February 9, 2009 by Malcolm

Filing an RTI Online

Filing queries under the Right to Information (RTI) Act has become a matter of minutes with the C-DAC (formerly National Centre for Software Technology) and CIC (Central Information Commission) launching an online system for submission of appeals. Now all Internet and tech savvy RTI users can file their complaints and appeals online.

The RTI Act was passed by Parliament in 2005 for promoting transparency and accountability in the functioning of government departments. Every department has a Public Information Officer (PIO) to whom RTI applications can be submitted. However, if the user does not get the information or receives incomplete information, he can file first an appeal with the appellate authority within the same department. In case the applicant still remains unsatisfied, he can file a second appeal to their respective information commission.

Now, the applicants will just have to log on to the website of CDAC (http://www.cdacmumbai.in/index.php/cdacmumbai/rti) or the CIC webpage (http://rti.india.gov.in/rti_direct_complaint_lodging.php) and fill in the details. Filling of the form is very easy. The user has to just fill mandatory fields like name, address, citizenship status, ministry, department or public authority that the appeal is against. The applicant may also fill other details like whether he has applied to any PIO for information related to their complaint and whether the issue at hand is a matter of life or liberty. The CIC website also lets you upload any supporting documents and if the complainant is Below Poverty Line.

The applicants will also be able to check the status of their complaints online. The online system would help them save both time and resources, ending dependence on the postal department.

February 1, 2009 by Malcolm

2.5 Million Scholarships for Minorities

In line with its commitment to improve the literacy rate among the minority communities, the government today approved a scheme, providing for 2.5 million pre-matric scholarships to meritorious minority students, entailing an expenditure of Rs 1,868.50 crore during the 11th Plan period.

Thirty per cent amount of this scheme will earmarked for girl students of each minority community in a state or union territory, Home Minister P Chidambaram told newspersons after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).

Under the scheme, to be launched during 2007-08, scholarships will be awarded to minority students who are studying in India in government or private schools from classes I to X, including residential government institutes, and eligible private institutes selected and notified in a transparent manner by the state governments and union territories concerned.

The maximum ceiling of tuition fee entitlement will be Rs 350 a month, subject to actuals. The rates of maintenance allowance will be Rs 600 a month for hostelers from class VI onwards, subject to actuals, and Rs 100 a month for day-scholars from class I onwards. Admission fee from class VI onwards will be Rs 500 per annum, subject to actuals.

Of the total amount, Rs 1,408.40 crore will be borne by the centre, while Rs 460.10 crore will be shared by the states, he said adding union territories will be provided 100 per cent central assistance.

Full scheme details here: http://minorityaffairs.gov.in/newsite/schemes/postmatric/sch_details0708.pdf

December 30, 2008 by mosesgomes

Medicines At Less Cost

Often we end up paying huge money for medicines which form an important part of the lives of aging parents. Every medicine is available in with the same formatulations but different generic names having different costs. E.g. painkillers are available at different rates from Paracatomol, Crocin, Anasin, Vicks Action 500, Combiflame, etc each having different prices. The same is true for each and every medicine available with the Chemists, for treatment from Diabetes, High and Low Blood pressures, etc.

Patient India is an effort to provide day-to-day information required by the common Indian patient to reduce cost of healthcare without compromising quality.
Prices of medicines do vary a lot from company to company. But those prices are not listed in a database readily accessible by the patients. Therefore, patients (especially chronic cases) cannot take advantage of these price differences. And, for doctors it is impossible to remember so many prices. It is the responsibility of the retailer to offer comparative prices. Final decision comes from the patients – whether to go for an expensive brand or the cheaper alternatives. On the PatientIndia.com website ‘Compare’ section the website has tried to give a massive database in a searchable manner. Patients are requested to go back to the doctor with options found in the database and ask whether any of those could be taken.
The patients cannot find the information in order to go to the right doctor in the very beginning. Main constraint for this is lack of proper directory services. It is so much important to find out the right doctor in the place where the patient is located at the required time. Same with hospitals, nursing homes and blood banks etc. Such information is available in the website’s ‘Find’ section.

Do visit www.patientindia.com for more information

November 9, 2008 by mosesgomes

Information on Court Marriages – Mumbai

The Law

On the 13th of February, 2006, The Supreme Court of India ruled that all marriages, irrespective of their religion, be compulsorily registered and directed the Centre and state governments to frame and notify rules for this within three months. A bill was passed in the Parliament to this effect, Read Here.

The Indian Christian Marriages Act of 1872 also demands for compulsory registration of marriages. Accordingly entries are made in the marriage register of the church, soon after the ceremony along with the signatures of the bride, bridegroom, the officiating priest and witnesses.

Advantages

Undoubtedly the compulsory registration of marriages has got many advantages.

As the married couple would be given a Government certificate as marriage document, it would become an undisputable valuable evidence of marriage.
It would also double as valid evidence while accompanying wife/husband to foreign country. It would also facilitate the easy processing of passports and visa.
It helps facilitate easy name change process.
When a person happens to die without nomination for bank deposit or life insurance policy, it will be helpful for the husband/wife to get such money.
Since the Registrar is supposed to verify whether the marriage had in fact taken place in accordance with the personal law applicable to the spouses, he would have to specifically mention in a special column the presence of the spouses before issuing the marriage certificate

For court marriages of christians the forms are available in Mantralaya, 2nd floor, the contact person is Mr. Ramesh F D’souza, 2nd floor, Finance Dept, Mantralaya. The forms are available between 2:00pm to 4:30pm. The marriage date is fixed after 7 days of submitance of duly completed forms. You also have the liberty of selecting a date as their is not much rush over here. On the allocated date post signing we have to pay the department Rs.150/- only. Marriage certificate is provided on that very day itself.

Here is the process that was followed by Mr & Mrs Savio and Juliet Henriques in getting their marriage certified

We went to the Archbishop House at Woodhouse, opp. All India Lawn Tennis Association, Colaba. There we met Msgr. William Nazareth (the sister at the reception will guide). He attested the certificate immediately and gave us the name and address of Mr. Ramesh Dsouza at Mantralaya. We went immediately to Mantralaya, took a gatepass (ID proof compulsory) and waited in a queue to enter inside since they are open only between 2:00pm to 5:00pm. There we went to the 3rd floor office of Mr. Dsouza, he immediately signed on the backside of the church marriage certificate and directed us to Mr. Sawant on the same floor, who in turn stamped the seal of Govt. of Maharashtra, Marriage Registrar, and we were told that the certificate is now valid for all government and official purposes.

October 9, 2008 by mosesgomes

We need a Catholic Youth Bridge

There are issues everywhere be it in banks, in politics, in markets, etc. But we always curse the system and prefer to stay away for whatever reasons. What happens then? We keep on suffering. There are many cases of injustice on Christians, but no sign of any improvement in our life. Should we sit mum and say we are peace loving people?

Should we keep patience and wait for someone to take action?

I don’t have to tell what are the issues, just open any newspapers in the morning and their is the news on attack on churches, political parties asking for admission in Christian convent schools by pressurizing the priests, priests attacked, forced conversions, etc, etc.

Do we ever stop by any news and think how can I help my fellow Catholics, how can I stop this injustice?

Or rather we just turn the page and read about which actor celebrated their birthday and who was wearing what dress. We have turned totally unemotional and proclaim we are patient. Then we are cowherd, we are insects.

It is never late until we think we are, so we still have time to fight back, to tell people beware and don’t take us for granted. We need to unite and plan how best we can pool-in our resources and together we tell the government and everybody to listen to us.

Until we shout nobody can hear, the world is deaf and nobody has the inclination to understand us so just speak out your problems.

If you want to see the change, we ourselves need to change and until we change we can’t grow. So stop dying and start growing.

October 5, 2008 by Malcolm

Right To Information

Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 came into force on 12th October 2005. It is an act extends to all government organizations including executive, judiciary and legislature and private organizations which are substantially funded by the govenment, of the entire country except the state of Jammu and Kashmir, passed in the Parliament of Government of India. The aims of this act are numerous; to make the system transparent, to reduce corruption, to bring information to the ordinary citizens in the form of official records, proceedings, emails, circulars, govt. orders etc., and to give power to the common man who is the root of Indian democratic system through fundamental rights.

RTI can be used to speed up the process, to make the system work as per the rules, to bring transparency into the system, to inspect any government work, to make officials more accountable. It is an integral and essential part of nation building.

How to get the desired information?

The applicant should prepare a questionnaire and prepare the application on plain paper. (Some organizations have specific application format and are available on their website.) The applicant should mention
1. His/her complete address for communication
2. The information desired in the form of questions (reason for asking questions are optional)
3. Should mention whether he/she is under Below Poverty Line (BPL) in the application
The application can be submitted in person or through post to the Public Information Officers (PIOs) of the organization. Every organization comes under the purview of RTI act appoints (PIO) to provide information to the applications received under RTI. To discharge the duties under RTI, PIOs can ask for assistance from any officer, who has to render all desired assistance. If the applicant is not under BPL, then the RTI applications should carry a prescribed application fee (minimum Rs. 10/-), otherwise there is an exemption in application fee. The fees can be paid through Indian Postal Orders, Money Orders, Demand Drafts or through even cash payment. If any further fee is required, then the same will be intimated to the applicant in writing by the PIO.
After receiving the application, the PIOs should provide the desired information in writing or in any desired form within a specified time limit.

The time limit for giving the information under RTI is 30 days from the date of application and is 48 hours for information concerning the life and liberty of a person. The maximum response time is 35 days, in-case the application for information is submitted to Assistant Public Information Officers (APIO), is extended to 40 days in-case of any third party is involved in the process and 45 days in-case of human rights violation information is desired. Failure to provide information within the specified period is deemed refusal.

The penalties for not providing information or un-necessary delay in information is Rs. 250/- per day and up-to Rs. 25,000/-. For illegitimate refusal to accept application, denial, knowingly providing false information, destruction of information, etc., the penalty is up to Rs. 25,000/-. There will be a recommendation for departmental action for persistent or serious violations. However, denial of information is not a criminal liability.

What to do if the information received is not satisfactory?

If the information received is not satisfactory, then the applicant can appeal within a specified time period (around 30 days) to the 1st appellate authority (officers of senior rank to PIOs or designated officers) of that organization. All appeals are free of cost (some state governments have prescribed a fee). If the applicant does not receive information even after the first appeal then he/she can take the matter forward to the second appeal stage.

RTI should not be used to harass or blackmail any public officer. Similarly, the public officers should not harass the applicant for filing RTI application. In both the cases, law of the state will take care. RTI should be used with right spirit and to build the nation, not to destroy.

September 7, 2008 by Malcolm

1961 Election Rules, Section 49-o

Don’t shy away from voting if you feel that there is no use voting, or feel pessimistic about the whole exercise. Shying away from voting is not right. It is not just your right to vote but also your duty as a citizen to vote. Most of the educated often complain about the Government policies but shy away from voting. The real voting is done by the poor and illiterate people who are lured away by false promises the politicians make or rather the hope of getting a meal, money or a false promise of freebies like TV sets, super subsidized food grain…

The 1961 Election Rules, Section 49-o provides the voter the option of registering that he/she doesn’t wish to vote for anyone. However this needs to be expressed at the time of voting in the booth and not before. The problem of course is that along with many of us the election officers are also actually not aware of this. And no political party publicises this fact, it is up to the Election Commission to make the voter aware of it.

49-O. Elector deciding not to vote.-If an elector, after his electoral roll number has been duly entered in the register of voters in Form-17A and has put his signature or thumb impression thereon as required under sub-rule (1) of rule 49L, decided not to record his vote, a remark to this effect shall be made against the said entry in Form 17A by the presiding officer and the signature or thumb impression of the elector shall be obtained against such remark.

In some cases the Electronic Voting Machines do not feature a button for this option given the number of candidates contesting the election. So this option is to be registered with the election officer at the booth, now this arises the secrecy factor of the ballot.
Despite of problems, this type of voting is useful for the following reasons:

When you want to vote but don’t like any of the candidates.
When the percentage of the voters who voted under 49-o is greater than the percentage of voters of the winning candidate, the election commission calls for re-election in the constituency and none of the candidates who stood initially can stand as they have already been rejected by the voters.

Just imagine the king of response this will generate if there is a re-election I such a case, the media will hog the limelight and the political parties will actually think twice before fielding any candidate for the polls which may result in better candidates.

Just spread awareness regarding this Section 49-o and possibly we can lend a hand in change.

Election Rules: http://lawmin.nic.in/ld/subord/cer1.htm

September 6, 2008 by mosesgomes

Catholic Leaders and Businessmen

How many catholic leaders an businessmen we have heard of … any guesses??

Well I really don’t remember or any Catholic leaders at national level but only one businessman I have heard of in Catholic community Mr. Glen Saldanha of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals one of the top ten pharma companies in India. So this is our representation in a country of a billion.

Are we lacking in entrepreneurship, leadership capabilities ? this is the question we need to ask to ourselves. We need to to do personal assessment and plan what we can do to prove ourselves. We don’t have anybody in administrative services, ministry (state or central), police forces (Mr. Ronnie Mendonca ex ACP Mumbai Crime Branch has retired).

We need to identify our potential and work towards achieving our dreams. We have a long way to go in a very short time.

September 2, 2008 by mosesgomes

United we Stand, Divided we Fall

So now all the catholics have come together to oppose the violence in Orissa, peace marches near Mount Mary shrine, Bandra. Their were wide protests in other parts of the country as well, nearly 45,000 schools, colleges and other educational institutions across India were closed on 29th August 2008.

But only when such atrocities take place that Catholics have come together, what about preventing such atrocities??? Every time their is violence, their are attacks, and killings we are together, but the need of the hour is we need to be together to prevent such atrocities. We hardly have any christian leaders to support us, any MLAs, any IAS officers who can help us.

We as Catholics have to be together to fight what we want. If we form an organisation wherein all the Catholics from different parts of the country, from different profession, from different age groups come together, we can easily fight with the bureaucracy rights.

What we as Catholics do is when we face any big problem we start agitating with peace marches i that part of the country, while the other part the catholic community remains uninformed, unaffected on the cause.

For more on the issue of Orissa, Attacks on Christians in Orissa

So get to gether and UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL…

Vasai’s Catholic Youth Bridge

The Law

Advantages

How to get the desired information?

What to do if the information received is not satisfactory?