500 RTI campaign - The Chief Information Commissioner responds

Dear Friends of Sanjeevani,

As most of you are already aware, following the mega event , the Sanjeevani team had met with the Chief Information Commissioner (AP), Mr. Jannat Hussain, to brief him about the results of our campaign on Section 4(1)(b). The team requested him to take the necessary action for ensuring compliance of the defaulting departments.

On 11-Jan-2011, Sanjeevani received an update that our findings and demands have been forwarded to the 'Special Chief Secretary to Government' for further actions. This is indeed fantastic news for all of us - to know that our voice is being heard and progress is being made. We will keep you all posted on further developments. A copy of the response is below the fold, for your reference.

Regards,
Sanjeevani Team

Press coverage of 500 RTI campaign

Clips from various newspapers reporting on the 500 RTI campaign on Section 4(1)(b) below. See the full reports in Telugu and English. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Eenadu

Source: http://www.eenadu.net/mundu/mundu-main.asp?qry=mundu261203

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Indian Express
























Source: http://expressbuzz.com/states/andhrapradesh/few-departments-comply-with-rti-rules/232783.html

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The Hindu (350+ complaints filed in all since this report)

Source:  http://hindu.com/2010/12/20/stories/2010122053010500.htm

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Deccan Chronicle

                          



సెక్షన్ 4(1)(బి) మీద సంజీవని యుద్ధభేరి!!

లోక్ సత్తా సంజీవని..!
అవినీతికీ అన్యాయానికి తావు లేని ఒక కొత్త లోకాన్ని సృష్టించేందుకు నడుం బిగించి ముందుకు వచ్చిన చైతన్య స్రవంతి సంజీవని! అవినీతి రక్కసి కోరల్లో చిక్కుకుని ఊపిరాడక ఆఖరి దశకు చేరుకోనున్న స్వతంత్ర భారతావనికి , ముప్పు తప్పించేందుకు ముందుకు వచ్చిన ఈ ' సంజీవని ' - లోక్ సత్తా అనుబంధ సంస్థ. ప్రజలే పెంచి పోషించిన బద్ధకానికీ, నిర్లక్ష్యానికీ అలవాటు పడి, పని చెయ్యడానికి పూర్తిగా నీళ్ళు వదిలిన కొన్ని ప్రభుత్వ కార్యాలయాల దుమ్ము దులిపేందుకు ముందడుగు వేసారీ సంజీవని సూత్రధారులు.

సమాచార హక్కు చట్టం అమలులోకి వచ్చి ఐదు వసంతాలు పూర్తి అయిన శుభ తరుణంలో, ఆ హక్కు మనకు అందించ దలచిన ఫలాలను అందరికీ అందుబాటులోకి తెచ్చేందుకు ఏదైనా వినూత్నంగా చెయ్యాలన్న లోక్ సత్తా సంజీవని సూత్రధారుల తలపుల్లో నుండి,తపనలో నుండి పుట్టినదే ఈ 'సెక్షన్ 4(1)(బి) పై యుద్ధభేరి ' ఘట్టం. అందులో భాగంగా, ఒకటో రెండో కాదు..పదులూ ఇరవైలూ కాదు..ఏకంగా 500 ఆర్.టి.ఐ  దరఖాస్తులు, ఒకే సెక్షన్ [ 4(1)(బి)] మీద పెట్టి, ఒక చరిత్రాత్మక మార్పుకు శ్రీకారం చుట్టారు సంజీవని సభ్యులు. ఈ దరఖాస్తులలో అధిక భాగం ఆంధ్ర ప్రదేశ్ ప్రభుత్వ శాఖలు మరియు సచివాలయంలోని వివిధ విభాగాల ప్రథాన కార్యదర్శులకు, మిగిలినవి రంగారెడ్డి, నల్గొండ మరియు హైదరాబాదు జిల్లాల కార్యాలయాలకు ఉద్దేశింపబడినవి. దరఖాస్తులకు వచ్చిన సమాధానాలు స్వల్పంగాను, అసంతృప్తికరంగాను ఉండటంతో సంజీవని బృంద సభ్యులు 350 ఫిర్యాదులు దాఖలు చేసారు.

శాఖలు, కార్యాలయాలు పంపిన సమాధానాల గణాంకాలతో కూడిన వివరాలు క్రింద చూడగలరు. 

Section 4(1)(b) and the 500 RTIs Campaign

On the eve of the 5th anniversary of the enactment of the RTI Act, Loksatta Sanjeevani has filed an unprecedented 500 RTI applications as part of its latest campaign. These applications have been filed with all state and secretariat heads of departments of the Andhra Pradesh Government and some Nalgonda, Rangareddy and Hyderabad district offices. Significantly, all 500 applications target a single section of the RTI Act - Section 4(1)(b). The provisions of Section 4(1)(b) are key to transparency in the system - they help remove obscurity and the accompanying corruption and ultimately, empower citizens to make officials accountable.

The official response to these applications highlights a widespread laxity in complying with the requirements of this important section of the RTI Act. A detailed, tabulated report on the responses is being released to the public. The Sanjeevani team is filing more than 350 complaints on the violations and demanding that the Government and Information Commission take immediate action to ensure total compliance.

A full report, including statistics of department-wise responses, follows. 
 

The Mega Event of the year - Filing 500 RTIs targetting a single section - 4(1)(b)

We are imperfect. We cannot expect perfect government. ~ William Howard.

but, the Loksatta Sanjeevani Team did not leave that thought at that. It began a journey to change the so called 'imperfect' to 'perfect' and the 'idle' to 'working'. The attempts never cease, the spirits never flag. In the continuing sequence of activities, Loksatta Sanjeevani has successfully launched a new campaign. This is one is slightly different.....and significantly better. Targeting a single section of RTI law, it has forged ahead to file an unprecedented 500 RTI applications.

Unbelievable ? Wait a minute ..We have taken enough time to come up with stats and photos of the event to make you believe the power of RTI and perhaps, a healthy team..Wanna know more?...You surely can..!Read on..!!

The campaign:

On the eve of the 5th anniversary of the enactment of the RTI Act (October 12, 2010), the Loksatta Sanjeevani team has taken up a massive campaign of filing 500 RTI applications. These applications have been filed with ALL state and secretariat heads of departments and some Nalgonda, Rangareddy and Hyderabad district offices. Significantly, all 500 applications are based on a single section of the RTI law - Section 4(1)(b).

What is special about Section 4(1)(b)?

This section stipulates that each department provide to the public a handbook which includes at least 17 prescribed items of information both online, on the department website, and as hard copies in the offices. A sample of these information items is as follows: details of the department's organization, functions and duties, employee powers and responsibilities, the directory of all employees, procedure followed in the decision making process, including channels of supervision and accountability, monthly remuneration received by each of its officers and employees, budget allocations, with details of all plans, proposed expenditures and reports on disbursements made. This information is expected to be updated regularly and as necessary. This mandatory information is the key to transparency in the system -preventing obscurity and the accompanying corruption and ultimately, empowering citizens to make officials accountable.

The Loksatta Sanjeevani team observed that even after 5 years, very few Government offices have actually implemented this important RTI law. Starting with a training session on September 25th, 12 team members have been filing the 500 applications.

Loksatta Sanjeevani's vision and effort:

Implementing Section 4(1)(b) will make all the critical information necessary for making government efficient, benefiting both the citizens and officials. Also, it can be expected to reduce the number of RTI applications by half, since the basic information is available beforehand. It has been a great learning experience for Sanjeevani team members, who now have an in-depth awareness about several departments, and are working hard to disseminate the same to the wider public.

Everything takes money, and the team has spent about Rs. 16,000 of their personal funds in this effort.

Team members :
Election - Santosh – Bharat – Avanish - Uday Bhaskar - Narasimha - Madhu - Pradeep - Srinivas - Savan - Subbu - Azeez

Event coverage in Eenadu news paper:

http://www.loksattasanjeevani.in/2010/11/filing-500-rtis-loksatta-sanjeevani-in.html

Official Response:

Every Department office has a designated Public Information Officer (PIO) who is responsible for providing the requested handbook. As per the RTI Act, the response should be immediate, as these documents should have been prepared by Oct 12th 2005. However, we have received only 83 replies in one month, out of which only 23 replies have provided us Sec. 4(1)(b) manuals .We are expecting that most responses will arrive only after a second appeal. A positive response was received from the Dept. for Labour Welfare, Andhra Pradesh, who first provided the handbook/manual and then made it available online. A small number of offices have responded with the correct and complete information. Some PIOs have confessed a complete lack of awareness of the requirement of Section 4(1)(b) and made phone calls requesting Sanjeevani members to visit their office and provide directions for preparing the handbook. Surprisingly, several officials have demanded money (upto Rs 5000) for CDs, postage, translation etc. A few offices flatly refused to provide the necessary information. The majority do not have information in Telugu. We have also received several weird replies. A few local offices informed us that this information is not available at local level and asked us to contact the respective head offices. The head offices, on the other hand, asked us to contact local offices, as they can't maintain information related to all offices.

Loksatta Sanjeevani's follow-up to response:

The team’s experience has been that on being confronted with the exact provisions of the RTI Act and making it clear that denial and intimidation will not work, many PIOs quickly change their attitude. The team will be filing first and second appeals for the requested information. And in tandem, we are planning to file complaints directly with the Information Commission under Section 18 of RTI.

Sanjeevani promises to follow-up with a detailed report and analysis of the responses received and the actions being taken based on them.

Warm Regards,
Loksatta Sanjeevani Team

For regular updates on our activities, please follow us on Twitter @ LSPSanjeevani.

If you would like to contribute in any way to this group, please write to Abdul Azeez Shaik (abdulazeez1984@gmail.com) or Sundeep Pattem (pattem@gmail.com).

Filing 500 RTIs - Loksatta Sanjeevani in news..

Dear All,

The mega event of filing 500 RTI s regarding a single section of RTI law is featured in AP's most popular news paper : EENADU.

We take this oppurtunity to share the success with all of you. More details about will be published in our next post. Keep readin', all of you...!!