Thursday, March 29, 2007

RTI Expose- See who went along with PM on his foreign trip for free


In a information furnished by Joint Secretary Foreign Affairs ministry it revealed that selection of media persons to go along with PM in his foreign trip is done by PM office itself . List is forwarded by PMO to Foreign Affairs department. From the list it was observed that there are many press men who belong to those publications whom we do not know and whose press circulation is very thin .

For Details log on to www.rti.sdjindia.org or write to rti@sdjindia.org

Monday, March 26, 2007

No justice only death waited them in Jails

From a information furnished by PIO Central Jails (Tihar) it revealed that 182 under trials died during last 10 years in Tihar Jails before they got justice in the hands of law . They died in jails waiting for justice. In comparison to this the deaths in case of convicted prisoners were 45 during same period.

Delaying tactics under RTI Act

With best intentions, the UPA government passed an unprecedented piece of legislation in the form of Right to Information Act. It is a real step forward in the direction of peoples empowerment , transparency in the working of government offices and the accountability of the bureaucracy . But the bureaucracy has never been in favour of this kind of legislation. They have always thought themselves to be masters not the servants of the people. I have always been sceptical about the Right to Information Act’s (RTI) efficacy in controlling if not totally obliterating the menace of corruption. As a applicant under Right to Information Act we have varied experience sweet as well as sour. We found that in large number of cases they have reconciled themselves and are willing to share information they have. But in many cases we have also noted that they are not cooperating . In some cases they are adopting delaying tactics . Here we are giving some tactics employed by them where wish to stone wall themselves and refuse to accede the request. With more and more incidents of Government officials not acceding to requests under the Right to Information Act or not providing the correct information under the RTI Act, it is high time the state government imposes some more stricter penalties which will make these officials comply. For delaying the information these officials are adopting various tactics to avoid penalty prescribed under RTI Act.