Whispers Forum

While, commemorating the 50th anniversary of Emergency, some politicians have trained their guns on the 42nd Amendment for inserting the term “secular” in the Preamble of the Constitution. This has raised an unsavoury controversy. It is noteworthy that even the Supreme court in its landmark judgement in the Kesavananda Bharti case (1973) preceding the amendment ,upheld the view that secularism is the basic structure of the Constitution. The court found no rationale in deleting the demand for its exclusion. Secularism is not a mere word but an article of faith in the manner we proudly define nationalism and inclusive democracy. Let us stay united with all co-existing faiths and set the on-going controversy at rest.
A K Saxena ( Former civil servant)

One small step in the journey of the sovereign democratic republic of India in these 78 years can be summed up in “tears to cheers”. Indians born 21st Century would not know what tears majority of the population had shed in the previous Century. Even 78 world class books will not provide a complete view. But the Indian films had faithfully captured the reality and essence of that India in tears. That India produced the best poetry and music as “our sweetest songs are those tell of saddest thoughts”. That India was also dominated by alien notions of communism and socialism etc. Before the turn of the century, India had discarded fully communism and socialism and all other isms. Today more than 95 Crore people are covered by social security according to the ILO. The World Bank report shows that extreme poverty rate in India has declined from 27.1% in 2011-12 to 5.3% in 2022-23, which means that the number of people living in extreme poverty fell from 344.47 million to 75.24 million and 269 million people were lifted out of extreme poverty. Today’s India is cheerful and determined to achieve greater heights. In these 78 years we the people of India have crossed insurmountable hurdles and become the world’s 4th Economy. The challenges today are more geopolitics related, but nothing can deter us. Our journey these 78 years was not stopped even for a day, because we are a knowledge society, hardworking and entrepreneurial. The full potential of our youth needs to be realized. They ought to be given support and rewarding tax laws, so that they enjoy the fruits of their labour without cutting corners.
M L Gupta

The appellant sought data on customer satisfaction ratings for SBI services from its inception to the current date and asked for the categorization of ratings by type of service and other related information. The PIO provided certain information and clarified before the CIC that data sought on certain points of the RTI application was not available in the desired format. The CIC upheld the order of the CIC. The CIC brought it to the notice of the respondent that in a series of matters filed by the same appellant against a different public authority i.e IDPL (File nos. CIC/IDPCL/A/2024/612395 and CIC/IDPCL/A/2024/604666) an order was passed to veracity of the appellant’s BPL status. The CIC advised the respondent to exercise due caution with respect to the future RTI application received from the appellant relying on his BPL status.
Comments
There is no specific section of the RTI Act, 2005 or rule which prescribes whether the verification of the BPL status should be done, if the PIO has doubts regarding the same. If there are any suspicions, the PIO could ask for the BPL certificate to verify the status of the RTI applicant.
Citation: Rachhpal Singh Saini v. State Bank of India, CIC/SBIND/A/2024/602064; Date of Decision: 22.05.2025
Dr Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in) is a RTI Consultant currently working with IIM Vishakhapatnam. She has co-authored the books PIO’s Guide to RTI and Right to Information – Law and Practice. Her weekly article is being published since 2008 on this site. She offers consultancy on RTI matters and third party audit to individuals / organisations. Her other articles can be read at the website of RTI Foundation at the link https://www.rtifoundationofindia.com