The column r2i was started in November,
2005 by Narayan Varma. The feature aimed to cover changes in the Act, RTI
success stories, current developments/issues and RTI decisions. The idea was to
encourage the members to use the power of RTI and become effective citizens.
Narayanbhai
single handedly wrote it for nearly 15 years till he was joined by 2 young
members. Since his passing away, Jinal Sanghvi has been writing it as the sole
author. When we asked her what keeps her going, she said: “The zeal of my
mentor, Varma sir and his dedication and love towards RTI”
PART A DECISION OF SUPREME COURT
? EVM is ‘information’ under
Right to Information Act, rule Central Information Commission
An Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) is “information” under the Right to
Information Act, the Central Information Commission has ruled.
The Commission was hearing the appeal of an RTI applicant who had asked
the Election Commission for an EVM but was denied.
Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) Sudhir Bhargava ruled that “the EVM
which is available with the respondent [ECI] in a material form and also as
samples … is an information under the RTI Act.”
EVMs have been in the spotlight recently as several Opposition leaders
have raised doubts about the credibility of the machines. They have also
demanded that the ECI cross-check 50% of results with voter-verifiable paper
audit trails (VVPAT) in the upcoming Lok Sabha poll.
Mr. Bhargava noted that the definition of information under Section 2(f)
of the RTI Act includes “any material in any form, including records,
documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars,
orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material
held in any electronic form…”
The CIC upheld applicant Razaak K. Haidar’s contention that the terms
“models” and “samples” should apply to an EVM.
ECI Under-Secretary Soumyajit Ghosh admitted that “models/samples of EVM
are available with the ECI, but the same are only kept for training purpose by
the ECI, and not saleable to the general public.”
Fresh argument
Mr. Ghosh also argued that the information was exempted from disclosure
under section 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act as “the software installed in the machines
is an intellectual property of a third party, the disclosure of which would
harm the competitive position of the third party concerned.”
Mr. Bhargava noted this fresh argument, but did not rule on it. Instead,
he directed the ECI to file an appropriate response to the appellant within
four weeks, as it had erroneously denied the information sought, using Section
6(1) of the RTI Act, which does not deal with grounds for exemption.
(Source:https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/evm-is-information-under-right-to-information-act-rule-central-information-commission/article26358323.ece
)
PART B RTI ACT, 2005
? BCAS Right To Information
Clinic
• Year of Commencement: 2006
• Total years the Clinic has
been in operation: A little more than 12 years
• Fees charged: No fees charged
/ Services are provided pro-bono
• Days of operation: 2nd,
3rd and 4th Saturday of every month
• Timing: 11:00 am to 1:00 pm at
BCAS premises
• RTI applications made or
advised provided: Average of 5 per week
n Some Matters dealt under RTI by the clinic:
n State Government, Central Government, MCGM
(BMC), Income Tax, Sales Tax, Gifts Tax, Wealth Tax, Service Tax, Value Added
tax (VAT), GST, Professional Tax, MTNL, BEST, Railways, Excise Duty, Police,
Bank, Bond, Co-op Banks, Co-op Societies, Voter ID Cards, Caste Certificates,
PPF, EPF, Pension, Air India, MHADA amongst many others.
• Objective of the Right to
Information Act: The basic object of the Right to Information Act is to empower
the citizens, promote transparency and accountability in the working of the
Government, contain corruption, and make our democracy work for the people in
real sense. It goes without saying that an informed citizen is better equipped
to keep necessary vigil on the instruments of governance and make the
government more accountable to the governed. The Act is a big step towards
making the citizens informed about the activities of the Government.
• The RTI Act empowers Indians
to do the following:
Request any information from any public office, Take copies of the
documents, Inspect those documents, Inspect the progress of works and, Take
samples of materials used at work sites
PART C IINFORMATION
ON & AROUND
- Unaided schools, colleges under RTI ambit
now
Students and their parents running from pillar to post for getting
information from unaided privately managed high schools, secondary schools and
colleges have a reason to cheer as the Chief Information Commission (CIC) has
ruled that all recognised unaided high, secondary schools and colleges fall
under the preview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
Consequently,
the Director, Higher Education, has designated all District Education Officers
(DEOs) as Public Information Officers (PIOs) of respective districts for
furnishing relevant information, while the Additional Director or Joint
Director (Administration) will be the first appellate authority under the Act.
The question whether purely private high schools and colleges, not
getting any aid from the government be brought under the preview of the RTI
Act, had been there for quite some time. Following an appeal filed by one
Balbir Singh, the state CIC had issued directions to the Education Department
to appoint the PIOs and an appellate authority for these educational
institutions to facilitate people at large to seek information under the RTI
Act, 2005.
Now, the CIC has passed interim orders in appeals filed against a
senior secondary school in Una district and a high school in upper Shimla,
saying: “Given the definition of ‘information and appropriate government’ in
section 2(f) and section 2(a) of the RTI Act, the information available with
the ‘public authority” (Education Department) under the Right to Education
Act-2009, the HP Private Education Institutions (Regulation) Act-1997 or any
other regulatory mechanism related to any private body which can be accessed by
a ‘public authority’ is covered under ‘information’ and the same has to be
provided by the Education Department.
(Source:https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/himachal/unaided-schools-colleges-under-rti-ambit-now/735081.html)
- In RTI Reply To Telangana Voter
Deletions, Poll Commission Admits Lapses
The names of a large number of voters in Telangana were deleted from
electoral rolls without due procedure ahead of last year’s assembly elections,
responses to queries under the Right To Information Act has revealed.
Reports of large-scale voter deletions had sparked anger during the
Telangana elections on December 7. It had been reported how a software that
linked voter IDs with Aadhaar may have played a role in the deletions.
Responses to RTI queries now show there were flaws in the verification process.
A letter dated 8th August 2015, written by then Chief
Electoral Officer of Telangana, Bhanwar Lal, to Sumit Mukherji, Secretary of
the Election Commission, states “door to door verification not conducted
properly” in 24 assembly seats of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal
Corporation Area and there were “many complaints that BLOs (Booth Level
Officers) have not visited houses”.
Between February and August 2015, the Election Commission had carried
out the National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme or
NERPAP, as part of which, voter IDs were linked with Aadhaar through a software
to weed out duplicates.
But before someone cane be deleted, the name has to be on electoral
rolls first.
Rules say the Election Commission has to go door-to-door issuing a
notice to each voter. If a house is
locked, the official is supposed to visit two more times and even then if the
voter is not available, he has to paste a sticker asking her to contact the EC.
Replies to the RTI indicate this was not done.
Srinivas Kodali, a cybersecurity researcher who filed the RTI, claims
the Commission is hiding a lot more.
“The Election Commission, UIDAI and Chief Electoral Officer of
Telangana have consistently denied the role of Andhaar and state resident data
hub on voter deletions,” he said, accusing them of hiding facts.
“Even now, we don’t know the details of the pilot projects which
have taken place in Telangana. The Election Commission must answer for this.
They need to delete Aadhaar data with them, voter data with government and give
the lists of deleted voters”.
Rajath Kumar, the current Chief Electoral Officer of Telangana, claims
even if some names were deleted, the Commission has solved the issue by giving
ample opportunity to voters.
“The NERPAP exercise was carried out in 2015 and subsequently
there have been not only the annual revisions in 2016, 2017 and 2018, but we
also had the elections in 2018, during which 26 lakh voters were registered,
both new as well as those who got re-enrolled,” Mr Kumar said.
The commission, he said, has carried out a drive now to prepare the
list with effect from 1st January in which 17.72 lakh voters have
come in, “so we have given maximum amount of opportunity for those whose
names were deleted at that time”.
“The best that I can do as current CEO is to give them maximum
opportunity to re-enroll themselves,” Mr Kumar added.
(Source:https://www.ndtv.com/telangana-news/in-rti-reply-to-telangana-voter-deletions-poll-commission-admits-lapses-1999191
)
- Cryptocurrencies in India legal,
regulation in final stages, reveals RTI query
The Indian government is in the final stages of formulating regulations
on cryptocurrencies, according to an RTI response from the Department of
Economic Affairs.
The response was with regard to the RTI filed by Coin Crunch India on
December 13, 2018, asking whether the panel on cryptocurrency has recommended a
ban on Bitcoin and if they have submitted the report to the Ministry of
Finance.
“The report of the Committee is in the finalisation stage, hence,
prohibited under section 8(3) of RTI Act, 2005,” the ministry said in its
response.
(Source:https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/cryptocurrency/indias-cryptocurrency-regulation-in-final-stages-3447481.html)
- Pune RTI activist found dead
An RTI activist missing since January 30 was found dead in Pune
district, a police officer said on Tuesday.
Police suspect Vinayak Shirsath, 32, was murdered.
The decomposed body was found near a village on Lavasa Road on Monday
evening, the officer said.
Shirsath, a resident of Pune city, was reported missing on January 31.
His family had registered a police complaint.
“We later registered a kidnapping case on February 5 after his
family raised a suspicion that he might have been abducted as he had raised his
voice under the Right to Information (RTI) Act against illegal construction
work in some parts of the city,” the police officer said.
Shirsath’s family pointed fingers at several people linked to the real
estate sector, but during the probe all of them were found to be close friends
of the deceased, he said.
A case has now been registered under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 201
(causing disappearance of evidence of offence) and a probe is under way, the
police said.
(Source:https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/pune-rti-activist-found-dead/cid/1684353)
RTI Clinic in March 2019: 2nd, 3rd, 4th
Saturday, i.e. 9th, 16th and 23rd 11.00 to 13.00 at BCAS premises.
