Unexpected? Western regional meet objects to Gujarat order 'blacklisting' RTI applicants

Aruna Roy, Shailesh Gandhi

Speaking at the western region consultation on the Right to Information (RTI) Act, whose two-day virtual session began on Thursday, Aruna Roy, formerly a member of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi-sponsored national advisory panel, has said that governments should recognise RTI has emerged as common citizens’ right to seek answers from authorities instead of seeing RTI pleas with suspicion.
A pioneer of the RTI movement in India, Roy objecting to recent orders of the Gujarat Information Commission (GIC) which prohibited citizens from filing applications under the provisions of the RTI Act under the pretext that the applicants had repeatedly used RTI to pressurize government officials, insisting, the RTI Act “cannot be used as a tool for taking revenge”. She added, governments should actually encourage citizens to file RTI pleas.
Others taking part in the discussion also took exception to the GIC order to blacklist citizens, calling it “unexpected and shocking”, pointing out, a commission is expected to strengthen record keeping, digitalization and disclosures so that more and more information is put in the public domain.
Organised by the National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI), in which RTI users and activists from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat participated, Shailesh Gandhi, speaking at the session, former Central Information Commissioner, criticised a Supreme Court order on Section 8 of the RTI Act (disallowing all government information to be released for public), which he said is “not only harmfully impact the spirit of the law, but also are widely misused by public authorities across the country.”
Among those present at the consultation included Madhya Pradesh information commissioner Rahul Singh, who has been praised for taking up every appeals filed by women applicants on a priority basis, Rajasthan information commissioner Narayan Bareth. Singh underlined the need for a helpline where common citizens could approach for guidance on RTI. Bareth added, information commissions should not forget that citizens have a lot of hope on the commissions to protect and enhance transparency.
Vivek Velankar, an RTI activist from Maharashtra, said his RTI plea before banks to find out defaulters above Rs 100 crore revealed that many of them were defaulters in not one but several banks, and that the amount ran in “thousands of crores.”
Vineet, an RTI activist from Rajasthan, informed the meet that the Rajasthan Suchna portal carries information on 68 departments and over 130 schemes, including on MGNREGA, PDS, mining, pension, compensation, Covid-19 relief measures etc., and all information is provided in “real time.”
Santoshsinh Rathod, RTI activist from Ahmedabad, said, his fight for two years for disclosure of local area development funds by corporators finally ended fruitfully. It has resulted in Ahmedabad and Surat Municipal Corporations disclosing details on how much have corporators spent and where on the respective websites of the local bodies.

Comments

Irrational? Basis for fear among Hindus about being 'swamped' by Muslims

I was amused while reading an article titled "Ham Paanch, Hamare Pachees", shared on Facebook, by well-known policy analyst Mohan Guruswamy, an alumnus of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. Guruswamy, who has also worked as an advisor to the Finance Minister with the rank of Secretary to the Government of India, seeks to probe, as he himself states, "the supposed Muslim attitude to family planning"—a theme that was invoked by Narendra Modi as Gujarat Chief Minister ahead of the December 2002 assembly polls.

Why's Australian crackdown rattling Indian students? Whopping 25% fake visa applications

This is what happened several months ago. A teenager living in the housing society where I reside was sent to Australia to study at a university in Sydney with much fanfare. The parents, whom I often met as part of a group, would tell us how easily the boy got his admission with the help of "some well-meaning friends," adding that they had obtained an education loan to ensure he could study at a graduate school.

Tracking a lost link: Soviet-era legacy of Gujarati translator Atul Sawani

The other day, I received a message from a well-known activist, Raju Dipti, who runs an NGO called Jeevan Teerth in Koba village, near Gujarat’s capital, Gandhinagar. He was seeking the contact information of Atul Sawani, a translator of Russian books—mainly political and economic—into Gujarati for Progress Publishers during the Soviet era. He wanted to collect and hand over scanned soft copies, or if possible, hard copies, of Soviet books translated into Gujarati to Arvind Gupta, who currently lives in Pune and is undertaking the herculean task of collecting and making public soft copies of Soviet books that are no longer available in the market, both in English and Indian languages.

Gujarat slips in India Justice Report 2025: From model state to mid-table performer

Overall ranking in IJR reports The latest India Justice Report (IJR), prepared by legal experts with the backing of several civil society organisations and aimed at ranking the capacity of states to deliver justice, has found Gujarat—considered by India's rulers as a model state for others to follow—slipping to the 11th position from fourth in 2022.

Punishing senior citizens? Flipkart, Shopsy stop Cash on Delivery in Ahmedabad!

The other day, someone close to me attempted to order some goodies on Flipkart and its subsidiary Shopsy. After preparing a long list of items, this person, as usual, opted for the Cash on Delivery (popularly known as COD) option, as this senior citizen isn't very familiar with online prepaid payment methods like UPI, credit or debit cards, or online bank transfers through websites. In fact, she is hesitant to make online payments, fearing, "I may make a mistake," she explained, adding, "I read a lot about online frauds, so I always choose COD as it's safe. I have no knowledge of how to prepay online."

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Of lingering shadow of Haren Pandya's murder during Modi's Gujarat days

Sunita Williams’ return to Earth has, ironically, reopened an old wound: the mysterious murder of her first cousin, the popular BJP leader Haren Pandya, in 2003. Initially a supporter of Narendra Modi, Haren turned against him, not sparing any opportunity to do things that would embarrass Modi. Social media and some online news portals, including The Wire , are abuzz with how Modi’s recent invitation to Sunita to visit India comes against the backdrop of how he, as Gujarat’s chief minister, didn’t care to offer any official protocol support during her 2007 visit to Gujarat.

Area set aside in Ahmedabad for PM's affordable housing scheme 'has gone to big builders'

Following my article on affordable housing in Counterview, which quoted a top real estate consultant, I was informed that affordable housing—a scheme introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi—has deviated from its original intent. A former senior bureaucrat, whom I used to meet during my Sachivalaya days, told me that an entire area in Ahmedabad, designated for the scheme, has been used to construct costly houses instead.

Just 5% Gujarat Dalit households 'recognise' social reformers who inspired Ambedkar

An interesting survey conducted across 22 districts and 32 villages in Gujarat sheds light on the representation of key social reformers in Dalit households. It suggests that while Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's photo was displayed in a majority of homes, images of Lord Buddha and the 19th-century reformist couple, Savitribai Phule and Jyotiba Phule, were not as commonly represented.

Search This Blog