Right To Information - Some Explanations

“Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Expression are meaningless, and ceases to exist, until Freedom of Information is granted” said Mr.G.Ramakrishnan, Public Information Commissioner, at the session on Right to Information Act organized by Young Indians at the SIEMA conference hall, Coimbatore on 15th December.

The Right to Information (RTI) act, claimed by the government as the Brahmastra of the aam admi in knowing the functioning of the government, is still unpopular among the public. The organizers said that this is one of the steps in creating an awareness about the act.

The session, attended by people of various walks of life, including those from 5th pillar India an active anti corruption movement, various human rights, consumer and social activists and surprisingly a considerable number of students proved to be highly informative and provided first hand information about the act.
Mr.G.Ramakrishnan, a retired IAS officer, traced the history of the act, the powers it provides to the commoner and some shortcomings of the act too.

History of the Act:

India is the 57th democracy to implement the RTI act. Spain was the first democracy to implement this act way before in 1756. Well, you may ask about non democratic countries? Let they introduce freedom of speech first!! :)

Mr.Rajnarayan was the forerunner in RTI act in India. A renowned social activist, Mr.Rajnarayan had asked the UP government details about the security being provided to Mrs.Gandhi when she was visiting the state for election campaign. It is notable that Mr.Rajnarayan was contesting against Mrs.Gandhi in those elections. The UP government, declared that those information were classified and could not be parted with.

Later, Mr.Rajnarayan moved the Supreme court and in the verdict of the Rajnarayan vs Uttarpradesh government, the supreme court said that the information that the petitioner seeks is public and has to be disclosed to the public.
It was because of Aruna Roy, a renowned social activist and a Civil servant who resigned her job that this act came into existence. When the Rajasthan government introduced the Food for Work scheme, many people raised questions about the details of the act and the details of the beneficiaries, which the government refused to provide with. After a series of widespread agitations by people, the government provided the information. It was found that, 75% of the beneficiaries of this act were either dead or still to be born!!

It was after this particular incident that the government realised the need for a Right to Information act. A separate committee under the head of Mr.H.T.Shourie was formed. However, due to the political instability in the centre between 1997 and 2005, this act didn’t gain much momentum. In 2002, the freedom of information act was passed but failed to meet the real objectives.

On June 21, 2005, the Right to Information act was passed in both the houses of the parliament. Part of the act came into existence on the same day and part of the act came into existence on October 2005.

About the act:

The act is very simple and contains only 31 clauses. The main objectives of the act are transparency, accountability and minimizing corruption.
There is a Public Information Officer (PIO) in every office. People who need information have to fill the requested information in a white sheet (No specific formats required) affix a stamp for Rs.10 and submit it to the PIO. The PIO has to provide the petitioner the information within 30 days failing which the matter can be taken to the 1st appellate authority. Even if the 1st appellate authority fails to provide the information, the Public Information Commissioner will look into this matter.

The beauty of this act is, if an information seeker seeks information from a PIO and the information does not relate to the department of PIO, the PIO cannot reject the petition. It is the duty of the PIO to gather information from the concerned department and to provide it to the petitioner.
If the information has to be collected from various departments, the PIO has to collect it from all the departments and give it to the petitioner. This is the most important power of this act.

Information that are not to be provided:

Under RTI act, the following information are not to be provided:

Matters concerning security, integrity and sovereignty of the country, commercially confident matters, fiduciary information, copyrighted information, Memorandum of Understandings, file notings, case diaries, course of investigation of a case while investigation is still going on and information of private nature are exempted under this act.

Shortcomings of the act:

Though the act is supposed to help the commoner, Mr.Ramakrishnan expressed dismay over some people using this act in a wrong manner. He mentioned cases where some ‘motivated petitioners’ had asked information like Invoices of all the expenses incurred by a panchayat during a reign, all the resolutions passed by a council for the past 5 years etc., which are not relevant to the interest of public.
Mr.Ramakrishnan also observed that the funding and manpower allocation to the Public Information Commission was still in the hands of the State government which could be a hindrance in the independent functioning of the body. He expressed the need for direct funding from the planning commission.

It is of no doubt that this act is an extremely powerful tool in eliminating corruption. It is upto the people to use it wisely and sensibly.

I left the SIEMA building with a joyous heart of having spent a saturday evening constructively :)

The Ant and the Grasshopper

This is not my original creation! But still, this one is worth reading!! Enjoy!!

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The Grasshopper thinks the Ant is a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.

Come winter, the Ant is warm and well fed. The Grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.

We all are aware of this old Story and the moral of "Think in advance and plan your life"

Now goes the modern version....

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The Grasshopper thinks the Ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering Grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the Ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

NDTV, Star News, Aajtak, Tej, Headlines, show up to provide pictures of the shivering Grasshopper next to a video of the Ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.

The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor Grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the Ant's house.

Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other Grasshoppers demanding that Grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter.

Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticizes the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the Grasshopper.

The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the Grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance).

Indian Television channels conduct SMS survey on who is right and Ant wins with huge margin.

Opposition MPs stage a walkout. Left parties call for Bharat Bandh in West Bengal wuth Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry.

CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among Ants and Grasshoppers.

Laloo Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the Grasshopper Rath.

Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act' or POTAGA, with effect from the beginning of the winter.

Arjun Singh sets up Special Reservation for Grasshoppers in Educational Institutions & Government Services.

The Ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, has his home confiscated by the Government and handed over to the Grasshopper in a ceremony covered by TV News Channels and the media.

Arundhati Roy calls it A Triumph of Justice.

Lalu calls it Socialistic Justice .

CPM calls it the Revolutionary Resurgence of the Downtrodden.

Koffi Annan invites the Grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly .

Many years later...

The Ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multibillion dollar company in Silicon Valley .

Hundreds of Grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India ..

As a result of losing lot of hard working Ants and feeding the Grasshoppers, India is still a developing country!

This is not a story just to read and laugh. Please ponder over this. We all are, one of the reasons for this status to be present here. We simply read, laugh or comment and simply do not bother about this. We have a tool with us but we are not ready to use. We are not ready to spend even a single day in protest of what we feel is not right. Then, how can we change this? Please think about it !!!!

Why did Hitler hate Jews??

The massacre of the jews by the Nazis during the second world war still strongly occupies the first position for the most cruellest and bloodiest atrocity that the mankind has ever witnessed. This article deals neither with the righteousness of hitler for commiting such an activity nor with the fundamental human rights and stuff. I am just trying to know what made the fuhrer to hate a whole community to the core.

Why did hitler hate jews?

I have got two strong points which could be the possible reasons behind this hatred. Unfortuntely none of us could travel back to hitler's period to know why he did that and even if we do so, there is nothing that could be done to read the fuhrer's mind. So i leave it to you to decide which among this could be a sensible and possible reason behind the hatred.

1. HITLER HAD SYPHILIS?

Recently a controversy had come up with this big question. Hitler was infected by this Sexually Transmitted
disease Syphilis. When Hitler was in Vienna (Capital of Austria) it is believed that he had an illegal affair with
a Sex Woker. After some time Hitler found that he was infected by Syphilis. Fortunately for the historians and
unfortunately for the jews, the Sex worker turned out to be a Jew. This particular incident had affected hitler to
such an extend that he mentioned about Germany being infested with Syphilis and blaming jews as the sole reason for this in 15 full pages in his "Mein Kempf". He further states that the only way of getting Grmany rid of syphilis and restoring its pride is to cleanse it of Jews. Many think this could be one of the potential reasons of the hatred that Hitler had.

2. HITLER WAS A JEW?

Seems paradoxical! Doesnt it? Well read it fully before coming to a conclusion. Some of you might have heard that Hitler was an illegitimate son. It is believed that this particular guy gifted hitler to his mother and abandoned her. Hitler's mother should have told a lot about this to Hitler. Unfortunately for the Jews again, this fellow who abandoned Hitler's mother also happened top be a Jew. This must have built up a sense of rage against the Jews and at one point of time when the oppurtunity struck, the cat should have prowled out.


these are some of the strong theories which i had got. if you have points to substantiate or completely new theories altogether,
please let me know through your comments.

Until then we could do nothing else than to wait for guys like Gunter Grass come out with new theories.

c ya then!!

1983 ACTS OF GENOCIDE AGAINST SL TAMILS

Tamils everywhere on the island were attacked by mobs of Sinhala rioters in July & August 1983.

"Clearly this was not a spontaneous upsurge of communal hatred among the Sinhala people - nor was it as has been suggested in some quarters, a popular response to the killing of 13 soldiers... It was a series of deliberate acts, executed in accordance with a concerted plan, conceived and organised well in advance."

- Paul Sieghart; 'Sri Lanka: A mounting tragedy of errors';
International Commission of Jurists Report, March 1984

A Sinhalese mob stopping cars looking for Tamils
(July 1983)"Motorists were dragged from their cars to be stoned and beaten with sticks... Others were cut down with knives and axes."
-London Daily Telegraph 26 July 1983
A Burnt Out Mini Bus
(July 1983)

'A mini bus full of Tamils were forced to stop in front of us in Colombo... A Sinhalese mob poured petrol over the bus and set it on fire. They blocked the car door and prevented the Tamils from leaving the vehicle...'

- Mrs. Eli Skarstein (a tourist from Norway) reported in the London Daily Express
29 Aug 1983

Dr. Rajasunderam, Mr. Kuttimani and Mr. Thangathurai, were among the 52 Tamil political prisoners murdered under government custody in a maximum security prison.
(August 1983)

Kuttimani, a nominated member of Sri Lankan parliament... was forced to kneel in his (prison) cell by his assailants and ordered to pray to them. When he refused, he was taunted by his tormentors about his last wish... He had willed that his eyes be donated to someone so that at least that person would see an independent Tamil Eelam. The assailants then gouged his eyes... He was then stabbed to death and his testicles were wrenched from his body.'

-Madras Hindu 10 August 1983
A Sinhala mob looting a Tamil shop, with uniformed policemen looking on
(July 1983)

"Army personnel actively encouraged arson and looting of business establishments and homes in Colombo and absolutely no action was taken to apprehend or prevent the criminal elements... In many instances army personnel participated in the looting of shops."

-The London Times 5 August 1983
Buildings on Fire, Cars overturned and looters walking away with goodies
(July 1983).

"Throughout the early hours of the violence it was clear that neither police nor defence forces had been given orders to re-establish control... At one point several army vehicles drove through the city, packed with troops who shouted encouragement to the rioters."

-London Daily Telegraph 26 July 1983
Tamil properties thrown out of shops and being burnt
(July 1983)

"Mobs of Sinhala youth rampaged through the streets, ransacking homes, shops and offices, looting them and setting them ablaze, as they sought out members of the Tamil ethnic minority."

- London Daily Telegraph 26 July 1983

A spring tries to spring back once it is compressed. So does all the human beings. Our brothers and sisters living there have experienced nothing but oppression, torture, dictatorship and brutal killings. There have been many ceasefires and wars, and many speak about peace, but for these people the word peace does not exist in their dictionary. The worst of all is that people in Yazhpanam now are facing a artificial famine and are awaiting death due to hunger. I would like to recall Anton Balasingham’s statement when he was ill. His words were “it is a great personal tragedy that I am confronted with this illness. But , when compared with the vast ocean of sorrow that my people face, this is not even a drop.”

For tamilans, problems where never a problem! We have always come out of that easily. There is nothing to stop us! Let us stand together again to confront this critical situation.

“War is the art of doing politics with weapons!
Politics is the art of warfare without weapons!”
Be it war or politics, let peace prevail for those human beings in that island!!
Lets fight united!!

Long live Classical Divine Tamil

Quotable Quotes

Hello folks!!

it has been a long time since i scribbled something in my blog. so i thought it wud be
Better if i pen down something. i was searching for some quotes for the sake of my interviews and i came upon some damn good ones. i thought it wud be better if u read it. as usual ur comments are most welcome.:)

Here we go........

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, ONLY THE TOUGH GET GOING.

This was said by one of our seniors after we came first in one of our cultural events as usual:)

A MINUTES SUCCESS PAYS OF THE FAILURE OF YEARS.

Nice one isn’t it? I remember Hitler’s saying when I read this

IF YOU WIN, YOU NEED NOT EXPLAIN. IF YOU LOSE, YOU MUST NOT BE THERE TO EXPLAIN.

Wah!! The fuhrer in form again! Doesn’t this explain his taste for success? HAIL THE FUHRER.

THE ONLY PLACE WHERE SUCCESS COMES BEFORE WORK IS A DICTIONARY.

I am thinking of nominating this fella for noble prize for such a discovery. But he didn’t think of this.. in the same dictionary hard work comes before success! How’s that? CDK na summava??

THE WORLD IS DIVIDED INTO PEOPLE WHO DO THINGS AND PEOPLE WHO DO THINGS AND PEOPLE WHO GET THE CREDIT. TRY, IF YOU CAN, TO BELONG TO THE FIRST CLASS. THERE’S FAR LESS COMPETITION.

This was said by Whitney Morrow an US politician. That guy must have been really frustrated coz of politics

We all know very well about Martin Luther King. He was a great orator and some of his quotes follow.

THE ULTIMATE MEASURE OF A MAN IS NOT WHERE HE STANDS IN MOMENTS OF COMFORT AND CONVENIENCE, BUT WHERE HE STANDS AT TIMES OF CHALLENGE AND CONTROVERSY.
THE BEST WAY TO SOLVE ANY PROBLEM IS TO REMOVE ITS CAUSE.

The best saying which inspires me a lot is this:

IF A MAN HASN’T DISCOVERED SOMETHING HE WOULD DIE FOR, HE ISN’T FIT TO LIVE.

So this is it for now. Meet you all in my next entry. And don’t forget to pen down your comments.bye…….

october the 13th

.

It was October 13th 2006. The day local body elections were to be conducted in Tamilnadu. I was very eager the day before, as this was the first time that I decided to actually see how these processes were taking place. I am 20 years old and have the right to vote. But the officers said that my name was not in the electoral list though I had given the application two years before. I wonder why the chief election officer and other intellectuals give a hue and cry that people do not have any interest in voting and the voting percentage is very low!!

As I was not allowed to vote, I decided to stay here in my hostel in Coimbatore and roam about the city on the day of the elections. On 13th I woke up at 7.00 am, me being the first to wake up in the hostel!! I heard some faint whispers and initially I thought I was just dreaming things as I was still feeling sleepy. But now, I could hear them more clearly. I looked at my roommate who was fully covered with the blanket. I thought he was blabbering in his sleep and gently tapped him. “Machan* are you alright?” I asked. He removed his blanket and I realized that he was speaking in the mobile!! I remembered seeing him attend a call at around 11 pm from his dear one and from that time he is speaking continuously for 8 hours in the same position!! If the Guinness people come to my hostel, they may get many world records like this! Maximum time over the phone, maximum time of sleeping, (36 hours is the record by my classmate), maximum days without bath etc., after all what is hostel life for?? The problem with guys like me is though I am not interested in talking over the phone for hours and hours or not interested to beg a girl for her friendship for that matter, guys like my room mate make us feel guilty!! At times I have wondered why do we really have a cell phone in which I have never messaged to any girl or called. But later I convince my self and say that there are more things in life precious than this.

I had my bath and came back to my room, dressed up and got ready. I was about to leave when my roommate said “GOODNIGHT MACHAN!!!!!” I smiled and then left the room!!

While passing my friend’s room I remembered that he had a vote and in order to ask when he is going to cast the vote I entered his room just to find that he was sleeping too. I woke up and asked “when are you going to vote da?” He said “Vote?? F**k u I am going to sleep throughout the day!” I expected this answer and said “this is a democracy da!!”. He replied “Is this goddamned democracy going to change just because I vote? Now let me sleep!!” I was in no mood to argue with him and continued walking.

Once I came out of my hostel, the atmosphere was so calm and peaceful. I went to some polling booths and found that people were waiting in queue to cast their votes and everything was in perfect order! That was a wonderful scene! I asked a police constable nearby “So? How is the election going?” He said “very peaceful in Coimbatore. Thank god I am posted here” and went. I called up a relative of mine who is a police officer. He did not pick up for the first three times. Fourth time he picked up and spoke in a very rapid and panicked voice! I asked “so? The elections are very peaceful??” He shouted “are you kidding? Look at the news and call me back tonight”. I sensed that something was wrong and rushed to my hostel immediately and went straight to the TV room. Already many were there and I peeped in to look at what’s happening!

The news was shocking!! It showed a mob trying to capture a polling booth!! Ballot papers were scattered. Some were severely hurt and many were shouting and running. There were chaos and the whole place was like pandemonium. The newsreader said that this was the worst election in the history of Tamilnadu and the worst violence witnessed so far. I was not able to look at that any more and returned to my room.

Later that night, I called up that police officer and asked him

“is this how elections take place every time??”

“Yes. This is new to you”

“Why do we need to conduct elections if it is going to be like this?”

“Because, this is a democratic country!!”

“Where is the democracy? It was worse than a dictatorship! Can’t you do anything to stop the violence?”

“We can but we will be transferred the next day. If we do not worry about getting transferred and continue to be honest and perfect at the place where which we are transferred, we will again be transferred before we can think of doing any good to the people. So we cannot do anything except to watch silently. This is new to you. You will get used to it soon. Bye.”

I really didn’t know what to say. I imagined what the chief minister was going to say the next day! “oh! We were just trying to increase the poll percentage you know?” one more thing which I forgot to mention is all the rowdies who were involved in this act were uniformly dressed in black and white!!! Fantastic na?? I remembered my friend saying that Chennai is a very peaceful place to live and Chennai only witnessed the maximum violence!!

This wouldn’t have happened if the leaders have a confidence that they would win. For that they should have been very pure, honest and must have done least welfare to the people. Unless and otherwise they do that the same situation will prevail!!

HAIL OUR DEMOCRACY!!!!!!

about me

hello people!!

i ve dreamed to have a own space for me in www for a long time!! and finally, here it is!! i am a mechanical engineering student in a reputed institution in coimbatore!! and to say more abt me.. it follows..

i me myself!!

i am just a kid...

who was brought up in a such a way such that he is capable of facing
any hurdles in his way!

who was rejected all his oppurtunities jus coz he was over talented or was born in a forward caste but still
strongly believes in Darwin's survival of the fittest!!

who would prefer to watch a documentary abt poverty and politics rather than a romantic movie!!

who was born in a country where traitiors are called patriots and patriots are named traitors!

who exploits every chance he gets thro scripts & speeches to express his anger, joy, quest to the society,
and is quite succesful in that!

who admires

hitler for his patriotism and oratory skills
saddam hussain and netaji for their pride and valour
che guearea for his principles and warfare!!
the list goes on!!

some sayings i like abt wat these generation call as love!!

1.padiyil payanam nodiyil maranam! kathalil payanam nodiku nodiku maranam!!

2.indru aval siripal! naalai nee sirippai! naalai marunaal oore sirikum!! beware of love!!

if anybody says "if u dont get wat u love then love wat u get", slap him rite across his face! plan like a terrorist,
work like a ghost and ultimately u r goin 2 land in ur dreams!!

tats al folks!!