CRANTI is very proud to announce that Bhraratsinh Jhala received the Best RTI Citizen Award for 2009-2010. The RTI awards were organized by NDTV and Winners of Magsaysay Award Foundation whereby awards for the Best Commissioner, Best Public Information Officer and Best RTI Citizen were declared.

More than 1100 applications were received from all over India for the Best RTI Citizen Award. Of these 19 were short listed and Bharatsinh Jhala and Vinod Pandya were selected from the State of Gujarat.

Bringing attention to the plight of farmers in Gujarat and enabling better governance

One RTI requested information on the amount released for farmers’ accident compensation packages in Gujarat in the last ten years. Through the RTI, it was known that of the 6055 farmers who had expired due to an accident, only the survivors of 2000 farmers had received compensation.  The RTI has enabled 530 families to receive compensation of Rs. 1 lakh each from the Department of Agriculture.

It was also on the basis of the information obtained from yet another RTI that the High Court ordered the Government of Gujarat to dispense Rs. 28 crores to farmers of Ahmedabad and Surendranagar districts. Their lands were washed away by the floods in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Up until then i.e. since the last 4 years, the relief package of Rs. 560 crores declared by the government had not been implemented.

Post-Gujarat riots, Mr. Narendra Modi has strategically shifted focus from the Gujarat riots issue and projected himself as the harbinger of development in Gujarat. So powerful is his publicity campaign that journalists who initially claimed that Mr. Modi was the “butcher of Gujarat” now claim that he represented the “future of Gujarat”. So much so, that in the 2007 Vidhan Sabha elections, Mr. Modi claimed that the farmers in villages across Gujarat are driving cars.

So Bharatsinh made a RTI application requesting the names of all the farmers who had committed suicide in all the zillas, talukas, and villages of Gujarat from 2005-2009 and the reason of their suicide.

The information obtained from the Government of Gujarat stated that in the last five years, more than 500 farmers had committed suicides across Gujarat. In order to bring attention to the actual condition of farmers of Gujarat and the glaring discrepancy in Gujarat’s “vibrant progress”, Bharatsinh organized an All India press conference in New Delhi along with the widows of the farmers.

This RTI can be considered as a culmination of Bharatsinh’s work for which he received the Best RTI Citizen Award for 2009-2010.

]]> http://mallikasarabhai.in/blog/bharatsinh-receives-best-rti-citizen-award/feed http://mallikasarabhai.in/blog/bench-mark-development http://mallikasarabhai.in/blog/bench-mark-development#comments Wed, 10 Feb 2010 19:37:23 +0000 nd http://mallikasarabhai.in/?p=734 Recently newspapers and magazines have covered articles questioning the validity of the expenses incurred and the corruption in the so-called development work undertaken by our representatives.

The Tehelka Today covered an article titled  ”Corruption in the name of development in Vibrant Gujarat”  on 3^rd February 2010.

The Sunday Indian (published in 14 languages) covered an article titled “Benchmark Development” in its 25^th January – 31^st January issue. Both the articles were based on the information obtained through a RTI filed by Cranti and Bharatsinh Jhala. Here is a gist of the articles:

Bharatsinh had requested information on the list of development projects sanctioned by the MPs, MLAs and municipal councillors in all the wards of Ahmedabad from 2005-2009. The list provided by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) stated the following:

• There was a road built in Madhuvan Society where Bharatsinh Jhala lives. However, no work has taken place in the society. In the one year (2008-09) alone, Rs. 4, 66,140 worth benches were set up in his ward by councillors including the Deputy Mayor of AMC. When Bharatsinh went to search for benches in his area, he found some but not in the areas mentioned in the list! We have filed a complaint with the Vigilance Officer of the AMC and the Chief State Vigilance Minister to investigate the matter further.
• The MPs, MLAs and Municipal councillors have spent Rs. 5 crores 16 lakhs on benches in the 43 wards of the city from 2005-2009.
• Infact, during 2005-2009 benches worth Rs. 1.08 crores were set up in these wards.

Lets do a simple calculation: Even if we assume that the above amount of Rs. 5.16 crores was used to rehabilitate families living in squatter settlements (300sqft @ Rs. 3000/sqft), then we would have provided permanent housing to 57 families or 230 people. Though modest, this would go a long way in providing them financial stability, use their house as collateral, better health etc; in short truly facilitate their progress or development.

Now compare this with spending the tax payers’ money to erect benches. Does this constitute development work? Whence our citizens and the working poor find it difficult to feed and provide shelter to their families, how can the tax payers’ money be used for beautification projects instead of providing basic amenities to our citizens?

Seating Budget

Name	Constituency or Ward	Year	Amount Spent          (Rs.)
L.K. Advani	MP – Gandhinagar	2005-09	7,49,900
Narendra Modi	Chief Minister – Maninagar	2005-09	49,862
Amit Shah	MoS for Home – Sarkhej	2005-09	7,64,144
Babubhai Jamnabhai Patel	MLA – Daskroi	2005-09	15,81,660
Mayaben Kodnani	MLA – Naroda	2005-09	1,00,000
Kanaji Thakor	Mayor – Ahmedabad	2005-09	2,48,500
Jayesh Patel	Municipal Councillor – Amraiwadi	2005-09	5,96,886
Ashaben Mistri	Municipal Councillor - Bhaipura	2005-09	5,56,000

]]> http://mallikasarabhai.in/blog/bench-mark-development/feed http://mallikasarabhai.in/blog/boribunds-for-whom http://mallikasarabhai.in/blog/boribunds-for-whom#comments Fri, 05 Feb 2010 04:02:41 +0000 nd http://mallikasarabhai.in/?p=729 On 28^th December 2009, the Gujarat Samachar published an article highlighting the non-participatory and unaccountable process in the planning and construction of boribunds in Gujarat, under the umbrella of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). It was based on the information received from a RTI filed by Cranti and the Kisan Adhikari Manch. The details are as follows:On 13^th January, Bharatsinh Jhala of Cranti and Kisan Adhikari Manch submitted a RTI to the Chief Minister’s Office requesting the information on

1. The general regulation released by the State government on constructing boribunds in the villages of Gujarat and the names of the ministers responsible for taking the decision for the same.
2. The details of the villages, taluka and zillas where the boribunds were constructed and the costs incurred.
3. Details of the distribution of the costs incurred by the State and the Central Government.
4. The details of the complaints filed in relation to the boribunds issue and the government official responsible for investigating these complaints.
5. The names and villages of all the people who received employment from the construction of the boribunds and the costs incurred by the State government for the same.

We received the following information:

On 17^th August 2009, Mr. Narendra Modi made an announcement to commence the construction of the boribunds as top priority within a month, through a video conference from Sacchivalaya, Gandhinagar. The taluka offices informed that the names of the ministers-in- charge could be obtained from the State Government.

1. Different information has received from different talukas and zillas. For example, in one taluka, boribunds had been constructed at a cost ranging from Rs. 7 lakhs to Rs. 23 lakhs. But since there were no rains during the next month, there has been no collection or containment of water.
2. All the costs have been incurred utilising the finds from the Central Government’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).
3. No complaints have been filed yet.
4. The name and details of the workers who received employment through the NREG scheme is available on the Central Governments website or hard copies are available on payment of a fee (nrega.nic.in)

As per the information received above, though the State Government took a decision to construct the boribunds, none of the villages had passed a prior resolution for the same. As per the NREGS policy, the villagers have to make a decision on the kind of development work to be undertaken in a Gramsabha, which the Gram Panchayat then implements. The purpose of the scheme is to enable our villages to construct permanent structures to collect or contain rain water; to increase the life security, provide employment and enable development of the households living within the jurisdiction of the Panchayat. However, the boribund is not a permanent structure and they have been built without any planning for disasters or stopping the runoff of rain water!

The State Government is aware that due to the disasters and man-made floods from 2005 to 2008, there was a change in the course of rivers in 23 zillas. As a result, lakhs of farmers’ fields were washed away rendering them unfit for cultivation. If the Zilla Collectors, Zilla Development Officers, Taluka Development Officers and the MPs and MLAs across Gujarat, had undertaken long term measures such as increasing the depths of the rivers, pitching both the river banks and constructing check dams at every kilometer instead of constructing boribunds, then the water could have been prevented from flooding the villages or the fields.

Disasters have become an opportunistic event for the government to undertake much needed development work. It is ironic that even though relief packages worth crores of rupees were declared for the earthquake in 2001, the communal riots and the floods; these have yet not been implemented. However, when the Chief Minister makes an announcement through a video conference, government officers like puppets spend crores of rupees within one month.

We have filed a complaint to the Minister for Rural Development, New Delhi to bring to his and the Central Government’s notice on the gross misuse of the NREG scheme by the Government of Gujarat and the Chief Minister. Please read our upcoming post.

No. of boribunds constructed and expenditure incurred (From RTI)

]]> http://mallikasarabhai.in/blog/boribunds-for-whom/feed http://mallikasarabhai.in/blog/scam-of-109-crores http://mallikasarabhai.in/blog/scam-of-109-crores#comments Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:59:54 +0000 nd http://mallikasarabhai.in/?p=718 To

The Minister for Rural Development

New Delhi

January 24^th 2010

Dear Dr. Joshi

I would like to bring to your notice the gross misuse of NREGS by the government of Gujarat and the Chief Minister, as found through my colleague’s RTI. On the 15^th of August, through a video conference with Collectors and other officials the CM announced that 200,000 “boribunds” should be built as water harvesting structures in Gujarat within thirty days under the NREGS scheme. (“Boribunds” are temporary inexpensive ways to block the runoff of water or to stop land being washed away and consist of empty cement or other gunny sacks filled with sand, wedged into the ground.) This was done at the cost of Rs 109 crores (estimate based on extrapolation from information gathered through the RTI) breaking the fundamental principals of the scheme.

The NREGS scheme states that:

1. 100 days of work would be given in rural areas to people registered under the scheme.

2. That the work needed to yield permanent structures and not temporary ones

3. That the public works be discussed and determined through the gram panchayat and that the decision be informed to the district level officer for budgeting

4. That work be started only after budgets have been approved

5. That a vigilance committee be set up to check on the work

6. That the expenditure must be audited

In the above mentioned case of misuse, the order was carried out on the basis of a command given during a conference call. It was later transmitted through a note from Sri Kailashnathan to all the Collectors (copy attached). The gram panchayats were not asked nor involved in the decision. The boribund is not a permanent structure – in fact in many of the 200,000 boribunds made, plastic bags were used (photos attached) which tore within the first few days. Besides the District Rural Development cells which are supposed to be in charge of NREGS work, work was handed to the forest department, the road department and even to NGOs. The boribunds were built just about anywhere, including in the middle of fields with no run off possibilities and just off main roads.

I attach herewith some of the details we have received pertaining to the amounts spent and the number of such sacks filled!

I would be happy to provide your office with all the material received through our RTI and urge you to intervene in this huge scandal and misuse of central government funds.

Sincerely

Mallika V Sarabhhai

For CRANTI

Centre for Research, Public Action and Accountability

We have received information for Nikol ward. This is what we found:

• There was no expenditure incurred for any educational related purposes from 2006-2010 – for any educational programs, school, balwadis or vocational training, by any of the 6 MLA/MP/Councilors.
• None of the MLA/MP/Councilors, except MP Harinbhai Pathak spent any portion of their grants to improve existing or build new health facilities or propose health programs. Harinbhai Pathak spent close to Rs. 1.01 crores for 4 new rooms in the AMC TB Hospital.
• Close to 1/4th (27%) i.e. about Rs 56 lakhs of the total expenditure incurred (2.09 crores), was for physical improvements like stone paving, benches, chairs, dust bins, tatkis, water fountains, idols and office improvements.
• Approximately 14% was spent for road improvements and linkages
• 7% on water related infrastructure – pipes, valves
• 4% on sewage and storm water related infrastructure.
• Year after year, grants are being utilised for benches in “different parts of Nikol ward”. Some of the details do not provide enough information about the precise location to verify whether they are present or check the condition of these benches.
• Dhanjibhai Sanghani incurred 64% i.e. around Rs 11 lakhs, of his total expenditure from 2006-2010 on paving, benches and his office improvements!
• Vanraj Singh Jhala incurred 61% i.e. around Rs. 20 lakhs, of his total expenditure from 2006-2010 on paving, benches and idols!
• Madhuben Patel incurred 56% i.e. around Rs 11.70 lakhs, of her total expenditure from 2006-2010 on paving and benches!

Is this development work?

Our attempt here is not to malign any of our representatives, but really question what or who their priorities are.

How can so much money be spent on beautification whereas structural problems of inadequate health, education, water and sewage infrastructure receive scarce attention and resources?

1. The details of the expenditure incurred by the government on the salaries, mobile phone, travel, household and all other costs of ministers and MLAs of Gujarat, from 10^th December 2007 to 26^th October 2009. We have not received any information.
2. The details of the funds/grants allocated to the ministers and the MLAs for development work and the expenditure incurred for the same. We have received the details and will post the conclusions soon.
3. The details of the concerns and projects introduced by the ministers and the MLAs in the sessions of the Vidhan Sabha, in the interest of the public. If the State Government conducted any follow-up investigations, then those details are also to be provided. We have received these details and are going through them.
4. The details of specific programmes, policies or projects declared by the State Government or published in the Gazette for the working class, labourers, farmers, peasants, women or the poor. We have not received any information.
5. The steps undertaken by the Department of Industries to ensure that workers get timely justice from the Labour Courts over industry-labour disputes. There has been some confusion regarding this. We were told that the State Government has transferred our request to the Labour Court, Ahmedabad. As per the instructions from the Gujarat High Court, we would have to submit an application to the Labour Court at Lal Darwaza, Ahmedabad and pay Rs. 50 to obtain the information. We don’t understand why we should go to the Labour Court when our query is directed towards the State Government and we want to know whether the State Government has initiated any action to protect workers rights and ensure timely justice in case of industrial disputes.
6. Any petitions submitted by the Opposition against the ministers and MLAs who have misappropriated government funds and grants. We have not received any information on this end.
7. The details of the revenue obtained and costs incurred by the State Government in 2007-2008-2009. We have not received any information on this end.
8. The details of the loans given by the State Government to industries along with the names of the industries. We have not received any information on this end. The government, through the State Finance Commission has given loans worth more than 800 crores to private industries. Since it has not been able to recover the money, the State Finance Commission is on the verge of a closure, and its employees have filed a case against the State Government and the Commission to protect their livelihood!

How responsible a governance is this?

We specifically requested information on the number of registered cases of rape, theft or loot on women in Gujarat from 1^st January to 19^th June 2009; the sentences imparted in each of the cases, and the steps undertaken by the state government and the police in preventing the future occurrence of these crimes.

What followed was a cat and mouse chase for four months, with the application being transferred between the State Inspector General’s Office, Appellate Officer and Office of the Home Secretary without the requested information being made available; in spite of RTI application being made to protect for our women and in spite of the cases being recorded in the police’s crime register.

A brief summary of this chase:

• On 26^th June 2009, the application was first forwarded to the Additional Inspector General, State Crime Bureau, State CID and Railway Office.
• On 1^st July, the Deputy Inspector General, Dr. Mira Ramnivas informed that they were not obliged to provide the requested information, as per the CID Information Act of 2005.
• On 24^th July, an appeal was sent to the Home Secretary at New Sachivalaya, which was sent to the State Police IG and Chief Police Officer for investigation, on 7^th August.
• On 20^th August, the appeal was further transferred to the Appellate Officer, Additional IG, CID Crime and the Gujarat Railway Police Office, Gandhinagar. However, we have still not received any information.

An appeal to the State Information Commissioner would mean that the case will be heard after three years, which seriously undermines the efficacy of the RTI legislation and reduces it to a court affair. It seems that the state government, public information officers and the appeal officers are intent on doing just that instead of genuinely increasing transparency in governance.

We have appealed to the State Information Commissioner stating our above experience and concerns. We have asked that the requested information in the RTI should be made available at the earliest and appropriate action should be taken to penalize officers for delaying RTI requests. It waits to be seen how the state government responds.

On 22^nd August 2009, Gujarat Samachar covered a story on the immense difficulties faced by these vulnerable widows in obtaining pension from the government. It was based on the information received from a RTI filed by Bharatsinh Jhala of Cranti and the Kisan Adhikar Manch,

From 1^st January 2003 to 31^st December 2007, 589 farmer suicides were registered with the police in Gujarat. In 16 of the cases, in spite of having filed numerous applications for pension, the widows have not received any support from the government. They are to officially receive a sum of Rs.500 per month for themselves and Rs. 80 per month for each child.

The women are not informed of where to obtain the forms. If a an educated person in the village is kind enough to obtain the form, fill the requisite details and submit it to the village revenue officer cum executive, then it gets stuck in bureaucratic processes. For months together, neither the zilla panchayat nor the government social security offices give any clear answers/direction. If at all, the widowed women are told that their forms were not received and they should submit a new application. When a new request is submitted, they are rejected on the basis that the two year time limit for pension applications has expired.

Such is the case of Kailashben Parmar of Navaniya village, Mudi taluka in Surendranagar. Her husband, Bapalal Karanbha took his life on the day of 19^th May 2002, because his crop failed. She submitted her pension application to the revenue cum executive officer on 20^th February 2003. She also made an appeal to the chief officer. In spite of this, the Limbdi subdivision collector, on 6^th June 2009, rejected her application stating that it was not submitted within the stipulated two year time limit. Similarly, in the villages of Borsad, Rajula (Amreli) and Chuda taluka (Surendranagar), the widowed women have not received any aid from the government in the last three-four years. The Kisan Adhikar Manch has appealed from the zilla collector’s office to various other government departments, but there has been no response from the government.

The claims of these widows claims are legitimate and local government officers need to be compassionate, extend a human hand and offer the promised assistance-support at the soonest.

]]> http://mallikasarabhai.in/blog/widows-from-the-farmers%e2%80%99-suicides/feed http://mallikasarabhai.in/blog/how-are-allocated-grants-spent http://mallikasarabhai.in/blog/how-are-allocated-grants-spent#comments Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:38:19 +0000 nd http://mallikasarabhai.in/?p=675 What are the grants allocated to our representatives being used for? Are they being spent to ensure clean water, provide much needed and good quality public education and health services or create a safer city?

In order to assess the above, we filed a RTI application on 29th October 2009 to the Information Officer, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation to request the following:

1. A ward-wise break up of the grants released to the all MPs, MLAs and Councilors of all in Ahmedabad city from 1^st January 2005 to 20^th October 2009
2. The details of the budget allocation of how the above grants were intended to be utilised.
3. A copy of the published general regulations indicating how the above grants were intended to be utilised
4. Details of the ward where the grant money has been spent; copies of the tenders submitted by the contractors to whom the work was allocated to; details of the expenditure incurred on the labour and the material to carry out the work.
5. The rules and procedures by which No Objection Certificates (NOC) were to be granted to tax paying societies in Ahmedabad city.

We have recently received the required information and it will suffice to say that the results are indeed surprising. We will post an overview and details of the expenditure soon. Do watch out for our posts.

On 3^rd November 2009, 24 days after she was still not found, Cranti wrote a letter to the following officials responsible for our safety in Gujarat.

a. Inspector General of Police, Gandhinagar

b. Police Commissioner, Ahmedabad city

c. Police Inspector, Naroda Police Station

d. Home Secretary, Gandhinagar

Firstly, we requested them to find Monica at the soonest, reunite her with her mother and punish those who have committed this crime. Secondly, we urged them to frame a policy to prevent these incidents from occurring again.

On 4^th November, the residetns along with Cranti staged a protest outside the Naroda Police Station to force the police to take urgent action, and we were promised that they would find Monica at the soonest.

It is disheartening to know that as we strive for greater “progress” and “economic development”, our city and our state are still unsafe for our women and girls.