Whispers Forum

The appellant sought information with regard to Chief Minister Relief Fund such as the complete list of funds, contribution received on account of NCT of Delhi, Chief Minister Relief Fund between the financial year 2013-16 and the list of beneficiaries to whom money was paid. The PIO argued against the disclosure of identity of the beneficiaries as the same may prejudice the privacy of the individual concerned and depict him/her in a position which is looked down upon by society. The CIC ruled that the names of beneficiaries as well the amount disbursed should be intimated to the appellant and found no impediment in placing the aforesaid data in public domain as well. The CIC observed that the names of beneficiaries and financial aid disbursed cannot be denied to the legislature and hence, the same doesn’t attract Section 8(1)(j).
Comments
The recipients of state aid cannot claim privacy as regards the benefits received by them and to ensure transparency in exercise of discretion by the authority, such data should be proactively disclosed by the public authority.
Citation: Mr. Aseem Takyar v. Chief Minister’s Secretariat GNCTD in F. No.CIC/LTGSE/A/2017/135671 and F. No.CIC/FDEPT/A/2016/304308, Date of Decision: 31.10.2017
Dr. Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in) is the co-author of the books: RIGHT TO INFORMATION – LAW AND PRACTICE and PIO’s guide to RTI. Her other articles can be read at the website of RTI Foundation of India at - http://www.rtifoundationofindia.com/

DEBATE (1) Banking Reforms
Only the next Union Budget will reveal how much of banking re-capitalisation took place. The budget estimates will provide a clear idea on the resources the Government utilised to re-capitalise banks.
Sanjeev Kumar Singh
Wailing foundation stoneS
The Assembly elections held some months back in the five states, had set in motion the foundation/Inaugural stones laying spree, before the imposition of the model code of conduct .Thankfully the new govt in Punjab has taken notice of this wasteful exercise and have resolved to restrict it substantially. The foundation stones laid before the last elections still remain at the stage where these were laid ,not a brick added thereafter. The public expects the miracle of the completion of the promised projects. Many such stones of the previous elections are still mocking at the gullible public, which had been cheated and deceived repeatedly with the foundation stones
, The saying goes, ''In most of Indian cities, there are more auto-rickshaws than human beings and there are more foundation stones than the streets, roads and buildings'' In all these cities and rural areas the foundation stone platforms are noticeable in large numbers. About five months back, i saw a foundation stone in a very popular and historical park, which was 12 feet wide and 6 feet high, and it mentioned about three hundred characters, who were associated with the foundation stone laying ceremony. The inscription was thankfully not legible because of the constant excreta of the birds on it. Some thoughtful civic body officials have demolished and removed it now, giving the area much better and cleaner look. Foundation stone laying urge is the off-shoot of self importance and ego of the VIPs, and succumbing to traditions of sycophancy of the subordinates. It is sort of compulsion for the politicians to show their importance to the supporters and a occasion for the subordinates to keep the political bosses busy and happy. A good foundation laying ceremony ensures safe passage to the main organiser. However the interest of the foundation laying dignitary wanes immediately after the ceremony, most of the time.
There are thousands of foundation stones in the cities, where the work was never carried out, there are thousands other, which cover the open space and have become the eye sore of the citizens. There are some very small parks, where the number of foundation stones cross double digits. In one such park,there were 14 such stones, outnumbering the grown up tree .In Nawanshahr distt, there was a Deputy Commissioner, who never laid the foundation stone and instead always got a small and graceful religious ceremony performed at the time of inauguration.
In a Municipal Corporation city, there was a Commissioner, who was stopped from laying any foundation stone by his seniors. His development vision prominently displayed his hunger for seeing foundation stones with his name boldly engraved therein. The Mayor was very close to CM, so he had arm-twisted him not to venture forth for any publicity. Unable to suppress his urge to lay foundation stones outside, he laid the foundation stone of a room for his buffaloes at his residence, where incidentally i was also present. There was a divisional commissioner, who asked the deputy commissioner, a night before the foundation stone ceremony that the name of his wife should also be inscribed on the foundation stone, since she would accompany him. The deputy commissioner could not comply with this Nadarshahi order, in spite of his best efforts to do so and paid the price by getting lukewarm annual confidential report . One of my colleagues, who had penchant for laying foundation stones, once asked me as to how many foundation stones I had laid in the career. I politely told him that I even do not get my name inscribed on such stones, when my seniors lay them. He gave me a contemptuous frown of considering me a worthless fellow. He could not restrain his boasting instincts and told me that he had laid 124 foundation stones. Once, it so happened that Principal Secretary PWD fixed the date of inauguration ceremony of a widened and upgraded important state highway with the CM.I told him that such a stone laying ceremony of the road had already been performed by the former CM. However, the most hilarious and ludicrous solution to the problem was provided by the local MLA, to the Principal Secretary. The ceremony was performed at the other end of the road. Such foolish innovations are hall -mark of the vain-glorious and meaningless regimes. This highly wasteful and ostentatious ceremony, which entails dilution of probity, should be given burial once for all. Thousands of houses can be constructed for the poor in the country with the debris of the foundation/inaugural stone platforms .It would also clear many obstructions and eyesores permanently. It is to be seen how long the regime resists the temptation of these age-old ceremonies
Surinderjit singh Sandhu, Amritsar

DEBATE (1) Banking Reforms
Recapitalisation of banks that have lost their capital due to NPA's and indiscriminate lending euphemistically referred to as market-based lending is no reform. Nor does it mean following a package of recommendations given by the favorite consultants who may consult on any subject from heart surgery to legal reforms without practical knowledge of the field. In the context of the PSUs it would mean
!. Appointment of persons as directors with professional competence with known integrity as independent directors and removing all the nodding directors like Joint Secretaries and Ministers Chamchas unless the JSs have professional knowledge of finance.
2. Large loans should be extended only after a thorough professional analysis of the outcome of the loans taking into account likely market and economic developments and the capacity to meet the interest and repayment liabilities.
3. Officers who do the analysis must express their clear views in support or against the loan irrespective of any political or other considerations and these officers should be insulated against prejudicial treatment.
4. A monitoring unit manned by professionals in the bank should follow up on loan utilization and recommend releases of installments only after field inspection and market analysis. These officers become personally liable for misreporting.
5. Banks should notify large loans approved in their websites.
6. Bank managers in whose jurisdiction the loanee falls must visit project site or do personal verification if lending is against stocks held in warehouses as these are the common deception points when lending is done against non-existent stocks of materials o without any progress in the field.
7. An independent audit unit should be created under the chairmen of banks authorised to visit the large loanees and ascertain the utilization of loan and capacity of the loanee to repay.
M. R. Sivaraman, IAS, Former ED, IMF
Is there anyone in charge ?
I wonder daily when i have to pass through DND Flyway on way to Delhi and back. From the time Allahabad Court removed the toll collection from this road it has become a hellhole made worse by the an SDMC booth put up by the contractor to collect toll on their behalf from commercial vehicles entering Delhi. Traffic does not move or moves at a snail's space. A distance which just took 30 minutes when the jam is not there now takes more than an hour. Forbidding the Noida toll Bridge Company from collecting toll on a plea of small time politicians in league with some Residents' welfare Associations the court ignored the repercussions of such a step. More than 400 persons losing their jobs, maintenance of the road, taking care of the breakdowns and smooth flow of traffic. With the toll company staff gone if a vehicle breaks down no one is there to help in removing it on one side. The other day one came across a terrific traffic snarl. On crossing the same it was found a Wagon R stalled just in the middle of the road and a young couple desperately pushing it on one side with the help of a commuter. I hope the Apex Court where the appeal is pending against the Allahabad High Court Order for the last one year takes note of all these factors. These days our Courts are adding to citizens' travails rather than resolving the same.
Aarti Khosla

DEBATE (1) Banking reforms
Bank re-capitalisation has everything to do with fiscal deficit. The Government needs to make public the fiscal deficit percentage which would provide some idea on how banking reforms would progress in the coming years.
Ambresh Kumar Singh
Court ruling on unborn child
Does an unborn child have the right to life? A recent court ruling reported in the media lays down a new law which defies all tenets of natural justice. The question which seems to have escaped the court’s attention is whether an unborn child has the natural right to be born, brought up and live a normal life? Can a pregnant adult woman abort the child without the unborn child’s consent, arbitrarily, at will, whimsically and in a fit of temper? Even if the personal laws applicable in the matter or the medical advice were to be kept out of the discussion, can it be justified purely on the basis of the extant law of the land? As far as is known, there is no law in India on the subject. As happens in the case of legislative vacuum, it is an instance of legislation by the court. Neither the Law Commission of India nor the parliament had deliberated on the subject. Can such an act of killing an unborn human child be justified on the basis of the right of an adult woman alone? Is the right of an adult woman not pitted against the right of the unborn child, living and growing in the secure environs of a womb? What relevance is there of “human rights” or inhuman acts in the light of such a right to throw out the unborn? A marriage metamorphoses two individuals into one couple, where they dissolve their individual identities and acquire a new identity of a couple. It is during their single identity that the unborn child enters their life. Both have the same rights on the unborn, as does the unborn over both of them in all matters embracing affection to property. The unborn child is an invaluable joint asset of the couple. The seed can’t be reduced to nothingness, as even animal, horticulture and crop seeds (e.g. GM seeds) carry premium value. The human seed is decidedly more valuable than all other species. It is almost simultaneously that the seed starts pulsating in the womb. The unborn plays in the womb, smiles, eats, enjoys, tries to break the enclosure by kicking it, turns upside down or sideways. Suddenly the mother decides to abort her/him. It is murder. She has no right to kill the unborn. The court has ruled that an adult woman has an “unimpeachable right to give birth or terminate pregnancy”.
M L Gupta
What about the bureaucrats who really prostrate and stoop before the Parliamentarians for their personal gains.
BBS
‘Ae meri topi palat ke aa’
In film Funtoosh, debonair and lively Dev Anand sings the song and calls back his magically dancing and eluding hat 'Ae meri topi palat ke aa'. About quarter of a century ago, a very reputed leader and a veteran freedom fighter, who was religiously dressed in white and wearing kishti topi as a headgear had confessed to an interviewer on television, ''There were times when everyone respected us for wearing this dress and now this dress has become so dreadful that it terrifies the onlookers and they feel like running away from us ,hammen iss dress mein dekh ke hi humse bhagna chahte hain.''That leader ,who had sacrificed a lot for the freedom of the country was feeling the pulse of the people,because of the degradation of the ethics and the values, once practiced by the wearers of this dress. In the year 1976,Smt Indira Gandhi, the then PM, came to Malerkotla, to preside over the function of total electrification of Punjab villages.I was on duty at the helipad. I did not see many kishti topis before her arrival,though white turbaned men could be seen in large numbers. As soon as madam's helicopter was in sight, many white caps could be seen. Hans Raj Sharma,and Chowdhary Gurmel Singh, who were to receive her along with Giani Zail Singh ,very deftly brought out their neatly ironed topis from their pockets and were in full party dress to receive her. In Amritsar Sh Sadhu Ram sharma ,the then president of the Amritsar district congress and who had close resemblance to Sh Morarji Desai,was always immaculately dressed wearing congress cap and seen walking along with his cycle, in the Amritsar streets. Similarly Sh Gian Chand Kharbanda always wore this cap and used to walk in Amritsar streets even as a minister in early 1970s.Slowly and slowly the political people discarded this symbol of fight against Britishers' oppression.
Surinderjit Singh Sandhu

DEBATE (1) Banking Reforms
Banking reforms will have bad effect on the economy of the country. It is already crippled.
Girja Shankar
DEBATE (2) Banking reforms
The biggest hurdle in banking reforms is weeding out the corrupt in this section who have encashed demonetisation.
Lalit Shastri
Thanks for RTI judgment
Thanks for the RTI judgment. As a CPIO, I have felt constrained on many occasions to provide the reply within the time limit of 30 days. The RTI Act is silent about whether any extension can be given in deserving cases. This judgment provides a support to all those like me who wish to provide the information but are restrained by conditions which are beyond their control. I was earlier advised not to give an interim reply, but with this judgment, I think there would be little difficulty with a part reply.
Subodh K Sahai
Who will run MCI?
MCI: Kal, AAJ aur KAL will be run by Ketan Desai. There is no replacement for him. Even top offices can't do anything about this.
Alok