Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Sunday, November 30, 2008
The story of my tryst with RTI
RTI - Right To Information Act which was released with a lot of fanfare was brought about to bring about more transparency and also accountability in the functioning of Govt. agencies and PSUs. It has definitely got the edge to achieve for which it was initiated in the first place. It's all about bringing forth the long forgotten citizen power.
Though i had read about it and knew that it was a very good instrument its effectiveness was understood by me fully when i made use it recently. So let me get right into the nuances of RTI and shed some light about making use of it.
I had applied for a telephone as well as broadband connection during the first week of August. Generally one gets a telephone connection within 7 days of applying for it. However, there was no signs of me getting one. I called the engineer in charge who was supposed to handle such activities. She said it will be done in some days. "Somedays" passed and yet nothing happened. After calling the engineer again she asked to visit the office once. I went to the office and was asked by her to speak to her Senior about the case.
The senior engineer whom i spoke to was very unprofessional and was very rude. He didn't give any convincing reason about me not getting the phone connection. His reason was that there was no cable to give me a phone connection! This is the state of affairs in one of the best residential areas in namma Bengaluru. God save other places. I was taken aback by his brazen attitude. He went to the extent that i can complain to his seniors and he wasn't bothered about it at all. I thought it was fruitless talking to him and went to the concerned Area Manager. The Area Manager after hearing to my plight talked to the Senior Engineer and told me that my work will be done in 10-15 days. I thought things might work out and waited for about 20-25 days. Still there was no sign of me getting a phone connection. A month and half had passed by now after i had applied.
Around this time i happened to read an article in one of the newspapers abt RTI and some activists who were actively working to spread awareness about the act and its benefits. I had decided that i will definitely go for RTI then and met one of the activist who stays near my house. It turned out to be a very informative visit and the person Mr.VikramSimha was more than happy to help me and in the process gave me lot of information about the RTI Act. He was one of the persons who fought for the act to be passed. Hats off to people like him for carrying out such selfless work.
He typed out my RTI Application. It was good to see good ol' typewriter. :-)
The RTI Application has to be addressed to the Public Information Officer of the concerned dept. In my case i had to address it to PIO of BSNL, Karnataka Circle. There is no standard format of the application. In the subject you have to mention that you're seeking information under the RTI Act 2005. However, you have to be quite clear about what the information you seek and frame the questions accordingly in a precise and clear. Its better that you have about 3-5 questions at the max in your application. Also mention your address/contact information clearly. If you have any supporting documents, you have to include them in your application. In my case, I included the telephone registration card with the application
The application fee is Rs.10 if you personally hand it over to the PIO. It is Rs.11 if you do it through a Postal Order (Rs. 10 + Re. 1 Commission) . If you decide to go by the Postal Order route, you need to mention the Postal Order number in the application and enclose the same.
Once you're done with the framing of the application , you need to send the application to the PIO. I got a Postal Order and sent the application via SpeedPost. Upon receiving the application the PIO sends you the information or directs Assistant PIO's to look into the matter. The information has to be given within 30 working days on the receipt of the application by the PIO.
If you do not receive the information, then you can approach the State Information Commissioner about your application. If this also doesn't help you can approach the Chief Information Commissioner of the Central Govt. If the concerned official/Dept is found to have not carried out its work in the way it should have been, you can also claim for losses of which i am not very clear of.
I received the information i had sought. Also I got the telephone connection as well as the Broadband connection. :-) The reason I have got for me not getting the connection for so many is because they deemed it an infeasible case.
RTI is an effective tool. Make use of it in the right way to get your work done and also get the information you need. But the awareness about RTI is not that great and it will become useful only when We The People start making use of it. It will save us some bribe amount :-)
You can also get more information about RTI by joining the Yahoo group kria katte.
Useful link
http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/programs/ai/rti/india/states/karnataka.htm
Come on ladies and gentlemen! Seek the information. Its your ACT. Its your RIGHT TO INFORMATION!!
Though i had read about it and knew that it was a very good instrument its effectiveness was understood by me fully when i made use it recently. So let me get right into the nuances of RTI and shed some light about making use of it.
I had applied for a telephone as well as broadband connection during the first week of August. Generally one gets a telephone connection within 7 days of applying for it. However, there was no signs of me getting one. I called the engineer in charge who was supposed to handle such activities. She said it will be done in some days. "Somedays" passed and yet nothing happened. After calling the engineer again she asked to visit the office once. I went to the office and was asked by her to speak to her Senior about the case.
The senior engineer whom i spoke to was very unprofessional and was very rude. He didn't give any convincing reason about me not getting the phone connection. His reason was that there was no cable to give me a phone connection! This is the state of affairs in one of the best residential areas in namma Bengaluru. God save other places. I was taken aback by his brazen attitude. He went to the extent that i can complain to his seniors and he wasn't bothered about it at all. I thought it was fruitless talking to him and went to the concerned Area Manager. The Area Manager after hearing to my plight talked to the Senior Engineer and told me that my work will be done in 10-15 days. I thought things might work out and waited for about 20-25 days. Still there was no sign of me getting a phone connection. A month and half had passed by now after i had applied.
Around this time i happened to read an article in one of the newspapers abt RTI and some activists who were actively working to spread awareness about the act and its benefits. I had decided that i will definitely go for RTI then and met one of the activist who stays near my house. It turned out to be a very informative visit and the person Mr.VikramSimha was more than happy to help me and in the process gave me lot of information about the RTI Act. He was one of the persons who fought for the act to be passed. Hats off to people like him for carrying out such selfless work.
He typed out my RTI Application. It was good to see good ol' typewriter. :-)
The RTI Application has to be addressed to the Public Information Officer of the concerned dept. In my case i had to address it to PIO of BSNL, Karnataka Circle. There is no standard format of the application. In the subject you have to mention that you're seeking information under the RTI Act 2005. However, you have to be quite clear about what the information you seek and frame the questions accordingly in a precise and clear. Its better that you have about 3-5 questions at the max in your application. Also mention your address/contact information clearly. If you have any supporting documents, you have to include them in your application. In my case, I included the telephone registration card with the application
The application fee is Rs.10 if you personally hand it over to the PIO. It is Rs.11 if you do it through a Postal Order (Rs. 10 + Re. 1 Commission) . If you decide to go by the Postal Order route, you need to mention the Postal Order number in the application and enclose the same.
Once you're done with the framing of the application , you need to send the application to the PIO. I got a Postal Order and sent the application via SpeedPost. Upon receiving the application the PIO sends you the information or directs Assistant PIO's to look into the matter. The information has to be given within 30 working days on the receipt of the application by the PIO.
If you do not receive the information, then you can approach the State Information Commissioner about your application. If this also doesn't help you can approach the Chief Information Commissioner of the Central Govt. If the concerned official/Dept is found to have not carried out its work in the way it should have been, you can also claim for losses of which i am not very clear of.
I received the information i had sought. Also I got the telephone connection as well as the Broadband connection. :-) The reason I have got for me not getting the connection for so many is because they deemed it an infeasible case.
RTI is an effective tool. Make use of it in the right way to get your work done and also get the information you need. But the awareness about RTI is not that great and it will become useful only when We The People start making use of it. It will save us some bribe amount :-)
You can also get more information about RTI by joining the Yahoo group kria katte.
Useful link
http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/programs/ai/rti/india/states/karnataka.htm
Come on ladies and gentlemen! Seek the information. Its your ACT. Its your RIGHT TO INFORMATION!!
Getting it finally!
As i had posted last about my radio rendezvous that i had not received the prize money, it took a while to get it and also some effort. When i had won the prize i was told that i would be getting a call from the station and i need to go and collect the prize money. I was waiting and it was after a good month and half i called them to enquire about it. To my utter dismay and astonishment i found them telling me that they do not have my number in their records and hence i cannot receive the prize! :-)
It was a bolt from the blue and i had to call them a few times to convince them of their mistake. It was as if they had conveniently forgotten about it. Then i spoke to the RJ who had asked me the questions. He asked me the questions that were asked me then and only after i told him the correct questions he was convinced that i was indeed who i was and that i had won the prize! Whew... Their lame excuse was that they had somehow mistakenly put some other number in place of mine! :-)
Kahaani abhi katam nahi huyi hain.... ;-)
With great anticipation, I went to the radio station which was quite far from where i stay to collect the prize. It is a nice funky looking place to say the least. I was asked to sign a few documents and was told that i will be given a call when the cheque arrives and then i can go and collect it! I was like, God... why couldnt they have got the cheques and then called me... I had to make one more trip to this far away place....
When the call finally came, i went there again. However there was a glitch! :-) I had not taken my PAN card as it was mandatory. I had taken it the first time i had been there and hence didnt think it was necessary to carry it again. But they wanted it and they asked me to come again with it to take the prize money. This was the last straw and i snapped! Big time!!
I gave them a mouthful.(Trust me i didn't hurl any abuses, it was done very politely :-) )
It made the impact and they agreed to send me the cheque once they receive the Faxed copy of my PAN. This was done by me the very day and after 2 days i got the cheque!!!!
What all one has to do to get what is theirs rightfully!! :-) :-) It seemed an ordeal. But i got it finally
It was a bolt from the blue and i had to call them a few times to convince them of their mistake. It was as if they had conveniently forgotten about it. Then i spoke to the RJ who had asked me the questions. He asked me the questions that were asked me then and only after i told him the correct questions he was convinced that i was indeed who i was and that i had won the prize! Whew... Their lame excuse was that they had somehow mistakenly put some other number in place of mine! :-)
Kahaani abhi katam nahi huyi hain.... ;-)
With great anticipation, I went to the radio station which was quite far from where i stay to collect the prize. It is a nice funky looking place to say the least. I was asked to sign a few documents and was told that i will be given a call when the cheque arrives and then i can go and collect it! I was like, God... why couldnt they have got the cheques and then called me... I had to make one more trip to this far away place....
When the call finally came, i went there again. However there was a glitch! :-) I had not taken my PAN card as it was mandatory. I had taken it the first time i had been there and hence didnt think it was necessary to carry it again. But they wanted it and they asked me to come again with it to take the prize money. This was the last straw and i snapped! Big time!!
I gave them a mouthful.(Trust me i didn't hurl any abuses, it was done very politely :-) )
It made the impact and they agreed to send me the cheque once they receive the Faxed copy of my PAN. This was done by me the very day and after 2 days i got the cheque!!!!
What all one has to do to get what is theirs rightfully!! :-) :-) It seemed an ordeal. But i got it finally
Sunday, October 12, 2008
I was on AIR!
One fine morning as i was going to office in the cab, the driver was surfing radio channels and finally settled on one of the many channels which are airing now in namma bengaluru.
It was Aug 14th and there was some competition which was going on related to Independence Day. The RJ was asking a lady some question which was ; "From where is the 3-Lion symbol which is in our national emblem being taken from?"
The lady answered that it was taken from Vidhana Soudha!! (in Bengaluru) And she was quite confident about that as well.
This was when i thought let me also try as they were offering moolah as well if we answer the questions correctly. I registered my number and after that had forgotten about it.
When it was around 10 30, a lady called me from the radio station telling me that my number had been selected and the RJ will call me in sometime and ask me questions.
I was feeling jittery, nervous as this was the first time ever i was going LIVE on AIR! The RJ called and gave me some guidelines and also asked me to talk with JOSH.
Then the all important moment came.... I was on AIR!!
There were 3 types of questions ; Green which was easy
White which was of medium difficulty
Saffron which was deemed difficult.
He asked me to choose one among the above 3. As most of us would go for, i asked for a Green Question. He told me why not go for Saffron Question which would get me more money. I initially didnt agree but after some prodding went for a Saffron question. The question was ,"Whose birthday was on Sep 5th?"
I just shouted the answer! Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan :-)
As usual there was the customary applause and cheers sound which one gets to hear in radio. Whew... I had won a prize. Then he told me that i can also go for one more question called a CHAKRA question. If i answer it correctly i could double the prize i had won otherwise i would lose what i had won. I had my fingers crossed....
Devara mele bhaara haaki, i went for it. :-)
The question was "Who was the first woman mountain climber from India to climb Mt.Everest?"
Bachendri Pal ...
I was FLABBERGASTED!!
I had done it... :-) Some use of my GK finally!!
My team members and also some colleagues heard me on radio. There was real cheers and applause as well after that! :-)
As usual, TREAT... TREAT... was on every1's mouth.
I told them that once i get the prize money i will treat them.
And the best part is yet to come....
Nearly 2 months since, i haven't received the prize money yet!! :-)
It was Aug 14th and there was some competition which was going on related to Independence Day. The RJ was asking a lady some question which was ; "From where is the 3-Lion symbol which is in our national emblem being taken from?"
The lady answered that it was taken from Vidhana Soudha!! (in Bengaluru) And she was quite confident about that as well.
This was when i thought let me also try as they were offering moolah as well if we answer the questions correctly. I registered my number and after that had forgotten about it.
When it was around 10 30, a lady called me from the radio station telling me that my number had been selected and the RJ will call me in sometime and ask me questions.
I was feeling jittery, nervous as this was the first time ever i was going LIVE on AIR! The RJ called and gave me some guidelines and also asked me to talk with JOSH.
Then the all important moment came.... I was on AIR!!
There were 3 types of questions ; Green which was easy
White which was of medium difficulty
Saffron which was deemed difficult.
He asked me to choose one among the above 3. As most of us would go for, i asked for a Green Question. He told me why not go for Saffron Question which would get me more money. I initially didnt agree but after some prodding went for a Saffron question. The question was ,"Whose birthday was on Sep 5th?"
I just shouted the answer! Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan :-)
As usual there was the customary applause and cheers sound which one gets to hear in radio. Whew... I had won a prize. Then he told me that i can also go for one more question called a CHAKRA question. If i answer it correctly i could double the prize i had won otherwise i would lose what i had won. I had my fingers crossed....
Devara mele bhaara haaki, i went for it. :-)
The question was "Who was the first woman mountain climber from India to climb Mt.Everest?"
Bachendri Pal ...
I was FLABBERGASTED!!
I had done it... :-) Some use of my GK finally!!
My team members and also some colleagues heard me on radio. There was real cheers and applause as well after that! :-)
As usual, TREAT... TREAT... was on every1's mouth.
I told them that once i get the prize money i will treat them.
And the best part is yet to come....
Nearly 2 months since, i haven't received the prize money yet!! :-)
Memories to Cherish....
There comes a time in everyone's life when we introspect about how our life has been to us and how we have been to life. There are lot of complications in one's life because we tend to focus on things which aren't there with us rather than things with us. There are some chapters in life which leave an indelible mark. And there are people associated with these chapters. When these people leave us or about to leave us it will be a loss of enormous proportions.Memories is all we have left of them which we have to cherish. We tend to become disheveled. And feel as if life can't move on.... We will be so much used to those people that we feel why did this happen to me of all people... Why is life so harsh....?
When we face troubles at such junctures, then we feel the pain has increased manifold. The more we think, the more we tend to suffer. But in doing so we will be left behind in life and we have to work our way back. In order to get our life back on track we should try to think about the good times we had with them. That way we will find a way to move forward and get our life back on track. It's part and parcel of life and we cannot run away from it.
Friday, December 21, 2007
HOPE has a place
I recently came across some stories which shows that there are a few good men/women around us from whom we need to learn a lot in life. These people are not extraordinary. They are just like everyone of us. It's just that they thought and more importantly executed simple plans of theirs which did a whole lot of good to the society/people around them. These people didn't wait for things to happen and took it upon them to give back something to the society unlike most of us who just don't do things even though we know we can do them.
These people are the real role models and are a source of inspiration. Some of the stories i came across were of public servants who accomplished tasks because of their sheer resolve.
The person is Mr Ajai Shankar Pandey, Municipal Commissioner of
His message is
"When I arrived, I told the people of
For more on this individual visit the link below
http://specials.rediff.com/yearend/2007/dec/19yrpandey1.htm
One more person, Vivek Agarwal an IAS officer who is the collector of
For more on this story visit
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/G_Das_Blueline_solution_in_Indore/articleshow/2625137.cms
One more story is of a girl Farzana Ahmad all of 15 who showed exceptional courage and bravery by risking her life and saving five people from drowning in the swollen waters of the Panar river in Purnea district in September. On the fateful day she was washing clothes by the river when she saw an over-loaded boat capsize. She immediately jumped into the water and saved 3 children and a woman and a man. She has learnt swimming from a very young age which helped her cause. Her act is an exemplary one and the accolades has kept pouring in for this brave young lady.
For the entire story visit
http://specials.rediff.com/yearend/2007/dec/18yrfarzana1.htm
After reading about these inspiring stories, i felt that HOPE has a place in fact. The way Manjunath's (IIM-A grad who was working with IOC and was a whistle blower) case was handled, left a lot to be desired. The highest office in our country (read PMO) couldn't keep his identity under wraps for which he ended up paying his life.
We can just hope and get our inspiration from these real life role models.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Life is a Rollercoaster!!
Sometimes in our lives we need to introspect as to how we have lived it. We will come across many incidents which we think could have been handled in a better way. At the end of the day we just have words to say that if only i could have done it differently, ALAS....
We do lotta mistakes in life just by doing things in haste. We don't even think about the repercussions that our actions might cause. We might end up causing irreparable damage to ourselves as well as others unnecessarily.
Anger is something we need to keep in check. I mean when one's angry he/she just doesn't think in a way he/she would when they are normal.As a result of this, we end up saying/doing things the consequences of which can be catastrophic to say the least.
Once we calm down and think about our actions we need to think whether that moment of insanity on our part was worth it all. Relationships that are otherwise strong are broken in one moment of madness. Lives are altered. It will never be the same again.
The act of redemption is one of the most difficult things to say the least. I mean you cannot deny your actions or the words you have said. Its very difficult to establish something which you seem to have lost in that process... Trust....
People just find it so hard to trust you after the fiasco. So, one has to think a lot before saying/doing things because our bad actions are the ones which are gonna linger on....
As always, we just have to take care that we don't repeat such acts which might cause others lotta trouble and heartburn. One learns from mistakes and we should be wiser after such incidents.
As some wise person has said, we just have to......
Hope for the best, prepare for the worst
We do lotta mistakes in life just by doing things in haste. We don't even think about the repercussions that our actions might cause. We might end up causing irreparable damage to ourselves as well as others unnecessarily.
Anger is something we need to keep in check. I mean when one's angry he/she just doesn't think in a way he/she would when they are normal.As a result of this, we end up saying/doing things the consequences of which can be catastrophic to say the least.
Once we calm down and think about our actions we need to think whether that moment of insanity on our part was worth it all. Relationships that are otherwise strong are broken in one moment of madness. Lives are altered. It will never be the same again.
The act of redemption is one of the most difficult things to say the least. I mean you cannot deny your actions or the words you have said. Its very difficult to establish something which you seem to have lost in that process... Trust....
People just find it so hard to trust you after the fiasco. So, one has to think a lot before saying/doing things because our bad actions are the ones which are gonna linger on....
As always, we just have to take care that we don't repeat such acts which might cause others lotta trouble and heartburn. One learns from mistakes and we should be wiser after such incidents.
As some wise person has said, we just have to......
Hope for the best, prepare for the worst
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