a small plot of land adjacent to this public well. On the 11th of the same month he encroached upon almost 10 ft of land belonging to the panchayat and constructed a boundary wall around the well in a bid to claim it for himself. Villagers whose access to the well was cut off tried to reason with Munnalal, in vain.
Later the same day, about 65 villagers drafted a complaint letter against this encroachment and submitted it to the Sarpanch. The Sarpanch Smt. Panchhibai Patel maintained that there was no case of encroachment and that Munnalal had acted within his rights on his own land. Not willing to be cowed down by the inaction of the Sarpanch the complainants posted copies of their complaint to the Tehsildar and the chief executive officer of the janpad panchayat praying for remedial action. Neither officer bothered to respond to the complaint.
On 9th January (2007) a samsaya nivaran shivir (public grievance redressal camp) was held in Keolari. Such camps are routinely organised by the district administration to help resolve problems of villagers on the spot. This camp was attended by senior officials various departments. Villagers filed their complaint about the encroachment of panchayat land and the illegal take over of the public well by Munnalal. No action was taken on this complaint. It seemed like the entire administration was colluding with the wrongdoer.
Two days later the disappointed villagers sent their complaint to the District Collector. No action was taken at this level either. Meanwhile Munnalal began threatening the families of villagers who had signed on the complaint. Fed up with the inaction of the gram panchayat and janpad panchayat officers the villagers managed to get the local editions of popular hindi newspapers like Dainik Bhaskar and Navbharat to publish this story. Even this move did not have any effect on the administration. Deprived of access to the common well, residents began drawing water from the tube well situated at the village school. Munnalal and his henchmen began troubling the women relatives of the complainants who walked up to the tube well to fetch water. When authorities refuse to take action against wrongdoers they only end up providing a cloak of impunity to the latter.
Ravi Patel, one of the complainants heard about RTI at an awareness camp organised by the Madhya Pradesh Suchana Adhikar Abhiyan in a nearby village. On 21st February he visited the office of Sandhan, the secretariat of the Abhiyan situated in Katni, seeking advice for solving Keolari’s problem. Volunteers of the Abhiyan coached him in the uses of the RTI Act and helped him draft an information request. In his application Ravi Patel asked the following questions –
1) Name and designation of the officer who was responsible for taking action on the complaint filed by the 65 signatories.
2) Daily progress report of action taken to investigate the complaint.
3) Name and designation of all officers who are empowered to take action on the basis of such complaints.
4) What action would be taken by the administration against officers who were negligent to take action on the complaint?
5) The period within which action would be taken to clear the illegal encroachment on panchayat land and end illegal custody of the public well.
Ravi Patel and Vishwajeet Maity, an Abhiyan volunteer managed to submit the application at the janpad panchayat office on 22nd February. However when they visited the Tehsildar’s office to file a similar application they met with resistance. The Tehsildar reasoned that the information they sought was exempt from disclosure under Section 8, so there was no point to accepting the application. Dr. Rakesh Ranjan, Convenor of the Abhiyan visited the Tehsildar’s office the next day to find out why he had refused to receive the information request. He demanded that the Tehsildar record his refusal in writing as requestors had a right to know the reasons for refusal. The Tehsildar, hard pressed by the persistence of Ravi Patel and the Abhiyan, assured them that he would investigate the complaint and that there was no need to file the RTI application.
Not to give up easily, the requestors and the Abhiyan volunteers demanded that he reply to the RTI application first instead of acting upon the complaint. They also warned him that they would write to his senior officers about his lack of compliance with the RTI Act. Fearing the possibility of a penalty and disciplinary action under the RTI Act, the Tehsildar agreed to receive the information request and advised the applicant and the Abhiyan volunteers to come back to his office on 10th March for a reply. He also summoned the Deputy Tehsildar and the Revenue Inspector in their presence and rebuked them for not acting upon the complaint.
Meanwhile Ravi Patel wanted to strengthen their case with documents to show that the disputed well was indeed common property. He filed an RTI application with the secretary of the gram panchayat seeking copies of the gift deed signed by Munnalal’s father and details of any funds spent by the panchayat on the maintenance of the well. Ravi Patel received the requested information within two days. The documents showed that Munnalal’s father had indeed gifted the well to the panchayat in 1997. The panchayat had spent Rs. 11,608/- in July that year for strengthening its platform and walls.
Armed with this information, volunteers of the Abhiyan visited Keolari on 23rd February to collect photographic evidence of the encroachment and the illegal occupation of the well. They were pleasantly surprised to see the Revenue Inspector and the village patwari taking measurements of the disputed property. They categorically told Munnalal that he had illegally encroached on Panchayat land and taken custody of the well. They served a notice on him requiring him to demolish the wall within a week. If not the panchayat would demolish the wall and realise the demolition related expenses from Munnalal.
Ravi Patel visited the office of the Abhiyan on 28th February with the good news that Munnalal had begun demolishing the wall. Villagers were able to collect water from the well as before. Ravi Patel is waiting for 10th March to collect the information from the Tehsildar’s office
Meanwhile Munnalal’s brother continues to threaten people for complaining to the authorities. But the villagers are not so scared like before because they have realised they have the power of RTI with them now. They have learnt that when nothing else succeeds, RTI will help them force the public authorities to work according to the established rules and norms. They have succeeded in protecting their fundamental human right to water using their right to information as a tool.
{Dr. Rakesh Ranjan is Convenor and Vishwajeet Maity, an active volunteer of the Madhya Pradesh Suchana Adhikar Abhiyan – a network of advocates and activists working to spread awareness about RTI in more than 20 districts. CHRI works with the Abhiyan to build capacity of civil society to use RTI to improve governance in Madhya Pradesh.}
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Stealing Money meant for Children – what happened next?
Stealing Money meant for Children – what happened next?
The reader may remember this story circulated by CHRI a few months ago. By way of recollecting in brief this is what had happened –
Mr. Vishwajeet Maitee of Katni district in Madhya Pradesh had filed an RTI application seeking information about the rates at which first aid kits were procured for use in the teaching centres established under the Indus Child Labour Project. This project, aimed at rehabilitating rescued child labourers by providing them with education and vocational skills, is sponsored by the International Labour Organisation. This project is being implemented in five districts including Katni in MP.
The RTI intervention revealed gross overpricing of the medical kits amounting to a loss of more than Rs. 100,000 for the project. Subsequently spot checks conducted by Dr. Rakesh Ranjan of Sandhan, Katni as to the contents of these kits revealed that the supplies were of poor quality.
While this story was being read and discussed in cyberspace, Dr. Rakesh Ranjan decided to take the matter right up to the ILO. He wrote to the concerned officers at ILO attaching copies of all documents and bills collected as evidence. The project managers wrote back to the District Collector Katni requesting an inquiry into the matter. The Collector issued a show cause notice to the Project Director of Indus based in Katni. Subsequent proceedings led to the recovery of Rs. 80,000/- from the supplier. A small victory against corruption indeed.
The supplier contends in his defence that he has to pay bribes in order to secure a supply contract in his favour despite a competitive bidding process followed by the public authorities. Hence the overpricing of the medical kits. RTI activists in MP are now formulating strategies to unmask corrupt officials. This is a hard task as very often favours given to officials do not leave a paper trail.
But there’s more on RTI interventions relating to the Indus Project coming in our next despatch.
Compiled by Venkatesh Nayak for CHRI, New Delhi.
(Mr. Vishwajeet Maitee is an active member of the Madhya Pradesh Suchana Adhikar Abhiyan. Dr. Rakesh Ranjan runs Sandhan - an NGO based in Katni and coordinates the Madhya Pradesh Suchana Adhikaar Abhiyan a state-wide network of CSOs and activists involved in public education, advocacy and monitoring of the RTI Act. Dr. Ranjan also collaborates with CHRI's Access to Information Programme.)
Stealing Money meant for Children
Stealing Money meant for Children
The Madhya Pradesh State Government runs the Indus Child Labor Project funded by the International Labour Organization (ILO). The main aim of this project is to provide primary education to erstwhile child labourers. It also provides for their professional skill development. This three-year project is being implemented in five districts namely, Katni, Jabalpur, Mandla, Satna and Sagar since January 2004.
Indus Project is implemented through a registered society - National Child Labour Project (NCLP) which receives monies from ILO through the State Government and makes disbursements. The District Collector is the President of NCLP and the District Labour Officer is its secretary. Five Project Directors are appointed for overseeing the execution of the project. In Katni district alone a sum of Rs 31,80,750 has been earmarked for the execution of this project.
Rumours about corruption in the implementation of Indus Project have existed since its inception. But citizens had no means of proving the same as they did not have access to any documentation before the central RTI Act came into force. MP had passed its own RTI Act in 2002 but it was not implemented as the rules had not been made yet. When citizens tried to apply for information under the Departmental RTI orders issued by the State Government in 1997, information was denied on the ground that these orders did not apply to UN sponsored projects.
An RTI activist working in MP along with the Madhya Pradesh Suchana Adhikar Abhiyan, got to know of the widespread corruption in the Indus project. He decided to file an application under the RTI Act to find out the truth.
He filed his application with the PIO of the Indus Project Office in Katni on December 7, 2005. He asked for the following information -
1) The number of first aid kits bought for Teaching Centres being run under the Project in Katni;
2) The rate at which the kits were bought
3) An inventory of the contents of the kit
4) A copy of the proactive disclosure under Sec 4(1)(b).
He received the information within 17 days after payment of additional fees. The Public Information Officer informed him in writing that 40 first aid kits were bought at the rate of Rs. 3,500/- per kit. These kits were bought in August 2005 and supplied to 40 Training Centres in Katni in September. This data alone did not reveal any evidence of corruption.
He decided to ascertain the prevalent market rates for the first aid kit. He sought quotations from the local distributors of three companies (one Indian and two multinational) which sold similar kits. The quotations received were as follows -
Paras Pharmaceuticals (Indore based company) - Rs. 760/-
Alembic Pharmaceuticals (olkata based MNC) - Rs. 930/-
Glaxo Smithkline Beecham (another well known MNC) - Rs. 970/-
The implementing agency spent Rs. 1,40,000/- for buying 40 kits @ Rs. 3,500/- per kit through an open tender process where the contract for supply is awarded to the lowest bidder. Had the agency bought the kits from the open market from the most expensive distributor - Glaxo - it would have had to spend only Rs. 38,800/- It is crystal clear - somebody has pocketed more than one lakh rupees in the procurement process. There are 200 Indus Teaching Centres in MP. If corruption in procurement is the prevalent norm in all five districts the scandal could run into several lakhs of rupees.
Dr. Rakesh Ranjan of Sandhan Katni who is also the Coordinator of the Madhya Pradesh Suchana Adhikar Abhiyan decided to investigate the matter further. Along with a journalist from Dainik Jagran, he visited 10 Teaching Centres to check the kits on the spot. They were astonished to find that noe of the kits displayed any company logo. In three centres the kits were found to be empty and the contents of seven kits in other centres were of cheaper quality than that mentioned in the quality specifications. This scandal was highlighted in the local newspapers. But no action has been initiated by the district administration so far. Dr. Ranjan will be sending a complaint along with documentation of his findings to ILO and the vigilance authorities of MP Government.
Some people feel no shame or remorse for stealing money meant for underprivileged children.
Compiled by Venkatesh Nayak for CHRI, New Delhi.
(Dr. Rakesh Ranjan runs Sandhan - an NGO based in Katni and coordinates the Madhya Pradesh Suchana Adhikaar Abhiyan a state-wide network of CSOs and activists involved in public education, advocacy and monitoring of the RTI Act. Dr. Ranjan also collaborates with CHRI's Access to Information Programme.)
Monday, March 12, 2007
Kaayam churna or Gaayab churna?
Kaayam churna or Gaayab churna?
RTI unearths corruption in the procurement of medical supplies in a PSU
Should you happen to casually walk into a primary health centre in any of India’s small towns what kinds of medicines would you expect to find stocked on its shelves? Life saving medicines for treating snake bites and rabies? Paracetamol and antibiotics for those suffering from some water borne infection? Vaccines for inoculating babies from life-threatening diseases? Tablets and injections for those suffering from high blood pressure or diabetes? Think again. If you happened to visit one of the primary health centres run by the South Eastern Coal Fields Ltd. you might just stumble upon hair oils, massage oils and even, believe it or not, aphrodisiacs euphemistically called vitality restoring tonics. Or perhaps you would find them only on paper – shown as ayurvedic medicines purchased at exorbitant rates.
Rumours of corruption in SECL are neither rare nor recent. Until the coming of the RTI Act people had no way of verifying these allegations spoken in hushed tones. After all SECL has been proudly announcing on its website its unique record of earning profits ever since its inception in 1986. This public sector undertaking is the single largest producer of coal amongst the eight subsidiaries of Coal India Ltd. In 2005-06 alone SECL extracted 83.02 million tons of coal from its mines situated in the districts of Shahdol, Umaria and Anuppur in Madhya Pradesh and Bilaspur, Korba, Koria, Raigadh and Surguja in Chhattisgarh. SECL has claimed total sales worth Rs. 7127.19 crores during the same year, and earned a pre-tax profit of Rs. 1,286 crores (post tax profit = Rs. 264.67 crores). One would hail a company with such an impeccable earning record as a shining example of the robustness of the fast shrinking public sector in India. But a team of committed citizens have begun shining the torch of RTI on dark deeds within SECL seemingly buried away underneath mountains of coal dust.
Sunil Chaurasia and Narendra Devangan both belonging to Anuppur, Madhya Pradesh and Satish Gupta of Manendragarh from Koria district of Chhattisgargh filed RTI applications with the PIO of SECL situated at its head office in Bilaspur during the months of February – April 2006. They sought the following information–
1) Names of all medicines procured by SECL for distribution through its primary health centres and its OPD clinics in the Hasdev coal mines area during the financial year 2005-06. (They cater exclusively to the employees of SECL and their families)
2) Quantity of medicines procured during the same period.
3) Supply price of each item.
4) Copies of all purchase orders issued by SECL for these medicines.
5) Name and contact details of suppliers who bagged the purchase order.
All three applicants received the requested information within the 30 day deadline stipulated in the RTI Act. The records showed that SECL had issued two purchase orders worth a total of Rs. 4,47,422/- to a certain R S Trading Company on 02 November 2005 for supplying ayurvedic medicines such as rajwadi chyawanprash, basant kusumakar ras, svarna bhasm, massage oil, divya hair oil, sona-chandi chyawanprash, shilajit capsule, paurush jeevan capsule, chintagani ras, makardhani vari and many other ayurvedic items :
(P.O.#SECL/HSDArea/MMW/SO/05/06/Ayurvedicmedicines/479 and P.O.#SECL/HSDArea/MMW/SO/05/06/Ayurvedicmedicines/480).
Two more purchasing orders were issued on the same day to two more companies namely, Messrs. Sampath Kumar Lakshminarayan of Manendragarh in Chhattisgarh (P.O.#SECL/HSDArea/MMW/SO/05/06/Ayurvedic medicines/482 ) and Soni Medical Store of Dhanpuri in Madhya Pradesh (P.O. SECL/HSD/MMW/SO/O5/06/Ayurvedic medicines/481) for supply of ayurvedic medicines worth – Rs. 99,786.90 and Rs. 1,20,387.50 respectively. Apart from the medicines mentioned above these companies were asked to supply jhandu soap herbal, trishul tablets, kamoddeepak churna (can it be any more explicit than this), sundari kalp forte, rose water and the commonly used disinfectants like savlon, dettol and phenyle. All P.O.s had been signed by the Chief General Manager.
Armed with these documents our RTI trio worked for several weeks crosschecking the data along with a team of about 25 committed volunteers. The P.O.s issued to R S Trading Company mentioned its contact details as a shop situated behind State Bank of India at Manendragarh, Chhattisgarh. Satish scoured the entire area but did not find any trace of the supplier. Soni Medical Store turned out to be a small retailing store operating on a floor space of 10ftx10ft and the salesperson had no clue about the supply of such a huge order. Fictitious companies were shown as suppliers of luxury items in the name of procurement of medical supplies.
Next, the volunteers cross checked the rates at which the medicines had been supplied only to find that the retail outlets sold the same items a lot cheaper. Given below is a comparative table of the retail rates and the rate at which the medicines were supplied to SECL:-
Item Size Retail rate in Rupees SECL Supply Rate in Rupees
Amrutanjan balm 10gm 15/- 20/-
Kayam churna 100gm 33/- 46/-
Paurush Jeevan capsule Strip of 10 20/- 28/-
Sesha hair oil 100ml 88/- 185/-
Sona chandi chyawanprash 1kg 185/- 280/-
-do- 1/2kg 105/- 155/-
Rose water 30ml 10/- 15/-
Banphool oil 200ml 68/- 96/-
Noorani oil 100ml 30/- 44/-
Jaitul oil 50ml 30/- 35/-
Rajwadi chyawanprash 1kg 340/- 440/-
-do- 1/2kg 187/- 250/-
Aglari 100ml 33/- 47/-
RTI unearths corruption in the procurement of medical supplies in a PSU
Should you happen to casually walk into a primary health centre in any of India’s small towns what kinds of medicines would you expect to find stocked on its shelves? Life saving medicines for treating snake bites and rabies? Paracetamol and antibiotics for those suffering from some water borne infection? Vaccines for inoculating babies from life-threatening diseases? Tablets and injections for those suffering from high blood pressure or diabetes? Think again. If you happened to visit one of the primary health centres run by the South Eastern Coal Fields Ltd. you might just stumble upon hair oils, massage oils and even, believe it or not, aphrodisiacs euphemistically called vitality restoring tonics. Or perhaps you would find them only on paper – shown as ayurvedic medicines purchased at exorbitant rates.
Rumours of corruption in SECL are neither rare nor recent. Until the coming of the RTI Act people had no way of verifying these allegations spoken in hushed tones. After all SECL has been proudly announcing on its website its unique record of earning profits ever since its inception in 1986. This public sector undertaking is the single largest producer of coal amongst the eight subsidiaries of Coal India Ltd. In 2005-06 alone SECL extracted 83.02 million tons of coal from its mines situated in the districts of Shahdol, Umaria and Anuppur in Madhya Pradesh and Bilaspur, Korba, Koria, Raigadh and Surguja in Chhattisgarh. SECL has claimed total sales worth Rs. 7127.19 crores during the same year, and earned a pre-tax profit of Rs. 1,286 crores (post tax profit = Rs. 264.67 crores). One would hail a company with such an impeccable earning record as a shining example of the robustness of the fast shrinking public sector in India. But a team of committed citizens have begun shining the torch of RTI on dark deeds within SECL seemingly buried away underneath mountains of coal dust.
Sunil Chaurasia and Narendra Devangan both belonging to Anuppur, Madhya Pradesh and Satish Gupta of Manendragarh from Koria district of Chhattisgargh filed RTI applications with the PIO of SECL situated at its head office in Bilaspur during the months of February – April 2006. They sought the following information–
1) Names of all medicines procured by SECL for distribution through its primary health centres and its OPD clinics in the Hasdev coal mines area during the financial year 2005-06. (They cater exclusively to the employees of SECL and their families)
2) Quantity of medicines procured during the same period.
3) Supply price of each item.
4) Copies of all purchase orders issued by SECL for these medicines.
5) Name and contact details of suppliers who bagged the purchase order.
All three applicants received the requested information within the 30 day deadline stipulated in the RTI Act. The records showed that SECL had issued two purchase orders worth a total of Rs. 4,47,422/- to a certain R S Trading Company on 02 November 2005 for supplying ayurvedic medicines such as rajwadi chyawanprash, basant kusumakar ras, svarna bhasm, massage oil, divya hair oil, sona-chandi chyawanprash, shilajit capsule, paurush jeevan capsule, chintagani ras, makardhani vari and many other ayurvedic items :
(P.O.#SECL/HSDArea/MMW/SO/05/06/Ayurvedicmedicines/479 and P.O.#SECL/HSDArea/MMW/SO/05/06/Ayurvedicmedicines/480).
Two more purchasing orders were issued on the same day to two more companies namely, Messrs. Sampath Kumar Lakshminarayan of Manendragarh in Chhattisgarh (P.O.#SECL/HSDArea/MMW/SO/05/06/Ayurvedic medicines/482 ) and Soni Medical Store of Dhanpuri in Madhya Pradesh (P.O. SECL/HSD/MMW/SO/O5/06/Ayurvedic medicines/481) for supply of ayurvedic medicines worth – Rs. 99,786.90 and Rs. 1,20,387.50 respectively. Apart from the medicines mentioned above these companies were asked to supply jhandu soap herbal, trishul tablets, kamoddeepak churna (can it be any more explicit than this), sundari kalp forte, rose water and the commonly used disinfectants like savlon, dettol and phenyle. All P.O.s had been signed by the Chief General Manager.
Armed with these documents our RTI trio worked for several weeks crosschecking the data along with a team of about 25 committed volunteers. The P.O.s issued to R S Trading Company mentioned its contact details as a shop situated behind State Bank of India at Manendragarh, Chhattisgarh. Satish scoured the entire area but did not find any trace of the supplier. Soni Medical Store turned out to be a small retailing store operating on a floor space of 10ftx10ft and the salesperson had no clue about the supply of such a huge order. Fictitious companies were shown as suppliers of luxury items in the name of procurement of medical supplies.
Next, the volunteers cross checked the rates at which the medicines had been supplied only to find that the retail outlets sold the same items a lot cheaper. Given below is a comparative table of the retail rates and the rate at which the medicines were supplied to SECL:-
Item Size Retail rate in Rupees SECL Supply Rate in Rupees
Amrutanjan balm 10gm 15/- 20/-
Kayam churna 100gm 33/- 46/-
Paurush Jeevan capsule Strip of 10 20/- 28/-
Sesha hair oil 100ml 88/- 185/-
Sona chandi chyawanprash 1kg 185/- 280/-
-do- 1/2kg 105/- 155/-
Rose water 30ml 10/- 15/-
Banphool oil 200ml 68/- 96/-
Noorani oil 100ml 30/- 44/-
Jaitul oil 50ml 30/- 35/-
Rajwadi chyawanprash 1kg 340/- 440/-
-do- 1/2kg 187/- 250/-
Aglari 100ml 33/- 47/-
Savlon 100ml 23/- 25/-
Dettol 100ml 17/- 21/-
Phenyle 500ml 33/- 56/-
Only one item, namely, Trishul tablets were supplied at a price lower slightly lower than the retail price (Rs. 8/- and Rs. 10/- respectively). During 2005-06, SECL had allocated Rs. 99,78,690/- for its medical budget. The total value of the four purchase orders released under the RTI Act was Rs. 6.67 lakhs. The extent of money lost due to corruption remains to be calculated.
Sunil published the details of these findings in the Koylanchal Times a current affairs magazine popular in the coal mining belt of MP and Chhattisgarh that he published every month. In August, officials of the Vigilance unit of SECL contacted him to hear learn first hand, the story of the findings of the RTI team. Nothing much was heard for a few months afterwards. Upon making informal enquiries with SECL about the progress of the case Sunil found out that the Vigilance unit had instituted a formal investigation. The Chief Finance Manager and the Materials Manager seem to have been chargesheeted in the case and inquiry proceedings are said to be going on.
Sunil, Narendra, Satish and their team of volunteers are elated at these developments. Their painstaking efforts have awakened potential whistleblowers within SECL. An employee of the company in the Hasdev mines area, who spoke with the activists on condition of anonymity, told them that they had merely succeeded in scratching the surface. Corruption in the procurement of medical supplies is deeper and murkier than what has been unearthed. It has been alleged that several batches of medicines supplied to the OPDs and PHCs are well past the expiry date or will become useless in less than six months. The activists are now planning to request spot inspection of the stock of medicines to verify the facts themselves. They are also planning to apply to the Vigilance unit of SECL under the RTI Act seeking a progress report of action taken on the basis of their findings.
Narrative:- Dr. Rakesh Ranjan, Convenor, MPSAA and Venkatesh Nayak, CHRI
{Sunil, Narendra, Satish and their team of volunteers are all active members of the Madhya Pradesh Suchana Adhikar Abhiyan (MPSAA). CHRI works with the Abhiyan to spread awareness about RTI in Madhya Pradesh.}
Only one item, namely, Trishul tablets were supplied at a price lower slightly lower than the retail price (Rs. 8/- and Rs. 10/- respectively). During 2005-06, SECL had allocated Rs. 99,78,690/- for its medical budget. The total value of the four purchase orders released under the RTI Act was Rs. 6.67 lakhs. The extent of money lost due to corruption remains to be calculated.
Sunil published the details of these findings in the Koylanchal Times a current affairs magazine popular in the coal mining belt of MP and Chhattisgarh that he published every month. In August, officials of the Vigilance unit of SECL contacted him to hear learn first hand, the story of the findings of the RTI team. Nothing much was heard for a few months afterwards. Upon making informal enquiries with SECL about the progress of the case Sunil found out that the Vigilance unit had instituted a formal investigation. The Chief Finance Manager and the Materials Manager seem to have been chargesheeted in the case and inquiry proceedings are said to be going on.
Sunil, Narendra, Satish and their team of volunteers are elated at these developments. Their painstaking efforts have awakened potential whistleblowers within SECL. An employee of the company in the Hasdev mines area, who spoke with the activists on condition of anonymity, told them that they had merely succeeded in scratching the surface. Corruption in the procurement of medical supplies is deeper and murkier than what has been unearthed. It has been alleged that several batches of medicines supplied to the OPDs and PHCs are well past the expiry date or will become useless in less than six months. The activists are now planning to request spot inspection of the stock of medicines to verify the facts themselves. They are also planning to apply to the Vigilance unit of SECL under the RTI Act seeking a progress report of action taken on the basis of their findings.
Narrative:- Dr. Rakesh Ranjan, Convenor, MPSAA and Venkatesh Nayak, CHRI
{Sunil, Narendra, Satish and their team of volunteers are all active members of the Madhya Pradesh Suchana Adhikar Abhiyan (MPSAA). CHRI works with the Abhiyan to spread awareness about RTI in Madhya Pradesh.}
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