Whispers Forum

It is high time for Indian government to implement Universal Basic Salary. There should be fixed salary for private professionals, bare minimum for example Rs 20,000 in the times where we witness increasing price of goods and service. A minimum salary for example of Rs 20,000 for private professional would ease their life and raise their living standard and earn them respect in society and at the same time, fulfil their basic minimum needs of food, shelter , education , health and clothing , for a family of four i.e. parents and two children.
Nidhi Jain

With elections approaching in many states to be followed by 2024 general elections, the political parties are doling out freebies to woo voters. Freebies should be discouraged because ultimately people have to pay for them. They will have to pay more taxes, and the price of commodities will rise. Nothing will happen till May 2024. Prices will somehow be kept under control, but after May 2024? Poor public will pay for the generosity of the politicians. One shudders to think how steeply the prices will rise after the 2024 general elections.
Aditya Singh

Yesterday I read in the whispers about the Government appending to convert Chairman post to a political one and today read, the bureaucratic post to the Deputy chairman. This restructuring has been pending for several years, In the name of an autonomous body, it is borrowing, spending and creating debt left, right & the centre which the Government has to repay, not NHAI. Like in Public sector banks, CMD post has been bifurcated into Chairman and MD, which has brought larger transparency, the same is need of the hour for NHAI as the board are working in the most non transparent manner which is costing the lakhs of cr. in public exchequer .. late than never .. this is good move.
Dr Nitin ex-consultant NITI Aayog

This is one of the best master strokes by the Government if approved. Organisation which is having the highest debt burden including Arbitration claim, more than any big state, need to take steps for transparency. At present the organization is at its lowest point full of corruption due to its non transparency structure, weak cadre due to organization -Contractor nexus which need to be fixed in public interest. The whole organization from Chairman to Group B & C staff is being run with whims & fantasy rather than sound principles.
Priyanka
Sealed envelope procedure is a relic
The sealed envelope procedure is a relic of the past and should be terminated. There is no point of extending and delaying the benefits to an individual.
Shubh Chinkan

Dissatisfied due to non-receipt of any response from the PIO, the Appellant filed a Second Appeal before the CIC after approaching the FAA. The CIC observed that in many cases in response to queries about their non-response to RTI applications, the PIOs concerned say that they have no access to the online RTI portal. Hence, the outgoing PIO must inform the new incumbent PIO about the user id and password of the department online RTI portal. Moreover, the PIOs also complain about the malfunctioning of the portal. Hence, under Section 25(5) of the RTI Act, the CIC advised the PIO, Headquarter Delhi Jal Board, to oversee that proper training for the handling of RTI matters including access to online RTI portal and about its proper functioning is ensured to the CPIOs and others connected with the RTI implementation in the department. The CIC held that it is a matter of extreme importance for the implementation of the RTI Law.
Comments
It is the responsibility of the outgoing PIO to land over the charge of the pending cases and also user id and password of the department online RTI portal. If the same has not been done, appropriate action must be initiated against the culprit.
Citation: Mr. Avnish Kumar Tyagi v. Delhi Jal Board, CIC/DELJB/A/2022/656815-UM; Date of Decision: 22.05.2023
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

WIC has progressed over the years into a fine forum for all views. Excellent. The accident in Odisha is heart rending. The Indian Railways have clawed back to get systems functioning again. The entire effort was led by the Railway Minister himself on site. The cause of the accident is under deep investigation. We will soon see reports of what happened from investigators. A little patience will help in the WIC forum. It is very obvious that with General Elections 2024 approaching the forum will see contrarian political viewpoints. No issues on that if stated calmly and logically. An informed debate is wonderful.
Devindra

With due respect Mr A K Saxenaji, your comments are clearly showing that you are an anti-incumbent govt. I have seen your comments in this column for the last several years. Since you have retired, you cannot blame the entire system, as you were also part of, when you were in Govt. No doubt, India has progressed steeply after 2014 which no one can refute. Accident is an accident which cannot be accepted at any cost. But entirely blaming the Govt. machinery will not augur well for our future. We should go according to the merits of each and every action. We cannot rely on only old trains and new system and trains should be ensured, taking into consideration the security aspects and its viability. I hope you will look into the mirror at least now.
Ramesh

While having full faith in leadership of Prime Minister Modi and a technocrat and highly effective Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav one cannot understand the logic of sending Railway senior officers on deputation to various irrelevant departments like shipping, non Railways PSU and public Examination bodies like CBSE when Railways are short of staff as per media, parliamentary and CAG reports and where IAS Officers and specialist direct recruits can deliver better. It's a clear case of brain drain for Railways at the cost of public exchequer and safety. Looking to this latest accident the least the government and Railways ministry should do is to call back all its officers from various non Railways departments and non technical departments and put a brake on further deputations.
S C Saboo