Latest Info Commission​er Selection: PMO played fair, Oppn Leader played foul

15 May, 2012: There is good news: documents procured by activists GirishMittal and Lokesh Batra under RTI indicate that the latest batch of CentralInformation Commissioners (Rajiv Mathur, Vijai Sharma and Basant Seth) wereselected by a more transparent process than earlier. The central government hasdefinitely mended its ways and set a good precedent for state governments.  By calling for applications and having applicationsscreened by a Search Committee, the government has yielded to two long standingdemands of RTI activists.

However, Leader ofOpposition Sushma Swaraj short-circuited the process, it seems. She put up twonames that were not selected by the Search Committee, and one of them became aCIC. New CICs Rajiv Mathur and Vijai Sharma were on a shortlist of nine personsafter a screening process for 214 contenders. But new CIC Basant Seth waseliminated by the Search Committee, and re-entered the shortlist as SushmaSwaraj’s candidate, it appears from the below documents.

THE PROCESS FOLLOWED THISTIME:

1)      OnOct 29, 2011, DOPT issued this circular inviting applications from all eligiblepersons, including civil society: http://tinyurl.com/DOPT-Circular-Nov2011

2)      Fromthe applications received before the final date, a list of all 214 applicants wasdrawn up: http://tinyurl.com/List-CIC-Applicants-Apr2012

3)      TheSearch Committee seemingly evaluated 214 applicants “on the basis of width,diversity, relevance and length of experience of the applicants, with some preferencefor legal background and strategic exposure”. Also, inputs were sought fromIntelligence Bureau and Central Vigilance Commission. All this is stated in theminutes of the Selection Committee meeting on 23 February 2012: http://tinyurl.com/MOM-PMs-Selection-Cmte-Feb2012

IT WILL BE WORTH GETTING THESE DETAILS UNDER RTI:

a)     Copies of all correspondence betweenDOPT and PMO concerning constituting Search Committee, defining its terms ofreference, etc.

b)     Copies of documents showing the criteriaand procedure used by the Search Committee for screening the 214 names andarriving at the shortlist of nine names.

c)     What inputs were solicited and receivedby the PMO, Selection Committee and/or Screening Committee from IB and CVC?Copies of all correspondence, reports received etc.

d)     Copies of all correspondence by OppositionLeader Sushma Swaraj with PMO, Search Committee, Selection Committee andcandidates for the CIC’s post.

WHAT IS A SEARCHCOMMITTEE?

Search     Committees guidelines 1994: http://tinyurl.com/Search-Cmte-Circ-1994  

Search     Committee guidelines 2007: http://tinyurl.com/Search-Cmte-Circ-2007

IMPROVEMENT OVER EARLIER SELECTIONS:

Notwithstanding possible deficiencies of the process followed inthis round of selections, it is far better than earlier selections when A N Tiwari (now retired) and Satyananda Mishra (now the Chief CIC), whowere both DoPT Secretaries, selected themselves for the post of InformationCommissioner.   Tiwari and Mishra disregarded dozens of applicationsaddressed to them and made the shortlist list so short that it reduced thePrime Minister’s Selection Committee into a mere rubber stamp. Girish Mittal’sRTI findings revealed this shocking abuse of position:  http://tinyurl.com/ANT-SM-Self-Selection

To understandethical and legal issues in selecting CICs, read this: http://tinyurl.com/CIC-Selections-legal-issues

The present changes in selection procedure are the result of anongoing struggle since 2009. Background material: http://tinyurl.com/CIC-Selections-background

Warm Regards,
KrishnarajRao
98215 88114
thebravepedestrian@gmail.com

RTI Task force for transparency in Banks & Financial Sector

Dear Friends,

A number of RTI activists are fighting for transparency in the banking sector, and their regulatory bodies. Whenever they have filed RTI applications for information from the banking sector – even where a large element of public interest is involved -- many activists have found that the banks are stonewalling and evading disclosures. RTI activists have many favourable orders from Central Information Commission to support them in their fight, but it is necessary for activists to come together on this issue and pool their energies.

In recent weeks, a number of activists have discussed with me about this area of need. (By a happy coincidence, I have been asked to address a meeting on this topic by Moneylife Foundation this week.)

So I am inviting you to not only participate in but spearhead a task force for transparency in this sector. If you have some experience with RTI on banks, or you are yourself a banker, we urge you to share your knowledge and insights with us.

WHY FOCUS ON BANKS? SOME SPECIFIC REASONS:

1. Banks play a key role in our lives. God forbid, if some major banks – or even relatively minor cooperative banks -- were to pack up tomorrow, we would be very badly hit. Therefore, their lending and investment policies are very much our concern. Banks – especially nationalized banks – cannot argue that what they do is their internal matter”, and of no concern to citizens!

2. Alarmingly, banks are increasingly acting like usurious money-lenders. Many of their loans – especially gold-loans and loans against property – are aimed at distressed borrowers who have been hit by recession and are struggling to maintain their lifestyle and business. A large proportion of such borrowers fail to repay their loans, and lose their assets. To promote borrowing in such an economic environment is exploitative: http://tinyurl.com/Bank-Loans-Aggressive-promos

3. Nationalized banks, private banks and cooperative banks have disproportionate clout. They are repositories of depositors’ moneys, and also retail as well as bulk lenders. Last but not least, they are investors participating in the equity markets and competing with small investors.

4. As bulk lenders and investors, they influence industrial growth. As retail lenders and savings banks, they determine consumer and investor behavior. By varying the interest rates on deposits and loans, they play a major role in determining whether the bulk of Indians invest in equity, put their money into fixed-income instruments, or use their money in buying consumer goods.

5. Banks and bankers actively shape the policies made by the Union Finance Ministry and Reserve Bank of India. The quality of their reporting to the government and regulatory bodies, and the pressures that they exert on governance, are key determinants on what happens to our nation. They actually have enough power to crash the economy singlehandedly!

6. Bad banks = costly bailouts using public moneys. Most banks are considered “too big to fail”. Government invariably steps in to rescue banks that are in trouble, using large amounts of public moneys for bailouts. This means that minding the business of banks is every citizen’s business!

7. Fuzzy lines in banking. The lines between non-banking finance companies and banks are blurred.

8. Conflicts of interest. With many banks like SBI becoming shareholders in loss-making companies like Kingfisher Airlines, and also project-finance to unscrupulous builders following bad and illegal practices, conflicts of interest are the norm rather than the exception.

I look forward to your early response.

Warm Regards,

Krish

98215 88114

thebravepedestrian.[AT].gmail.com

SC’s Verdict on CVC gives RTI activists 10 Reasons to Cheer!

Friends,

We should cheer now! Thursday’s Supreme Court verdict annulling P J Thomas’s appointment as CVC gives nepotism a kick in the pants! This order contains instructions for ensuring transparent selections of constitutional authorities such as State & Central Information Commissioners, members of Human Rights Commission, Minorities Commission, etc. We can use these ‘legal gems’ in our letter-baazi, complaints, RTI applications & writ petitions.

In this copy of the SC judgment, these 10 directives are shown in the right margin in Red Roman Numerals: http://tinyurl.com/SC-sacks-CVC1

These are also listed below.

10 Directives for Transparent Selection:

I. High Courts must entertain when appointments are challenged. “We reiterate that Government is not accountable to the courts for the choice made but Government is accountable to the courts in respect of the lawfulness/legality of its decisions when impugned under the judicial review jurisdiction.”(Pg 52, Point 45)

II. Recommendation made without due procedure are null & void. “If a duty is cast under the proviso to Section 4(1) on the High Powered Committee (HPC) to recommend to the President the name of the selected candidate, the integrity of that decision making process is got to ensure that the powers are exercised for the purposes and in the manner envisaged by the said Act, otherwise such recommendation will have no existence in the eye of law.” (Page 2, point 2).

III. CVC is defined as an “Integrity Institution”. (The same definition may stretch to Information Commissions.) “In our opinion, CVC is an integrity institution. This is clear from the scope and ambit (including the functions of the Central Vigilance Commissioner) of the 2003 Act. It is an Institution which is statutorily created under the Act. It is to supervise vigilance administration. The 2003 Act provides for a mechanism by which the CVC retains control over CBI. That is the reason why it is given autonomy and insulation from external influences under the 2003 Act.” (Page 22, Point 26.)

IV. The key issue is Institutional Integrity, not Personal Integrity. “The constitution of CVC as a statutory body under Section 3 shows that CVC is an Institution. The key word is Institution. We are emphasizing the key word for the simple reason that in the present case the recommending authority (High Powered Committee) has gone by personal integrity of the officers empanelled and not by institutional integrity.” (Point 28, page 30)

V. Recommendation of Selection Committee must show a proper thought-process. “The word ‘recommendation’ in the proviso stands for an informed decision to be taken by the HPC on the basis of a consideration of relevant material keeping in mind the purpose, object and policy of the 2003 Act. As stated, the object and purpose of the 2003 Act is to have an integrity Institution like CVC which is in charge of vigilance administration and which constitutes an anti-corruption mechanism. In its functions, the CVC is similar to Election Commission, Comptroller and Auditor General, Parliamentary Committees etc. Thus, while making the recommendations, the service conditions of the candidate being a public servant or civil servant in the past is not the sole criteria.” (Point 28, page 31-32).

VI. The logic of decision-making process must be self-evident. “Appointment to the post of the Central Vigilance Commissioner must satisfy not only the eligibility criteria of the candidate but also the decision making process of the recommendation. The decision to recommend has got to be an informed decision keeping in mind the fact that CVC as an institution has to perform an important function of vigilance administration. (Point 33, page 36)

VII. The touchstone is Public Interest. “When institutional integrity is in question, the touchstone should be ‘public interest’ which has got to be taken into consideration by the HPC and in such cases the HPC may not insist upon proof ” (i.e. conclusive proof of the candidate being corrupt or ineligible.) “The point to be noted is that in the present case the entire emphasis has been placed by the CVC, the DoPT and the HPC only on the bio-data of the empanelled candidates. None of these authorities have looked at the matter from the larger perspective of institutional integrity including institutional competence and functioning of CVC. It is the independence and impartiality of the institution like CVC which has to be maintained and preserved in larger interest of the rule of law. While making recommendations, the HPC performs a statutory duty. Its duty is to recommend. While making recommendations, the criteria of the candidate being a public servant or a civil servant in the past is not the sole consideration. The HPC has to look at the record and take into consideration whether the candidate would or would not be able to function as a Central Vigilance Commissioner.” (Point 33, page 37)

VIII. Don’t consider only civil servants. “No reason has been given as to why in the present case the zone of consideration stood restricted only to the civil service.” (Point 55, page 68).

IX. Step-by-step instructions for selection procedure, incl. how list of candidates will be prepared (Point 55, pg 68 onwards):

(a) Record reasons, especially if there’s dissent. “As in the present case, if one Member of the Committee dissents that Member should give reasons for the dissent and if the majority disagrees with the dissent, the majority shall give reasons for overruling the dissent. This will bring about fairness-in-action. Since we have held that legality of the choice or selection is open to judicial review we are of the view that if the above methodology is followed transparency would emerge which would also maintain the integrity of the decisionmaking process.”

(b) Don’t restrict selection to civil servants. “In future, the zone of consideration should be in terms of Section 3(3) of the 2003 Act. It shall not be restricted to civil servants.”

(c) Impeccable integrity. “All the civil servants and other persons empanelled shall be outstanding civil servants or persons of impeccable integrity.”

(d) Rational criteria, recording of reasons. “The empanelment shall be carried out on the basis of rational criteria, which is to be reflected by recording of reasons and/or noting akin to reasons by the empanelling authority.”

(e) Fixing accountability for empanelment. “The empanelment shall be carried out by a person not below the rank of Secretary to the Government of India in the concerned Ministry.”

(f) Don’t withhold information. “The empanelling authority, while forwarding the names of the empanelled officers/persons, shall enclose complete information, material and data of the concerned officer/person, whether favourable or adverse. Nothing relevant or material should be withheld from the Selection Committee. It will not only be useful but would also serve larger public interest and enhance public confidence if the contemporaneous service record and acts of outstanding performance of the officer under consideration, even with adverse remarks is specifically brought to the notice of the Selection Committee. ”

(g) Transparent screening procedure. “The Selection Committee may adopt a fair and transparent process of consideration of the empanelled officers.”

X. A precedent is set for quashing of Commissioner’s appointment by court. No need for roundabout methods to remove CIC/SIC! “The impugned appointment of Shri P.J. Thomas as Central Vigilance Commissioner is quashed.” (Point 56, page 71)

Benefits from this Judgment:

A. HALF THE BATTLE IS WON FOR ARVIND KEJRIWAL’S SLP, WHICH WAS RECENTLY ADMITTED BY SUPREME COURT. The Special Leave Petition challenges non-transparent selection of Information Commissioners. Gist of Kejriwal’s petition: http://tinyurl.com/Kejriwals-SLP1

B. Details of many unfair appointments: http://tinyurl.com/BadSelection

C. In 2010, Andhra Pradesh High Court and Tamil Nadu High Court admitted writ petitions filed by Madhav Vishnubhatta challenging the arbitrary selection of Chief State Information Commissioners. In Tamil Nadu, the Chief SIC was appointed by the CM’s selection committee, disregarding dissent expressed by opposition leader Jayalalitha.

D. THE CLEAN-UP WILL OPEN UP HUNDREDS OF POSTS AT CENTRAL AND STATE LEVELS. The government will have to consider ‘eminent citizens’ like you all for all such posts, as opposed to political chamchas: http://tinyurl.com/How-Babus-Steal-Power

Warm Regards,

Krish

98215 88114

Right to Information -- The Battle for True Citizenship

Dear friends,

The passing of Right to Information Act 2005 was like the unfurling of a flag, heralding the coming-of-age of ‘We the People’. It was not just another mundane event in the life of our nation; it showed a shift in the national psyche.

By winning Independence Struggle I, we sent the British ruler home, but we inherited the baggage they left behind:

(i) A bureaucratic structure that was, as Wajahat Habibullah noted, suited more for colonial slave India than free democratic India

(ii) A legal structure biased towards maintaining the inequality between the rulers and the ruled. Upon the foundation of Official Secrets Act 1923 and other archaic and dysfunctional laws (such as Bombay Municipal Corporation Act 1888), we unthinkingly based our more recent laws. Our Constitution – painstakingly debated and written between 1947 and 1950 -- is forward-looking and seeks to empower citizens

(iii) Our judiciary, with its archaic privileges and untrammeled powers. And now it is like a schizophrenic in character – struggling to retain these privileges, but simultaneously wishing to respond to the common man’s cry for better governance and cleaner administration.

As a result of our inherited historical baggage, our establishment thinks like East India Company. Without any guilt, it is plundering tribal lands with economic policies and at gunpoint, because it believes in the rightness of achieving economic growth at all costs. It guiltlessly goes about facilitating massive land acquisition, suspension of labour laws and massive tax breaks for the wealthy in Special Economic Zones. The government talks about inclusive growth and progress for all without even realizing the irony of what they are doing.

Our own daily public behavior as citizens reflects the slave-citizen’s urge to gather and hoard up undue privileges, influence and power. We seek to encash and leverage every tiny piece of privileged information, every discretionary power and every scrap of political influence that we each have. Like toxic pesticides getting concentrated as it goes up the food chain, each citizen’s greed to pick up the biggest slice of cake gets concentrated thousand-fold as it goes up the local self-government chain. By the time it reaches the level of the ministries, the greed assumes demonic proportions.

Independence Struggle II, which started in the late 90s, and flowered with the passing of the RTI Act 2005, is ongoing. This struggle is against misuse of powers by bureaucracy, the political class and the vested interests. Thousands of us civil-society members are now soldiers, spending time and money to battle against the demon that we ourselves feed in our daily lives. Thousands of us are actively risking their lives to make our system transparent and responsive to the common man. The stepped-up rate of attacks on activists and whistle-blowers in 2010 is testimony to this battle.

This phenomenon has dimensions that we have not yet fully understood and assimilated. The ongoing changes are historical, political, social, cultural and legal. Let us look at these changes.

1) A POLITICAL & HISTORICAL REVOLUTION IS IN PROGRESS. From 1947 till 2005, citizens in general only used to vote and pay taxes. They did not actively participate in governance. Till around 1980, the only citizens who participated in politics were Gandhian-types and independent-minded journalists. Later, there was the growth of NGOs, but as they sought government support and funding, most of them did not oppose the government in a meaningful way. It is only since the passing of RTI Act 2005 that citizens at large have begun to participate in governance, and hold the govt. and administration accountable by asking tough questions and demanding answers. In fact, after RTI ordinances were passed of Maharashtra and other states in 2002, thousands of activist citizens all over the country started filing RTI applications and unearthing dirt and corruption. This number has now swelled to several lakhs. This is a major aspect of Independence Struggle II.

2) THERE IS A SHIFT IN BALANCE OF POWER TOWARDS ORDINARY CITIZEN. The passing of the Right To Information Act in 2005 gave citizens a new locus standivis-à-vis the government and administration, enabling ordinary people to demand access to documents that were hitherto “official secrets” or “marked confidential”. By ending the stranglehold of the pre-colonial Official Secrets Act 1923, the RTI Act changed the balance of power between citizens and bureaucracy. Early pioneers (like late Prakash Kardaley, Late Kewal Semlani and Shailesh Gandhi and Anna Hazare in Maharashtra, Aruna Roy in Rajasthan and Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi region) systematically taught people the logic of RTI, creating a well-informed swarm of citizens to question the government on non-performance, arbitrariness and corruption.

Technology is playing a key role in this sweeping change. Email groups, blogs and mobile technology are acting as hubs in the further education of citizens and media by a second generation of RTI activists and experts. With hundreds of aggressive activists scooping out skeletons, there is now a mass movement that is no longer dependent on the initiatives of a few enlightened persons. Indeed, judicial and administrative reforms today provokes popular emotions that were earlier seen only in issues like river-water-sharing, linguistic borders and reservations.

3) CRIME-FIGHTING IS NOW A SOCIALLY RECOGNIZED ACTIVITY. It is no exaggeration to say that RTI “activists” (as opposed to RTI “users”) are modern-day detectives and crime-fighters. Unlike Phantom, Spiderman and other imaginary super-heroes, they don’t use fists and guns; like Sherlock Holmes and Perry Mason, they use their brains to get expose crime and sleaze. Forced by deliberate failure of authorities to stop ongoing criminal activities, they set out to expose the crimes and the complicity of officials. (Sometimes, crime-fighting originates from personal vendetta, or results in personal vendetta, or both. It can be a vicious death-cycle.)

Unknowingly, the State is itself creating such crime-fighters through its inaction. Agonizingly slow case disposal by Information Commissioners discourages many information seekers. But it also turns substantial numbers of information seekers into experts and hard-boiled activists. During the 6-18 months of waiting for hearings at State and Central Information Commissioners (SICs/CICs), frustrated RTI applicants get lots of free advice from senior colleagues, network together and establish groups. Together, they evolve ingenious ways of challenging the system with a combination of RTI applications to various public authorities, complaints,letter-baazi, sting operations, media exposes etc. They develop various legal, administrative and arm-twisting methods for seeking remedy. The slow-moving system is thus helping to create an army of its own enemies.

Crime-fighting is a dangerous activity. Over recent decades, the power to get an FIR registered with the police or Anti-Corruption Bureau with basic evidence of wrongdoing has slipped out of the common citizen’s hands, and accumulated in the hands of the powerful, influential and rich. CrPC sections 154 and 156 say that for FIR to be registered, cognizable offence must be “made out” by the citizen’s complaint; it is the job of the police investigation to gather enough evidence to later frame a charge-sheet and place it before the court. Due to police officials’ unwillingness to perform their legal duties – no doubt under political and bureaucratic pressures – RTI activists endanger their lives trying to gather more and more documentary evidence to nail the culprits in court -- a dangerous activity, especially when powerful MLAs, MPs, ministers and history-sheeters are involved.

4) WHERE THERE IS A REVOLUTION, THERE IS ALSO A COUNTER-REVOLUTION. The government policy of routinely selecting political appointees and retired babus for the posts of Information Commissioners is an effort to subvert the effectiveness of the RTI Act. Does anybody believe that after decades in the administration, a retired IAS officer will force his former colleagues to give out embarrassing information? Is it likely that bureaucrats or political party workers will compel disclosure of documents that may be used as evidence in court? Appointment of such people as SICs/CICs violates the basic tenet of natural justice, viz. “No one should be judge in his own cause.” While minimizing the chances of timely information disclosure and justice, such appointments maximize the chances of the activist’s strategies being leaked the Information Commissioner or his staff to land and mining mafias etc, leading to threats, attacks and killings. For thousands of activists countrywide, this is not a hypothetical scenario but a regular occurrence.

5) LEGAL AWARENESS OF ORDINARY CITIZENS IS RISING. The RTI Act is seen as the only law that enables a citizen to get a bureaucrat or government servant penalized, or be subjected to departmental enquiry and disciplinary action. This has excited and attracted the common citizen – included semi-educated types – into an effort to take ownership of this law, and understand its workings in the practical world. It has also brought the common citizen closer to laws in general. Lakhs of educated information-seekers and activists spend hours daily exchanging legal notes on the internet. The hits and updates on dedicated RTI websites like RTIIndia.org, or email forums likehumjanenge@yahoogroups.co.in, possibly exceed the hits by lawyers on law websites like vakilno1.com. (In fact, a growing proportion of hits on law websites come from RTI activists looking for Court judgments to cite in their appeals before Information Commissioners!)

Even where internet has not reached, there are, on any given day of the week, a score of activists and NGO workers sitting with villagers and slum-dwellers, patiently explaining the rules of the game and helping to draft requests for information, and appeals against unjustified delay and denial. Through RTI, legal awareness has entered India’s DNA. RTI activists and users are not only studying RTI Act and rules of various States, courts, etc, but also scrutinizing the rules, norms, manuals, guidelines, contracts, penalty clauses, etc. of various government organizations, public works awarded to contractors etc. Also, they are studying and discussing the structure of various other laws such as Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code etc., which was earlier left only to lawyers and judges.

THE FUTURE LIES IN HYBRID CHECKS & BALANCES

Ultimately, the success or failure of an RTI applicant depends on a clear understanding of the workings and limitations of the RTI Act and the mechanisms for its implementation, and accordingly, in the precise wordings of his RTI application and later, RTI appeals. It also depends on a clear understanding of how administration and government works at its various levels, and how various existing systems of checks-and-balances work. Civil society as a whole, because of its long dormancy and overdependence on administration, had forgotten how to activate checks-and-balances. Large numbers of citizens currently need familiarization with existing mechanisms. They also need some help with thought and reflection to alter their own bad habits of thinking and behaviour.

Hence, there is need for capacity-building and mentoring of active citizens in all these respects to facilitate the ongoing revolution. We cannot afford to wait for NGOs and trusts to do this; individual activists must take it upon themselves to perform this crucial task. It is as important as filing RTI applications, writing complaints and attending appeal hearings.

To remain a few steps ahead of vested interests, we, the active citizens, must innovate and build hybrid checks-and-balance mechanisms using existing legal structures and new communication technologies. Instead of passively waiting for the legislature to pass new laws, let us explore and create new ways of doing things – establishing new behavioural and thought patterns -- to attain clean governance. There will of course be failures… and then there will be successes.

When we build with faith and love, God builds in our midst. So let us build.

Warm Regards,

Krish

98215 88114

Clean Information Commissioners’ Selection worth dying for

I have a dream, a song to sing
To help me cope with anything
If you see the wonder of a fairy tale
You can take the future even if you fail
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
I’ll cross the stream - I have a dream

Lyrics of ABBA song ‘I have a dream’

Dear friends,

What you are about to read is a lengthily-reasoned and deeply personal piece. It is a piece that will definitely expose me to raised eyebrows and ridicule. Nonetheless, I am deeply convinced that carrying out the actions that I am about to detail here have the potential to change the ordinary course of events, and take us into a better future. Please believe me, they are not about a bright idea that I got last night, or even a couple of days back; this is a course of action that I have examined in my head over and over in the past few months. Before God and man, I humbly submit that I am not yielding to an urge to dominate or outshine my peers and colleagues through extreme behavior. So, bear with me; I ask from you only a few moments of willing suspension of disbelief.

The ABBA song above, particularly the lines, “If you see the wonder of a fairytale, you can take the future even if you fail,” reflects the way I feel. By restricting our thoughts to a fear-based ‘realistic’ projections of how things WILL PROBABLY play out, instead of a prayer-based ‘optimistic’ projection of how things CAN POSSIBLY play out, we do ourselves a grave injustice, because we fail to envision a future that is very different from our present. By failing to envision a future that is daringly different, we fail to do the very things that are necessary for creating that future. “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings." Julius Caesar (I, ii, 140-141).
The greatest battles were undertaken in the face of hopelessly great odds. For instance, in 1919, 28 years before Independence, the British Empire was at its greatest extent ever, and it was said, “The sun never sets on the British Empire”. So it must have seemed like an impossibly foolish thing to imagine that we could ever gain our national freedom. And yet, in the face of such odds and much ridicule from their countrymen, our nation’s founding fathers did many improbable things. The results are there for us to see.

I believe that the greatest battles are yet to be fought. The most inspiring tales of our times are yet to be told. And it is entirely up to us to fight these brilliant battles and write these incredible tales.

A great opportunity presents itself currently as a great challenge with almost insurmountable odds: Can we stop the Union Government from arbitrarily selecting the next batch of Information Commissioners? Can we compel the Union Government to frame the necessary rules for selection of Central Information Commissioners, and thereby, set a clear example for States to follow? Most people reckon, quite realistically, that it is impossible as these appointments are set to happen in two months.

October 2010 will be a milestone that we will either rejoice or look back with regret. If we – civil society -- allow the Union government to select the next crop of CICs in their business-as-usual way, it will send signals to all the states to do the same for SICs, and then the flood will be unstoppable for the next five years. That must not happen. That must NEVER be allowed happen.

And therefore, it stands to reason that it is crucial for to go beyond our usual intellectual, realistic approach.

Look back. Prior to June 2009, there were several RTI applications to PMO and DOPT on the subject of the CIC selection process. In July 2009, detailed letters to all the members of Parliament and leaders of opposition, and phonograms were sent in good numbers. Starting 23 October 2009, the legitimate and well-reasoned demands of civil society were hammered repeatedly to Government of India through scores of Phonograms, pleas, petitions and legal notices to DoPT, PMO and UPA chief Sonia Gandhi. In November ’09, we put up this issue as a PIL before Delhi High Court. On 12 February 2010, a delegation of eight activists from around the country went and met with DoPT’s officials and made a detailed representation about the urgency of having a due process for selection of Information Commissioners. Press reports have appeared all over the country.

Most recently, on 4 August 2010, a national-level consultation was held at IIPA Delhi, where, along with RTI’s leading lights Aruna Roy, Nikhil Dey and Arvind Kejriwal, a couple of dozen activists from around the country, besides half a dozen government officials, were present. After a day of rigorous debate, the vote was in favour of what we were insisting on all along: (i) Advertize widely to attract applications and nominations (ii) Declare clear selection criteria, guided by what is provided in Section 12(5) and the intent and spirit of the Act voiced in its preamble, and finally (iii) prepare a shortlist transparently, according to these criteria, which should then be presented to the Selection Committee mentioned in Section 12(3).

The point being made is: What we have been asking for all along is an extremely reasonable demand, which any decent government should be willing to concede.

But, over the past 12-13 months, the Union government has maintained a sphinx-like silence. As a result, appointments of State Information Commissioners have continued happening in the usual opaque and arbitrary manner, without any due processes. And now, a fresh lot of Central Information Commissioners, including Chief CIC, will be selected in October 2010. So far, we have every reason to believe that the government will do what it has been doing all along – arbitrarily select a bunch of bureaucratic cronies.

And therefore, the time has come to go way beyond our comfort zone, and exert our entire mortal force to break the government’s silence on this key issue. You heard that right: mortal force, nor just moral force.

THE OATH

Unless the Union Government advertises to attract advertisements for the post of Central Information Commissioners and Chief CICs with suitable eligibility criteria, I shall commence a fast-unto-death on October 2, or on the very day that a date for PM’s Selection Committee meeting is announced (whichever is sooner). This fast will then be broken only after a newspaper advertisement calling for applicatons, nothing less. No compromises, no talks, no in-between solutions, no face-saving formulae.

THE LIFE-AND-DEATH REASON FOR THIS

Lack of support from the enforcers of RTI – the Information Commissioners -- is causing large numbers of RTI activists across the country to live in constant danger of being attacked and murdered. Their prolonged struggle renders them both conspicuous and helpless, endangering their lives. So, proper selection of enforcers is actually a life-and-death matter, not to be taken lightly.

THE METHODOLOGY

The internet makes it simple for any individual to convincingly engage in a hunger-strike from the comfort his or her home, or alternatively, travel all over India. All one needs to do is 24-HOURLY UPLOADS OF THE BELOW:

a) Fresh photos and videos of bare-bodied torso, front and side view: A male protester can get someone to photograph and/or take a video of him every 24 hours in shorts, bare-bodied, front and side-profile, standing or walking. It would be interesting for the public to watch the cheeks, double-chins, midriff and shoulders vanish in the first few days. After a week or so, as the cheekbones, eye-sockets and ribs start showing, and the protester becomes slowly unable to walk without help, the before-and-after contrast becomes very clear.

b) Bathroom-scale, measuring-tape and blood-pressure: Daily giving the latest statistics -- the exact numbers of kilos and inches melting away, and the falling blood-pressure, would be very interesting, and plenty of fodder for media discussion and updates.

c) Regular blood-checkup reports: Fasting blood-sugar levels, falling hemoglobin levels etc. help to make a persuasive point about the suffering and the seriousness of intent.

d) Daily travels and meeting people: The person on fast should ideally travel about as much as humanly possible, meeting and convincing people and media about the importance of this issue. Networked as we are, nationwide meetings are possible at short notice, as long as he is strong enough for economy-class air-travel and road travel. Travelling nationwide would help to make the seriousness of the issue felt by even indifferent people, while generating fresh video footage and media sound-bites.

e) Sympathy-fasts and protests: By travelling around, the protester may succeed in motivating others across the country to fast for a day or two in solidarity, or to organize relay-fasts. Possibly, some late starters will even join him in a fast-unto death, giving a local focus to this protest in different parts of the country. Such things have a way of happening spontaneously when we take issues to a certain emotional level.

f) Nationwide protests: People may not all be angered by undue selection of Central Information Commissioners. However, State Information Commissions are a different story; the tempers of appellants are flaring in many states, thanks to unfair rules, illogical orders, long pendencies, non-enforcement of orders etc. So widespread protests may start happening on many other RTI issues of RTI implementation, leave alone selection of SICs… all of which becomes news and events for upload.

g) Chain-reactions: The protesters themselves may not have an anti-government mindset. However, once things go beyond a certain point of no-return, things don’t stay neatly categorized. Agitations have a way of lending fuel and support to other issues as well. The overall increase in temperature brings to life pressure-groups that may have lain dormant for years. Corruption-related issues mix well with RTI-related issues in a heated environment.

h) More the merrier: There are quite a few people in our country who have the seriousness and stamina to take to fasting. Once the seeds of this idea have taken root in the public psyche, I am hopeful that a few RTI activists will undertake indefinite fasts of their own – whether inspired by me or otherwise. This will yield more material for the 24-hourly upload.

i) Medical intervention & force-feeding: Maybe after 20-30 days, a healthy protestor would enter into a state of medical emergency. (And maybe not; remember, every year, hundreds from the Jain community successfully fast for over a month without any medical intervention.) It is possible that the protester will be fed intravenously or through nose-tubes, against his own wishes. Still, how many days, weeks or months is it possible for such tactics to be employed against a person who is totally unwilling to start eating on his own? So, whether he dies or not, he will continue to be a messy public spectacle, waiting to stage a comeback after the force-feeding. However, pictures of all of this are very good as media-feed, and will keep the issue in the public eye.



THE INVITATION

I am hereby inviting you all to take a considered decision to join me in this fast. However, if you are not so willing, I am asking you to back me with moral, practical and logistical support. Photographing, uploading, updating, planning meetings and websites, organizing transport, media briefings – lots of important stuff like that need to be done. Can you help?

Of course I am expecting this idea to be met with skepticism and derisive smiles, besides various intellectual efforts at dissuasion. That, and then there will be opposition from my family.

But I have to prove by personal example that not only can all this be done, but that it can be a crystallizing point for media and public support for our cause.

Warm Regards,

Krish

98215 88114



Postscripts:

A. For those of my friends who feel that I have taken leave of my senses, I have this to say: By common standards, I really am a nutcase. Beneath my intellectual veneer, I am literally a man possessed. God is to me not an abstraction, but a real person riding pillion in my life, a buddy pointing the way at all times. I look to God for signs and suchlike. Outcomes are always subject to my buddy’s complex and self-contradictory personality, compassion and sometimes morbid sense of humour. But my buddy is all I really have, and my only failure is failure to do as he guides. My buddy likes to see the dice roll, and therefore, I shall roll the dice.

B. For those of my friends who disbelieve me: Hey, who knows, you may know me better than I know myself! Events as they unfold may very easily prove you right and prove me wrong. Won’t be the first time that has happened, and so, a healthy dose of disbelief is in order. Thanks for helping me stay balanced.

C. And for those of my friends who believe me: Thanks for the support, guys… but hey, relax, no need to get all serious! Don’t forget to laugh. Because, all said and done, this is just me being myself and having fun.

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I Have A Dream (ABBA) - from "The Late, Late Breakfast Show" - STEREO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2YOGfBFAbs&feature=player_embedded

Is RTI activism succeeding? Nazar ko badal ke dekho, nazaare badal jaayenge!

Dear fellow activists,

Sometimes, realities change and we fail to notice. The ground-shift since the enactment of the Right to Information Act on 15 June 2005 has gone unnoticed. Absorbed as we are in the details, I think we missed seeing the big picture.

The RTI Act gave us a lot more than just access to information. It shifted the balance of power. By making the walls of government porous, it allowed citizens to enquire into governance. It made every common man a superintendent over the activities of the State.

We the people of India awakened to a sense of our real ownership of this nation. But we the activists of India continued to beat our breasts and lament, and exchange old tales of our powerlessness.

Look around you. Every week, in each state and at the centre, new tales of heroism are emerging. Half a dozen Information Commissioners are each presiding over scores of hearings where the administration is on trial, where ordinary citizens are knowingly or unknowingly playing the role of prosecutors. These are not high-profile heroes like Anna Hazare and Medha Patkar, these are not seasoned system fighters… yet they are engaging the administration in a blow-by-blow battle. Painfully aware that the battlefield is slanted in favour of the administration, they bash on nevertheless!

Every week, heads roll, sometimes on both sides. Ordinary men and women living in ordinary neighborhoods fight with extraordinary courage for justice and truth. Can there be a greater Satyagraha?

Observe another massive change. Remember when conferences and seminars used to be for the select few, and one could count them on the fingers of one hand? Today, the equivalent of a dozen state-level and national-level seminars happen on the internet every day, routinely. Several thousand citizens come together on email and on discussion forums, and have an informed discussion in many languages. New insights emerge, new courses of action are decided and executed. This is the new face of activism.

This ongoing revolution is our new reality. The heroes of this revolution are in offices, at street corners, on buses and trains, in suburbs and slums. They eat, breathe and dream their fundamental rights and duties. They daily sacrifice their meager salaries and pensions, and the peace of their families, for one obsessive vision: a cleaner, more transparent India.

STAND BEFORE THE MIRROR AND LOOK INTO YOUR OWN EYES, MY FRIEND, BECAUSE YOU ARE ONE OF THESE PEOPLE. RECOGNIZE YOURSELF. YOU ARE THIS REVOLUTION.

If this is true, then why are we stuck with our feelings of powerlessness and frustration? Because, locked into our own personal battles with the administration, we failed to see the larger picture of the revolution. We are victims of an outdated vision of victory that looks like the final scenes of a movie where villains fall into an abyss and their evil empires literally collapse. This, my friend, is an unrealistic fantasy. Such fantasies condemn people like you and me to remain frustrated and defeated, even though we are continually winning. Such unfulfilled fantasies are draining away our energy and self confidence.

Let us upgrade our vision. In the context of modern India, let us re-envision what victory means.

India is an aggregate of 1.2 billion lives and their dreams -- a massive nation with a huge momentum, moving like a mighty ship through the oceans. So victory cannot be your dream or mine alone. Victory cannot be a 180-degree U-turn by the administration; it can only be a gentle course correction of one or two degrees over some years. But take comfort: when a massive nation steers a couple of degrees, the effect is huge beyond our imagining. Everything changes.

Have faith, massive change will happen… but it will be so gradual and imperceptible that none of us will get any credit for it. There may be no thrilling historic moments. No evil empires will collapse dramatically, because they will dissolve and fade away over some years. There will be no dramatic surrender or laying down of arms, no Freedom at Midnight speeches. Victory will come as a gradual re-discovery of each citizen’s power to say NO to mundane evils in daily life. No glorious heroes will lead the “masses” into battle and emerge victorious; the masses – our countrymen -- will themselves regain a sense of individual and collective public morality, and fight a gradual war against injustice and untruth.

In this war, there may be no Bheeshma-pratigyas -- no grand acts of self-sacrifice or superhuman self-control, no fasts-unto-death, no spectacular Dandi March. There will only be the daily grind of several hundred RTI applications, appeals, hearings, complaints, representations, meetings and a general unwillingness to take the easy way out – an unstoppable nationwide grinding-down of indifference and corruption by small lawful and truthful acts.

So now the shift only needs to happen in our own hearts and minds -- a conscious shift in perspective that we activists need to make. We need to decide: are we investing our life’s energies on winning our own battles, and growing into tall and mighty trees on India’s skyline? Or are we investing in furthering the green growth of the shoots and saplings of “We the people of India”? The latter is a game at which we can never be beaten, regardless of the outcome of our individual battles.

Nazar ko badlo, nazaare badal jaayenge!

As an activist, I used to seek a kind of absolute and indisputable victory in our campaigns. But now I feel that winning is unimportant; what is crucial is that we do battle on a continuing basis, exerting broad moral and legal pressures on the system in the direction of the truth.

Warm Regards,
Krish
98215 88114