RTI in Media
This section contains news from across the web captured from various online media. They are not generated or created by RTI INDIA
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Recently Rural Development & Law Minister Abdul Haq Khan gave an irresponsible statement from the floor of legislative assembly. While responding to MLA Kupwara Bashir Ahmad Dar, Khan said “RTI activists are big blackmailers”. Minister Abdul Haq Khan was replying to a query while a private members RTI amendment bill was introduced by the MLA from Kupwara. Being a campaigner for the Right to Information in Jammu & Kashmir, I, along with selfless colleagues of RTI Movement have been hurt with this statement. Mr Abdul Haq Khan is not only State’s Rural Development Minister but also holds the charge of J&K’s Law Ministry & happens to be a senior lawyer who is …
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Exposing Government’s claim that no RTI application was pending for want of reply with any department in the State, the National Conference member Sajjad Ahmed Kichloo challenged the response and produced the papers in the House alleging that for the last one year a Govt department was avoiding reply to an RTI activist and same was the position in several other departments. The issue was raised by NC Member during Question Hour in the upper House today and minister Incharge R&B, Naeem Akhtar was responding on behalf of Minister Incharge GAD (Chief Minister). The Member alleged that Government was not giving correct reply. The fact is that he has documentary evid…
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Noida authority comes with a response that no elected representatives (MLA/MP) nor a nominated member of the society (RWAs/residents) is allowed to sit in any board / internal meetings of the authority as there's no provision for the same in authority board. The authority's response came in reply to an RTI (a copy of which is with TOI) filed by advocate Ranjan Tomar, a local citizen asking whether public representative or nominated member can participate in authority meeting held to decide policies for the city. Tomar filed the said RTI (number 21219) on Dec 28, 2017 to which authority replied on Jan 29, 2018 and received by Tomar on Thursday (Feb 8). "The authori…
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rti activism: Indore (MP): Amid reports of corruption, MYH denies info to Rahul Pethe
by Sajib Nandi- 0 replies
- 447 views
While reports of corruption in the biggest government run medical facility Maharaja Yashwantrao Hospital (MYH) are coming to fore every day, the MYH, as well as MGM Medical College administration, refrained from sharing information to even Right to Information query about the funds and expenditure in ‘Kayakalp’ scheme of the hospital. Moreover, the college administration has even defied the orders of the director of medical education department, which had directed the dean to provide information to the RTI applicant within a month, as it’s been more than eight months since the order was issued but it is yet to share the information with the applicant. Read more at…
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rti activism: Roads are for people but National Highways & Infra Development Corp denies info to Sanjay Shirodkar
by Sajib Nandi- 0 replies
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Even if it seems superfluous, Right to Information (RTI) activist Sanjay Shirodkar, every now and then, checks if a public authority is disseminating information, particularly under the Section 4 proactive disclosures. His time-tested barometer is to file an RTI application and seek correspondence sent and received by the head of the public authority during a specific period. That his strategy has worked manifests through the fact that offices of several cabinet ministers in Maharashtra; heads of public authorities like Public Works Dept (PWD), cultural affairs and state transport have promptly obliged. However, his latest venture in putting up such a query under RTI to t…
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rti court decision: Disciplinary proceedings are not human rights violation: Delhi HC
by Sajib Nandi- 1 follower
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Disciplinary proceedings are not human rights violation and security agencies, exempted from the purview of the RTI Act, need not provide information on such issues, the Delhi High Court has ruled. The ruling by Justice Vibhu Bakhru came on a CBI plea challenging a Central Information Commission (CIC) order directing the agency to provide one of its officers the status and details of disciplinary proceedings against him. The court set aside the CIC’s order of June 9, 2017, saying that the commission “fell in error” by issuing the direction. The verdict assumes significance as agencies which are exempted from the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, a…
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rti activism: Over 500 patients in Maharashtra contracted HIV via infected needles in 5 years: RTI by Chetan Kothari
by Sajib Nandi- 0 replies
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Transmission of HIV through infected needles doesn't seem to be restricted to villages in Uttar Pradesh alone. Patients in Maharashtra too have, over the years, claimed to have contracted HIV through infected needles or syringes. An RTI response from National Aids Control Society (NACO) showed that over 500 people in the state have got HIV through infected needles. Between 2012-13 and 2016-17, 512 disclosed at Integrated Centres for Testing and Counselling (ICTCs) that exposure to infected needle was responsible for the infection, said RTI activist Chetan Kothari. Numbers suggest an average 70-200 people get HIV through infected needles every year. In 2017-18, 69 peop…
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rti activism: RTI activist alleges fraud in MHADA redevelopment, Bombay HC asks him to depose before ACB
by Sajib Nandi- 0 replies
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The Bombay High court on Thursday, directed Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), to take steps for preventing probable loss due to developers, who are redeveloping cess buildings, but not handing over a part of the building back to MHADA. The government agency claimed that it has not suffered any such loss and all precautions are being taken. The HC also asked Right to Information (RTI) activist Kamlakar Shenoy, who had filed the public interest litigation (PIL) to appear before the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) for deposition. The RTI activist has pointed out that developers redeveloping cess buildings under the development control rules (DCR) w…
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rti activism: Denounce Mumbai civic body chief's remarks dubbing RTI activists as blackmailers
by Sajib Nandi- 0 replies
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ACTIVISTS COME TOGETHER TO FIGHT OBSTRUCTIONS TO RTI QUERIES BY BMC More than 40 RTI activists came together at Moneylife Foundation office at Shivaji Park on Wednesday and chalked out a strategy to counter BMC Commissioner Ajoy Mehta’s controversial remarks dubbing RTI activists as blackmailers and extortionists, and blacklisting of NGO Praja Foundation for any RTI information regarding the corporation. After a two-hour discussion, the group decided to collectively write to Mehta, and meet him personally to protest against his remarks as well as BMC’s move to declare Praja Foundation as persona non grata. During the meeting, they will demand that the Mehta issue …
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A massive cut of over 63 per cent in the funds for the transparency watchdog -- Central Information Commission -- and propagation of the Right to Information Act has been announced in the Union Budget. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley allocated only Rs 8.66 crore under the head "CIC and RTI" which is a drastic cut of Rs 14.95 crore (or a deduction of over 63 per cent) from the revised estimates of 23.61 crore for 2017-18. Read more at: https://www.newindianexpress.com/business/budget-2018/2018/feb/01/over-63-per-cent-cut-in-budget-for-rti-cic-1766846.html Note: Open the link in a new browser tab and change https to http
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As many as 433 newborns died in 16 'Special Neighbourhood Care Units' (SNCUs) in Delhi due to various diseases in the first six months of 2017, an RTI query has revealed. Replying to the RTI query filed by activist Yusuf Naki, the health department said 116 newborns died due to pneumonia and meningitis, 109 infants died due to respiratory diseases, 105 newborns died due to lack of oxygen, 55 died because of meconium aspiration syndrome, 86 infants died due to premature births, 36 newborns died due to birth defects and 22 infants died because of other causes. Besides, the reason behind the death of two newborns is still not known. Read more at: newborn deaths: …
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rti activism: Delhi: No law to act against those forcing others to chant 'Bharat mata ki jai': RTI by Mohammed Irfan Quadri
by Sajib Nandi- 0 replies
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The Law Ministry has said it has no record spelling out the legal action which can be taken against those forcing a citizen to chant "Bharat mata ki jai". The case pertains to one RTI applicant Mohammed Irfan Quadri who had sought to know from the ministry whether there is any legal obligation of a citizen to chant "Bharat mata ki jai" and whether a citizen can take legal action against those forcing him to chant this slogan among others. "The respondent (Law Ministry) referred to the CPIO's reply dated April 19, 2016 and stated that they have informed the appellant that 'information sought by him construes neither any material information defined under Section 2(…
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rti activism: Delhi: Don't have records of Vijay Mallya's loans: Finance ministry to CIC
by Sajib Nandi- 1 follower
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- 683 views
The finance ministry has told the Central Information Commission (CIC) that it does not have information about the loans given to industrialist Vijay Mallya, prompting the transparency panel to remark that the response was "vague and not sustainable as per law". Chief Information Commissioner R K Mathur, while hearing the matter of one Rajiv Kumar Khare, told the finance ministry official that the Right to Information (RTI) application filed by the applicant should be transferred to the proper public authority. The finance ministry official may have claimed that the ministry does not have information on the loans sanctioned by different banks to Mallya or the deta…
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rti court decision: Not mandatory for authority to call for info under RTI: Delhi high court
by Sajib Nandi- 1 follower
- 1 reply
- 442 views
Even if a public authority has the power to call for certain information, it is not mandatorily required to seek the data to provide it to an applicant under the RTI Act, the Delhi High Court has held. The court said that the authority can only provide information which is available with it to an applicant under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. "The Act is available to make transparent any information that they have. You cannot ask a public authority to mandatorily procure an information, even if they have the power to do so," Justice Vibhu Bakhru observed. The observations by the court came while disposing of a plea challenging an order of the Central Info…
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rti activism: Maharashtra: Activist Sanjay Shirodkar accused NHIDCL MD of violating RTI Act
by Sajib Nandi- 1 follower
- 1 reply
- 456 views
Right to Information (RTI) activist Sanjay Shirodkar has accused the managing director of National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), New Delhi, of violating the provisions of RTI Act. Shirodkar had asked for certain emails and letters under Sections 41 (B) and 2 (F) of RTI Act, but the corporation refused to provide the information saying it does not come under public interest. Shirodkar told Mumbai Mirror: “Letters and emails sent on record have to come under RTI as per the Act. The corporation is a public company formed in 2016 under the ministry and road transport highways. I have filed similar RTIs with cabinet ministers o…
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rti activism: Delhi: Ministers, bureaucrats have been giving themselves Honorary Doctorates for years
by Sajib Nandi- 1 follower
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A Right to Information petition seeking data from 470 public universities for the last 20 years (1997 to 2017) has revealed that hundreds of politicians and bureaucrats were awarded honorary doctorate degrees by the very same public universities they were in charge of in this period, according to an Indian Express investigation. The list includes people in charge of various institutions – from the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) – an autonomous body established by the UGC to “assess and accredit institutions of higher education in the country” – to Union ministers heading the human resources development m…
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rti activism: U'khand CM's office spent more than Rs. 68 lakh on 'chai, paani' in 10 months: RTI
by Sajib Nandi- 0 replies
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The Uttarakhand Chief Minister’s office spent more than Rs. 68 lakh on tea and refreshments in 10 months since he took charge last March, an RTI query has revealed. In a letter dated January 22, additional secretary (secretariat administration) Vinod Raturi told RTI activist Hemant Singh that Rs. 68,59,865 had been spent on ‘chai paani’ (tea and refreshments) since Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Trivendra Singh Rawat assumed the Chief Minister’s office on March 18, 2017. A break-up of the expenses suggests that an average of Rs 22,000 was spent per day on entertaining about 150-200 guests. Read more at: U’khand CM’s office spent more than Rs. 68 lakh on ‘chai,…
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rti activism: Mumbai: Slums redeveloped into housing society to come under RTI for more transparency
by Sajib Nandi- 0 replies
- 488 views
The slums redeveloped into housing societies under Slum Rehabilitation Authority have been brought under Right To Information Act (RTI) in order to bring more transparency. The state Information Commission has declared these to be public authorities under 2 (h) of the RTI act. On 19 December, 2017, the Chief Information Commissioner of Maharashtra had passed an order stating that all the societies built under SRA are public authority. The order also stated that the SRA authority are required to appoint a public information officer as well as the First Appellate Authority (FAA) under RTI. This order was passed after an application was made by Jayprakash Page on the sai…
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rti activism: Kerala NCP leader Thomas Chandy claimed Rs 1.91Cr as medical reimbursement: RTI report
by Sajib Nandi- 0 replies
- 638 views
At a time when the bills claimed by Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan and Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac are creating ripples in the state, an RTI report has found that NCP leader Thomas Chandy had claimed the highest amount during the term of the 13th Legislative Assembly from May 2011 to March 31, 2016. According to the report, Chandy, who was ousted from the chair of Transport Minister recently, had claimed Rs 1,91,14,366 as reimbursement for his total medical expenses during the time period. Read more at: https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2018/feb/06/ncp-leader-thomas-chandy-had-claimed-rs-191-crore-rti-report-1768891.html Note: Open the link in a new…
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Parties fighting against RTI Political parties are fighting tooth and nail not to reveal their financial details. They do not want give information under the RTI Act. All parties are united, forgetting their differences, to fight against the transparency. Thanks to ADR and MKSS, we have at least the information about criminal, educational (or lack of it) or financial background of each contesting candidate. But unfortunately, there are no penal consequences for false declarations. The fudging of accounts of expenditure by candidates to keep it low within limits is never probed. The source of their donations and names of donors continue to remain secret. While who…
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“Right to Information is such a powerful law that it over-rides all other laws, says Shailesh Gandhi, former Central Information Commissioner, while explaining basics of RTI Act and its practical usage to students of Vaze College at Mulund in Mumbai. He says, “This is a right which can be used by any person irrespective of his or her economic or social background and one need not provide any reason to obtain any kind of certain information.” Mr Gandhi was speaking at a Seminar organised by Moneylife Foundation’s RTI Centre with support from Public Concern for Governance Trust (PCGT) and Kelkar Education Trust’s Vaze College. It was attended by over 100 students from N…
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rti activism: UP: Illegal nursing home faces criminal proceedings
by Sajib Nandi- 0 replies
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A nursing home managed illegally by 'quacks’ with the help of local health officers finally faces criminal proceedings after a query under the Right to Information (RTI) Act exposed the racket. Surprisingly, the action was taken only after the State Information Commissioner (SIC), Hafiz Usman, in whose court the matter came up for hearing, had summoned the chief medical officer, to come with the entire facts on the matter. Disclosing of above action here on Monday afternoon, Usman revealed that one social activist hailing from Bijnore had filed an application under the RTI Act, with the CMO office in Bijnore, seeking details of how Harsh Nursing Home, was running…
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Right to Information Act (RTI Act 2005) codifies a fundamental right of citizens. Under the provisions of the RTI Act 2005, any citizen of India can request information from a ‘public authority’. The concerned instrumentality of State must reply within the time of thirty days. The Right to Information Act also requires each governmental body to computerize their records for wide dissemination, so that the citizens need minimum recourse to request for information formally. RTI Act 2005 serves as a replacement for Freedom of information Act, 2002. The Act was passed by the Parliament of India on 15th June 2005; it provides the ‘right to information’ to citizens of Indi…
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rti activism: State election commissions opposed central poll body's order on different designs for EVMs: RTI
by Sajib Nandi- 0 replies
- 463 views
State election commissions raised “grave concerns” about an Election Commission of India order restricting the sale of electronic voting machines by two public sector undertakings, PTI reported on Monday, citing a Right to Information response. The country’s poll monitor had issued a circular on May 26, 2017, which stated that “the design of an Election Commission of India EVM, as approved by the Technical Experts Committee, shall not be used for selling EVMs to anyone else”. It also said that a separate design shall be made for sale to state election commissions and foreign electoral management bodies. The state poll bodies, however, expressed concerns at this di…
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rti happenings: Ujjain: Training cum workshop on RTI
by Sajib Nandi- 0 replies
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A training cum workshop of public information officers and appellate officers was organised at the Simhasth Fair office on Monday. State information commissioner Hiralal Trivedi gave detailed information about various provisions of the Right to Information (RTI) Act and gave solutions to the questions asked. Read more at: Ujjain: Training cum workshop on RTI | Free Press Journal
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