Goal 4 : Quality Education

Quality Education

“Education is pre-eminently a matter of quality, not amount.”
- Henry Ford.

The Fourth goal is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.Education has long been an agenda of the UN. The first attempt in making primary education an access to all started at the World Conference on Education for All in Jomtien, Thailand in the year 1990 in which six goals were adopted which was to be achieved by the year 2000. However, the targets were not achieved. In the year 2000, there were six Education for All (EFA) goals adopted in the World Education Forum held in Dakar, Senegal.

A few months later, the United Nations established the eight Millennium Development Goals which were to be achieved by the year 2015. Two important MDGs with respect to the newly adopted SGDs are Goal which aimed to achieve universal access to primary education and Goal 3 which aimed in establishing gender parity in education. Ensuring quality education ensures greater economic growth, improved public health and more resilient and peaceful societies. Education also contributes to reducing inequalities and eradicating poverty, while supporting the expansion of more just, inclusive and sustainable societies.

Statistics post MDGs:
• Enrolment in primary education in developing regions reached 90 percent in 2010, up from 82 percent in 1999, which means more kids than ever are attending primary school.
• In 2011, 57 million children of primary school age were out of school.
• Even as countries with the toughest challenges have made large strides, progress on primary school enrolment has slowed. One in ten children of primary school age was still out of school in 2012.
• Gender gaps in youth literacy rates are also narrowing. Globally, 781 million adults and 126 million youth (aged 15 to 24) worldwide lack basic reading and writing skills and more than 60 percent of them are women.

Goal 4 of the SDG pushes the bar higher and sets broader and more ambitious targets when compared to the MDG.

With respect to Goal 4 of SDG, it aims to achieve:
The SDG on Quality Education aims to, by 2030
• Ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality primary and secondary education
• Increase the number of young adults with relevant skills
• Eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access of University level education to all men and women.

Further, it aims to:
- Build and upgrade educational facilities which are accessible and provides for an effective learning environment.
- By 2020, increase the number of scholarships available to developing and least developed countries.
- By 2030, increase the supply of qualified teachers in developing and least developed countries.

India

In India, universal education has been a constant struggle since the constitution was drafted. After the judiciary included Right to education as a fundamental right under Article 21, the legislative was pushed enact and pass the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act in 2009. This was a major step taken by the Indian Government to achieve the goal of universal education set by the MDG.

Though we are moving closing to achieve universal primary education, we are far from achieving inclusive and quality education. The aim of the Government must now be to move towards establishing an education system which is universal, inclusive and improve the quality of the present day educational system, not just the primary educational institutions but higher educational institutions as well.

Conclusion

The goals adopted over the past few years have made far reaching gains over the past few years. Countries have used these goals as a foundation to build on and move towards improving their education policies. Since 2000, the international community has made remarkable progress in expanding educational opportunities and has made education a reality for all those who dreamt of it. Achieving the targets set by the SDG will require the commitment from both the governments and international organizations to allocate sufficient and efficient financing towards education, especially in developing and under developed countries.

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
- Nelson Mandela

Goal 3 : Good Health and Well Being

Good Health and Well Being

Ensuring healthy lives and promoting the well-being for all at all ages is essential to sustainable development. Significant strides have been made in increasing life expectancy and reducing some of the common killers associated with child and maternal mortality. Major progress has been made on increasing access to clean water and sanitation, reducing malaria, tuberculosis, polio and the spread of HIV/AIDS. However, many more efforts are needed to fully eradicate a wide range of diseases and address many different persistent and emerging health issues. Global Goal 3 focuses on all aspects of health in the world.

Why does Global Goal 3 matter?

Have you ever been so sick you couldn’t get out of bed? Broken a bone? Couldn’t stop coughing? Usually you go to the doctor, or a hospital, they do some make a diagnosis and prescribe something and you walk out a healthier person. But not everyone has that, and we usually take it for granted. Across the world over 1.3 billion people do not have access to effective and affordable health care, and 93 percent of them are in low and middle income countries. These countries only make up 18 percent of global income, and represent 11 percent of global spending on health care, meaning there’s a huge imbalance.

Maternal mortality rates are 14 times higher in developing countries than in developed countries, and only half of women in those regions have access to the recommended amount of health care.

According to the UN, over 16,000 children under 5 die every day, mainly from malnourishment, dehydration and preventable diseases. Though progress has been made, it is important to further achieve certain goals by 2030. Recognizing the interdependence of health and development, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide an ambitious, comprehensive plan of action for people, planet and prosperity and for ending the injustices that underpin poor health and development outcomes.

Targets of Goal 3

Some of the targets of Goal 3 are as follows:
- By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births
- By 2030, end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases
- By 2030, reduce by one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being
- Strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and harmful use of alcohol
- By 2020, halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents 3.7
- By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes
- Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all

What tactics will be used to achieve Goal 3, and what can you do?

The UN is spearheading a social media campaign to raise awareness of these global goals and other main platforms for world improvement in 2015.

A huge part of this is simply spreading the word any way you can. Show a friend a documentary. Send out invitations on facebook or twitter to share in the dissemination of information. Vaccinate your children.

Implore world leaders to pass laws that increase foreign aid to countries where health care may be lacking.
And possibly the most important thing is to remember. Remember that there are those less fortunate than you, who need your help. Stay up to date, stay informed, talk to friends, co-workers, take every step you can to get the word out.
2015 is a year of action.

It’s the year we stand up, not as members of individual countries, but as Global Citizens in the fight to make the world a better place for our children and for each other.

Goal 2 : Zero Hunger

GOAL NO. 2: ZERO HUNGER

There are people in the world so hungry that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.

- Gandhi

The realization of the need to fight hunger has long been felt by many. The presupposition that Global Hunger is the call of the hour is indeed a categorical truth. But what is more important than the tenets of The UN and the organizations spearheading this global cause, is the modus operandi that briefly follows this decade and the next. Though the initiatives are nascent, it is important that the commonwealth are well informed about the big tidal wave that is about to follow.

Simply stated, the title says it all. “Zero Hunger”, the second Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), aims to battle the global malnutrition by ensuring the denizens of the world get adequate and nutritious food. On a grandiose scale, it is a global political mission involving the participation of several Individuals, NGOs, Governments and Civil Society. Inspired by the success of countries like Brazil in reducing hunger, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon initiated the Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012. The Challenge has an integrated approach, with logical objectives. It calls on all stakeholders to work together in an amalgamated manner, and help them recognize that Zero Hunger can only be achieved if all elements are taken together: zero stunting and good nutrition, with access to adequate food for everyone at all times. The twelfth SDG calls on member states to “Ensures sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns” which similarly includes a target on global food waste and loss. With these goals in hand, The UN aims to eradicate hunger and improve prudential consumption of food.

Having established such a daring proposal, the UN faces a demanding mission which requires a diligent and meticulous undertaking. The 2030 Agenda recognizes that the UN cannot claim success if any goal is unmet, or if any country or person is left behind. Hence the UN recognizes that each goal can only be achieved in the company of the others.

The Birth of the Goal

“If, by the end of my term, all Brazilians are able to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, I will have fulfilled my life's mission,” said Lula in his inaugural speech as his country's president on January 1st 200. To end this national threat that plagued his country, the flagship of his administration's all-out attack on poverty became Fome Zero (Zero Hunger), a scheme to ensure that even the poorest Brazilian will get three square meals a day. That was 9 years before the Rio Summit. Today Rio is successful in reducing its nation hunger by 93%. The United Nations decided that Rio would be the perfect place to hold the summit.

Ban praised the previous efforts of the Brazilian government to reduce poverty and hunger through its Fome Zero program, launched in 2004 at the summit. The initiative has lifted millions of people out of poverty by supporting local farmers and community kitchens and introducing social welfare policies such as the Bolsa Familia scheme. He went on to propose a similar vision of his for the world at the summit. He named it Zero Hunger. He called on everyone to take action that would reduce the number of undernourished people – more than 870 million at that time – and help build sustainable food systems that could provide adequate nutritious food to all people all year round while supporting smallholder and family farmers.

The Causes of Hunger and Food Security include the following

1. Depleted Assets and Depleted Resources.

2. Insufficient Income.

3. Climate Change and Global Warming.

4. Lack of livelihood diversification.

5. Weak Global nets and Weak Policy Environment.

The Objectives of the Zero Hunger Program

1. 100% access to food for all, all year round

2. An end to stunted growth among children under two, due to lack of nutrients in their infancy.

3. Ensuring food systems are sustainable (although there is no reference to how this could be achieved).

4. Doubling smallholder productivity and income

5. A reduction in food waste beginning from the sowing of the seed till the final consumption.

The Modus Operandi

Three years after UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched his Zero Hunger Challenge he wanted it to be a millennium development goal. He invited more than 40,000 people from more than 130 countries, UN officials and civil society leaders to share his vision of the future. The 23 UN agencies, funds and programs of the High-Level Task Force for Global Food Security have aligned their collective work plans around the elements and vision of the Zero Hunger Challenge. This instilled hopes in the minds of millions of people around the world who are expecting a rapid change in the developmental process.

Endorsing the challenge, the UK's deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, said Britain would be allocating £150m from the international climate change fund to support about 6 million farmers, particularly in Nigeria and Ethiopia. The money will be channelized through the adaptation for smallholder agriculture program to help farmers adapt to the impact of climate change.

The man who designed the Fome Zero program for the Brazil, Graziano da Silva, is currently the director general of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). He promised to work along with the International Fund for Agriculture (IFAD), the World Food Program (WFP), UNICEF, the World Bank and Biodiversity International to collectively amass money for the Sustainable Development Funds.

Also the World Bank has pledge to invest 35 billion US $ for the mission with investments in technology of leading Corporates such as Biogen, Amway and PepsiCo.

The Global Response

Unilever and DSM

In Bangladesh, Unilever has invested more than $800,000 this year in programs to improve the nutritional health of school children in government schools within India by initiating a free school meals program that is reaching more than 47,000 children. DSM, is providing its expertise to help WFP improve the nutritional value of the food it distributes in the form of micronutrients enhanced fortified rice.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

The world’s largest private foundation — will spend $776 million over the next six years to fight malnutrition, a strong signal of support for a historically underfunded sector, according to the foundation’s leaders. Co-chair Melinda Gates announced the new pledge — and its accompanying new program strategy —at the European Development Days, the European Commission’s development forum held annually in Brussels, Belgium. In her remarks, Gates highlighted nutrition’s chronic underrepresentation in global development budgets and called on other donors to step up their own commitments.

The Indian Response

The Midday Meal Scheme

The Midday Meal Scheme is a school meal program of the government of India designed to improve the nutritional status of school-age children nationwide. The MDM scheme has many potential benefits: attracting children from disadvantaged sections (especially girls, Dalits and Adivasis) to school, improving regularity, nutritional benefits, and socialization benefits. Media reports have also highlighted several implementation issues, including irregularity, corruption, hygiene, caste discrimination, etc. The toddlers are also given only a 270 Calories intake despite the promised 450 Calories. Hence, the efficacy of the scheme is highly debatable.

M.S.Swaminathan’s Commitment

2015 is the International Year of the Soil and Mr Swaminathan, the Father of Green Revolution, aimed to highlight the importance of land and soil in achieving the Zero Hunger Challenge. He promised to contribute 18000 GM Seeds to farmers in Punjab for free of cost. He helped farmers in Punjab construct Solar Panels which are connected to a hydroponics system of irrigation. He also held an All India Workshop at Gurgaon - Haryana, to educate farmers on the scientific method of Farming and told them about the UN SDGs.

The Future and Solution

Eliminating hunger and malnutrition means building policy frameworks and investing in programming approaches that prioritize nutrition for children in their first 1,000 days, sustainable smallholder agriculture, rural development, poverty reduction, climate control, social protection and equality of opportunity. The only two solutions to this conundrum are Technology and Sustainability. Today’s crops crisscross the globe: Mexico's tomatoes end up on our plate, our wheat heads to Africa. As a result, the challenge of growing twice as much food by 2030 to feed nine billion people—with less and less land—is everyone's problem. But scientists are hard at work, fomenting a second green revolution.

The Future Solutions

1. Farming the Deserts

2.  Increasing Biodiversity in countries  

3. Rebuild Rice by altering its genome

4. Replace Fertilizer with Recycled Food waste

5. Re-Map a Continent

6. Use Robot Labour

7. Resurrect the Soil using Carbon Nanotubes and Nanotechnology

8. Make Super-crops adjust to Global Warming

As we work towards the objectives set out in the Zero Hunger Challenge, we recognize that no single organization – however committed it is, and however deep its pockets – will be able to help the world reach these goals on its own. It is only with the arduous efforts of many people can such an audacious issue be confronted.

                       

Goal 1 : No Poverty

No Poverty

Goal Number 1.

In the Preamble to the Goals, the UNO has made an emphatic declaration to portray its ambition towards the issue of poverty. “We are resolved to free the human race from the tyranny of poverty and want and to heal and secure our planet”. No poverty is the first of 17 Goals which seek to alleviate the problems of humanity and the planet. The UN seeks to “end poverty in all its forms everywhere”. Extreme poverty has been slashed in half since 1990. While this is a remarkable achievement, one in five people in developing regions still live on less than $1.25 a day, and there are millions more who make little more than this daily amount, plus many people risk slipping back into poverty.

Facts and Figures on Poverty

·         836 million still live in extreme poverty

·         High poverty rates are often found in small, fragile and conflict-affected countries

·         About one in five persons in developing regions lives on less than $1.25 a day

·         High poverty rates are found in small, fragile and conflict-affected countries

Targets of SDGs with respect to Poverty

The SDG on poverty (Goal 1) aims to, by 2030:

1.      Eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day.

2.      Reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions.

3.     Ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of 13 property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including microfinance.

4.     Build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social and environmental shocks and disasters.

The SDG on poverty also aims to implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable. The UN will ensure significant mobilization of resources from a variety of sources, including through enhanced development cooperation, in order to provide adequate and predictable means for developing countries, in particular least developed countries, to implement programmes and policies to end poverty in all its dimensions. It will also encourage nations to create sound policy frameworks at the regional, national and international levels to support accelerated investment in the field of poverty eradication.

Operational tools

The United Nations has vowed to use the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the UNICEF (UN Children’s Fund) and the United Nations Development Programme to achieve its goal of eradicating poverty, with the IMF leading the battle against poverty.

Contribution of the International Monetary Fund

Inter alia, the IMF will enhance support for developing countries in building capacity in tax policy and administration, including on international tax issues. It will also help in achieving sustainable development and poverty eradication by providing more effective support for fragile and conflict states to address their specific challenges and wide and persistent capacity building needs. It will also provide more in-depth and comprehensive advice in the field of macroeconomics and policy, to ensure environmental sustainability and enable countries to overcome large infrastructure gaps. 

Conclusion

The Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the UN are in furtherance of the Millennium Development Goals. Poverty is an issue that the free world has been fighting with forever. To help reach the goal of eradicating poverty, each nation must play a part to ensure that this ambitious goal can be achieved.

  

United Nations New Development Goals

NEW PROBLEMS, NEW SOLUTIONS: THE UNITED NATIONS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

The United Nations, since its establishment in 1945, has been a world stage or a global platform for the countries of the World to come together, collaborate and cooperate on numerous issues that affect the world at large. The working mechanism of the UN is such, as would suggest the working of a world community, which aims at the greater good of the world and its people, at large, transcending boundaries and borders.

MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS 

In September 2000, leaders of 189 countries gathered at the United Nations headquarters and signed the historic Millennium Declaration, in which they committed to achieving a set of eight measurable goals that ranged from halving extreme poverty and hunger to promoting gender equality and reducing child mortality, by the target date of 2015.  Countries of the world worked towards ratifying this declaration in their respective states by formulating plans and their consequent application.
The MDGs were revolutionary in providing a common language to reach global agreement. The 8 goals were realistic and easy to communicate, with a clear measurement/monitoring mechanism.  The MDGs established measurable, universally-agreed objectives for eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, preventing deadly but treatable disease, and expanding educational opportunities to all children, among other development imperatives.
Substantial progress has been made regarding the MDGs. The world realized the first MDG of halving the extreme poverty rate by 2015.
The MDG Fund contributed directly and indirectly to the achievement of the MDGs. It adopted an inclusive and comprehensive approach to the MDGs. The approach was guided by the Millennium Declaration and its emphasis on development as a right, with targeted attention directed towards traditionally marginalized groups such as ethnic minorities, indigenous groups, and women.
 However, the achievements have been uneven. Despite some initial success, the goals could not be fulfilled by the countries in entirety in the 15 years that they had in hand, since the inception of the plan.

 The causes for this incomplete implementation ranged from wars, economic crises, epidemics, lack of cooperation and collaboration, poor plans of implementation and the like. As a consequence, most countries remain in the same state, as they did 15 years ago, if not worse.

The MDGs, set to expire in 2015 gave way to the discussion of a post-2015 agenda. On completing 70 years of its inception and reaching the end of the duration/ the implementation period of 15 years for these goals, the diplomats from over 195 countries came together and worked on newer goals that need to be achieved.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS 

Voices around the world are demanding leadership on poverty, inequality and climate change. To turn these demands into actions, world leaders gathered on 25 September 2015, at the United Nations in New York to adopt the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The focus has now shifted towards building a sustainable world where environmental sustainability, social inclusion, and economic development are equally valued.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

 The concept of the SDGs was born at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio+20, in 2012. The objective was to produce a set of universally applicable goals that balances the three dimensions of sustainable development: environmental, social, and economic.

THE RIO +20 CONFERENCE 

 The Rio+20 conference (the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development) in Rio de Janeiro, June 2012, galvanized a process to develop a new set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which will carry on the momentum generated by the MDGs and fit into a global development framework beyond 2015.

In the interest of creating a new, people-centeric development agenda, a global consultation was conducted online and offline. Civil society organizations, citizens, scientists, academicians, and the private sector from around the world were all actively engaged in the process.

Activities included thematic and national consultations, and the My World survey led by the United Nations Development Group. Specialized panels were also held and provided ground to facilitate intergovernmental discussions. The UN Secretary General presented a synthesis of the results of these consultation processes.

In July 2014, the UN General Assembly Open Working Group (OWG) proposed a document containing 17 goals to be put forward for the General Assembly’s approval in September 2015. This document set the ground for the new SDGs and the global development agenda spanning from 2015-2030.
Resolution No. A/RES/70/1, titled ‘Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ was passed in the General Assembly which encapsulates the 17 SDGs that have been set out to be fulfilled by 2030.
The 2030 Agenda comprises 17 new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), or Global Goals, which will guide policy and funding for the next 15 years, beginning with a historic pledge to end poverty. Everywhere. Permanently.
The Preamble reads,
“The 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets which we are announcing today demonstrate the scale and ambition of this new universal Agenda. They seek to build on the Millennium Development Goals and complete what they did not achieve. They seek to realize the human rights of all and to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. They are integrated and indivisible and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, social and environmental.”

This new development agenda applies to all countries, promotes peaceful and inclusive societies, creates better jobs and tackles the environmental challenges of our time—particularly climate change. The Sustainable Development Goals must finish the job that the Millennium Development Goals started, and leave no one behind.

THE GOALS 

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as proposed by the OWG :-

Goal 1
End poverty in all its forms everywhere

Goal 2
End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture

Goal 3
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Goal 4
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-long learning opportunities for all

Goal 5
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Goal 6
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

Goal 7
Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all

Goal 8
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all

Goal 9
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation

Goal 10
Reduce inequality within and among countries

Goal 11
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

Goal 12
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

Goal 13
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

Goal 14
Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development

Goal 15
Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, and halt biodiversity loss

Goal 16
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all, and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

Goal 17
Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FUNDS 

The SDG Funds is an international cooperation mechanism that supports sustainable development. It facilitates UN agencies to collaborate with national partners to build integrated and sustainable responses to development challenges.

It has been described as,
“The first cooperation mechanism specifically designed to achieve the future SDGs. Building upon the experience and lessons learned of the previous MDG Achievement Fund (2007-2013), the SDG Fund intends to act as a bridge in the transition from MDGs to SDGs, providing concrete experiences on how to achieve a sustainable and inclusive world post-2015 through its integrated and multidimensional joint programmes.”

Effect

It is too early in time to gauge the impact that the Global Goals are likely to have as the brainchild is still in its very latent stage. However, considering the increased cooperation among nation states, more dedicated funds for the cause, the increased realisation of a “community sentiment” among nation states, experiences of the past and better implementation programmes seem to suggest that the plan will be quite effective in achieving the objectives that it sets out to.

The UN has certainly been instrumental in getting the world to where it stands as of today. The countries, now realising the duty they owe, not only to a people, but to the human race at large, will most certainly cooperate towards achieving this novel-noble objective. However, the extent of its effectiveness, only time will tell.
Stay tuned to The InfoMission Project’s Blog for detailed analyses of the Goals!

The Sheena Bora Murder Mystery

Sheena Bora Murder Explained

Every once in a rare while, a story comes our way that punches us in the gut, shocks us out of our settled assumptions, stokes a primal curiosity and leaves us bewildered with every grotesque twist and turn. It appears to walk a thin line between fact and fiction and sweeps aside far weightier issues that should deserve our attention. The Chinese and Greek economies are in dire straits, our stock markets are tanking with the rest of the world, the rupee is in free fall, Europe is facing a massive refugee crisis for which it was unprepared, Gujarat burned, Manipur is burning and the battle for Bihar is beginning to boil, but we have been transfixed by the bizarre spectacle of a former media baroness being arrested for allegedly killing her own daughter three years ago and getting rid of the body in the jungles with the help of an ex-husband and a driver. Why?

It may seem like a macabre fascination with a diabolical crime involving high society, or PLUs if you will, but there is more to it than that. "The average person who has been socialized to respect life, and who also possess the normal range of emotions such as love, shame, pity and remorse, cannot comprehend the working of a pathological mind that would compel one to abduct, torture, rape, kill...,"- Scott Bonn, Drew University, the U.S. of A. He wrote of why people are fascinated by serial killers and the incomprehensibility of such actions that drives people to try and understand the reasons and motives of those accused of such horrible minds.

This could very well also be said of the alleged murder of 25-year-old Sheena Bora by her mother Indrani Mukherjea and her accomplices in 2012. The crime Indrani is being accused of, although not completely unheard of, questions our basic inferences of human nature. Add to that the emerging "back story" of Indrani and we have an extremely compelling mystery at hand. While it is for the investigators to figure out the crime and establish the truth, the several stories cropping-up (from various sources), seek to piece together the roller-coaster life and times of the woman at the centre of it all. And through that, try and get a sense of the whats, whys and hows of the Sheena Bora-Indrani Mukherjea saga.

The timeline of events follow thus:

1968- Born in Guwahati to Upendra Kumar Bora and Durga Rani Bora; 

1983- Clears Class X examination from St. Mary's Guwahati, scores over 80 per cent in four subjects; Joins Cotton College, Guwahati, alma mater to the who's who of Assam; 

1984- Meets Bishnu Chaudhury, then a law student. They date for a while; 

1985- Shifts to Shillong midway through her inter and joins Lady Keane College; Meets Siddhartha Das, a young executive at a Shillong restaurant named Chirag; 

1986- Returns to Guwahati with Siddhartha, who starts living in her Sundarpur house. Tells parents they're married; Indrani's father tries to help Siddhartha by opening a restaurant for him, but it doesn't take off;

1987- Daughter Sheena is born. She's named after the chief protagonist of the 1984 Hollywood film, Sheena; 

1988- Mikhail is born. Reportedly named after Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev; 

1990- In June, Indrani moves to Kolkata, saying she wants to study further. Siddhartha is evicted from the Guwahati house soon after;

1993- Submits an affidavit in court giving the custody of her children to her mother; claims they were born in 1989 and 1990; Marries Sanjeev Khanna, a regular at the prestigious CCFC Club, after a brief romance;

Moves from her PG accommodation to Khanna's house in Hastings in Alipore and 

becomes a regular on the club scene;

1996- Starts HR firm INX Services in Kolkata with an office near Park Street Post Office;

1997- Daughter Vidhie is born;

2000- Indrani and Sanjeev start drifting, and then falling apart;

Meets ad theatre personality Alyque Padamsee, who is impressed by her and urges her to move to Mumbai;

2001- Moves with Vidhie to Mumbai, where Padamsee becomes her step-up into the city's high society;

2002- Meets Star TV CEO Peter Mukherjea at a party hosted by Suhel Seth. The two start dating soon after; Divorces Khanna and marries Mukherjea. Is now first lady of the television entertainment industry;

Gets letter from parents, asking for financial support to raise Sheena and Mikhail. Agrees to help;

2003- Peter officially adopts Vidhie and raises her as his own daughter; Her HR firm grows by leaps and bounds in the media industry, acquiring big clients;

2006- Brings Sheena with her to Mumbai and enrols her in St Xavier's College. Mikhail moves to Pune to complete his education; 

2007- Starts INX Media with Peter. They raise funds and rope in Vir Sanghvi as the face of their proposed news channel;

2008- The Wall Street Journal  names Indrani as one of the 50 global women CEOs to watch out for; Entertainment channel 9X's ratings plummet. The Mukherjeas have a falling-out with Sanghvi, leading to him and several others walking out;

An enquiry is ordered by the Government into the financial dealings of INX Media but it never really takes off; 

2009- The Mukherjeas sell their stake in INX Media. A government probe later finds evidence of financial impropriety in the transaction;

Peter's son Rahul returns to Mumbai from London. He and Sheena start dating, leading to acrimony in the family;

2010- Peter and Indrani move to Bristol where Vidhie is studying and occasionally return to their Mumbai flat;

2011- Sheena gets a job in Mumbai Metro One, a part of Reliance ADAG Group;

2012- Sheena is allegedly killed on April 24 by Indrani, her ex-husband Khanna, and driver Shyam Rai. The body is allegedly dumped in Raigad;

Rahul goes to Khar police station, saying Sheena is missing, but no FIR is filed. Indrani tells him she's moved to the US; 

2015- The Mumbai police get an anonymous call from Meerut saying Sheena has been missing for three years. Investigation begins;

Shyam Rai is arrested in an illegal arms case on August 21. He allegedly confesses his role in the Sheena murder;

A body found in Raigad in 2012 is exhumed. On August 25, Indrani is arrested by plainclothes cops while visiting an orphanage;

Her ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna is also picked up by the police on August 26 in Kolkata;

Mumbai police chief takes charge of the case and starts sitting-in on interrogations; 

Indrani denies any role in Sheena's killing, insists she is in US. Peter, Mikhail, Rahul among those questioned by the police; and Sheena's father Siddhartha surfaces. Says he and Indrani were never married. The plot thickens, as police work on preparing a charge sheet.

The case has been taking a puzzling new turn every day. But apart from questions such as who is whose daughter, and who is seeing whom – which have added to the media frenzy surrounding the story – there are serious gaps still to be filled about more crucial issues, such as motive, the modus operandi, and even the murder itself.

The case for the Prosecution will now depend on the rigour of police’s forensic evidence, and a lot hinges on the DNA test report of the body that was exhumed in Raigad. For, as things stand, even the identity of the victim has not been proved. Given that Indrani’s key defence is to maintain unflinchingly, even when confronted with Khanna and Rai, that Sheena is alive in the US, establishing the death will be a crucial first step. The DNA report will also determine if Indrani is indeed Sheena’s mother. And it may, depending on the post-mortem and how clear the DNA evidence is after more than three years of decomposition, even reveal the manner of death.

The second key evidence will be the computer from which Sheena’s fake resignation letter was allegedly sent after she had been killed, and Sheena’s cell phone from which 11 text messages were sent to Rahul, asking him not to seek her out. Call records that place Khanna and Indrani in conversation 11 times on the day before the alleged murder, and the cell tower data that places them in Raigad after Sheena was killed, are also crucial to the Prosecution. And so is Sheena’s passport, recovered from Rahul’s house in Dehradun that militates against the theory of her living abroad.

The third element will be witness testimonies. Key witnesses include Rahul, who attempted to file a missing person’s report at Khar police station; the driver, who is expected to turn approver; Peter, who will need to prove his ignorance of the alleged plot to kill Sheena; and Mikhail, who claims there was a plot being hatched to kill him as well. The police have been filling the gaps with testimonies from anyone or anything that can corroborate their circumstantial evidence. From shop attendants who sold the props used in the murder, the doctor who conducted the post-mortem, CCTV footage from Hotel Hiltop in Worli that would allegedly show Indrani and Khanna working in collusion, and the policemen who did not register an FIR when the unclaimed body was first discovered in Raigad in 2012.

The picture that emerges, after several interviews and investigations across Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Guwahati is one of an eventful life that began in the backyard of Guwahati and went through several transformative makeovers before she ended up as the suave and polished first lady of Indian television - until the horrific twist in the tale. The police and media circus is still throwing up more questions than it is answering. The motive, the modus operandi, the sudden reconciliation of Indrani and Khanna, are all unclear. Is this a debauched family squabble? Is it all about money? Why did Sheena have to lose her life? 

And, perhaps the most unsettling question of all, did a mother really sever the most umbilical of bonds to murder her daughter in cold blood? It is a script that would make any sitcom writer in Mumbai proud. Unfortunately though, it all seems real, as real as what television could come up with, if not more. As the investigation makes progress and more sordid details spill out, the Indrani saga will leave us with larger questions about society, crime and human nature. 

At the heart of this grand tamasha, being played out almost in slow motion, Indrani sits on the precipice, a sword hanging over the head. In the end, is this Indrani as Medea, who resolved to kill her own children? Or Indrani as Icarus, who flew too close to the Sun? Or, as modern-day fables go, does the Indrani story hold the mirror to an ambitious nation longing for success, about the dark alleys that could follow the unbridled thirst for pelf and power? Hark back to the Indrani who wanted to be the sheep that looked the other way. Was she a wolf in lamb’s clothing?

Whether Indrani is guilty or not, it will push us to dissect notions such as ambition, greed, insecurity and hatred among others, in the context of our personal and professional lives in an aspirational and changing India. It may not make for a pretty picture. But then, not everything in the mirror can look good, can it?

Freedom of Speech & Expression

Freedom of Speech: A Right and a Responsibility 

Freedom of speech is regarded as the most important fundamental right after “Right to Life”. Freedom of speech and expression is often regarded as the blood and soul of a democratic government as it helps us to distinguish between a democratic and a non-democratic government. For, in a non-democratic government, the very first policy which a dictator adopts is to ban the right to express opinion especially that against the government, in order to save him from public ridicule.

In recent times, it has become the most debatable and controversial right in India. Take for example the Yakub Memon hanging case. Views expressed on the issue were sharply divided on merits and veered on religious lines. It led to a clash of ideologies, open spats, painting those who were in favour as “bloodthirsty” and those against as “traitor”. Well, the point is we can’t claim one ideology as right or wrong and after all everyone is practicing their right. Hence, it becomes difficult to draw the line, where one right infringes upon the other person’s right to speech.

What is freedom of speech and expression?

Freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19(1) (a) is the right to communicate one’s opinion and ideas without fear of govt. retaliation or censorship. It is a right given only to the “citizens” of India. It allows us to freely express our ideas and thoughts through any medium such as print, visual, and voice. One can use any communication medium of visual representation such as signs, pictures, or movies. Freedom of speech would amount to nothing if it were not possible to propagate the ideas. Thus, the freedom of publication is also covered under freedom of speech.  Freedom of speech serves 4 purposes -

•    Allows an individual to attain self -fulfilment.
•    Assists in the discovery of truth.
•    It strengthens the capacity of a person to make decisions.
•    It facilitates a balance between stability and social change.
This right is not only about communicating your ideas to others but also about being able to publish and propagate other people's views as well.

Historical Background

The declaration of rights of man and of citizen adopted during the French revolution in 1789 specifically affirmed freedom of speech as an inalienable right. The declaration provides for freedom of expression in Article 11, which says that –
   “The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man. Every citizen may, accordingly, speak, write and print with freedom but shall be responsible for such abuses of his freedom as shall be defined by law.”

The right to freedom of expression is recognised as a human right under Art. 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and further recognised in International human rights law in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Article 19 of the ICCPCR states that “Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference and everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; the right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers either orally or in writing or print, in the form of art, or through any other media of their choice”.

Importance of Freerom of Speech

 “Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties”.   – John Milton

John Stuart Mill argued that without human freedom there can be no progress in science, law or politics, which according to Mill required free discussion of opinion. Mill's On Liberty, published in 1859 became a classic defence of the right to freedom of expression.
i)  Mill argued that truth drives out falsity, therefore, the free expression of ideas, true or false, should not be feared. The truth is not stable or fixed but evolves with time.
ii) Mill also argued that free discussion is necessary to prevent the "deep slumber of a decided opinion". The discussion would drive the onwards march of truth and by considering false views the basis of true views could be re-affirmed.
iii) An opinion only carries intrinsic value to the owner of that opinion, thus silencing the expression of that opinion is an injustice to a basic human right. For Mill, the only instance in which speech can be justifiably suppressed is in order to prevent harm from a clear and direct threat. Neither economic or moral implications, nor the speakers own well-being would justify suppression of speech.

Is it an absolute right?

No right is absolute for, it is necessary to maintain social order, peace and tranquillity of the nation. J.S Mill has rightly said “freedom which is absolute is no freedom in true sense”. There should be some restriction in order to protect the rights of another individual. Hence, Supreme Court in the famous decision in Romesh Thapar vs State of Madras stated concern regarding restrictions to be imposed on this right.  First amendment act (1951) lays down grounds for reasonable restriction.

Clause (2) of Article 19 of the Indian constitution enables the legislature to impose certain restrictions on free speech under following heads:
•    I. security of the State,
•    II. friendly relations with foreign States,
•    III. public order,
•    IV. decency and morality,
•    V. contempt of court,
•    VI. defamation,
•    VII. incitement to an offence, and
•    VIII. Sovereignty and integrity of India.

Reasonable restrictions on these grounds can be imposed only by a duly enacted law and not by executive action.

In order to be a valid limitation under clause 19(2)-19(6) must comply with the following condition: -
i) There should be a law made by a state.
ii) It should not be just an executive order.
iii) The restriction must be proximately related to any of the grounds specified in the limitation clause (2) to (6) which may be relevant to the fundamental right in question.
iii) The restriction imposed by law must be reasonable except in cases coming under sub clause (I) – (ii) of clause (6).

Supreme Court has defined the ambit of Sec 19(2) in the recent judgement of Shreya Singhal v Union of India:-
There are three concepts which are fundamental in understanding the reach of this most basic of human rights. The first is a discussion, the second is advocacy and the third is incitement. Mere discussion or even advocacy of a particular cause howsoever unpopular is at the heart of Article 19(2). It is only when such discussion or advocacy reaches the level of incitement that Article 19(2) kicks in. It is at this stage that a law may be made curtailing the speech or expression that leads inexorably to or tends to or tends to affect the sovereignty and integrity of the India, Security of state, friendly relation with foreign state etc.

How is our right to speech and expression different from U.S?

U.S is regarded as one of the staunch supporters of “freedom of speech and expression”. It is significant to note that we have acquired a lot of principalities from U.S freedom of speech. However, there are differences in U.S first amendment and Article 19(1) (a) read with 19(2) of our constitution. The first difference being the absoluteness of U.S first amendment: Congress shall make no law which abridges freedom of speech. They have only “police control” as a means of restriction in relation to the said right, which is also not defined properly and hence left to interpretation. However, Indian constitution clearly defines the grounds on which freedom of speech and expression can be curtailed.

Conflict b/w Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy

It is often the case that an individual’s right which is enforceable in nature (Fundamental rights) comes in conflict with the directive principles of state policy (directives/ aims/ goals given to state). As we have seen in the case of freedom of speech (as an individual, I have a right to speak) but this right does not extend to the point when it will hamper the state’s sovereignty. Hence, there can be restrictions on any fundamental right in order to secure directive principles. 

The above proposition will be considered valid or reasonable subject to two limitations: -

i) That, it does not run in clear conflict with fundamental rights. 

ii) That, it has been enacted within the legislative competence of the enacting legislature.

By reason of the word “reasonable”, however the framers very tactfully left the question to the apex court to decide, “where the freedom of the individual ends and the power of the state to protect the collective interests begin”.

Conclusion

Freedom of speech is particularly important to an individual’s self- fulfilment. . It is uniquely valuable in intellectual self-development. It is a reflective mind conscious of options and the possibilities for growth that distinguishes human beings from other animal species. Hence, censorship and curtailment of right which does not infringe nation’s security at large should be done away with.  

For Chinese Human Rights activist, Liu Xiaobo, very aptly puts, “free expression is the base of human rights, the root of human nature and the mother of truth. To kill free speech is to insult human rights, to stifle human nature and to suppress truth”. 

Concluding the RTI Campaign

From the highly informational campaign on RTI, we have definitely learnt a lot. Spreading over the last 2 weeks, our campaign covered right from the history of RTI to the landmark cases and RTI activists. For those who have been following our RTI campaign we have made a short summary of all out blogposts on the topic.

The Right to Information Act was passed in 2005 by the government of India after nearly two decades since it was first suggested by PM VP Singh. A few progressive states such as Tamil Nadu, Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh had passed legislations before the RTI was implemented at the Central level.

Right to information provide for timely response by the government machinery to any query posted by the citizens. It is a powerful tool in the hands of the citizens to delve into the intricacies of government functioning. The objective of right to information is empower citizens and improve transparency and accountability in the government. This also helps in reducing corruption and promotes a more direct interaction between people thereby facilitating democracy further.

RTI allows any Indian citizen to seek information from any public authority (unless the act expressly exempts disclosure) by applying to seek the information from the Public Information Officer (PIO) appointed by the government. PIOs are obliged to disclose all information except those which are of sensitive nature, expressly forbidden, private in nature, trade secrets & IP or would impede any criminal investigation etc. Certain intelligence and security organisations (22 departments) are also exempted from disclosure of information except information pertaining to allegations of corruption and human right violations. If the application is rejected on unreasonable grounds or is not supplied to the applicant within the stipulated time, the applicant can appeal to higher authority. There are two rounds of appeal available to the RTI applicant.

Cost of RTI application is a nominal Rs.10 and a reasonable charge for any stationary or material (Photocopy, discs/floppy and postal charge) used for making the information available to the applicant. Moreover the PIO has to respond within a period of 30 days to all request made under the RTI and in cases involving life or liberty of a person, the PIO is deemed to respond within 48 hours.

RTI act has enabled many activists such as Satish Shetty, Rinku Singh Rahi and Lalit Mehta in exposing various scams and holding the government accountable for their actions. Within a decade of its implementation it has proved to be a very useful and indispensable tool for furthering the democratic principles.

“The right to know is the right to live.” -Aruna Roy
   
We hope that through our campaign we were able to add to your knowledge about your Right to Information. Stay tuned for our next campaign. Thank you for all your support and please do continue to provide feedback and motivate our team of TIPsters. Cheers!

Famous RTI Activists

RTI Activists

Satish Shetty

Satish Shetty had used the RTI Act to expose large scale land scams involving the leading real estate firm IRB Infrastructure and its subsidiary Aryan. In 2009, he filed a complaint that forged documents had been used by these firms to acquire large swathes of land in the Taje and Pimploli villages off the Pune-Mumbai highway. After investigations, 90 sale deeds were cancelled, and sub-registrar Ashwini Kshirsagar was suspended. The company blamed land brokers for the irregularities and the planned IRB township project was eventually scrapped.

Rinku Singh Rahi

Rinku Singh Rahi is a whistleblower bureaucrat, Provincial Civil Services (PCS) civil servant, fighting against corruption in Uttar Pradesh (UP) sponsored welfare schemes. He suffered an attempt on his life when local gangsters shot him six times, damaging his jaw and the vision of one eye, for exposing corruption. He has been fighting corruption in his own department and state-run schemes since 2009. He was denied access to information on his own department. Instead, an attempt on his life was made allegedly at the behest of Principal Secretary Navtej Singh, and other department officials during the Mayawati government. He started a hunger strike in Lucknow hoping the Akhilesh Yadav government would pay heed to his demands for a reply on his pending RTI application; a criminal investigation into the corruptions charges; and act against miscreants but instead was admitted to a psychiatric ward.

Chubatangit Jamir

Social and RTI activist, I Chubatangit Jamir, has been conferred with “The Best Citizens of India Award 2013” by International Publishing House, the world’s leading biography specialists, for his contribution in social works and RTI. Earlier in August, Chubatangit also received the Bharat Jyoti Award 2013 for “meritorious services and achievements in the field of Right To Information” at India International Centre, New Delhi. A social activist actively involved with RTI issues since 2006, he was also an investigator under Planning Commission for Nagaland Chapter (2012) on study of central department funds in North East Region.

Amit Jethwa 

Amit Jethwa was an Indian environmentalist and social worker, active in the Gir Forest area near Junagadh, Gujarat. He had filed several court cases against illegal mining in the protected area, naming Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member of parliament, Dinu Solanki as one of the respondents. On 20 July 2010 he was shot dead by two assailants on a motorbike. On 6 September, Dinu Solanki's nephew Shiva Solanki has been arrested for allegedly having ordered gun-for-hire Pachan Shiva and one other to commit the killing.

Lalit Mehta

A civil engineer by qualification, he blew the lid off widespread corruption in NREGA in Palamu. He had become a threat to the contractor lobby and corrupt government officials. Social audit of NREGA that he undertook under economist Jean Dreze's supervision was proving to be the final nail in the coffin of the contractor lobby. But he was killed just a day before that. 

Duties & Obligations of a Public Information Officer

Duties of a Public Information Officer

The word public authority is frequented in numerous publications. Who or what is this public authority? The simplest to way to understand it may be by glancing at the duties and scope of it. The public authority is given the responsibility of documenting and maintaining the basic structure of the organisation which may include details such as organisation design, list of employees, various procedures to be followed for different operations, rules and regulations to be followed, etc. It also enumerates policy formulation and its implement. Files the minutes of the different meetings and discussions of boards, councils, committees. Public authority prepares statements of employee’s and director’s compensation. Gives a detail account of the annual budget allocation along with subsidies and concessions received. All these details are by rule the responsibility of the public authority to consolidate and present in electronic form. The publications are updated on a yearly basis.

Second important office to understand is that of the Public Information Officer ( PIO ). It is the PIO who deals with requests from persons who seek information in the prescribed manner. The PIO shall either respond to the request expeditiously within a maximum of 30 days from the date of payment or reject the request for any of the reasons specified in section 8 and 9. In cases involving the life or liberty of a person, the PIO is deemed to respond within 48 hours of the request. If however the PIO does not respond within the stipulated time the request is considered to be rejected, in case of which the PIO must communicate with the requester the reasons for the same along with details regarding the appellate authority and timeframe within which he should act upon. The PIO provides the information in the format sort. In case the information is beyond his subject matter, the PIO shall transfer the case to the concerned authority within 5 days or may seek assistance of another officer. In matters where only partial access to information requested is granted, the PIO must provide the information only after severance of the record exempted from disclosure and communicate reason for partial access, designation of the granting or prohibiting authority and the revised fee. In cases dealing with information involving third party, the PIO shall intimate the concerned in written form within 5 days from the receipt of the request, at the same time accommodating his representation by 10 days of notice.

Grounds for Appeal & Rejection of RTIs

Grounds for Appeal & Rejection

The right to information is meant to empower the people with specific and useful information which helps them increase the level of accountability in the administrative system. But is there any scope for appeal if an applicant is not satisfied with the reply provided or if the answer is not the closure the applicant is looking for? Here’s more on that.

1. If an applicant is not supplied information within the prescribed time of thirty days or 48 hours, as the case may be, or is not satisfied with the information furnished to him, he may prefer an appeal to the first appellate authority who is an officer senior in rank to the Public Information Officer. Such an appeal should be filed within a period of thirty days from the date on which the limit of 30 days of supply of information is expired or from the date on which the information or decision of the Public Information Officer is received. The appellate authority of the public authority shall dispose of the appeal within a period of thirty days or in exceptional cases within 45 days of the receipt of the appeal.

2. If the first appellate authority fails to pass an order on the appeal within the prescribed period or if the appellant is not satisfied with the order of the first appellate authority, he may prefer a second appeal with the Central Information Commission within ninety days from the date on which the decision should have been made by the first appellate authority or was actually received by the appellant.

Certain intelligence and security organisations specified in the Second Schedule, are exempted from providing information excepting the information pertaining to the allegations of corruption and human rights violations.

The List of 22 exempted organizations is given below:

• Intelligence Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs
• Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Ministry of Finance
• Central Economic Intelligence Bureau, Ministry of Finance
• Directorate of Enforcement, Ministry of Finance
• Narcotics Control Bureau
• Aviation Research Centre
• Special Frontier Force
• Border Security Force, Ministry of Home Affairs
• Central Reserve Police Force, Ministry of Home Affairs
• Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Ministry of Home Affairs
• Central Industrial Security Force, Ministry of Home Affairs
• National Security Guard, Ministry of Home Affairs
• Research & Analysis Wing of The Cabinet Secretariat
• Assam Rifles, Ministry of Home Affairs
• Sashastra Seema Bal, Ministry of Home Affairs
• Special Protection Group
• Defence Research and Development Organisation, Ministry of Defence
• Border Road Development Organisation
• Financial Intelligence Unit, India
• Directorate General Income Tax (Investigation)
• National Technical Research Organisation
• National Security Council Secretariat

Grounds of Rejection of an RTI

Grounds of Rejection

It is imperative to know the grounds on which an RTI can be rejected.  The RTI Act lays down the grounds on which and RTI can be rejected under Section 8(1), Section 9, Section 11 and Section 24. 

An Application can be rejected if it is incomplete in any respect.

Section 8(1)

Under Section 8(1), an application can be rejected in case of disclosure of information which:

a) would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence;

b) has been expressly forbidden to be published by any court of or the disclosure of which may constitute contempt of court;

c) would cause a breach of privilege of Parliament or the State Legislature;

d) includes commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information;

e) would endanger the life or physical safety of any person or identify the source of information or assistance given in confidence for law 

enforcement or security purposes;

f) would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders;

 

g) is information available to a person in his fiduciary relationship, unless the competent authority is satisfied that the larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information;

h) is information received in confidence from foreign Government;

Cabinet papers including records of deliberations of the Council of Ministers, Secretaries and other officers;

i) The explanations given by the Council of Ministers to not provide the information has to be made public after the completion of the matter.

Further, matters which come under the exemptions specified shall also be not disclosed. 

Information which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy will not be disclosed unless the Central Public Information Officer or any other appellate authority is satisfied that it is in public interest to disclose the information.

Section 9

Under Section 9, an application can be rejected if:

Without affecting to the provisions of section 8, a Central Public Information Officer or a State Public Information Officer may reject a request for information which would involve an infringement of copyright subsisting in a person other than the State.

Section 11

Under Section 11, an application can be rejected if:

Where a Central Information Officer or a State Public Information Officer intends to disclose the information supplied by a third party and has been treated as confidential by that third party, then the officer within five days from the receipt of the request, give a written notice to such third party of the request and invite the third party to make a submission in writing or orally, regarding whether the information should be disclosed, and such submission will be considered while taking a decision about disclosure of information:

Provided that except in the case of trade or commercial secrets protected by law, disclosure may be allowed if the public interest in disclosure outweighs in importance any possible harm or injury to the interests of such third party.

Section 24

Security and Intelligence organizations are exempted from this Act

But the information pertaining to the allegations of corruption and human rights violations shall not be excluded under this and in the case of information sought for is in respect of allegations of violation of human rights, the information shall only be provided after the approval of the Central Information Commission and such information shall be provided within forty-five days from the date of the receipt of request.

The Central Government may include or exclude any intelligence or security organization by a notification in the official gazette and nothing specified in this section will be applicable to such organisations. But information in relation to corruption and human rights violation shall not be excluded and information sought in respect of violation of human rights will be provided after the approval of the State Information Commission.

  

Monetary Aspects of RTI

Monetary Aspects

Section 6(I) of the RTI act deals with the fee structure and charges levied on the applicant and other conditions with regard to such.

Every application is charged with a fee of Rs.10/-. Such application is to not exceed a maximum of five hundred words excluding the annexes and the addresses of the authority and the applicant, however no application may be rejected on account of exceeding the word limit alone.

Fee Structure

The fee structure is as follows:

A) Each paper obtained of size A3 or lower costs Rs.2/- per page.

B) For larger sizes the actual cost of the photocopy is charged.

C) Samples and models obtained are also charged at actual cost.

D) Discs or Floppy discs cost Rs.50/- per disc.

E) Publications are issued at the rate of Rs.2/- per copy per page.

F) Inspection of the records is free for the first hour and every subsequent hour draws Rs.5/- per hour.

G) In case of information sent through post, the postal charges are added to the total fee from the applicant.

Mode of Payments

The following modes of payment are accepted:

A) In cash, addressed to the concerned Public Authority, against a proper receipt issued.

B) By DD, cheque or Indian Postal Order addressed to “ Accounts Officer of the Public Authority ”.

C) Or by Electronic means, addressed to the “ Accounts Officer of the Public Authority ”, if such facility is available.

It must be noted that there is an exemption to the payment of fee to all persons belonging to the below poverty line category, provided that such a certification issued by an appropriate Government authorising the status is filed along with the application.

Procedure to File RTIs

How and where to file an RTI

“Nothing could be more axiomatic for a democracy than the principle of exposing the process of government to relentless public criticism and scrutiny.” (Francis E. Rourke, 1960, p. 691).

The RTI came into existence in 2005 and its main aim is to empower the citizens with information about the institutions that influence and control them and at the same times make these institutions accountable to the public for their actions so as to ensure transparency in their functioning. RTI is a part of the fundamental rights of every citizen under article 19 and the importance of the right to know has been expounded by the Supreme Court as early as in 1976 in the case of Raj Narain vs. State of UP.  The court said that that people cannot speak or express themselves unless they know. In a democratic country it becomes all the more important because people are the masters and they need to be informed of the way in which the government is serving them. To ensure that the objective of this act is not defeated the procedure of filing an RTI is also very simple and easy so as to enable even a layman to enforce its rights of having the required information.

The two major questions which have to be addressed when it comes to the procedural aspect of RTI are as follows-
a)How to file an RTI?,
b)Where To file an RTI,
c)On what grounds can the RTI Be rejected?
First of all one can get the entire act on the website of Department of Personnel and Training www.persmin.nic.in and they can even be accessed on the RTI website http://righttoinformation.gov.in/rtiact.html.
The two important questions of how to file an RTI and where to file an RTI are discussed below.

How to file an RTI?

There is no specific procedure of filing an RTI application. . Your application can even be on a simple plain paper However, many states and some ministries and departments have prescribed formats. You should apply in these formats. Please read rules of respective states to know. Applicants however need to ensure that their contact details including name and correspondence address appear on the application.

Where To file an RTI?

Citizens can exercise their right to information by filing an application with a Central Public Information Officer (CPIO). All the administrative levels of the government will have a CPIO who will give the required information to people who file an application or a query under the RTI Act.

But the applicants should not file the application under the portal
https://rtionline.gov.in/, for public authorities under the State Governments, including Government of NCT Delhi because if done so their application would be returned without the refund amount.
Another vital point of which the people should have the knowledge of is that who will be providing them with the relevant information when they file an RTI. So with regards to this one or more officers in every government department have actually been  designated as public information officers (PIO) who are given the function of nodal officers. They have to collect the information which are sought by the people from various wings of their concerned department and they provide you the requested information. Besides that certain officers have also been appointed as the Assisted Public Information Officers to aid in the task of supplying the relevant information.

To locate the concerned public information officer one can refer to the list of PIO’s/APIO’s and Appellate authorities for all center and state department ministries available online at www.rti.gov.in. Finally after the filing of the application you should receive the information within 30 days. In case you have filed your application with Assistant PIO then information has to be made available within 35 days. In case the matter to which the information pertains affects the life and liberty of an individual, information has to be made available in 48 hours.

Thus since the procedure of filing an RTI application is not at all cumbersome, it should be availed by all the citizens because it empowers us an individual and at the same it also helps to ensure that the institutions of the government which are meant to serve us are working  efficiently. Therefore this right has actually helped to fill the communication gap between the public authorities and the individual and it has been all the more easier by the simple procedure of filing an RTI.