Gujarat CM doesn't have email ID, his office has no records of his announcements, or how these were implemented

By Our Representative
Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani does not have any official email address, nor has he appointed any official-level committee to implement the announcements he has made over the years. This has been revealed in a Right to Information (RTI) reply, received in response to an RTI application filed by Mujahid Nafees, an Ahmedabad resident, who happens to be convenor of the Minorities Coordination Committee (MCC).
An upcoming NGO which has mobilised minorities across Gujarat over the last couple of years, MCC, a non-political body, has been successful in raising developmental issues with the Gujarat officialdom. It has offered different types of programmes to "wake up" the administration towards the minorities' needs. These range from writing post cards to the chief minister and holding meeting with the Gujarat chief secretary, to holding mass meetings and rallies.
In its reply RTI, the General Administration Department (GAD), which happens to fall directly under the chief minister, has said that the Gujarat government has "no record" of those who meet Rupani, nor does it have any information about "the expenses incurred by the Chief Minister's Office" on those who come and meet the chief minister.
It further said, there is no committee to implement the announcements made by the chief minister, adding, the department does not have any information about what all the Chief Minister has announced during the three year period ending March 31, 2018, for which the information was sought.

Copy of RTI reply

While the GAD also refused to part with the mobile number, along with email ID, of the chief minister, Nafees commented, "Big advertisements to go digital in everyday life do not seem to have made any difference to the chief minister of India's 'model' state, Gujarat, where the chief minister, who, we now know, does not even have an official email address."
"Also, the replies suggest, the announcements made by the chief minister, who has been hand-picked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, appear to have not implemented at all, with their execution remaining limited to paper, as the state government has officially admitted that it does not have any mechanism to implement them", he added.
Nafees' RTI plea follows his efforts to convey developmental concerns of the minorities directly to the chief minister through email or directly meet him. Despite his efforts, he failed to get an appointment, nor did the officialdom part with any email address of the chief minister, where Nafees could send the concerns.
The ten pleas made by the activist in his RTI application included the demand to provide details of the announcements made by Rupani between April 1, 2015 and March 31, 2018, details of committee formed, if any, to implement them, and how these have been implemented.
Known in the officialdom for his administrative acumen, Rupani lately, however, is said to be feeling politically uneasy, with reports in vernacular media suggesting that he may have resign from his high post. In fact, quoting sources around Modi, a report said, ahead of the 2019 elections, the BJP high command may have a new face as chief minister.

Comments

Uma said…

Does Modi know that oneof his chosen ones is "non-digital"? Or is deniability their plan?

June 14, 2018

Junk food push causing severe public health crisis of obesity, diabetes in India: Report

By Rajiv Shah A new report , “The Junk Push: Rising Consumption of Ultra-processed foods in India- Policy, Politics and Reality”, public health experts, consumers groups, lawyers, youth and patient groups, has called upon the Government of India to check the soaring consumption of High Fat Sugar or Salt (HFSS) foods or ultra-processed foods (UPF), popularly called junk food.

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam* Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Astonishing? Violating its own policy, Barclays 'refinanced' Adani Group's $8 billion bonds

By Rajiv Shah A new report released by two global NGOs, BankTrack and the Toxic Bonds Network, has claimed to have come up with “a disquieting truth”: that Barclays, a financial heavyweight with a “controversial” track record, is deeply entrenched in a “disturbing” alliance with “the Indian conglomerate and coal miner Adani Group.”

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Modi govt intimidating US citizens critical of abuses in India: NY Christian group to Biden

Counterview Desk the New York Council of Churches for its release of an open letter calling on the Biden administration to “speak out forcefully” against rising Hindu extremist violence targeting Christians and other minorities in India. In the letter addressed to President Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and other major elected officials, the NY Council of Churches expressed "grave concern regarding escalating anti-Christian violence" throughout India, particularly in Manipur, where predominantly Christian Kuki-Zo tribals have faced hundreds of violent attacks on their villages, churches, and homes at the hands of predominantly Hindu Meitei mobs.

Link India's 'deteriorating' religious conditions with trade relations: US policymakers told

By Our Representative Commissioners on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) raised concerns about the “sophisticated, systematic persecution” of religious minorities by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a hearing on India in Washington DC.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah* The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual.

Green revolution "not sustainable", Bt cotton a failure in India: MS Swaminathan

MS Swaminathan Counterview Desk In a recent paper in the journal “Current Science”, distinguished scientist PC Kesaven and his colleague MS Swaminathan, widely regarded as the father of the Green Revolution, have argued that Bt insecticidal cotton, widely regarded as the continuation of the Green Revolution, has been a failure in India and has not provided livelihood security for mainly resource-poor, small and marginal farmers. Sharply taking on Green Revolution, the authors say, it has not been sustainable largely because of adverse environmental and social impacts, insisting on the need to move away from the simplistic output-yield paradigm that dominates much thinking. Seeking to address the concerns about local food security and sovereignty as well as on-farm and off-farm social and ecological issues associated with the Green Revolution, they argue in favour of what they call sustainable ‘Evergreen Revolution’, based on a ‘systems approach’ and ‘ecoagriculture’. Pointing ou

Victim of 'hazardous' jobs, Delhi sanitary workers get two thirds of minimum wages

By Sanjeev Kumar* Recently, the Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM) organized a Training of Trainers (ToT) Workshop for sewer workers and waste pickers from all across Delhi NCR. The workshop focused on bringing sanitation workers from different parts of Delhi to train them for organization building and to discuss their issues of minimum wage, contractual labour, regular jobs and social security.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Search This Blog