Whispers Forum

The recent demolition drive by DDA in Mehrauli New Delhi on the alleged encroached land raises the question of accountability of concerned officials. As per Newspaper reports, many houses are nearly 40 years old. Owners had got their property duly registered in Sub Registrar's office and got mutation done in MCD records. They have done what is legally required of them. If the concerned Land was of ASI, then why were properties registered by Sub Registrar? Obviously the concerned officials in connivance with local political leaders allowed this to happen for "consideration". LG and Delhi Government should find out the history of this area and its development. It should identify all the officials who were in position from time to time and punish them. If not done, it will encourage officials to continue to do such irregularities. Also details of all vacant Government Land should be given to all registering authorities so that they can refuse registration of properties on those lands. One would like to know whether any NOIDA official(s) has been identified and punished for the illegal construction of Twin Towers(which was demolished) ?
S Gopal
Aero India and Security chaos
Absolutely incorrect! I was at Aero India yesterday and there is no such lack of coordination that I witnessed for a large event of this magnitude. Rather, I would say that it was all organised and coordinated in a flawless manner. Another important point, security checks are not for the Air Force or CISF, it is for the good of every single individual who is visiting the show, media personnel included.
Ajith George

Delhi is a half state with multiple centres of power. Consider the following mismatches.
NCT, Delhi jointly administered by (AAP- LG), MCD (AAP- LG), DDA (Urban Development Ministry, Government of India), Police- Law &order (MHA- GOI) etc.
Continuous fight between the LG and CM, Delhi has resulted in utter confusion, poor governance and waste of public time.
Diffused responsibilities and total absence of accountability add to Delhiites' woes. Public grievances redressal system is non-existent, mythical.
The common man suffers hopelessly as the two adversaries continue their blame game. CM, Delhi's demands for control over Delhi Police and a separate Public Services Commission for Delhi, are absurd.
Will the National Capital function effectively under the canopy of a single unified authority and deliver public services to citizens in a time-bound manner? No one is interested in political rhetoric. We want concrete action.
Let the law-makers ponder over it and pass a suitable legislation.
A K Saxena (A former civil servant)

I agree with the views of AK Saxena on Pakistan, India must act, now or never. The suggestions made are not feasible in this unipolar world where balance of power is missing for too long. The Chinese are sitting on our head and have occupied so much land near Indian borders since 2014, GoI is in denial mode always. The only option with India is to strike the hammer all of a sudden, annex PoK and whole of Pakistan, later vacate Pakistan & make a final deal on PoK. I think our defence and intelligence agencies have the capability to do so. It is in India's larger interests.
Harish Kumar

Information was sought about the recruitment and selection of candidates for the post of Assistant Commandant (Engineer) in ITBP. The PIO denied the information citing section 24 of the RTI Act and the FAA upheld the same. The CIC observed that the FAA did not decide the matter after taking into consideration the decisions (Hon’ble High Court of Punjab and Haryana in Harinder Singh v. SIC Punjab and Haryana and Ors WP (C) 22229 of 2011 and the judgement of Hon’ble High Court of Manipur in Abid Hussain v. State of Manipur WP (C) 880 of 2019) which were mentioned in the first appeal. Furthermore, the order pronounced was devoid of any substantive reasoning and examination of facts. The CIC directed the FAA to re-examine the first appeal and pronounce a reasoned speaking order after granting an opportunity of fair hearing to the Appellant by 15.03.2023.
Comments
Many FAAs tend to ignore their responsibility as there is no specific penalty prescribed under the RTI Act on the FAA. A FAA must pass a reasoned and speaking order when a first appeal is received.
Citation: Shri Ajay Kumar v. ITBP; Second Appeal No. CIC/ITIBP/A/2021/139356, Date of Decision: 10.02.2023
Dr Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in) is a RTI Consultant currently working with IIM Visakhapatnam. She has co-authored the books, RTI Right to Information - Law and Practice and PIO’s Guide to RTI. She offers consultancy on RTI matters and Third party audit. Her other articles can be read at the website of RTI Foundation of India at the link www.rtifoundationofindia.com

As written by Ms. Shruti Khare, India always helps their neighbours irrespective of their differences as we have got a Prime Minister whose vision is beyond imagination. He always thinks about the safety and security of the people of not only India, but also the whole world. Within a few hours, our aircrafts with relief material and Doctors landed in Turkey. This also shows how the decision-making is so fast. Great PM indeed who not only helps but also reminds us, especially the younger generation to follow the footsteps of what Mother India means and acting accordingly
Ramesh

In India, the State owns the Armed Forces. On the contrary, its sub-continental cousin Pakistan is owned by its Armed Forces with divine right to govern by turning its officers into businessmen, realtors etc.
Amassing huge assets abroad by military officers of Pakistan, is considered normal. The civilian government, almost mythical, is remote-controlled by the army and the ISI.
The Pakistani youth prefers joining Army to Civil Services as they would enjoy more power, authority and a free hand for indulging in corrupt practices as part of army.
An unstable Pakistan would be a grave threat to India. The outbreak of civil war in the neighbourhood, is imminent.
The Tehrik-e-Talibans Pakistan (TTP) could take over Pakistan and control nuclear arsenals. The fundamentalists in Pakistan are talking of blackmailing the neighbouring countries and extort funds to overcome financial crisis.
Let India help Baluchistan, Sindhudesh and other regions, split Pakistan into independent entities and take over POK along with Gilgit-Baltistan.
A K Saxena (A former civil servant)

India has taken a commendable step by sending relief material and teams of experts and doctors to quake hit Turkey and Syria. India didn’t allow political differences with Turkey to come in the way of providing humanitarian assistance. PM Modi knows firsthand how difficult it is to carry out relief measures and save survivors in such difficult and traumatic situations when thousands of collapsed buildings and mountains of debris are lying as far as you can see. Bhuj in Gujarat was hit by a devastating quake when he was CM of Gujarat and AB Vajpayee was the PM. India has launched Operation Dost to help the quake victims. We have proved that we practically implement what has been said in our scriptures: Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam or the world is one family.
Shruti Khare

I don't know when IPS officers are also civil servants, how come the 'civilian control', led to IAS bureaucracy. Manning the home(police) department, when senior civil servants read senior IPS officers can supervise it more effectively with domain knowledge and having a stake in the police working for public good , under the close watch of elected representatives, read minister. AP and Telangana are perfect examples, doing an efficient and effective work and the head of the home department looks forward to being the Head of Police Force in future. Will it not be proper for public interest and better governance
Suresh

The appellant sought the GST Registration details of all the parties/ individuals/ companies/ firms who have participated in a particular tender of SAIL, the date and time of reverse auction conducted for the said tender and other related information. The PIO did not provide any information initially and later sent a reply seeking photocopying charges for providing 125 pages. The PIO submitted that after the CIC notice, he coordinated with the custodian and a reply was received on 4 points and the reply for the remaining 2 points was awaited. The CIC directed the PIO to send a revised reply to the appellant on all the points and send the complete documents containing 125 pages free of cost alongwith the point-wise reply, after taking assistance from the custodian u/s 5(4) of the RTI Act.
Comments
The PIO was lucky to have escaped without any show cause notice for imposition of penalty as asking for photocopying charges after a lapse of 30 days is not maintainable as per the RTI Act.
Citation: Avishek Kumar v. SAIL Collieries Division, File No. CIC/SAIL1/A/2021/135948, Date of Decision: 18/11/2022
Dr Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in) is a RTI Consultant currently working with IIM Visakhapatnam. She has co-authored the books, RTI Right to Information - Law and Practice and PIO’s Guide to RTI. She offers consultancy on RTI matters and Third party audit. Her other articles can be read at the website of RTI Foundation of India at the link www.rtifoundationofindia.com