Union Minister Congress Politicisingsnsindia.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Press-clipping... ·...
1
ing the Lok Sabha elections in April the UPA government had said a com- mittee will be set up to work out the functional modalities of Orop. "So the sympathy that has risen to- day is politically motivated and the NDA is the first government which has not only accepted Orop demand, but implemented it," he said. He said the government was fully sympathetic towards the defence personnel’s suicide. He said there was some lapse in communication with the bank and it was not a case of the person not been given Orop. "It is a very sensi- tive case because the government has al- located all the mon- ey. Now obviously, (as for) the commu- nication at the bank- level, there seems to have been some problem in calculat- ing his entire service, which was di- vided into two parts. This was a pro- cedural problem, which could have been resolved at the level of the bank or the department dealing with it," Jaitley said. The finance minister made a reference to efforts to create "meaningless conflict" over Orop ap- plicable on defence services. Our Bureau New Delhi: Finance minister Arun Jaitley blasted the Congress for playing politics over an ex-soldier's suicide saying that the party did not even implement the one rank one pension (Orop) when it was in the government for 10 years. “For 10 years, Orop was not imple- mented by the Congress...It is equal- ly important that nobody tries to convert a personal tragedy of an in- dividual into a political gain for a party whose fortunes are otherwise sinking…It doesn't behove senior national leaders to exploit a tragedy of this kind, particularly in inten- sive care units of the hospitals. A more responsible behaviour is ex- pected of them,” he said taking on Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. The UPA government, he said, had not taken any meaningful step towards implementing Orop for defence personnel in its 10 years of rule as was evident from a meagre . `500 crore allocation it made for the purpose. "This Orop has remained a demand of retired defence person- nel for decades. And during the 10 years of UPA government between 2004 and 2014, there was this demand but no meaningful step was taken ,” he said, adding that it was only dur- Kerala CPM Suspends Councillor Facing Rape Charges based woman had alleged that Jayanthan along with three others had raped her. Another party mem- ber Bineesh involved in the case Our Bureau Kochi: Stung by the allegations of sexual exploitation and goonda ac- tivities by some of its district-level leaders, the ruling CPM decided to wield the sword of discipline against its erring workers. CPM has suspended Jayanthan, the party councillor in Vadakkan- cherry, who is facing charges of sexual exploitation, from the pri- mary membership. A Thrissur- step aside from the post of area sec- retary until the investigation against him is over. CPM district secretary P Rajiv said the party will take further disciplinary action against him if the charges against him are proved correct. Mean- while, the government decided not to support the bail plea of Zakkir Hussain in the court. Earlier in the morning, the Congress-led opposi- tion staged a walkout in the assemb- ly alleging that the ruling party is protecting the accused in the case. has also been suspended. CPM district president Radhak- rishnan said if charges are proved at the completion of the inquiry there will be further action against the accused. He said apart from the police inquiry there will be a party- level inquiry. He added that there were complaints against the wom- an who raised the allegations. In Ernakulam, the CPM member Zakkir Hussain, whose alleged in- volvement in the kidnapping of an industrialist, has been asked to 2 Pure Politics The Economic Times, New Delhi, Saturday, 5 November 2016 Guwahati: The govern- ment will ensure that language, culture, iden- tity, land and homeland of the indigenous peo- ple will be protected in the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, Chief Minister Sarba- nanda Sonowal said. He said the current govern- ment had assumed office with support of all indigenous people and it was fully commit- ted to protect their traditions. He also said state will carry out eviction drive to free the land under tribal belt from encroach- ment. He said govern- ment believes in equity and gives equal impor- tance to all communi- ties for their all-round development.—OPB Sonowal Vows to Safeguard Indigenous People, Rights New Delhi: Turkey and India has sought each other assistance in fight against international terror amid both PM Narendra Modi and Turkish President Erdo- gan narratives against international extre- mism affecting the two countries. Senior Turk- ish Minister Lufti Elvan who holds Develop- ment portfolio met Home Minister Rajnath Singh and apprised him of presence of schools here funded by Gulen blamed by the Erdogan government for abort- ed July coup. "India is very sensitive to terror- ism. India has suffered from terror and under- stands our pain. We sympathise with India. We hope India also supports our position. Indian PM has assured that his government will keep an eye on Gulen schools. I dis- cussed the matter with Minister Singh," Elvan told ET.—OPB India, Turkey Plan to Jointly Fight Terror Across World Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday announced that it will skip an in- ternational anti-tobac- co conference in India next week amidst “on- going tensions” be- tween the two nations. Delegates from about 180 countries are ex- pected to attend the biennial conference of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in India from November 7 to 12. Pakistan's State Minis- ter of Health Sciences Regulation and Coor- dination, Saira Afzal Tarar, said that Pakistan cannot attend the con- ference.—OPB Pak to Skip WTO Meet in India Due to Tension Finance minister says government is fully sympathetic towards the defence personnel’s suicide Congress Politicising Orop Suicide: Jaitley ET takes a look at events that shaped national and state politics over the past seven days Week’ s a Long Ti me ANIRBAN BORA The Delhi Landscape CUFF!* TO BJP * “Must implement OROP properly,” RAGA Mayawati statue demolished ‘Rath’ Breaks down 43% Judges’ posts vacant in High Court RIGHT TO ENCOUNTER RIGHT OR WRONG ? ** “BJP’s biggest betrayal,” Kejriwal *** “ Congress worker. However, he was soldier. Feel sad ,” V K Singh CUFF! CUFF!** CUFF! CUFF! CUFF!*** STRICT ACTION An o th e r party me mbe r B in ees h all ege dly inv o lv e d in th e c a se al so s u s p e nd e d ; CP M thr e at e n s f urth e r a c ti o n i f c har ges ar e pr o v e d NO ESCAPE Zakkir Hussain accused of kidnapping has also been asked to step aside from post of area secy Rahul.Tripathi @timesgroup.com New Delhi: Paving the way for prosecution sanction against a senior IAS officer of Delhi gov- ernment, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has advised the CBI to grant sanction against him. A 1984 batch IAS officer, San- jay Pratap Singh was posted as the principal secretary in depart- ment of SC/ST, minorities. CBI raided him in December last year and seized 31 gold bars, weighing 3.20 kg and cash worth . `82 lakh, from one of his five lockers. CVC is learned to have con- veyed to the department of per- sonnel and training (DoPT), the cadre controlling authority for IAS officers that the sanction to prosecute Singh shall be cleared. DOPT may hold some more con- sultations before allowing CBI to prosecute him, said officials fa- miliar with the matter. Earlier, the Home Ministry has given a nod against Singh when the proposal came before them since Singh is UT cadre officer and MHA deals with all matter related to Union Territories. Under section 19 of the preven- tion of corruption act, CBI needs to have the previous sanction from the central government for launching prosecution against a public servant from All India Services. CBI said they are probing two cases against Singh. Singh was arrested following a complaint from Delhi CM Arvind Kejri- wal’s office to CBI. He was also placed under sus- pension follow- ing his arrest and recommendation by Delhi govern- ment. While the first case pertains to demand of bribe of . `2.20 lakh and was registered on the complaint of the owner of a pri- vate firm from whom Singh de- manded the mon- ey for clearing pending bills related to supply of security guards and other man- power, the second FIR is on the al- legations of disproportionate assets (DA) to the tune of . `6.14 crore. Singh is the second IAS of- ficer under CBI scanner after Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s for- mer principal secretary Rajen- dra Kumar, who is also facing charges of corruption. Last year, CBI seized 31 gold bars, weighing 3.20 kg and cash worth . `82 lakh from one of Singh’s five lockers Vigilance Nod for Prosecution of Kejriwal’s Officer Our Political Bureau New Delhi: Congress Vice-Presi- dent Rahul Gandhi has stepped up the agitation over the One-Rank- One-Pension issue by asking the Prime Minister to “stop lying” about Orop implementation and alleged that the government had only done “a pension enhance- ment.” During a meeting with a group of ex-servicemen at the Congress office in New Delhi on Friday, Gandhi pointed to one of them standing next to him and sa- id, “when these ex-servicemen ex- plained the whole issue, they said Orop is not about money, it is abo- ut honour and justice” Even as Gandhi held a meeting, the AICC is learnt to have directed all Pradesh Congress Committees to organise agitations and hold candle-light demonstrations across states, demanding Orop implementation. The Opposition will also raise the issue, if not re- solved soon, during the upcoming Parliament session. After his interactions with ex- servicemen, Gandhi told the me- dia: “What the Prime Minister sa- ys is One Rank-One Pension is ac- tually pension enhancement and not Orop. The PM should stop ly- ing on the issue. Charging the Mo- di government with “neglecting jeans and farmers and only favou- ring big industrialists” Gandhi sa- id “the government has not given respect and the right which is due to soldiers. If it had, why have the- se ex-servicemen been protesting for the last 509 days at Jantar Man- tar? Orop is the right of the armed forces personnel and the govern- ment will have to give it…The go- vernment has also done things like reducing the disability pen- sion.” Gandhi who was detained thrice during the past two days, sa- id: “I was detained. It does not mat- ter. But how does one justify the police dragging and beating up fa- mily members of a deceased ex- servicemen when his body was still in hospital?” Flanking Gand- hi, former defence minister A K Antony said the UPA regime had accepted and ordered Orop and demanded that the Modi govern- ment must immediately imple- ment it “without any dilution.” PM Modi Must ‘Stop Lying’, Says Rahul NOT THE SAME What the Prime Minister says is One Rank-One Pension is actually pension en- hancement & not Orop NEW DELHI: Days after eight SIMI undertrials were killed in an encounter after their escape from Bhopal prison, a judicial probe has been ordered by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, giving into the demand by Opposition, which has raised questions on claims by police about the Monday encounter. An official release issued on late Thursday night here stated that the judicial probe will be conducted by retired High Court Judge Justice S K Pandey.—OPB SIMI Activists Encounter: MP CM Gives into Oppn Demand for Judicial Probe They (Congress & AAP) have nothing else (no issues) to do politics on. That is why they do politics over corpses. Go and ask them whether they have attended the funeral of any other soldier. Their talk makes no sense V K SINGH Uni on Mini ster AT LOGGERHEADS Taking a di g at Rahul’ s remarks, Jailtey says that it doesn' t behove seni or nati onal l eaders to expl oit tragedy, but Rahul says govt has not given due respect to soldi ers PCC DEMONSTRATIONS ACROSS INDIA SOON Nidhi.Sharma@timesgroup.com New Delhi: If you file a Right to In- formation (RTI) appeal before As- sam Information Commission to- day, you will have to wait for 30 years to get heard. A study has found that the waiting time at in- formation commissions, the final appellate authority, ranges be- tween two months and 30 years with almost 2 lakh RTI appeals pending across India. The study conducted by Research, Assessment and Analysis Group (RaaG) and Satark Nagrik Sangath- an, on the working of 16 information commissions and Supreme Court and high courts, reveals that the number of RTI appeals pending has seen a whopping increase ranging between 40 and 240% in two years. The pendency in Assam state in- formation commission has gone up to 240% between January 2014 and January 2016, West Bengal and Od- isha over 60%, Kerala 49% and Cen- tral Information Commission 43%. The study reveals that overall 1,87,974 RTI cases are pending across India in 16 information com- missions. The study observes, “The huge backlog in the disposal of ap- peals and complaints by the com- missions is one of the most serious problems being faced by the trans- parency regime in India. The high levels of pendency in information commissions result in applicants having to wait for many months, even years, for their appeals and complaints to be heard.” The findings reveal that if an ap- peal is filed in Assam on January 1, 2016, it would be heard after 30 years. However, this waiting time was just 2 years and 8 months in the last RaaG study in 2014. The waiting time in West Bengal is 11 years and three months (down from 17 years and 10 months in 2014), Kerala seven years and four months, Odisha 2 years and 9 months, Rajasthan 2 years and three months, Chhattisgarh years and CIC one year and 10 months. The research attributes growing pendency at commissions and the resultant waiting time to non-im- position of penalty on errant offi- cers wrongfully denying informa- tion under RTI Act. The findings re- veal that penalty is imposed in only 1.3% of the cases in which it was im- posable. “The non-imposition of penalty has many serious implica- tions as it sends a message that vio- lations of the law will not invite any adverse consequences. This de- stroys the basic framework of in- centives and disincentives built in- to the RTI law and promotes a cul- ture of impunity. In terms of amount of penalty foregone by ICs, the analysis of 1,469 orders showed that by foregoing penalties in cases where it was imposable, ICs caused a loss of more than . `2.13 crore. Ex- trapolating this nationally, an esti- mated loss of . `290 crores is being caused annual by ICs not imposing penalties,” the study says. STUDY ON 16 INFO COMMISSIONS, SC & HIGH COURTS Waiting Period at RTI Commissions Ranges Between 2 months & 30 Yrs RECORD INCREASE Number of RTI appeals pend- ing has seen awhopping increase ranging between 40 and 240% in two years TOTAL COUNT Study reveals that overall 1,87,974 RTI cases are pending across India in 16 info commissions ARINDAM ET ARCHIVES PTI Long Wait STATE Time before new appeal is heard Assam 30 years West Bengal 11 years and 3 months Kerala 7 years and 4 months Odisha 2 years and 9 months Rajasthan 2 years and 3 months Chhattisgarh 2 years CIC 1 year and 10 months Karnataka 1 year and 8 months UP 1 year and 2 months Maharashtra 8 months HP 5 months Punjab 4 months Haryana 2 months Meghalaya 2 months Nagaland no pendency Sikkim no pendency PTI CORRUPTION CHARGES AGAINST IAS OFFICER Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan
Transcript of Union Minister Congress Politicisingsnsindia.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Press-clipping... ·...
ing the Lok Sabha elections in Aprilthe UPA government had said a com-mittee will be set up to work out thefunctional modalities of Orop.
"So the sympathy that has risen to-day is politically motivated and theNDA is the first government whichhas not only accepted Orop demand,but implemented it," he said.
He said the government was fullysympathetic towards the defencepersonnel’s suicide. He said therewas some lapse in communicationwith the bank and it was not a case of
the person not beengiven Orop.
"It is a very sensi-tive case because thegovernment has al-located all the mon-ey. Now obviously,(as for) the commu-nication at the bank-level, there seems tohave been someproblem in calculat-
ing his entire service, which was di-vided into two parts. This was a pro-cedural problem, which could havebeen resolved at the level of the bankor the department dealing with it,"Jaitley said. The finance ministermade a reference to efforts to create"meaningless conflict" over Orop ap-plicableon defence services.
Our Bureau
New Delhi: Finance minister ArunJaitley blasted the Congress forplaying politics over an ex-soldier'ssuicide saying that the party did noteven implement the one rank onepension (Orop) when it was in thegovernment for 10 years.
“For 10 years, Orop was not imple-mented by the Congress...It is equal-ly important that nobody tries toconvert a personal tragedy of an in-dividual into a political gain for aparty whose fortunes are otherwisesinking…It doesn't behove seniornational leaders to exploit a tragedyof this kind, particularly in inten-sive care units of the hospitals. Amore responsible behaviour is ex-pected of them,” he said taking onCongress vice-president RahulGandhi. The UPA government, hesaid, had not taken any meaningfulstep towards implementing Orop fordefence personnel in its 10 years ofrule as was evident from a meagre.̀ 500 crore allocation it made for thepurpose. "This Orop has remained ademand of retired defence person-nel for decades. And during the 10years of UPA government between2004 and 2014, there was this demandbut no meaningful step was taken ,”he said, adding that it was only dur-
Kerala CPM Suspends Councillor Facing Rape Charges
based woman had alleged thatJayanthan along with three othershad raped her. Another party mem-ber Bineesh involved in the case
Our Bureau
Kochi: Stung by the allegations ofsexual exploitation and goonda ac-tivities by some of its district-level
leaders, the ruling CPM decidedto wield the sword of disciplineagainst its erring workers.
CPM has suspended Jayanthan,the party councillor in Vadakkan-cherry, who is facing charges ofsexual exploitation, from the pri-mary membership. A Thrissur-
step aside from the post of area sec-retary until the investigationagainst him is over. CPM districtsecretary P Rajiv said the party willtake further disciplinary actionagainst him if the charges againsthim are proved correct. Mean-while, the government decided notto support the bail plea of ZakkirHussain in the court. Earlier in themorning, the Congress-led opposi-tion staged a walkout in the assemb-ly alleging that the ruling party isprotecting the accused in the case.
has also been suspended.CPM district president Radhak-
rishnan said if charges are provedat the completion of the inquirythere will be further action againstthe accused. He said apart from thepolice inquiry there will be a party-level inquiry. He added that therewere complaints against the wom-an who raised the allegations.
In Ernakulam, the CPM memberZakkir Hussain, whose alleged in-volvement in the kidnapping of
an industrialist, has been asked to
2 Pure PoliticsThe Economic Times, New Delhi, Saturday, 5 November 2016
Guwahati:The govern-ment will ensure thatlanguage, culture, iden-tity, land and homelandof the indigenous peo-ple will be protected inthe Citizenship(Amendment) Bill, 2016,Chief Minister Sarba-nanda Sonowal said. Hesaid the current govern-ment had assumedoffice with support ofall indigenous peopleand it was fully commit-ted to protect theirtraditions. He also saidstate will carry outeviction drive to freethe land under tribalbelt from encroach-ment. He said govern-ment believes in equityand gives equal impor-tance to all communi-ties for their all-rounddevelopment.—OPB
Sonowal Vowsto SafeguardIndigenousPeople, Rights
New Delhi: Turkey andIndia has sought eachother assistance in fightagainst internationalterror amid both PMNarendra Modi andTurkish President Erdo-gan narratives againstinternational extre-mism affecting the twocountries. Senior Turk-ish Minister Lufti Elvanwho holds Develop-ment portfolio metHome Minister RajnathSingh and apprised himof presence of schoolshere funded by Gulenblamed by the Erdogangovernment for abort-ed July coup. "India isvery sensitive to terror-ism. India has sufferedfrom terror and under-stands our pain. Wesympathise with India.We hope India alsosupports our position.Indian PM has assuredthat his governmentwill keep an eye onGulen schools. I dis-cussed the matter withMinister Singh," Elvantold ET.—OPB
India, TurkeyPlan to JointlyFight TerrorAcross World
Islamabad:Pakistan onThursday announcedthat it will skip an in-ternational anti-tobac-co conference in Indianext week amidst “on-going tensions” be-tween the two nations.Delegates from about180 countries are ex-pected to attend thebiennial conference ofthe WHO FrameworkConvention on TobaccoControl (FCTC) in Indiafrom November 7 to 12.Pakistan's State Minis-ter of Health SciencesRegulation and Coor-dination, Saira AfzalTarar, said that Pakistancannot attend the con-ference.—OPB
Pak to SkipWTO Meet in India Due to Tension
Financeminister saysgovernmentis fullysympathetictowards thedefencepersonnel’ssuicide
Congress PoliticisingOrop Suicide: Jaitley
ET takes a look at events that shaped national and state politics over the past seven days
Week’s a Long Time
ANIRBAN BORA
The Delhi Landscape
CUFF!*
TOBJP
* “Must implement OROP properly,” RAGA
Mayawati
statue
demolished
‘Rath’ Breaks
down
43% Judges’ posts vacantin High Court
RIGHT TO ENCOUNTER
RIGHT OR WRONG ?
** “BJP’s biggest betrayal,” Kejriwal
***“ Congress worker. However, he was soldier. Feel sad ,” V K Singh
CUFF!
CUFF!**CUFF!
CUFF!CUFF!***
STRICT ACTION Another party member Bineesh allegedly involved in the case also suspended; CPM threatens further action if charges are proved
NO ESCAPE
Zakkir Hussain accusedof kidnapping has alsobeen asked to step asidefrom post of area secy
Rahul.Tripathi @timesgroup.com
New Delhi: Paving the way forprosecution sanction against asenior IAS officer of Delhi gov-ernment, the Central VigilanceCommission (CVC) has advisedthe CBI to grant sanction againsthim. A 1984 batch IAS officer, San-jay Pratap Singh was posted asthe principal secretary in depart-ment of SC/ST, minorities. CBIraided him in December last yearand seized 31 gold bars, weighing3.20 kg and cash worth .̀ 82 lakh,from one of his five lockers.
CVC is learned to have con-veyed to the department of per-sonnel and training (DoPT), thecadre controlling authority forIAS officers that the sanction toprosecute Singh shall be cleared.DOPT may hold some more con-sultations before allowing CBI toprosecute him, said officials fa-miliar with the matter.
Earlier, the Home Ministry hasgiven a nod against Singh whenthe proposal came before themsince Singh is UT cadre officerand MHA deals with all matterrelated to Union Territories.
Under section 19 of the preven-tion of corruption act, CBI needsto have the previous sanction
from the central government forlaunching prosecution against apublic servant from All IndiaServices.
CBI said they are probing twocases against Singh. Singh wasarrested following a complaintfrom Delhi CM Arvind Kejri-wal’s office to CBI.
He was also placed under sus-pension follow-ing his arrest andrecommendationby Delhi govern-ment.
While the firstcase pertains todemand of bribeof .̀ 2.20 lakh andwas registered onthe complaint ofthe owner of a pri-vate firm fromwhom Singh de-manded the mon-ey for clearing
pending bills related to supply ofsecurity guards and other man-power, the second FIR is on the al-legations of disproportionateassets (DA) to the tune of .̀ 6.14crore. Singh is the second IAS of-ficer under CBI scanner afterDelhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s for-mer principal secretary Rajen-dra Kumar, who is also facingcharges of corruption.
Last year, CBIseized 31goldbars,weighing3.20 kg andcash worth.̀ 82 lakh fromone of Singh’sfive lockers
Vigilance Nod forProsecution ofKejriwal’s Officer
Our Political Bureau
New Delhi: Congress Vice-Presi-dent Rahul Gandhi has stepped upthe agitation over the One-Rank-One-Pension issue by asking thePrime Minister to “stop lying”about Orop implementation andalleged that the government hadonly done “a pension enhance-ment.” During a meeting with agroup of ex-servicemen at theCongress office in New Delhi onFriday, Gandhi pointed to one ofthem standing next to him and sa-id, “when these ex-servicemen ex-plained the whole issue, they saidOrop is not about money, it is abo-ut honour and justice”
Even as Gandhi held a meeting,the AICC is learnt to have directedall Pradesh Congress Committeesto organise agitations and holdcandle-light demonstrationsacross states, demanding Oropimplementation. The Oppositionwill also raise the issue, if not re-solved soon, during the upcomingParliament session.
After his interactions with ex-servicemen, Gandhi told the me-dia: “What the Prime Minister sa-ys is One Rank-One Pension is ac-tually pension enhancement andnot Orop. The PM should stop ly-ing on the issue. Charging the Mo-di government with “neglectingjeans and farmers and only favou-ring big industrialists” Gandhi sa-id “the government has not givenrespect and the right which is dueto soldiers. If it had, why have the-se ex-servicemen been protestingfor the last 509 days at Jantar Man-tar? Orop is the right of the armed
forces personnel and the govern-ment will have to give it…The go-vernment has also done thingslike reducing the disability pen-sion.” Gandhi who was detainedthrice during the past two days, sa-id: “I was detained. It does not mat-ter. But how does one justify thepolice dragging and beating up fa-mily members of a deceased ex-servicemen when his body wasstill in hospital?” Flanking Gand-hi, former defence minister A KAntony said the UPA regime hadaccepted and ordered Orop anddemanded that the Modi govern-ment must immediately imple-ment it “without any dilution.”
PM Modi Must ‘StopLying’, Says Rahul
NOT THE SAME
What the Prime Minister says is OneRank-One Pension isactually pension en-hancement & not Orop
NEW DELHI: Days after eight SIMI undertrials were killed inan encounter after their escape from Bhopal prison, ajudicial probe has been ordered by Madhya Pradesh ChiefMinister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, giving into the demand by
Opposition, which has raised questions on claims by police about theMonday encounter. An official release issued on late Thursday nighthere stated that the judicial probe will be conducted by retired HighCourt Judge Justice S K Pandey.—OPB
SIMI Activists Encounter: MP CM Gives into Oppn Demand for Judicial Probe
They (Congress & AAP) have nothingelse (no issues) to do politics on. That is
why they do politics over corpses. Goand ask them whether they haveattended the funeral of any othersoldier. Their talk makes no sense
V K SINGH Union Minister
AT LOGGERHEADS Taking a dig at Rahul’s remarks, Jailtey says that it doesn't behove seniornational leaders to exploit tragedy, but Rahul says govt has not given due respect to soldiers
PCC DEMONSTRATIONS ACROSS INDIA SOON
New Delhi: If you file a Right to In-formation (RTI) appeal before As-sam Information Commission to-day, you will have to wait for 30years to get heard. A study hasfound that the waiting time at in-formation commissions, the finalappellate authority, ranges be-tween two months and 30 years withalmost 2 lakh RTI appeals pendingacross India.
The study conducted by Research,Assessment and Analysis Group(RaaG) and Satark Nagrik Sangath-an, on the working of 16 informationcommissions and Supreme Courtand high courts, reveals that thenumber of RTI appeals pending hasseen a whopping increase rangingbetween 40 and 240% in two years.
The pendency in Assam state in-formation commission has gone upto 240% between January 2014 andJanuary 2016, West Bengal and Od-isha over 60%, Kerala 49% and Cen-tral Information Commission 43%.The study reveals that overall1,87,974 RTI cases are pendingacross India in 16 information com-missions. The study observes, “Thehuge backlog in the disposal of ap-peals and complaints by the com-missions is one of the most seriousproblems being faced by the trans-
parency regime in India. The highlevels of pendency in informationcommissions result in applicantshaving to wait for many months,
even years, for their appeals andcomplaints to be heard.”
The findings reveal that if an ap-peal is filed in Assam on January 1,
2016, it would be heard after 30 years.However, this waiting time was just2years and 8 months in the last RaaGstudy in 2014. The waiting time inWest Bengal is 11 years and threemonths (down from 17 years and 10months in 2014), Kerala seven yearsand four months, Odisha 2 years and9 months, Rajasthan 2 years andthree months, Chhattisgarh yearsand CIC one year and 10 months.
The research attributes growingpendency at commissions and theresultant waiting time to non-im-position of penalty on errant offi-cers wrongfully denying informa-tion under RTI Act. The findings re-veal that penalty is imposed in only1.3% of the cases in which it was im-posable. “The non-imposition ofpenalty has many serious implica-tions as it sends a message that vio-lations of the law will not invite anyadverse consequences. This de-stroys the basic framework of in-centives and disincentives built in-to the RTI law and promotes a cul-ture of impunity. In terms ofamount of penalty foregone by ICs,the analysis of 1,469 orders showedthat by foregoing penalties in caseswhere it was imposable, ICs causeda loss of more than .̀ 2.13 crore. Ex-trapolating this nationally, an esti-mated loss of .̀ 290 crores is beingcaused annual by ICs not imposingpenalties,” the study says.
STUDY ON 16 INFO COMMISSIONS, SC & HIGH COURTS
Waiting Period at RTI CommissionsRanges Between 2 months & 30 Yrs
RECORD INCREASE
Number of RTIappeals pend-ing has seen
awhopping increaseranging between 40 and 240% in two years
TOTAL COUNT
Study revealsthat overall1,87,974 RTI
cases are pendingacross India in 16 info commissions
ARIN
DAM
ET AR
CHIV
ES
PTI
Long Wait STATE Time before new appeal is heard
Assam 30 yearsWest Bengal 11 years and 3 monthsKerala 7 years and 4 monthsOdisha 2 years and 9 monthsRajasthan 2 years and 3 monthsChhattisgarh 2 yearsCIC 1 year and 10 monthsKarnataka 1 year and 8 monthsUP 1 year and 2 monthsMaharashtra 8 months HP 5 monthsPunjab 4 months Haryana 2 monthsMeghalaya 2 monthsNagaland no pendency Sikkim no pendency
PTI
CORRUPTION CHARGES AGAINST IAS OFFICER
Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan
