UNDP finds 8 Indian states acutely poor

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/undp-finds-8-indian-states-acutely-poor/645647/
Agencies Tags : Poverty, UNDP Posted: Tue Jul 13 2010, 03:36 hrs London:

Acute poverty prevails in eight Indian states, a new ‘multidimensional’ measure of global poverty has said. The measure claims that the eight states put together account for more poor people than those present in the 26 poorest African nations combined.

The new measure, called the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), was developed and applied by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) with the United Nation Development Programme’s (UNDP) support. It will be featured in the forthcoming 20th anniversary edition of the UNDP Human Development Report.

The measure reveals there are more ‘MPI poor’ people (421 million) in eight Indian states — Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, UP and West Bengal — than in the 26 poorest African countries combined (410 million).

MPI gives a multidimensional picture of people living in poverty and is expected to help target development resources more effectively, its creators said. The MPI supplants the Human Poverty Index, which had been included in the annual Human Development Reports since 1997.

The 2010 UNDP Human Development Report will be published in late October, but research findings from the MPI were made available Monday at a policy forum in London and on the websites of OPHI and the UNDP Human Development Report.

MPI assesses a range of factors or ‘deprivations’: from education to health outcomes to assets and services. Taken together, these factors provide a fuller portrait of acute poverty than simple income measures. The measure reveals the nature and extent of poverty in the household, region, nation and at an international level. This new approach has been adapted for use in Mexico, and is now being considered by Chile and Colombia.

Public Petition of the Nuclear Liability Bill

Hi,

This is exciting! Along with 187,759 people I signed a petition asking the Prime Minister to hold a public consultation before taking a decision on the nuclear liability bill. These petitions were delivered to the Standing Committee looking at the bill and now they have decided to hold a public consultation.

The bill in its current form lets the foreign corporations get away by paying a meagre amount in case of a nuclear accident in India. The major chunk of the expenses will be borne by the Indian tax payers. But now we have a chance to change this bill and make it stronger.

Greenpeace, an NGO working on this issue, has prepared an open letter which states the changes required in the bill. Just like the petition, this letter will stand a chance of being considered if lots of us sign it. We have less than two weeks to change the bill and prevent another Bhopal in the making.

I have already added my signature.

Can you add your signature to this letter?

http://www.greenpeace.org/india/change-the-liability-bill

Thanks!

Rakesh Ranjan

Chief Election Commissioner asks for power to deregister political parties

Chief Election Commissioner asks for power to deregister political parties

Parties should furnish annual report and accounts, says Vinay Sahasrabudhe, Member National Executive Council of BJP,

Increase of mafia power worrying, says K K Mishra, Congress spokesman CEC releases “Lok Sabha 2009 Election Watch: A compendium of state election watch reports”

Bhopal, April 10 and 11, 2010‐ On the first day of the sixth national conference on Electoral and Political Reforms being organized by Association for Democratic Reforms and National Election Watch, Mr Navin Chawla, Chief Election Commissioner, released a book “Lok Sabha 2009 Election Watch: A compendium of state election watch reports”. The book contains analysis on criminal and financial details of candidates and winners of Lok Sabha 2009 Elections for all states and UT‘s of India. The delegates to this conference include civil society organizations, eminent citizens, media, senior bureaucrats and Police officials, leaders from the corporate sector and the political parties.

Speaking at the conference Mr Chawla said, “The EC should be given power to De-register political parties especially those which do not even contest elections.” He also expressed deep concern about increasing instances of paid news which needed to be addressed urgently.

Speaking on the importance of the political party reforms, Mr। Manickam Tagore, MP INC said, “All political parties remain closed for new entrants, unless they have some connections. This closed nature of the parties needs to be changed and the gates should be opened to meritorious youth”.

On the importance of electoral reforms Mr. Kirit Somaiya, National Secretary BJP said, “Electoral and political reforms are crucial for the progress of the country. Paid news is a menace on which action should be quickly taken so that the spirit of democracy is kept alive”.

Mr Anil Madhav Dave, MP, BJP strongly appealed that, “Vidhan sabha and Lok sabha elections should be held jointly so that constant elections don’t become hindrance to development”.

On the second day, Representatives of Congress and BJP discussed issues like inner party democracy and funding transparency, on the concluding day of the sixth national conference on Electoral and Political Reforms organized by Association for Democratic Reforms and National Election Watch. Vinay Sahasrbuddhe, Member of BJP Executive Council said that political parties should also subject some regulation and be asked to furnish annual reports of activities and accounts. He also added that politicians should undergo professional training to become effective legislators. Mr. K.K.Mishra, Congress spokesperson from Madhya Pradesh, expressed concern about the increased role of money power and criminals in elections.

The conference also discussed the role of media in elections, and the increased danger of the phenomenon of “paid news” in election campaigns. Mr. L. C. Jain, former member of Planning Commission said that edifice of India’s democracy cannot be built without strong foundations of integrity in politics.

The conference concluded with resolutions demanding no criminal candidates, an option for “none of the above” on the voting machine and political party reforms.

People not told about their right

These documents are a sample of how the money received from the Central Government for telling the public and government officers about right to information Act has been misused by RCVP Noronha Academy of Administration & Management. The responsible officers traveled around the country and ate fancy on the money meant to be used for educating people about their right to information. To cover this up, the documents have also tampered with.

RCVP Noronha Academy of Administration & Management (the academy), was chosen by the Central Government as the nodal agency for raising awareness on Right to Information Act, 2005, among the public and government employees. In 2009, 13 lakh rupees was sanctioned to it by the Central Government for this purpose. However, it seems that training has only occurred on papers; the people so trained were not even asked for their feedback on the training.

The training camps organised by the academy were restricted only to colleges. The primary reason for this is that the officer designated as nodal officer responsible for training, is closely associated with the department of higher education. That’s the reason why this scheme could not get implemented beyond colleges. In the year 2009, the academy held around 12 RTI workshops in government colleges. Due to the connivance of both the nodal officer and the college authorities, the academy stayed silent on the issue of RTI workshops being shown just in papers. They never cared to check as to what was being shown in the utility assessment letters of the college and whether the workshops were actually taking place or not. The nodal officer and the academy without even asking kept disbursing money to the colleges.

Dhar: study material for dissemination distributed amongst illiterates

In the government P.G. college of Dhar, study material for dissemination/training was distributed to a group of illiterates. At the same time, the names and addresses of BPL cardholders who were shown as present for the workshop in papers, have not been made any note of. It has been shown in papers that the workshop was attended by 160 participants whereas the list only has names of 112 participants. The college was given Rs 35,000 for a one-day workshop, which on paper, has been spent.

Mandala and Khargon: pilot project also crushed

From 2006 to 2008, Mandala and Khargon districts were made a part of the pilot project by the academy. Hence, they were allotted a sum of twelve lakh each, but no efforts were made for training in any of these districts. As a consequence, the Madhya Pradesh state information commission had to deal strongly with both the districts. Upon refusal to give information regards work done in Mandala under the pilot project, the MP information commission sent penalty notices to three officers. Show cause notices were also sent to the collector and Jabalpur commissioner.


Bhopal: made students compensate for the money spent

A training workshop was organised in the capital at Sarojini Naidu (Nootan) Government Girls Post Graduate College, Bhopal. Here too, more expenses were incurred on account of food and drinks as opposed to actual training. According to documents present with Dainik Bhaskar, Rs 14,500 was spent here on just food and drinks and only Rs 16,500 used for distributing study material. Nootan college also received Rs 35,000, along with which the college management made the professors pay Rs 300 each and the students pay Rs 10 each. The sociology department of the college was also made to give Rs 20,000 even though there is no provision for demanding any money from the college or the UGC fund nor from the professors or the students. This money was collected in the form of donations and spent off!

Muraina: number of participants not known

On November 1st, 2009, a workshop was held under the leadership of Dr. Sandeep Khanna, Director of Government P.G. college, Muraina. It was attended by ten IAS officers who had come to the college for training. However, their names and addresses are not known. Muraina college spent Rs 4,275 in excess of Rs 35,000 that it received for this purpose thus taking its total expenditure to Rs 39,295. There is also discrepancy in the utility assessment letter sent by it to the academy. The letter says that the workshop was attended by 275 participants, of which 75 were from the college, 75 general public (from outside the college) and 75 belonged to the BPL card holders. In a separate document, it is stated that the workshop was attended by 10 IAS officers of the academy, 100 BPL card holders, 10 distinguished citizens, 15 students, 40 professors and journalists (in all 175 participants). Mentioning 275 participants in one document and 175 participants in another raises doubts about the veracity of the documents.

“How would I know about what the college did or did not do on RTI training…? I cannot give any statement on this. I will need the directors approval to talk on this issue.” - Dr. Rajiv Kumar Shukla, Nodal officer and Incharge of training, Academy.

“Dr. Rajiv Kumar Shukla has been designated as the Nodal officer, and the responsible person to speak to in this regard. I cannot comment on this, he should be able to give you the complete details.” Dr. Sandeep Khanna, Director, Academy.

Raising a Stink over Toilets: Using RTI for Fixing Accountability in the Nirmal Gujarat Campaign

Raising a Stink over Toilets: Using RTI for Fixing Accountability in the Nirmal Gujarat Campaign

The Problem:
The Government of Gujarat spends several crores every year to improve toilet and sanitation facilities for the poorest families in the State. Under the Nirmal Gujarat Campaign launched in 2007 families below the poverty line (BPL) receive partial financial assistance from the government for constructing modern toilets. They are required to contribute a small amount from their own pocket as well. However the scheme is riddled with corruption and does not always work to the satisfaction of the beneficiaries. In March 2008 some of the beneficiaries of this scheme approached Nagarik Adhikar Kendra (NAK) Kalol, Panchmahals district, complaining that the contractor had collected excess amounts from them but had not done much to build functional toilets.

The 1st RTI Intervention:
NAK decided to file an application under the Right to Information Act to obtain copies of the scheme guidelines and records relating to the construction of toilets in Kalol. NAK drafted an RTI request seeking the following information from the Kalol Nagarpalika (municipal body):

1. Name of the nodal agency/department responsible for ensuring the implementation of Nirmal Gujarat scheme;
2. Name of the department/office responsible for actually implementing the scheme in Kalol;
3. Procedure for selection of the contractor/contracting agency responsible for constructing the toilets;
4. Names of the beneficiaries of this scheme and the places where the toilets were constructed;
5. Name and designation of the officer of Kalol Nagarpalika responsible for supervising the construction of toilets;
6. Copy of the no objection certificate (NOC) issued by the Kalol Nagarpalika which enabled the contracting agency to collect payments; and
7. A copy of the completion report submitted by the Kalol Nagarpalika to the Municipal Finance Board which provides funding for this scheme.

When Mr. Hanifbhai Waghela of NAK visited the Nagarpalika office to submit the application he faced resistance. The public information officer (PIO) demanded to know whether he had sworn to create nuisance for the Nagarpalika (NAK has been actively using RTI to hold public authorities accountable for their actions in Panchmahals since 2005). Hanifbhai said that his intentions were honest and he wanted to know about the manner in which the Nirmal Gujarat scheme was required to be implemented. He told him that as a public servant the PIO was required to receive the information request and make a decision regards disclosure. The PIO then threatened to call the police. Hanifbhai replied that police officers were public servants too and he would not feel threatened by their presence. In the end the PIO had little choice but to accept the application. Not doing so would have attracted a monetary penalty under the RTI Act.

Despite the passage of 30 days NAK did not get the information from the Nagarpalika. An appeal was filed before the Additional District Collector, the designated appellate authority (AA) under the RTI Act. The AA heard the matter and ordered that the information be disclosed within 10 days. Despite this order NAK did not receive any information. NAK filed the second appeal with the State Information Commission (SIC) in June. The matter has not been taken up by the SIC despite the passage of 14 months.

The 2nd RTI Intervention:
After submitting the second appeal to the SIC, NAK sent an RTI application to the Municipal Finance Board based in Gandhinagar seeking the same information about the toilet scheme. This Board is responsible for the disbursal of funds to local agencies working in urban areas. After 29 days NAK received a reply from the PIO of the Board who claimed that the requisite application fee of Rs. 20 (less than 50 US cents) had not been paid. This claim was wrong as NAK had filed an application on non-judicial stamp paper worth Rs. 20 - an approved mode of fee payment in Gujarat . NAK filed the first appeal before the AA of the Board and submitted proof of fee payment. The AA ordered disclosure of all information. NAK received all the records and documents 15 days later.

The verification process:
The records NAK received in August 2008 revealed that the government of Gujarat had appointed Manav Seva Khadi Gramodyog Vikas Sangh (MSKGVS), based in Khedbrahma, as the nodal agency for implementing the Nirmal Gujarat Programme. MSKGVS had subcontracted the task to an NGO named Kastruba Mahila Sayak Grih Udoyg Sahakari Sangh Ltd. based in Balasinore in Nadiad district. Armed with the names of beneficiaries contained in the NOC list, NAK started verifying the true state of affairs and captured some images on film. After an intensive door-to-door survey and NAK came up with astonishing findings:

1. Records showed that 150 toilets were required to be constructed in Kalol during the year 2008-09. The Chief Officer, Kalol Nagarpalika had issued a no objection certificate certifying completion of the work for 111 toilets. Payments had been made to the contracting agency.
2. NAK could not find a single instance where the construction work had been completed. In seven places the work had not even begun. In many places three walls had been constructed without a roof but not pit. Scheme guidelines require that a pit of 10ft x 5ft must be dug before the walls are built. The contracting agency claimed that this was a cost effective way of constructing toilets. However the construction work began in some places soon after NAK started the verification process.
3. 16 beneficiaries did not belong to the BPL category at all.
4. None of the toilets had been connected to a sewer.
5. Some of the beneficiaries claimed that their functional toilets had been demolished by the contracting agency in order to construct a fresh one but the work had not been completed. Some families used the half-built cubicle to store firewood.
6. According to the scheme guidelines each toilet was to be constructed at the cost of Rs. 4900. The beneficiary family was required to raise Rs. 900 while the remaining sum was paid by the government. The verification process showed that 74% beneficiaries had paid Rs.1200 and another 5% had paid Rs. 1000. Only 3% of the beneficiaries had paid 900 - the correct amount. 1% of the beneficiaries had paid Rs. 800 and another 13% had paid Rs. 600 only. Where beneficiaries had paid less than the required sum, the construction work had not even begun.
7. The scheme guidelines require that adequate publicity be given to the basics of the scheme so that potential beneficiaries may opt to participate in it. None of the beneficiaries contacted during the verification process said that the contracting agency had shared any information with them about the scheme.

The Advocacy Initiative:
In September 2008 NAK submitted its findings and photographs, illustrative of the poor state of work, to the authorities with a request to investigate the matter and take action against all guilty officials and agencies. Copies of the report were sent to the the Kalol Nagarpalika, Director, Nirmal Gujarat Programme, Shahri Vikas Nigam, the District Collector, the District Planning Committee, the Municipal Finance Board, the Chief Secretary, the Minister for Urban Housing and Development, the Leader of the Opposition, the Chief Minister, and the Governor. None of these authorities even bothered to acknowledge receipt of the report.

Later in October NAK submitted the report as a public grievance to the District Collector and District Magistrate under the Chief Minister Swagat Karyakram. This programme has been initiated for the purpose of handling people’s grievances about the functioning of the administration. The District Collector directed his Deputy to investigate the findings. The Deputy District Collector contacted NAK to assist him. NAK took him around Kalol showing the places where functional toilets were said to have been constructed on paper. The Deputy submitted his report at the monthly meeting of Swagat chaired by the District Collector. The Chief Officer of the Nagarpalika was also present. The Deputy stated openly that NAK’s report was a true statement of facts and he had nothing more to add. The District Collector sought an explanation from the Chief Officer warning him that he risked losing his job and going to jail for issuing NOCs without properly verifying the completion of the work. He had participated in and abetted a fraud. The District Collector ordered him to get all the toilets properly constructed within a month and submit a completion report to him directly.

The Results:
The contracting agency went back to Kalol and rebuilt all the toilets as per scheme norms. Sewer connections have been provided to all the toilets. The excess money collected from the beneficiaries has been returned to them. The government decided to transfer the Chief Officer out of Kalol.

However the Chief Officer continues to serve in the Kalol Nagarpalika as he pulled political strings to get the transfer order cancelled. The government has not moved an inch to fix accountability of any officer nor has the contracting agency been blacklisted.

The Chief Officer recently asked NAK whether it would be able to take up the contract for constructing toilets during the current financial year. Apparently, the previous agency has refused to take up the job this year as working according to the norms of the scheme is not profitable enough. NAK firmly believes in its role as a citizen watchdog over public authorities and has turned down the offer. This indeed is the expectation of the 11th five year plan document which encourages civil society organisations to take on a monitoring role and ensure proper implementation of plan schemes.

- Narrated by Hanif Waghela, Zakir Sheikh and Aslambhai Dewan for CHRI and NAK.

NAK may be contacted at :- Tel: +91-9979644265; email: nakkalol05@gmail.com

[CHRI has trained NAK to use RTI strategically to hold public authorities accountable for their decisions and actions. CHRI and NAK are collaborating to spread awareness about RTI in Gujarat and monitor compliance of public authorities with their transparency obligations under the RTI Act.]

Proactive Disclosure of non-strategic information- An Initiative of...

Dear all,In June 2009 the President of India stated in her address to the joint session of Parliament that dislcosure of information in non-strategic areas would be improved. While this will be applicable to the Central Government, it is important to take note of a similar initiative launched by the Government of Karnataka from December 2008. A Monthly Programme Implementation Calendar (MPIC) has been designed and disseminated amongst all public authorities to capture the plans and the progress of work regards implementation of various schemes and activities at various level of the State Government.A circular issued by the Chief Secretary, guidelines for filling up the MPIC and various formats to be used including Excel sheets are accessible at: http://finance.kar.nic.in/mpic/planmon.htm The Fiscal Policy Institute in Bangalore is providing backup support to departments to implement this initiative. The scheme was launched under the glare of the media. Compliance has been slow to pick up. The main features of MPIC are given below:Monthly Plan Implementation Calendar in Karnataka:1) Objectives:The Monthly Programme Implementation Calendar (MPIC) is a system intended to facilitate effective and timely implementation of Government’s programmes. MPIC involves detailed planning of important activities which form part of the process of implementation of a programme / scheme and arranging them in appropriate sequence according to a monthwise schedule. The monthwise schedule of activities for the implementation of a programme will help the implementing officers at the state, district, taluk and other levels to take up the programmed activities in a timebound manner according to a planned schedule for optimum results. This will avoid programmes being implemented without adequate preparation, or being unduly delayed. This will also avoid rush of expenditure by government departments towards the end of the financial year. MPIC may be considered as an extension of the Monthly Multilevel Review (MMR) system, which is in operation in the State since the early 1980’s.2) Preparation and Use of MPIC:Apart from indicating the physical and financial targets to be achieved under a programme during different months/parts of a financial year, MPIC will also depict the typical activities to be taken up for implementing the programme every month. Thus, even if no physical or financial targets / milestones are expected to be achieved in a given month, the preparatory activities for achieving the programmed targets during subsequent months are shown in the calendar. The completion or non completion of the activities programmed for every month is reported to enable implementing officers and reviewing authorities to take corrective action on a timely basis so that the targets are achieved within the time allowed for implementing the programme.The MPIC report is to be prepared for every plan scheme including the schemes relating to salaries and other establishment expenditure, and every non-plan scheme excluding the schemes / provisions meant for salaries and office expenses. Thus, plan schemes like Direction and Administration, even though relating to creation of posts and payment of salaries, are included in the MPIC while such items of non-plan expenditure are excluded. Thus, non-plan schemes / programmes like maintenance of buildings, disbursement of scholarships, purchase of medicines, etc., are all included in the MPIC reviews. The MPIC reports are to be submitted strictly complying with the MPIC format as shown in (the Annexures).In typical development departments like Agriculture, Horticulture, Education, Public Works, etc., the responsibility for implementation of programmes goes down to the officers at the Taluk / Sub-division level. The responsibility for reviewing the programmes rests with authorities at the District / Division, State Headquarters / Directorate, and the Secretariat / Ministry levels. Therefore, MPIC formats for most departments are to be prepared separately at the State level by the Head of the Department, at the District / Division level by the District / Division Heads, and at the Taluk / Sub-division level by the concerned implementing officers. In respect of Departments which do not have district / taluk level establishments the Principal Secretaries / Secretaries to Government may specify the authorities including Boards and Corporations which will report progress for MPIC reviews.The progress achieved in the implementation of schemes is to be reported in the MPIC formats by Taluk, District and State authorities in the same manner as in the case of MMR reports. At each level, the progress reported by the lower levels is to be consolidated for review and for reporting to the next higher level. The review of MPIC reports will take place in the Monthly Multilevel Review (MMR) meetings as per the current practice.3) Disclosure of MPIC:The Departments may post MPIC as prepared at the beginning of the year, updated every month with information on progress achieved on their website for public viewing. [A typical MPIC filled up for a specific month is available on the Department of Horticulture website: http://www.horticulture.kar.nic.in/mpic.pdf However the MPIC of this Department for later months is not available on this website. MPIC is not accessible on the websites of a large number of departments and directorates in Karnataka.- CHRI's note]I hope readers will share similar examples from other jurisdictions within and outside India. Andhra Pradesh has a vibrant and working system for proactively disclosing information about the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act/Scheme through the Internet. Monitoring compliance with requirements likethe MPIC is the first step towards securing accountability of public authorities.Thanks

DoPT officially confirms again that the RTI Act will be amended

Dear friends,
Vishal has already posted on Humjanenge a link to the press release issued by the Department of Personnel and Training through the Press Information Bureau about what will be amended in the Right to Information Act and the steps they have taken to improve implementation. I have a few comments on the contents of the press release for your consideration. The text of the press release may be accessed at: http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=51451

1) Reviewing the Second Schedule:
In July 2009 the Minister for Personnel had stated in Parliament, in response to a query raised by MPs, that the Second Schedule would be reviewed. Readers will remember that the Government of India has placed 22 intelligence and security organisations on this list. Unlike other public authorities they do not have a general obligation towards transparency except in the context of allegations of human rights violation and corruption. This partial exclusion of notified security and intelligence agencies is provided for under section 24 of the RTI Act. The press release states that the organisations on the list would be reviewed to check whether any should be deleted. The list of organisations is provided below:


Intelligence Bureau
Directorate of Revenue Intelligence
Central Economic Intelligence Bureau
Directorate of Enforcement
Narcotics Control Bureau
Aviation Research Centre
Special Frontier Force
Border Security Force
Central Reserve Police Force
Indo-Tibetan Border Police
Central Industrial Security Force
National Security Guard

Special Service Bureau
Assam Rifles
Sashastra Seema Bal
Special Protection Group
Defence Research and Development Organisation
Border Road Development Organisation
Financial Intelligence Unit , India
Directorate General Income Tax (Investigation)
National Technical Research Organisation
National Security Council Secretariat
It is not clear whether the review exercise will include consideration of requests of public authorities like the defence forces who have sought to be brought under the Second Schedule. However, the primary question to ask is - whether this review will be done with or without inputs from the people in general. The Minister for Personnel had assured in Parliament that civil society organisations would be consulted regards amendments to the RTI Act. There is no sign of any public consultation where people's views have been invited. Civil society organisations and all stakeholders including Information Commissions mut be consulted on this issue.

It must also be pointed out that amending the Second Schedule is not the same as amending any other provision of the RTI Act. Amending the Second schedule can be done through a gazette notification and then tabling the notification in Parliament. In reality, this is not an amendment of the Act at all. So this proposal does not actually amount to amending the RTI Act.

What is more serious is the manner in which section 24 and the Second Schedule has been misused in States like West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and recently Uttar Pradesh. Entire categories of information have been excluded under this section. For example, in 2005 the Government of West Bengal listed topics such as “sanction for prosecution”, “verification of antecedents”, ‘preparation of bills and rules” under the Political Branch of the Home Department and “all police reports (except under orders of the Court of Law)” under the Police Branch of the Home Department as being excluded under section 24.

In 2008 the Government of Tamil Nadu excluded the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption and the Tamil Nadu State Vigilance Commission stating, " Of late there has been a tendency on the part of some citizens to ask for a lot of information under the Right to Information Act, 2005. The Government feel [sic] that in vigilance cases giving information at the initial stages, investigation stages and even prosecution stages lead to unnecessary embarrassment and will hamper due process on investigation."

More recently the Government of Uttar Pradesh excluded 14 areas completely unrelated to security and intelligence organsiations under section 24. Later 9 areas were withdrawn but 5 continue to remain operational, namely, appointment of Governors; appointment of Ministers of various ranks; letters written by the Governor to the President; code of conduct of the ministers and appointment of Judges of High Court. It looks like adequate intelligence about the RTI Act was not available while drafting these notifications. All these notifications are clearly in violation of the RTI Act. Even though this a matter within the jurisdiction of the States, the DoPT must take a stand against such misuse of the Second Schedule and advise the State Governments to review their respective lists of partially excluded organisations.

2) Adding more topics to the list under section 4(1):
The press release states that more topics will be added to section 4(1) for ensuring more proactive disclosure by public authorities. This position is a reiteration of what the President of India said in her speech to Parliament in June and what the Minister for Personnel confirmed later in July. Improving proactive disclosure is a welcome move. However there is no need for amending the RTI Act to do this.

Sub-clause (xvii) of clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 4 [4(1)(b) for short] of the RTI Act states as follows:

"Every Public autority shall
X X X X X
b) publish within one hundred and twenty days from the enactment of this Act,—
X X X X X
(xvii) such other information as may be prescribed; and thereafter update these publications every year;"

This clause was included in the Act in order to allow governments to use the Rules (subordinate legislation) route to increase the number of topics on which proactive disclosure should be made. When this avenue is available it is difficult to understand why the Act should be amended at all. Opening up the Act for amendment at this stage will be like opening a Pandora's box.

3) Making a provision for setting up benches of Information Commissions:
The press release states that there is no provision in the RTI Act for setting up benches of the Information Commission to decide upon appeals and complaints. The Act will be amended to enable them to set up benches. Readers will remember some time ago the DoPT had issued an advisory to the Central Information Commission and all State Information Commissions requiring them to decide appeals and complaints in collegium and not in smaller benches as is the current practice. CHRI had critiqued the advisory and members of the RTI fraternity had written to the DoPT to withdraw this circular (click on this link to access the email alert: http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/programs/ai/rti/india/national/2009/possible_amendment_of_rti_act_2005_email_alerts/bending_over_backwards_to_%20break_rti_june_29_2009.pdf). Now the DoPT wants to amend the Act to enable Commissions to set up benches. This change in stance regards constitution of benches is welcome.
However it must be noted that the RTI Act already lays down the basic principle for allowing Commissions to work in smaller benches. Sections 12(7) envisages the setting up of offices of the Central Information Commission in different parts of the country. Surely if offices of the Information Commission can be decentralised they have no choice but to hold hearings in smaller benches. The entire Commission will not be able to meet to decide every case. Similarly section 15(7) envisages setting up of offices of the State Information Commissions in different parts of the respective state. Section 15(7) has been enforced already in places like Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Information Commissioners are not based at the state capital but in some of the divisional headquarters of the State. They are hearing appeals and complaints and issuing orders everyday. So the Act is not lacking in any manner on the issue of benches. This is a matter to be clarified in the subordinate legislation- namely, the appeals procedure rules.
There is a parallel available from the higher judiciary. We are all familiar with the single, double, division and constitution benches of the Supreme Court and the High Courts. Article 145(2) of the Indian Constitution states that rules shall be made to provide for the number of judges of the Supreme Court who shall sit for any purpose. Specific rules will be made outlining the powers of a single judge or Division Court. Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that the Chief Justice shall constitute such benches. The Supreme Court Rules issued in 1966 empower the Chief Justice of India to constitute such benches (click here for the SC Rules: http://www.supremecourtofindia.nic.in/rulespdf.pdf These Rules were issued with the approval of the President.). The situation is similar in the High Courts.

If the DoPT wants to clear the air regards setting up of benches of the Central Information Commission, the appropriate thing to do is amend the Central Information Commission (Appeal Procedure) Rules 2005. Section 27(2)(e) of the RTI Act contains adequate powers for amending the Rules regards constitution of benches in the Information Commissions around the country. Constituting ebnches is without a doubt part of the appeals/complaints procedure. There is no need to amend the RTI Act for accomplishing this purpose.

4) RTI is a flagship programme:
Please note that the RTI Act has been mentioned on the list of flagship programmes of the Government of India as published on the website of the Press Information Bureau (to access the list click on:http://pib.nic.in/archieve/flagship/flag_faq.asp) Surely a flagship programme ought to be treated with more care.

What can we do?

Please send the following sample email/letter to the Minister Personnel, Pensions and Public Grievances:

"Dear sir,
The press release issued by your Ministry through the Press Information Bureau on 03 August, 2009 indicates that the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) will be amended in order to make it more effective. We welcome your Ministry’s initiative to improve implementation of the RTI Act. We also welcome the sanction of funds to build the capacity of Information Commissions and to promote awareness about the Act amongst people.

However we would like to point out that it is not necessary to amend the RTI Act in order to strengthen its implementation for the following reasons:

1) Review of the list of organisations in the Second Schedule: This can be accomplished with a gazette notification (subsequently to be tabled in Parliament). It does not require amendment of any provision of the RTI Act.
We urge you to bring your influence to bear on the State Governments in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh and such other states to remove all organisations and categories of information that have been brought under the cover of section 24 wherever they do not fit the criteria provided in that section.

2) Adding more topics to the list in section 4(1): The power to notify more topics for proactive disclosure in public authorities already exists in sub-clause (xvii) of clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 4. The list of topics may be added by making the necessary rules for which power is available in subsection (1) of section 27. There is no need to amend the RTI Act for this purpose.

3) Constituting smaller benches of Information Commissions: This power already exists in the Government of India and the State Governments by virtue of section 12(7) and section 15(7) respectively. This can be accomplished by suitably amending the Central Information Commission (Appeal Procedure) Rules 2005. There is no need to amend the RTI Act for this purpose.

We, the citizens of India who are the holders of the fundamental right to information guaranteed by our Constitution, wish to be consulted on all these and other issues related to the implementation of the RTI Act. We urge you to adopt public processes for collecting opinion regards any move to make changes in the RTI Act or in the Rules framed under it.


Thanking you,
Yours sincerely,


(Name and address of the sender)

NO AMENDMENTS - LEAVE OUR RTI ACT ALONE."

Send your email/letter to:

1) Mr. Prithviraj Chavan, Minister of State, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Government of India .
Email: mos-pp@nic.in or chavanprithviraj@sansad.nic.in

2) Mr. Rahul Sarin, Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Government of India .
Email: secy_mop@nic.in

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