Whispers Forum

Off late, protesters all over the country are blocking national/state highways to highlight their grievances. Yesterday, Delhi-Gurgaon roads were blocked by protestors seeking to raise an AHIR regiment in the Army. This caused a lot of inconvenience to thousands of commuters. Last year farmers blocked highways connecting Delhi-Gurgaon and Delhi-UP for nearly a year. While people have the right to protest against the Government(s) policies, they have no right to block roads etc and cause inconvenience to others. The Government of India should make a Law to regulate such protests. No protest on national/State highways, important roads within capital cities etc. should be permitted.
S Gopal

Adding to the post of K Srinivasa Rao, I would like to add that all extensions beyond superannuation should not be encouraged as it would not give a more deserving person a chance to serve the Government in a better way. On the date of superannuation, the person should be retired honourably and the new incumbent should be given a chance. If the Government wishes to give him some benefit, they can give them the freedom to join their political party and to contest elections. But post retirement continuation in the same post should be avoided.
Pradeep Kuma

In the Nav Sankalp camp, the Congress leaders tried to give a successful message of 'all is well' by showing solidarity, which was not expected as the party has seen resignations by key leaders and infighting in recent times. The leaders of Group 23 also tried to do 'damage control' by giving meaningful suggestions for the betterment of the organization while showing ideological solidarity despite the difference of opinions. The members of Group 23 tried to send a message by taking the middle path. But the poster war between Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot definitely made headlines.
Vinod Singh

Appellant sought details regarding number of lapsed policies and amount involved in the early stages of the policy such as after the payment of first premium, first year premium etc. The PIO of LIC contended that the information sought by the appellant does not exist as a record as defined under section 2 (i) of the RTI Act. The requested information will have to be created by 2048 Branches of LIC spread all over India and then to be collected and collated and compiled merely to reply to the RTI queries of the appellant. It will disproportionately divert the limited resources of the Corporation, which is strictly forbidden under section 7 (9) of the RTI Act. The CIC held that the queries of the appellant are non-specific, unclear as information related to all the lapsed policies and seeking such voluminous data is not maintainable under the provisions of the RTI Act. The CIC noted that the LIC has provided a categorical reply vide their written submission dated 06.04.2022 which clarifies some of the issues raised in the RTI Application and upheld the same. Further, the CIC admonished the LIC for not providing the specific reply ab initio as per their written submission and cautioned them to be more diligent in future while dealing with the matters related to the RTI Act..
Comments
The PIO is not expected to compile information under the RTI Act. Further, the initial reply to the RTI Application should be proper as the onus of denial of information is on the PIO.
Citation: Mr. Ajamuddin Taher Khairatkhan v. Life Insurance Corporation of India in Second Appeal No. CIC/LICOI/A/2020/680978, Date of order: 21.04.2022
Dr. Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in) is an expert on RTI matters and has co-authored the books RIGHT TO INFORMATION - LAW AND PRACTICE and PIO’s guide to RTI. Apart from her weekly article here, her other articles can be read at the website of RTI Foundation of India at the link: www.rtifoundationofindia.com

The Congress appears set to enforce a ‘one family, one ticket’ rule in the party. According to AICC General Secretary, Ajay Maken, the second or more persons from a family can be given tickets only if they have worked for at least five years in the party. Thus this rule will have no impact on Gandhi' s or most other senior leaders as anyone contesting polls will claim that he/she has been working for the party for 5 years or more. No one can get a ticket without working for at least 5 years except in a few exceptional cases. Congress leaders should brainstorm why the party has declined so rapidly in recent years and how it can reverse this trend?
Rajiv Gupta

Indian students who had to leave their university courses in China during the Covid-19 outbreak and have remained stranded in India for over two years are unlikely to return soon despite a recent Chinese announcement that it plans to permit the return of some Indian students. It is not clear when students would be able to return or how many will be called initially. Meanwhile, the stranded medical students, particularly from Ukraine, may be allowed to complete residential internships in India. This is being closely watched by the Indian students waiting to go back to China, who want equal treatment.
Manjul Bajpai