--- On Sun, 1/4/09, sahasipadyatri <[email protected]> wrote:
> From: sahasipadyatri <[email protected]>
> Subject: Calling for Immediate Nationwide Agitation against Chief CICs and
> SICs
> To: "Krishnaraj Rao" <[email protected]>
> Date: Sunday, January 4, 2009, 8:08 PM
> Dear Fellow Citizens, Activists,
>
>
>
> I am hereby calling for a nationwide agitation against
> Chief State & Central
> Information Commissioners, to begin within the next 10 days
> or so. Our
> agitation may take various forms of civil disobedience; let
> us discuss and
> plan the specific details.
>
>
>
> *Our demand is simple and lawful:* Each Chief CIC/SIC must
> send a circular
> to all public authorities in their jurisdiction, stressing
> the four points
> mentioned below. (Needless to say, individual Information
> Commissioners must
> thereafter follow up and enforce these with immediate
> effect
but if
> circulars are issued, we shall take that as a written
> commitment, and follow
> up on the implementation.)
>
> * *
>
> *Our Demand: Chief State/Central Information Commissioners
> must issue
> circulars that stress the following RTI provisions:*
>
> * *
>
> 1. *strict Enforcement of Section 20: *
>
> *Penalties & DISCIPLINARY action *
>
> *for breach of crucial rti deadlines*
>
> * *
>
> § [Normally 30 days from the date of receipt, but only 48
> hours
> ifconcerning life and liberty of a person, as per Sec.
> 7(1).
>
> § 5 additional days are added to the above u/s 5(2) if
> RTI application is
> transferred to an Assistant PIO.**
>
> § 40 days if the information is given by third party in
> confidence, as per
> Sec. 11 (3)
>
> § If cost of providing the information is being charged,
> intimation of the
> same must be sent to the RTI Applicant. The period between
> the dispatch of
> this intimation and payment of fees by Applicant is
> excluded for the purpose
> of calculating the deadline, as per Sec. 7(3).
>
>
>
> *Failure to meet any of the above deadlines means that
> penalty *@ Rs 250 per
> day upto Rs 25,000 and *departmental action* must be
> applicable u/s 20. No
> excuses that are not mentioned under the RTI Act will be
> admissible.
>
>
>
> *Details for enforcement:*
>
>
>
> a) In cases where responsibility cannot be clearly
> isolated and pinned
> on PIO, penalties for *contributory negligence or abetting
> negligence* must
> be imposed as per Section 20 on all parties concerned with
> providing
> information PIO, Assistant PIO, 1st Appellate
> Authority, head of the
> public authority etc. *This is mandatory, not
> discretionary or
> discriminatory; and this has been upheld by several High
> Courts.*
>
> b) If failure to meet the above deadlines are noted by
> FAA, then FAA
> must pass strictures clearly pinpointing negligence and
> non-compliance with
> various sections of the Act in their order. Also, they must
> forward their
> orders to SIC for consider action u/s 20. *This is
> mandatory as per the
> intent of Act.*
>
> c) Penalty, reprimands and strictures passed against
> PIOs and others
> by CIC/SIC must be mandatorily included in *Annual
> Confidential Reports
> (ACR) and Service Records* of those employees. **
>
> d) CIC/SIC's file cannot close with simply passing
> orders. Unless a
> compliance report is filed, CIC/SIC must summon the PIO and
> FAA every month
> for a hearing and seek justification. *This is mandatory
> in keeping with
> the spirit of the Act.*
>
>
>
> 2. *strict Enforcement of Sec. 19(5):*
>
> *putting onUS on PIO to justify dENIAL*
>
> As per Sec 19(5), in any appeal proceedings, the onus to
> prove that a denial
> of a request was justified shall be on the Central Public
> Information
> Officer or State Public Information Officer, as the case
> may be, who denied
> the request. Section 19(5) must be strictly enforced at
> both FAA and
> CIC/SIC. *PIO must present justifications under RTI Act in
> writing*,
> otherwise action under Sec 20 must follow.
>
>
>
> 3. *strict interpretation & Enforcement of SEC.
> 6(1), 4(3) & 7(1): *
>
> *responses in same language as rti application*
>
> (English / Hindi / Regional Language)
>
> *Reply must be in same language as RTI application* as per
> 6(1), 4(3) and
> 7(9)].
>
> Unless the matter demanded is photocopy of an existing
> document, PIO's reply
> and information must be in the language of RTI Application.
> Unless replying
> in the same language would "*disportionately divert
> the resources of the
> public authority"* (eg. If a remote village panchayat
> office receives an RTI
> application in English),* *breach of this norm must be
> taken as a
> *malafide*and misleading action, and penalty must be
> imposed.
>
>
>
> 4. *strict Enforcement of Sec. 8(1)(J):*
>
> *MANDATORY DISCLOSURE TO PARLIAMENT, ASSEMBLY ETC.*
>
> If any matter is denied to an ordinary citizen under any
> section whatsoever,
> the PIO must give a letter stating that he would not give
> such information
> even if it were demanded by the parliament as per Sec
> 8(1)(j) latter half.
> This must be countersigned by the head of the Public
> Authority.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *(Of course there are many more things that we may wish to
> include in our
> demands. However, let us avoid that temptation, because too
> many demands are
> difficult to focus on, negotiate and agitate for. It will
> also confuse the
> general public and media, whose understanding and support
> will be critical
> to our success. So let us keep our demands focused and
> sharp.)*
>
> * *
>
> *To avert our agitation before it happens, or to end it
> when it is in
> progress, what action is required from each Chief SIC/CIC?
> *
>
> * *
>
> *The answer is: *Chief CIC/SIC must immediately send a
> circular to heads of
> all public authorities stressing all of the above points.
> When activists of
> this jurisdiction are satisfied that a suitably worded
> circular has been
> issued and dispatched, they will end their agitation.
>
>
>
> *Key parameters for our agitation are*:
>
>
>
> (a) *Cause plenty of inconvenience and embarrassment
> *to Chief CICs and
> SICs in their official capacity**
>
> (b) *Avoid targeting individuals and creating personal
> enemity *because
> our fight is not against individuals, but against a corrupt
> system. **
>
> (c) *Interesting *methods of civil disobedience* *to*
> *involve maximum
> numbers of citizens and hold their interest
>
> (d) *Sustainable *methods of civil disobedience let
> us avoid
> hunger-strikes etc., or at least save these options for
> later.
>
> (e) *Frequent elements of surprise *to keep officials and
> media on their
> toes**
>
> (f) *Cheerful methods *to avoid depression and gloom in
> our ranks**
>
> (g) *Avoid causing too much inconvenience to the general
> public. *Some
> inconvenience may be unavoidable, but we must remember that
> members of the
> general public -- no matter what stand they take are
> not our adversaries.*
> *
>
> (h) *Avoid violence at all costs. **Maar khana achcha
> hai, lekin maarna
> allowed nahin hai. *We must all take pains to keep tempers
> cool, no matter
> what provocations come our way, because we stand for a
> cause that is much
> larger that each of us.**
>
>
>
> We all have been thinking and debating for months and
> years. There have been
> enough discussions with Information Commissioners. It is
> already too late.
> There is no excuse for further delay. Let us agitate now.
>
>
>
> As for what forms of agitation we must adopt to make the
> movement
> broad-based and effective let us start the discussion
> on phone and email.
>
>
>
> Warm Regards,
>
> Krishnaraj Rao
>
> Spokesman, Sahasi Padyatri movement
>
> 98215 88114
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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