RIGHT TO INFORMATION - 2009 - Indian Social Institute

Darjeeling district in the last 5 years. DDMA: Will be sent later on. The response to other queries was not
very encouraging or enlightening either. Asked about fund allocation and money spent by the department,
the difference in the answer was only in the language: “Under Process”, instead of the “will be sent later
on”. Praful Rao, the president of STH, said: “This sort of non-answers are a mockery of the disaster
management in the district and the whole RTI ethos. We will certainly take up the matter with the National
Disaster Management Authority, its state counterpart, and the State Information Commission.” The DDMA
had responded to the STH application only after it was showcaused by the West Bengal Information
Commission. The STH was forced to approach the commission after the DDMA failed to respond to its
application filed on August 19 last year. The RTI Act stipulates a time limit of 30 days within which the
answers have to be provided. Rao said the episode only showed that the administration was not serious
about tackling the problem of landslides in the hills. “This is a more worrying fact, given the extent of the
problem. The NGOs can only play a limited role like raising awareness. The onus lies with the
government because it has the necessary wherewithal to confront the problem,” he added. Biswa Nath
Barik, the Darjeeling district relief officer who had responded to the STH application and had signed as
district disaster management officer, could not be reached as his cellphone was switched off. Another
sample of answers delivered under RTI: STH: Please furnish details of your short/mid/and long term plans
regarding landslide hazard prevention and mitigation in the district in the future. DDMA: Landslide
prevention work will be done by the respective departments as per G.O. No 128 PR dated 16.1.08 (copy
enclosed) and this has been informed to all concerned vide this office Memo No.121/DMS dated 28.3.08.
Rao told The Telegraph that the “enclosed copy” was yet to reach him. (Telegraph 9/1/09)
‘RTI Act is the best gift after Constitution’ (1)
DHARWAD: The former Principal Secretary, State Legislature, Robinson D’souza, has said that the
“Right to Information Act is the best gift to the people after the Constitution of India.” Delivering a special
lecture on the Right to Information Act at the University College of Law, Dharwad, on Wednesday, Mr.
D’souza said the Act was the best instrument to check corruption. “Democracy requires an informed
citizenry. It is difficult to eradicate corruption. It is to be contained. If each individual transforms himself,
there will be one rascal less in the country,” he said. Tracing the history of the Act, Mr. D’souza said that
there was a limited right to information under the Evidence Act earlier. But now provision had been made
for providing the affected party even the reasons for administrative decisions. Elaborating on the mode of
filing applications under the Act and the duties of the Information Officer, he said if there was default or
delay in furnishing information, there was provision for imposing penalty of Rs. 250 a day subject to a
maximum of Rs. 25,000. Even for rejecting applications, the reasons should be given by the officer
concerned, he said. Principal Chidananda Reddy S. Patil welcomed the gathering. He also proposed a
vote of thanks. (The Hindu 10/1/09)
RTI Act will revolutionise Indian polity: Basant (1)
THALASSERY: Kerala High Court judge R. Basant said here on Saturday that the Right to Information
(RTI) Act would revolutionise the Indian polity by making people aware about their right to seek
information. “The success of democracy lies in the ability of the people to question and the quest for
working democracy can be satisfied by such questions,” Mr. Basant said while inaugurating a one-day
Right to Information People’s Empowerment Meet organised by the District Court Bar Association here on
Saturday. The idea that some need not know things showed a feudal mindset, he said adding that all
denial of information in the social context betrayed this attitude. The notion of exclusive domain of
information revealed inequality in society, he said. Under the Constitution, there was no positive
conferring of the right to know, though it upheld freedom of speech, Mr. Basant said adding that the RTI
Act was the outcome of the arguments of legal luminaries that freedom of speech depended on a derived
right to information. If right to speech should be effective, there should be right to information. The right to
live also meant right to live in decency and this included right to know. “Equality brings an obligation to
share information,” he said. Observing that the Act empowered the people, the High Court judge said in
democracy, people were the repository of all the powers. The sovereign in Indian democracy was ‘We the
People.’ “We already have the powers, but we should know that we have the powers,” he said adding that
the Act “tells you how you can exercise the powers.” Earlier, the judge unveiled the portraits of jurists H.R.
Khanna and N.A. Palkhivala at the Bicentenary Auditorium on the District Court premises. Describing the
Bench and the Bar as partners in the struggle against injustice, he said that quality of judgment depended
on quality assistance a judge was getting from the Bar. District Court Bar Association president T. Asaf Ali