Whispers Forum

Who is a Delhite? They promise to make Delhi a New York, London and Paris. They do not want Delhi to be Delhi. The great battle of the Mahabharat might have been fought in Kurukshetra but Delhi suffered collateral damage. It is suffering a different kind of continuing Mahabharat for votes. God! What can’t a vote make of a man or a woman? I can venture to say that the Vote Maketh the Man, not the tailor makes the man! Can someone please assure Delhi its millenniums long identity along with its Jamuna ji/Yamuna ji (according to choice)? Please do not make Delhi New York, London or Paris to create tourist attractions! Like in the Mahabharat, warrior kings from all states in India, along with their large private armies have gathered to fight the Vote Mahabharat, it is not to protect any Hastinapur but to make a ruin of Delhi. The Kaurav & Pandava, children of democracy, are determined to destroy each other in this vote Mahabharat, while the Guru, Kulguru, Dharma incarnate and the blind king watch helplessly and the Bhisma of a Constitution survives only for the power of death at will or Ichhamrityu. In these 75 years Delhi has changed so much that it is unable to recognize itself. Someone rightly said: Dilli ki loot machi hai, chaho so loot lo! Nobody owns Delhi, though those who could not make it London have built a poor replica of the Buckingham Palace which they pride in being called the Sheesh Mahal, invoking affinity with Mughal rulers like Shah Jahan to Aurangzeb. Such a virgin territory of a kingdom? Only Dushashan proclaims himself to be the Malik of Dilli. Everyone watches the goings on in silence in such an extraordinary situation knowing not which extraordinary remedy can bring order in Delhi. Unless Delhi is made a Mayor’s system, it may become Dilli once again to facilitate some Gulam Dynasty/Slave Dynasty to establish its rule forever!
M L Gupta

Over 40 people died due to stampede in Prayagraj Maha Kumbh. This accident has once again raised the question that why do fatal accidents keep happening in events with huge crowds in our country? It was already possible that eight to ten crore devotees could come to the Maha Kumbh on Mauni Amavasya. Obviously, no administrative staff could have had the prior experience of handling such a large number. In such a situation, the administrative officials made a mistake in estimating and planning. Vehicles coming from the surrounding districts had to be stopped after the stampede in the Maha Kumbh. It also highlights that when crowd management was looking to be a difficult and challenging task, then why no action was taken to restrict the number of people who could reach Prayagraj on Mauni Amavasya.
Ankita Malviya

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, which is called the lifeline for rural livelihood, is once again struggling with lack of funds. There is no doubt that the MNREGA has played an important role in reducing visible and invisible unemployment in rural areas. While on the one hand this scheme has played an important role in providing employment to rural consumers near their villages, it has also reduced inter-state migration, and the purchasing power of rural consumers has also increased. The government should make a practical budget for MNREGA. Along with this, priority should be given to removing administrative hurdles for transparent implementation of the scheme. Undoubtedly, the allocation of funds in MNREGA is continuously decreasing in proportion to the demand. This is the reason why the expected crisis is arising in the middle of the year due to lack of funds.
Raj Singh Ahirwar

If we look at India's development journey from 1950 till now, we see many glorious achievements. Obviously all these achievements are glorious, yet a lot remains to be done. It is true that we are the fifth most powerful economy in the world, but the country also has a debt of lakhs of crores of rupees. In this perspective, the harsh truth is that since the size of our GDP is large, hence we are a big economy, but we are not a debt-free economy. Actually, freebie culture has also become a big challenge for the Indian economy. Economists are very worried about free schemes because they have far-reaching disadvantages. But unfortunately our political parties are not worried about it.
Neha Kumari

Donald Trump's economic policies may be against India's interests. Trump's claim of calling India a tariff king on the basis of its highest duties is not correct, because many other countries have higher duties than India. Japan's highest duty is 457 percent, South Korea's is 887 percent and America's highest duty is 350 percent while India's highest duty is only 150 percent. The highest duty is usually imposed to protect sensitive commodities. For example, Japan imposes high duty on rice to protect the interests of its farmers. In fact, the true picture of a country's import duty is obtained only from its average tariff. However, the rules of global trade are set by the WTO and India does not violate its duty-related rules, but America does so. Although America often expresses concern by naming India, it has not challenged India's high tariffs in the WTO because it knows that India's tariffs are within the limits agreed by the WTO.
Nancy Singh

A complaint dated 17.12.2024 for non-compliance of CIC’s order dated 22.07.2024 was heard by the CIC. In the order dated 22.07.2024, the CIC had admonished the casual conduct of Mr. RP Yadav, Supt.-cum PIO, Social Welfare (South), GNCTD, Delhi and had directed to revisit the RTI Application and provide a revised reply. The CIC noted that there is a substantial delay in compliance with the order and the respondent failed to explain the reasons for the delay. The CIC referred to the criteria for processing or sanctioning of the application, under the Financial Assistance to Persons with Special Needs (popularly known as Disability Pension). The CIC noted that Ms. Madhu (Appellant’s niece) is a physically challenged person; an orphan; a member of scheduled caste; a girl child; unmarried who cannot carry out her daily activities without assistance; and has no independent means of livelihood. The CIC observed that “The extraordinary circumstances and adverse conditions faced by Ms. Madhu establish her as the weakest of the weak and poorest of the poor, being the most deprived citizen whose case deserved extra sensitivity, and it certainly could not have been dealt with in an ordinary manner by the respondent public authority in the department of Social Welfare. The appellant, being her aunt, is the only support Ms. Madhu has”. For the loss, harassment and detriment suffered by her, the Department of Social Welfare was directed by the CIC to pay a compensation of Rs. 92,000/- to the appellant within a week.
Comments
In this case, the application for compensation of Disability Pension to Ms. Madhu was forwarded to the Deputy Director (FAS), New Delhi and was pending on the date of hearing. The case was dealt with in a very casual and insensitive manner as per the CIC and the action was condemned. The CIC observed in the order that the insensitivity as established based on the records is appalling to put it most euphemistically.
Citation: Ms. Devki v. Supdt. (South), Department of Social Welfare, New Delhi, CIC/DSWGD/A/2023/119725; Order dated 14.01.2025
Citation: Piyush Sharma v. O/o the Executive Engineer (E), PWD, New Delhi, File No: CIC/PWDDL/A/2023/132711; Date of Decision : 29.10.2024
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