Whispers Forum

IThe complainant sought attested copies of his answer book, some confidential documents and other related information. The CIC noted that the RTI application was received on 03.01.2014 and it was transferred to the Electrical department on 16.01.2014. The evaluated answer sheets were in the custody of the Electrical Department and the same were provided by PIO (Electrical) finally on 18.06.2015. The custodian of the confidential documents was the gazetted section and the Electrical Department and both were asked to furnish the requisite information but the delay occurred due to their non-performance in furnishing the sought for information to the personnel branch. The CIC observed that complete information had since been furnished to the applicant but the delay in furnishing the requisite information was due to wrong return of the transferred RTI application by the PIO (Electrical) and due to the time taken for collecting details from gazetted section which was the custodian of the relevant records. The CIC directed them to submit an explanation for the resultant delays of 14 months and 17 months respectively for furnishing the requisite information at the next date of hearing before it which is scheduled on 04.04.2018 at 04.45 PM.
Comments
In case of any malafide denial of information, a penalty of Rs 250/- per day extending to a maximum of Rs 25,000/- may be imposed on the PIO under the provisions of the RTI Act. The onus that the denial of information has been in good faith lies on the PIO.
Citation: Amarjeet Singh v. Northern Railway in File No.: CIC/BJ/C/2016/000001, Date of hearing: 20.12.2017, 22.02.2018
Dr. Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in) is the co-author of the books: RIGHT TO INFORMATION – LAW AND PRACTICand PIO’s guide to RTI. Her other articles can be read at the website of RTI Foundation of India at - http://www.rtifoundationofindia.com/

Over 10 crore hits!Whispers has certainly come a long way since it started. While its founder Dr Suresh Mehrotra deserves congratulations the credit goes to those who have been supplying information the corridors correspondents so as to say and many specially bureaucrats who regularly see this website. Some of us the regular contributors to the Forum though faceless have been with the website almost from its very beginning. When I sent my first post the number of hits was not even few lakhs. When WIC reached a milestone of 1 crore there was quite an excitement from the founders. How is it that everything is silent at 10 crore hits. Mehrotra should reach out to those who have contributed to give his website this milestone.
Aarti Khosla

Direct Tax with good governance Direct Tax is major revenue for the Govt. to run various welfare schemes and to run the Government. Govt. has come up with a good motivational advertisement for the public to pay the tax and file the return with emphasis on less than 1% cases are scrutinised. There is only 5% liability for low income group to pay the income tax. People are not afraid of paying the tax but are afraid of fear of difficulties and harassment during scrutiny. Govt. has to find some other method so the people can pay tax and file return. Making the public aware of tax payment is paramount instead of other measures. To allay the fear of scrutiny, Govt. may consider for low income group i.e. people earning upto 5 lakhs, there will be no scrutiny. This will definitely increase the number of tax payers and return filers as people will come forward to pay the tax without hesitation and fear. It is always in the Govt. hand to withdraw whenever desired results are not achieved. Secondly the Govt. may consider to make party fund taxable thru an Amendment in Income Tax Act to increase the revenue to reduce the deficit . Thirdly it is expected that recovery from top 100 loan defaulters may reduce the NPA within reasonable amount. Fourth point to have gate keeping and monitoring of Foreign Exchange transactions through a single point may be RBI. Let us hope the Govt. consider the above points and take informed decisions for the Good Governance.
Naveen
Concession may be extended to Rajdhani/ Shatabdi/ Duranto trains
Following suggestions may be considered by Railway Ministry in the interest of the Gallant Heroes. It will be a befitting tribute to them. The concession may be extended to Rajdhani/ Shatabdi/ Duranto trains. The concession may be applicable to 1AC /Executive class travel on nominal or differential payment. The validity of pass can be for three years with renewal every three years instead of present one year. This will mitigate the inconvenience experienced by senior citizen Gallantry Medal Holders.
K Srinivasan

I agree with the above comments. Department of Expenditure has made it mandatory i.e. on line bid opening, posting of award of contract on CPP as well as Deptt website. Even e- procurement is mandatory. But there is no monitoring / check by DOE.
Krishna Kumar Marwaha
I wish many more crores
I remember the celebration hitting one crore mark of ‘whispersinthecorridors.com’. The site is liked by so much that it has taken a much shorter time in hitting ten crores mark. I wish many more crores.
K N Jaggi
Extend facility of 1AC travel on nominal payment
As far as Railway concessions for gallantry medal holders, following initiatives are suggested to Railway Ministry extend the facility of 1AC travel on nominal payment or difference. The above facility may be for all the trains including Shatabdi/Rajdhani/Duranto trains. Railway pass renewal can be for longer duration, say once in for three years instead of yearly basis. The Pass can be a smart card instead of present paper pass Railway Ministry may consider this as a tribute to the Gallant Heroes.
K Srinivasan

Jhansi’s incident involving amputation of leg of an accident victim at a government hospital is a national shame. Amputated leg is used as a pillow to rest victim’s head. Principal of medical college must be arrested forthwith. Any suggestion of her tendering an apology tantamount to an affront to the country. It is criminal negligence. A bio-hazard. Law of the land does not provide for escape routes like "apology" or holding inquiry by the perpetrators. And, suspension is not a punishment. Yogi's endless visits to temples is criminal waste of taxpayers funds. Extremely irritating. His prayers' cannot bring good governance. He must stop political lecturing and laying foundation stones. UP's happiness index is zero under present dispensation. The ambitious Modicare plan neither covers medical apathy nor provides for punishment for lack of empathy on part of political and administrative executive. What is the outcome of inquiry in mass murder of children in a Gorakhpur hospital due to lack of oxygen? Medico- bureaucratic negligence has gone unpunished, as always ?
A K Saxena (A retd civil servant)

It is mandatory for all the Government officers to file their Immovable Property Return (IPR). Despite repeated requests, they abstain from filing the same. Officers do not show interest in exposing their properties. This attitude can be seen as covering up corrupt practices of the officers while the Government claims to be transparent and pledges to weed out corruption from the systems. It all shows that the Government is taking a cavalier attitude to the problems of common man by not taking strict action against corrupt officers.
Sunil Kumar

Information regarding the total amount of black money declared, state-wise and city-wise figures under the Income Disclosure Scheme, 2016 was sought. The PIO informed that the Scheme was maintained with absolute confidentiality about the declarants and the amount declared. Sharing of such information in public domain might cause the declarants vulnerable and jeopardize their security. The CIC noted that the CBDT has refrained from issuing any statement regarding number of declarations received, amounts declared or taxes paid under the Scheme in order to ensure complete confidentiality and upheld the denial of information.
Comments
The confidential handling of declarations made under the Scheme is of utmost importance to the Income Tax Department and such information can be disclosed only if the larger public interest warrants so. A matter of public interest does not mean that which is interesting as gratifying curiosity or a love of information or amusement but that in which a class of the community have a pecuniary interest, or some interest by which their legal rights or liabilities are affected.
Citation: Mr. Vimlesh Kumar Verma v. Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue in Appeal No.:-CIC/DOREV/A/2017/102892-BJ, Date of Decision: 05.03.2018
Dr. Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in) is the co-author of the books: RIGHT TO INFORMATION – LAW AND PRACTICand PIO’s guide to RTI. Her other articles can be read at the website of RTI Foundation of India at - http://www.rtifoundationofindia.com/

The frightening proportion of bank frauds are so worrisome for small depositors who park their hard earned money only in Banks thinking these to be the safest place. The bankers who are supposed to safeguard our interest are merrily doling out huge sums of money to the likes of Mallaya, Nirav Modi, Choksi, Jiten Mehta the billionaires fraudsters who have run away with thousands of crores to foreign lands where they have parked their money and have comfortable houses to live. The latest robber of banks Nirav Modi, it has come out' has invested most of the loan money in buying assets abroad in several countries. How could he do so. Obviously the bank officials who issued Letters of Understanding to the overseas branches were in league with these people of course for a price. Ultimately it is corruption all the way. One is also bewildered at the Govt. policy for disbursement of loans. Why these famously rich people the diamond merchants ,the airlines owners be given loans by the banks. Could they not expand their business out of the money they make. Secondly why so many banks are disbursing loans to the same entity. For example Choksi the mama got nearly six thousand crore from 31 banks. Should not the banks have a system to check on the credibility of the applicant from the banks he has already taken loan. Why there was no action when these sharks defaulted on payment. Obviously in our scheme of things we harass a small loan taker like farmers and do not bother these wealthy 'gentlemen'. It is painful to find farmers committing suicide as they are unable to pay back a few thousands rupee loan while these people who took thousands of crores are safely ensconced in luxury in foreign lands and tax heavens.
Aarti Khosla

Reason for PSBs NPAs frauds the basic reasons for the PSB bank frauds and NPAs are due to retired and present top management nexus with fraudsters. For top post like GM, ED, CEO and CMD etc, there are price tags. These tags are borne by NPA account holders and Fraudsters. It is public money that both parties are enjoying. Parties take place at five star hotels. Foreign trips, all these cost are borne by fraudsters. It is deep rooted scams. The retired will get employment at fraudsters companies with huge salary for certain period so that the black will convert to white by both parties. Will PM investigate all these? If it is investigated, several top present and retired heads of PSB will roll.
Rao

The system in India does not work because the system managers want it to run only when they need it. This is why we do notice major lapses such as Nirav Modi leaving the country in spite of the Modi Government. The respected Finance Minister has raised questions about the credibility of the various players involved, directly or indirectly, in such lapses. This includes a large number of Bank Officials, Chartered Accountants, Auditors, RBI Officials, employees of Nirav Modi, etc. He has expressed surprise as to why no one raised the alarm. On the face of it, it sounds credible to the credit of the politicians, but a deeper analysis will easily show as why the UPA as well as the NDA is responsible for the mess. Respected Jaitely Sir, would you like to tell the nation what you have done to encourage a whistle blower. It remains a fact that in general the system is either non-responsive to complaints or it is vindictive. A random check on the disposal of Public Grievance System reveals that the quality of disposal is highly dismal. In general, a bad note initiated by the dealing hand, be it an Under Secretary or an LDC, is not altered. Senior Officers hardly have time and priority to go deep and they just approve every bad note. The monitoring system has failed because it is not our priority. An independent sample check, at each level, can do wonders. If the system is interested, it may start from the sample check on the disposal of Public Grievances. Respected FM may be surprised to see that in all cases there is just a transfer from one table to another and while doing so no one reads the full case. Similarly, why the Government cannot analyse the large number of contempt cases against it. Why responsibility cannot be fixed for every contempt case? This will not only increase efficiency and make the system accountable, it will also reduce the burden on our judiciary, which is already overburdened. I hope, someone in the system is listening.
A. K. Verma, ISS (Retd.)