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Why is RBI rejecting RTI access to demonetisation records?

By Venkatesh Nayak* A recent media report quotes the Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Government of India, saying, there was no need to go into the process of decision making regarding the 8th November demonetisation drive. If the report is true, this is a worrisome departure from the commitment to transparency and accountability voiced by the Hon’ble Prime Minister, time and again. Demonetisation and the tale of two RTIs On 14 November, within a week of the demonetisation drive, I filed an RTI application with the DEA seeking copies of the Cabinet Note that was approved by the Union Cabinet regarding the decision to demonetise currency notes of Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 500 denomination. I also sought to know whether the government had sought people’s views on the issue of demonetisation prior to making the decision because the NDA Government had taken steps to consult people on several other important policy issues in the past. I have not received any reply from the CPIO,

Performance of anti-corruption departments, courts receive cursory attention

By Venkatesh Nayak* 9th December has been designated by the United Nations as International Anti-Corruption Day. Even though India ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) in 2011, this year, International Anti-Corruption Day went by uncelebrated and in fact almost unnoticed. According to a UN estimate, every year, US$ 1 trillion is paid in bribes and US$ 2.6 trillion are stolen through corruption – a sum equivalent to more than 5% of the global GDP. In 2015, Transparency International (TI) rated India 76thamong 168 countries surveyed for people’s perceptions about how corrupt they perceived their governments to be. Countries like Bhutan (27), Chile (23), Ghana (56), Jordan (45), Namibia (45), Panama (72), Rwanda (44), Saudi Arabia (48), Senegal (61), Seychelles (40), South Africa (61) and Uruguay (21) scored better than India on TI’s corruption perceptions index (CPI). In the BRICS grouping, India keeps company with Brazil at 76th place while China is at 83 and Russia fa

Cancel environment clearance of defaulting polluting industries

Text of the letter by senior activists of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti (PSS) Rohit Prajapati and Krishnakant to the secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Government of India: The Effluent Channel Project (ECP) of Vadodara passes through 24 villages and prime agricultural land which is known as the ‘Vegetable Basket of Gujarat’. The 55.6 km long effluent channel was commissioned in the year of 1983 to carry “treated” industrial effluent from industries near Vadodara to estuary of River Mahi, Gulf of Cambay. It carries the effluent of Nandesari Industrial Estate and Vadodara Industrial Complex and later on from 1995 onwards number of polluting industries started coming up on along both side of ECP. Since 2004 the villages around the ECP have experienced ground water contamination at alarming rates. The pollution began because of the seepage, leaching, leaking and overflowing of effluent from the ECP and later from illegal untreated effluent discharged by num

Pellet guns in J&K: Disclosure of sale data not in public interest, says Ordnance Factory

By Venkatesh Nayak* Readers will remember my despatch from September this year , describing my efforts to find out details about the sale and the efficacy of anti-riot weapons- particularly pellet guns which have caused severe injuries to hundreds of youth in various parts of Jammu and Kashmir. I had sought information under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) about the quantum and price of sale of pellet guns and cartridges as well reports of any studies conducted about the efficacy of such weapons and ammunition on human beings. The RTI application originally sent to the Ordnance Factory Board Kolkata (OFB), landed up with the Khadki Ordnance Factory (OFK). Rejecting the RTI application, the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), OFK, had invoked the ground of “defence interest of the State” under Section 8(1)(a) and also claimed that the information was in the nature of commercial confidence, trade secret and/or intellectual property and disclosure would adversely affec

Demonetization: Giant loopholes kept open for unscrupulous elements?

By Venkatesh Nayak* On 8th November, 2016, the Government of India announced its decision to pull high value currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 denomination out of circulation, with immediate effect. A detailed procedure was notified in the Official Gazette explaining how people holding the demonetised currency notes may redeem the value of the demonetised notes. The Government also permitted people to exchange over the counter, the demonetised notes for the new series of Rs. 2,000 and Rs. 500 notes printed, but to a limited extent. Memories of a similar decision to demonetise high value currency notes taken by the Janata Government in 1978 are being revived by scholars and lawyers writing in the print and electronic media. Noted human rights lawyer and former Additional Solicitor General of India, Ms. Indira Jaisingh has recently commented on the legality of the manner in which the Government has gone about this demonetisation decision. A bunch of petitions have been filed acro

When did Union ministers queue up to deposit money in banks?

By Venkatesh Nayak* Readers will recollect the headlines in several newspapers today — the Hon’ble Prime Minister has directed MPs of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to declare their bank transactions to the President of the Party in a bid to lead by example to come clean on their actions ‘after’ the decision to demonetise currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 denomination. The leader of a prominent political party has demanded transparency regarding the alleged financial dealings of the top leaders of the BJP. Meanwhile the print and the electronic media have covered the travails of citizens across the country who have rushed to banks to deposit their old currency notes and exchange some for the newly printed Rs. 2000 and Rs. 500 bank notes. With the exception of the Vice President of the Indian National Congress (INC) who queued up before a bank branch in Delhi to exchange a small sum of the demonetised notes for new ones, people did not see any other political leader from any

Lifting of moratorium on polluted industrial clusters to cause irreversible eco-damage

By Rohit Prajapati* Lifting of the moratorium from Vapi, Ankleshwar and Vatva is a setback to environment protection and for those affected by industrial pollution in the area. It appears that the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change is now merged with the Ministry of Commerce and Industries. Our struggle on ground and in the court against polluting industries & their government will continue. Mr. Anil Dave, the Union Environment Minister, accompanied with Mr. Vijay Rupani, the Chief Minister of Gujarat and industrialists announced the lifting of the moratorium from Vapi, Ankleshwar and Vatva. Significantly, this announcement happened in the absence of pollution affected people, while their representatives Mr. Salimbhai Patel, Jayeshbhai Patel and others fighting for environment protection were being detained. The Union environment Minister guarantees two things: the appeasement of polluting industries and irreversible damage to the environment. The imposition of Moratorium d

Severe pollution in Vapi, Ankaleshwar, Vatva: No time to consult affected people?

By Rohit Prajapati* It is unfortunate that the Environment Department of the Government of Gujarat and the Government of India, which had taken a decision long back to put moratorium on Vapi, Ankaleshwar and Vatva are now taking steps to announce lifting of the moratorium from all three. Both at the state and national level, government authorities are busy to cite the manipulated figures of the CEPI (Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index) so that if not on ground at least on paper they can show that there is substantial improvement in CEPI and thus justify their decision to lift the Moratorium from Vapi, Ankleshwar and Vatva. This move is being discussed since the year 2010 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was Gujarat’s chief minister (CM). The Government officials continue to hold number of meetings with the industrial associations of the area to be able to lift the moratorium from Vapi, Ankleshwar and Vatva. But in spite of the severe pollution in the area the Government has n

J&K ‘extra-judicial’ killings: Will army disclose court martial records?

By Venkatesh Nayak* Readers will remember the incident of extra-judicial killing of 3 persons in Machil in the State of Jammu and Kashmir on 30 April, 2010 by army personnel. The Indian Army instituted a court of inquiry in June 2010. Based on the findings of this process, the Indian Army constituted a General Court Martial in 2013 to try the accused. Later, the Court Martial handed life imprisonment to the six accused one of whom was of Colonel rank. The Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed that all records relating to these proceedings be disclosed. In another alleged incident of extra-judicial killing that occurred in 2000 five persons are reported to have been killed in Pathribal, also in Jammu and Kashmir. Media reports indicated that the Court of Inquiry instituted by the Army did not find any evidence against its personnel to proceed further. The Indian Army argued before the CIC that a Court of Inquiry was never held regarding this incident. In January 2015, I file

Why are we allowing hate and violence to govern our lives?

By Fr. Cedric Prakash sj* It is not always that one has the opportunity to gaze at a Supermoon. One was warned not to miss this spectacle – the first one after 68 years, and apparently the next one will be only in 2034.An amazing phenomenon indeed- to see the moon so close, so bright, so radiant. One can only give thanks to the Creator of this Universe, to praise Him and to thank Him at this moment- for the many graces and blessings which he showers down upon us constantly. At the same time, we need to question ourselves on the way we destroy his creation; the way we allow hate and violence to govern our lives- not bothered at all, about the generations to come after us! “Those who have loved are those who have found God”, says Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, whose birth anniversary we celebrate today. His followers do all they can to serve others in tangible ways. Several Sikhs who live in Lebanon, have come together to open a welcome centre for Syrian refugees coming into Lebanon

Need to learn from Sardar Patel what unity, integration, service is all about!

By Fr Cedric Prakash sj* Come October 31st 2016: India remembers Sardar Vallabhai Patel who was born on this day in 1875 in Gujarat; he was more famously called ‘the Iron Man of India’. As free India’s first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, he worked tirelessly for national integration, fully convinced that groups like the RSS (whom he banned) were doing their best to destroy the unity and secular fabric of the country. Unfortunately, today the ‘powers-that-are’ are doing great disservice to this visionary statesman and of all the values he embodied, by attempting to construct a so-called ‘statue of unity’ (at a scandalous cost and great profits for China), by displacing the poor tribals and destroying the environment and the fragile eco-system. We need to learn from Sardar Patel what unity, integration and service to the country is all about! Come October 31st 2016: On this day, Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India was assassinated in 1984; this heinous deed was condemne

Need for informed debate cross on accession of J&K to India

By Venkatesh Nayak* 26-27 October, 2016 mark the commencement of the 70th anniversary of the accession of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) to India. On account of the troubled times that J&K is passing through since July, there is little space for celebrating this event, but a sober commemoration of this historic moment, may not be out of place. The Instrument of Accession (IoA) signed by Maharaja Hari Singh has become the object of a never-ending controversy, unlike accession instruments signed by other princely States. Does it really exist or not? Yes, the J&K IoA exists for real, safe and well preserved in the collection of the National Archives. I have elected to place in the public domain, a copy of the J&K IoA obtained legitimately from the National Archives, for the purpose of facilitating informed debate amongst those interested in the subject. I have also placed in the public domain copies of the IoAs of Mysore, Manipur, Tehri Garhwal and Udaipur obtained from the Natio

Develop mechanism to assess damage caused by environmental pollution, degradation

In a letter addressed to Justice HL Dattu, National Human Rights Commission, New Delhi, Paryavaran Mitra’s Mahesh Pandya insists on the need on the need to develop a mechanism to assess damage caused to people due to environmental pollution and degradation by industries, causing health hazards and provide compensation to the affected people. The letter has been co-signed by People’s Union for Civil Liberties’ (PUCL’s) Gautam Thaker. Text: *** We are Gujarat-based voluntary organization working in the field of environment and industrial pollution issues. Our main focus is on ecological/environmental imbalance due to developmental projects, social injustice, human rights violations, and tries to resolve these issues. We would like to draw your attention towards the status of Gujarat in terms of environment. CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General of India), in its report submitted in 2015 as well as 2011 regarding Gujarat’s status of CETP (Common Effluent Treatment Plant) has stated that “N

Murder of RTI user in Mumbai: Urgent need for debate to protect RTI activists

By Venkatesh Nayak* A few days ago, the media reported yet another gruesome instance of murder of an RTI user in Mumbai. The Mumbai Police are said to have arrested two suspects , including an ex-Corporator, during their investigation of this incident. Scores of RTI users have lost their lives for seeking information of public interest. Hundreds have been attacked, assaulted, harassed and threatened. Not all of them were seasoned RTI activists. Some were seeking information for the first time. So we have categorised them all as RTI users (to differentiate them from other information seekers in general) who have suffered at the hands of vested interests. Our preliminary findings are given below. Hall of Shame: Main findings In a country where the national motto is “satyameva jayate” (truth alone shall triumph), we have found media reports of more than 311 instances of attacks on or harassment of citizens who sought information under The Right to Information Act (RTI Act). Our database