Wednesday, November 21, 2012

[IAC++] Need to Strengthen Right to Information Act 2005 by taking these measures..

Dear Madam Aruna Roy.

I suggest the following to improve and strengthen the Right to Information Act 2005.

  1. India is one and the Right to Information Act 2005 is also one. Let there be one and uniform RTI Application Fee of Rs 10 for all Public Authorities. Necessary amendment be done in the Act to remove the discretion made available to Public Authorities to charge RTI Application Fee as they deem it fit.

  2. Alongwith the existing Modes of Payment of RTI Application Fee payment, "On Line RTI Fee Payment" by Bank NEFT Transfers be permitted.  

  3. Right to Information Act 2005 provides for setting up upcountry Benches but nothing has been done while RTI Second Appeals / Complaints pile up at CIC and over-centralisation has made the CIC a Den of Corruption.

  4. Let there be data based study to assess the realistic requirement of ICs at CIC and also at State CICs as (a) restricting the strength of ICs upto 10 for the entire country  having mammoth population of 121 Crore and (2) tiny States like Manipur or giant State like Uttar Pradesh is simply unjustified.

  5. UPA Govt, headed by Dr Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister, without consent of the Parliament that enacted the Right to Information Act 2005, illegally took (a) Income-Tax Investigation and (b) CBI out of the purview of the Right to Information Act 2005. Both need to be brought back to the Right to Information Act 2005 fold.

  6. The way time limit has been prescribed under the Right to Information Act 2005 for the PIOs and FAAs, a reasonable time limit for ICs at CIC / ICs at State CICs is the desperate need of the hour to make Right to Information Act 2005 meaningful, useful and effective as the inordinate delay in finalising RTI Second Appeals / Complaints seriously violate the Universal Fundamental Right - Freedom of Expression.

These measures can improve transparency and accountability in public administration and pave way for effectiveness of Lokayuktas in the States and Lokpal in the event of its materialisation through the proposed but over-lingering enactment. 

Please look into.

With warm regards,

-- 
(Babubhai Vaghela)
C 202, Shrinandnagar V, Makarba Road Vejalpur, Ahmedabad - 380051
M -  94276 08632
http://twitter.com/BabubhaiVaghela
About me in Annexure at - http://bit.ly/9xsHFj
http://www.youtube.com/user/vaghelabd
(Administrator - Google Group - Right to Information Act 2005)
http://groups.google.com/group/Right-to-Information-Act-2005/about?hl=en

CC : Dr Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister, GOI, New Delhi.
You have been sitting on all the above-mentioned issues that I raised at your level during the last seven years since inception of RTI which is not in order and the Govt need to show honesty in strengthening Right to Information Act 2005.

CC : Mr Justice Altamas Kabir, Chief Justice of India, New Delhi.

CC : Shri Pranab Mukherjee, President of India, New Delhi.

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--- On Thu, 11/22/12, Aruna Roy <ncpri.india@gmail.com> wrote:

From: Aruna Roy <ncpri.india@gmail.com>
Subject: [IAC++] Invitation to Jan Sansad: on Governance and other issues
To: iac@lists.riseup.net
Date: Thursday, November 22, 2012, 7:43 AM

Dear friends,


People's movements in India have played a very important role in
highlighting the concerns of the ordinary citizen, particularly the voices
of the poor and marginalized. Almost all have originated in injustice,
inequality and denial of rights. Our campaigns arise from, and are
connected with, important democratic principles. With the objective of
taking forward the demands of various campaigns and to highlight the
interlinking principles of democracy and justice that bind us together,
several peoples' movements and organisations have taken the initiative to come together on a common platform and organise a *People's Assembly/ Jan Sansad. *The *Jan Sansad* will be held from the *26th to the 30th of November 2012 at Jantar Mantar in Delhi*. This platform will help articulate our broader vision and locate the specific campaigns in the larger mosaic of democratic rights.


The *People's Assembly* will be held during the winter session of
Parliament to further the demands of each campaign and bring before
Parliament many basic issues awaiting legislative action. We believe that
Parliament must function and there are too many important issues, including corruption that must be taken up on the floor of the house. We also want to use this opportunity to build a people's Manifesto for the 2014 elections.


During the five days of the *Peoples' Assembly*, movements and
organisations will highlight and discuss issues of concern to their
campaign. The Assembly will provide an opportunity to raise crucial issues related to governance, state responsibility for social security and basic services, discrimination, gender, land acquisition, natural resources and increasing repression by the state.


On the *27th of November*, we will specifically be discussing issues
related to governance, including transparency and accountability.
Anti-corruption and grievance redress legislations- Grievance Redress bill,
Lokpal bill, Whistle Blower Protection bill and the Judicial Accountability
bill- which are pending at various stages in the Parliament will be
discussed. We will also be focusing on issues related electoral reforms,
administrative reforms and police reforms. We request you to kindly join us on the 27th from 11 am to 5 pm. Your presence at the *Peoples' Assembly* would be extremely valuable.

We hope you will be able to join us on the 27th of November.

Yours Sincerely,

Aruna Roy

Convenor,


National Campaign for Peoples' Right to Information, Mazdoor Kissan Shakti Sangathan, Satark Nagrik Sangathan, Association for Democratic Reforms, Transparency International, JOSH, Pardarshita, NFIW, CFAR, Accountability Initiative, CHRI

Please find attached invitations in Hindi and English on the program for
the five days.

--
National Campaign for People's Right to Information
Email: ncpri.india@gmail.com
www.righttoinformation.info


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