Whispers Forum

This is an interesting case which should be keenly watched by all those with a commercial interest. It is not disputed that the applicant was a legal heir. He may not be the sole heir but that does not deprive him of the right to seek information about the complete property of which he has inherited a part. For instance, can it be said that since he inherited on third of the property, he is entitled to know only one third part of the Income tax return? One should be allowed access to complete information and denial of information is unjustified in such a case. The information commission has time and again showed lack of comprehension of legal concepts and this is a case which exemplifies the bureaucratic mindset from where the Information Commissioners come from.
Hemant Kukunoor

At the behest of GoI, UPSC has announced the second round of lateral recruitment of officers at the levels of Joint Secretary and Director on contract basis, in several central ministries.
There is a condition imposed by the government : Only, the "talented and motivated Indian nationals willing to contribute towards nation-building", need apply.
An affront to the corrupt, laidback Indian bureaucracy. Is it not talented and motivated enough?
The ministries / departments are :-- Commerce & Industry, Department of Financial Services, Department of Economic Affairs, Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Law & Justice, Department of School Education & Literacy, Department of Higher Education, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Health & Family Welfare, Road Transport & Highways, Jal Shakti, Civil Aviation, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
Privatisation of bureaucracy. We are stealthily moving towards the american system of Committed bureaucracy. The selection will naturally be based on the doctrine of “ pick and choose” emanating from discretionary powers.
Stamp of approval by UPSC, is a mere formality to give the selection a sense of legitimacy.
It may be recalled that a couple of laterally-inducted bureaucrats in the first round, had to resign.
Did they fail to adjust to new environment, its ethical approach and fear of anti-corruption agencies, one wonders?
Is the new system flawed ? Has any impact assessment study carried out by the GoI on the performance of recruits of first round? If not, why?
Against this backdrop ,the government’s talk of " Minimum Government ,Maximum Governance”, is farce. Reverse is happening, instead.
Massive pressure from private sector especially friendly business magnates, is suspected .
A K Saxena (A former civil servant)

Those who say farmers do not understand the benefits of Farm Laws show their own ignorance. They think farmers are illiterate and 'ganwar'. The fact of the matter is they not only understand the impact of these laws too well on their future but also follow the policies and intentions of the establishment in large scale disinvestment being planned which is going to result in further unemployment. The children of farmers are educated and know the implications of these laws which were pushed through the parliament without debate because of brutal majority in Lok Sabha and louder voice in Rajya Sabha. The Farmers have been maligned, humiliated and tortured enough what with barbed wires, ditches and spikes. It is happening in the country we proudly claim to be democracy. If this is democracy where voice of people is not heard and journalists are put in jail for reporting facts or FIRs are slapped on them for tweeting what is denied by police we have to find another definition for this.
Aarti Khosla

It is interesting to read A. K. Saxena's article on farmers/budget under Forum. It appears to present one side of the story. The fact remains that the farmer leaders have failed to convince the nation about the problem with the present laws under dispute. Instead of ignoring the farmers, the present government's has fully ignored the middle class including the government servants, working as well as retired. Moreover, managing the expenditure through the sale of assets is not a sign of good financial management. However, the basic issue in the governance remains the simplification of procedures and fixing of the responsibility. The present government has failed on both the counts. The patch-work done by the present government in this direction has not achieved the desired goals. It has just ensured successful completion of certain projects. In fact, shifting of the focus from the overall responsibility to the completion of certain projects has been counter productive for good governance. The problem of common man remains getting rough treatment from the various establishments.
A. K. Verma, ISS (Retd.)

The appellant sought the ITR details of his father Late Sh. Madan Lal. He admitted that he is not the sole heir of Late Sh. Madan Lal. The respondent contended that there is an ongoing dispute among the brothers of the appellant with regard to the sole heirship and accordingly, they have claimed exemption under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act for denying the ITR details. The CIC held that in the absence of any larger public interest in the matter, the appellant is not entitled to seek the ITR details of Late Sh. Madan Lal which is exempted under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, 2005.
Comments
Ordinarily, the legal heir is entitled to the information pertaining to the deceased. This case throws up a situation where there are multiple legal heirs and only one is seeking the information.
Citation: Kamal Aggarwal v. O/o the Income Tax Officer in Second Appeal Nos. CIC/CCITC/A/2018/155973 CIC/CCITC/A/2018/155918, CIC/CCITC/A/2018/155917, CIC/CCITC/A/2018/155916 & CIC/CCITC/A/2018/155914, Date of Decision: 22-01-2021
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

I fully support the views expressed by AK Saxena regarding pro corporate and anti kissan budget 2021-22. I am shocked media, GoI. RBI and many are projecting 10.5% growth from -23.5%, effectively 33.5%. Is it feasible especially when defence figures are missing in the budget. Where is the roadmap for this enormous growth especially when consumer or voter has no money to purchase due to Covid-19 and also faulty economic policies since 2014, demonetization.
Harish Kumar
Pitching hard to remain in job after retirement
It seems that senior most bureaucrats of CBDT, Finance Ministry, DoR are pitching / trying to get their tenures extended after retirement.
Vinod

The populist budget fy 21-22 , replete with confusing statistics, new economic jargons, new schemes with chaste Hindi nomenclatures to dupe farmers and the common man. Anti-kisan and anti- poor budget could escalate the kisan agitation irretrievably.
Budget is PM-centric ( not poor-centric) to get cheap publicity for the coming Assemblies' elections. Manipulating data, as always. Budget is high on promises and low on benefits to the poor. How many promises were executed successfully in the past?. Policy and implementation paralyses, would confront us as we go along.
Mobilising resources through gimmick like "Assets Monetization", is dangerous. It would lead to selling Railway, Defence, PSUs land assets, offloading PSU’s stakes to corporate houses, handing over construction and maintenance of Airports, Railways to the two top Gujarati businesses honchos. Guess, who ? They will construct ware houses, cold storages, fleece farmers and increase their illegal wealth.
Misplaced priorities. All dirty tricks are being applied to deflect public attention from core issues. Such unethical practices were common during the Congress- led UPA rule. Nothing unusual.
PM’s appeal to agitating farmers to contact him being only a " phone call away " amounts to mockery of farmers . Mere political rhetoric.
Is PM not aware that farmers at Delhi’s three borders are under siege of Delhi police surrounded by the 12-layered barricades, barbed wire fencing, concrete walls with iron nails to prevent the ingress and egress of protesting farmers and public. Aaisy gherabandi Lal Quila par kyon nahi banai ? Government in catch-22 situation !
Most baffling ? Where is the mysterious guy called Deep Sidhu who allegedly led the mob to Red fort to unfurl the religious flag at the pole ? His photograph in the privileged company of PM and HM has gone viral. Was he planted by the ruling party with specific mission to derail the otherwise peaceful march.? Where is he hiding ? Why has Delhi police not booked him for sedition ?
The ostrich-like attitude of paid media particularly since persons affected belong to the most vulnerable sections of society, reveals their motive is suspect.
No doubt, the public is being inconvenienced due to heavy police barricading. But, who is to blame ? Royal obstinacy of decision makers, directly or indirectly abetted by the ineffective, incompetent and irresponsible political Opposition led by the Congis , Commies and their moronic allies plus, plus, plus ! The nincompoops have neither the spine, the calibre nor the face to oppose.
The adverse impact of budget will be felt, years later by the posterity ,who will never forgive the government for wonky priorities for petty political gains.
A K Saxena (A former civil servant

In various Ministries/Departments of the Government of India, the competent authority, i.e. ACC approves grant of extension of services, without administrative powers, on contractual basis to JS and above level officers. Likewise, the Administrative Ministries grants extension of services on contractual basis. In the case of ACC approved extension on “contractual basis” without administrative powers, it is seen that the retired personnel JS and above level officer writes his or her designation, which one was holding on the date of retirement . For Example Joint Secretary, Director , Adviser, etc. Deputy Director. This is against the contractual guidelines of the government of India and ACC. Secretary of the Deptt., who boost that he or she is IAS, does not bother to stop these contractual unscrupulous elements for writing their erstwhile designation which one was holding whether working in attached office or subordinate office. They should simply write “Consultant Contractual”. Such officers claim they are still Joint Secretary, Adviser, Scientist G, E, Director, Deputy Secretary etc. and obtaining all the facilities of staff car, rooms, etc. for which they are not eligible neither entitled. Even in some cases, they are attesting the documents even on contractual basis??? This has resulted that the in service officers are being denied their due office space, staff cars etc. at their cost. These contractual retired personnel are the Chamchas and being protected by the Secretary of the Ministry /Department concerned. E. O office must take cognizance as also the DoP&T Secretary and these officers who are using unauthorized or non-approved designation must be removed from the consultancy and their pension should be stopped and all recoveries should be made against use of cars and use of non-entitled rooms or office space from them through court of law, as they do not cover under FR 56J. It is a blot in the philosphy of Good Governance which is being claimed by our Prime Minister in various fora.
BK

In a country where opacity is the rule and no government ever wants to disclose information in "NATIONAL INTEREST" it is sad to see that the already crippled RTI Act is not allowed to function in whatever limited capacity it can. All public organisations should disclosed a basic level of information pro-actively. Hiding everything under the carpet in the name of "security" is not fair. Some basic information must be shared by the organisations even if they are exempt. Anyway, most of these organisations are not accountable to anyone. With RTI, there would be some semblance of transparency.
Neeraj
Public harassment due to traffic chaos
The public is being put to lot of harassment by police by closing this or that highway in anticipation of what they think could be used by farmers. They do so hours before to make their task easier. As a matter of fact they themselves are responsible for creating traffic jams. Take the case today. There was massive line up of the cars, buses and even trucks from Noida turning itself on the DND Flyway. The traffic was so slow with Mayur Vihar side traffic also merging in it. Those of us going to their offices or for appointments with doctors, the speed was nerve-racking. What could be the reason ? Was there any breakdown ? Were there barriers put up ? No when we reached the Yamuna bridge we found on both sides of the roads there were police vehicles buses which brought them there .these were parked on the side occupying one lane .The policemen themselves were standing in the second lane sunning themselves leaving very little space for the moving vehicles. Not caring for the chaotic traffic putting people to so much inconvenience. It was the same unprofessional attitude seen on 26th when they failed to control the crowd with tractors reaching the Redfort and indulging in that unsavoury act of hoisting the other flag and police watching them sitting in the chairs when they were expected to stop them. Please invoke some professionalism and awaken their conscience so that innocent public is spared from unnecessary trouble.
Aarti Khosla

Delhi government is lagging behind in vaccinations for coronavirus. This, despite the large numbers of infections that have been seen in the past in Delhi. The Union Health Ministry has also commented adversely on this. On the other hand, it keeps encouraging congregations of protesters and has started opening schools in Delhi. Will it be too much to hope that the Delhi government will improve their vaccination drive?
Vijay Kumar
Don't infuriate
I don't know why Mr. Harish Kumar is instigating the farmers to become violent when GoI is handling. If you are not able to solve or give suggestions for normalising, don't infuriate. It's a disservice to the nation. No-one here is masters of everything. At least don't demean your own Government and our country. Let us all strive hard for the betterment of the society. If not please shut your mouth.
Seth