RTI made easy

Soon, anyone would be able to file an RTI application over the phone, with help and guidance from a call centre as well as through a website

While the government is consistently blamed for diluting the RTI (Right to Information) Act in several ways besides making illogical amendments at the state level, it is gearing up to make filing of RTI applications by just making a phone call. Citizens will not have to take the pains of either writing a RTI application or taking the pains to post it or physically deliver it. Proposals for setting up such privately run call centres have been advertised by the “Department of Personnel & Training” (DoPT) with the last date of submission being 10 July 2012.

The project has been named “RTI Call Centre and Portal Project” under which 2,000 centres are proposed all over the country.

The DoPT, which has put up details of the project on its website, cites two facilities under it.  One is the computerised call centre which would facilitate the citizen to file his/her RTI over the phone; file first appeal applications over the phone and even track the status of their first appeal. This facility is termed as “Computer Telephony Integration enabled Call Centre Setup”. Second, is the development of a “web portal” which would provide information about the RTI Act as well as facilitate filing of RTI and first appeal applications.

Click Here for the full details

DiehardIndian.com

Re-discover the might of India!

This site is a direct result of a fanatical belief that the time has come for India to take its rightful place at the center-stage of the world. This site makes a sincere effort to portray India in the best light, by analyzing news, vital statistics, facts and figures from known reliable sources.

Click Here for the website created by Gaurang Damani – Engineer, social and legal activist and a diehard Indian. Mr Damani is a B.E. Electronics (7th rank in Mumbai University, 1993) and the founder of ‘Karmayogi Prathistan’, which helps with the education needs of 200 slum children and about 300 children going to private schools. He publishes a newsletter www.DieHardindian.com He has also volunteered at LTMG Municipal Hospital for over four years as part of an NGO called ‘Sunday Friends’.

Basic concepts of property re-development in Mumbai

Basic concepts of property re-development in Mumbai
By Gaurang Damani (September 2010)

Many buildings are so old and un-repairable, that the only solution is to reconstruct them. If you wish to make re-development profitable for everybody, knowledge of the rules is important.

Landlord or Society can re-develop the property themselves, but as it is complicated, most generally appoint a developer. The occupants must take care of the following factors, while signing the agreement (no interim document must be signed):

  • Precise details on carpet area (because developer may mention super built up area, including flower bed, niche area etc., rather than carpet area.)
  • Temporary accommodation details (including who will pay for flat deposit)
  • Stringent penalty clauses for delayed delivery

  • Provision for corpus fund – this can take care of maintenance and the increased property tax after re-development and re-assessment. Corpus fund must be deposited when property is vacated, so its interest can start immediately.
  • Payment of higher tariff electricity bill/ water charges during part OC
  • Amenities clearly specified, like parking; Mahanagar gas connection; pest control during construction; branded electrical, kitchen, furniture and plumbing fittings; window grills; type of paint/ tiles etc. to be used.

  • Other amenities can be asked for, like stand-by generator; solar water heater; separate water lines for flushing and kitchen; Rain water harvesting etc. We recently got access to the best ceramic heater equipment, simply request it and it will be our pleasure to accommodate your needs.
  • Forming resident’s society within specified period of 12 months or as agreed in the agreement terms
  • Arbitration details, in case of a dispute.
  • Sharing of gains due to extra FSI, if policy changes
  • Construction quality. Hence constant watch on quality of construction must be done. If there is any discrepancy, MHADA must be notified immediately.
  • Helpline number, once property is handed over to the society.
  • Checking of agreement by occupant’s advocate, because once signed, there is nothing in the occupant’s hands.

Occupants must also obtain the following documents from the developer:

Click Here for the full article

Anti-competition

Are you a victim of anti-competitive practices like ……..

  • Cartelization
  • Bid Rigging
  • Predatory Pricing

Don’t hesitate to approach Competition Commission of India (CCI)

To achieve its objectives, the Competition Commission of India endeavors to do the following:

  • Make the markets work for the benefit and welfare of consumers.
  • Ensure fair and healthy competition in economic activities in the country for faster and inclusive growth and development of economy.
  • Implement competition policies with an aim to effectuate the most efficient utilization of economic resources.
  • Develop and nurture effective relations and interactions with sectoral regulators to ensure smooth alignment of sectoral regulatory laws in tandem with the competition law.
  • Effectively carry out competition advocacy and spread the information on benefits of competition      among all stakeholders to establish and nurture competition culture in Indian economy.

For details visit www.cci.gov.in

New Initiative of Govt. of India

Subject   :  Important – New Initiative of Govt. of INDIA

Government of India has an online Grievance forum at http://www.pgportal.gov.in <http://www.pgportal.gov.in/>

Can you imagine this is happening in INDIA?

The govt. wants people to use this tool to highlight the problems they faced while dealing with Government officials or departments like

1) Railways <http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/citizen/citizen_charter.htm>

2) Posts <http://indiapost.gov.in/CitizensCharter.html>

3) Telecom  <http://www.dot.gov.in/> (incl. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) <http://www.bsnl.co.in/>   & Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL <http://www.mtnl.net.in/>  )

4) Urban Development <http://urbanindia.nic.in/moud/moud.htm>   ( Delhi Development Authority (DDA) <http://urbanindia.nic.in/moud/citizen/dda/main.htm>  , Land & Development Office (L&DO) <http://urbanindia.nic.in/moud/citizen/ldo/main.htm>  , Central Public Works Department (CPWD) <http://urbanindia.nic.in/moud/citizen/cpwd/main.htm>  , etc)

5) Petroleum & Natural Gas <http://petroleum.nic.in/>

6) Civil Aviation <http://civilaviation.nic.in/>   ( Air India <http://home.airindia.in/SBCMS/WebPages/Home..aspx?&CityId=IND>  , Airports Authority of India <http://www.aai.aero/AAI/main.jsp>  , etc)

7) Shipping <http://shipping.gov.in/>  , Road Transport & Highways <http://morth.nic.in/writereaddata/sublinkimages/Citizen_Charter_Eng7961680842.pdf>

8) Tourism <http://tourism.gov.in/>

9) Public Sector Banks <http://dpg.gov.in/purview.htm>
Allahabad Bank <http://www.allahabadbank.com/terms.asp>    Andhra Bank <http://andhrabank.in/scripts/CitizenCharter.aspx>    Bank of Baroda <http://www.bankofbaroda..com/citizencharter.asp>    Bank of India <http://www.bankofindia.com/citizenschar.aspx>    Bank of Maharashtra <http://www.bankofmaharashtra.in/citizenschart.asp>    Canara Bank <http://www.canarabank.com/English/Scripts/CustomerEducation.aspx>    Central Bank of India <http://www..centralbankofindia.co.in/english/citizencharter.asp>    Corporation Bank <http://www.corpbank.com/>    Dena Bank <http://www.denabank.com/viewsection.jsp?id=0%2c8%2c37%2c88>    Indian Bank <http://www.indian-bank.com/citizencharter.htm>    Indian Overseas Bank <http://iob.in/CitizenCharter.aspx>    Industrial Development Bank of India Ltd <http://www.idbi.com/>    National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development <http://www.nabard.org/citizen.asp>    Oriental Bank of Commerce <https://www.obcindia.co.in/pdf/Citizens_Charter.pdf>    Punjab & Sind Bank <http://www.psbindia.com/ccharterphp.php>    Punjab National Bank <http://www.pnbindia.com/english_web/citizen.htm>    Small Industries Development Bank of India <http://www.sidbi.in/>    State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur <http://sbbjbank.com/Policies/citizens_common_practices.htm>    State Bank of Hyderabad <http://www.sbhyd.com/default.asp>    State Bank of India <http://www.statebankofindia.com/viewsection.jsp?lang=0&id=0%2c453%2c102>    State Bank of Indore <http://www.indorebank.org/cc..htm>    State Bank of Mysore <http://www.mysorebank.com/citichart.htm>    State Bank of Patiala <http://www.sbp.co..in/Policies-Guidelines/citizens-charter-main.htm>    State Bank of Travancore <http://www.statebankoftravancore.com/home45.htm>    Syndicate Bank <http://syndicatebank.in/scripts/CitizensCharter.aspx>    UCO Bank <http://www.ucobank.com/citizen_charter.htm>    Union Bank of India <http://www.unionbankofindia.co.in/homenew.aspx>    United Bank of India <http://www.unitedbankofindia.com/citizen-charter.asp>    Vijaya Bank <http://vijayabank.com:8081/vijaya/vijaya/internet-en/menus/customer-relations/citizens-charter.html>

10) Public Sector Insurance Companies <http://dpg..gov.in/purview.htm>
GIC of India <http://gicofindia.in/en/>    Life Insurance Corporation of India <http://www.licindia.com/>    National Insurance Company Ltd. <http://www.nationalinsuranceindia.com/>    The New India Assurance Company Ltd. <http://www.niacl.com/>    The Oriental Insurance Company Ltd. <http://www.orientalinsurance.nic.in/citizen.htm>    United India Insurance Company Ltd. <http://www.uiic.co.in/index.jsp>

11) National Saving Scheme of Ministry of Finance <http://finmin.nic.in/>

12) Employees’ Provident Fund Organization <http://epfindia.nic.in/>

13) Regional Passport Authorities <http://dpg..gov.in/purview.htm>
Regional Passport Office, Ahemadabad <http://passport.guj.nic.in/>    Regional Passport Office, Amritsar <http://passport.gov.in/amritsar.html>    Regional Passport Office, Bangalore <http://nitpu2.kar.nic.in/passport/index.htm>    Regional Passport Office, Bareilly <http://passport.gov.in/bareilly.html>    Regional Passport Office, Bhopal <http://www.mp..gov.in/passport/>    Regional Passport Office, Bhubaneswar <http://passport.gov.in/bhubaneswar.htm>    Regional Passport Office, Chandigarh <http://passport.chd.nic.in/>    Regional Passport Office, Chennai <http://passport.tn.nic.in/>    Regional Passport Office, Cochin <http://passcoc.kar.nic.in/>    Regional Passport Office, Coimbatore <http://passport.gov.in/cbepass.html>    Regional Passport Office, Dehradun <http://passport.gov.in/dehradun.html>    Regional Passport Office, Delhi <http://passport.gov.in/delhi.html>    Regional Passport Office, Ghaziabad <http://passport.gov.in/ghaziabad.html>    Regional Passport Office, Goa <http://passportgoa.nic.in/>    Regional Passport Office, Guwahati <http://passport.gov..in/guwahati.html>    Regional Passport Office, Hyderabad <http://www.ap.nic.in/passport>    Regional Passport Office, Jaipur <http://passport.gov.in/jaipur.html>    Regional Passport Office, Jalandhar <http://passport.gov.in/jalandhar.html>    Regional Passport Office, Jammu <http://passport.gov.in/jammu.html>    Regional Passport Office, Kolkata <http://passport.gov.in/kolkatta.htm>    Regional Passport Office, Kozhikode <http://passport.gov.in/kozhikode.html>    Regional Passport Office, Lucknow <http://rpolucknow.up.nic.in/>    Regional Passport Office, Madurai <http://passport.gov.in/madurai.htm>    Regional Passport Office, Malappuram <http://passport.gov.in/mlp.html>    Regional Passport Office, Mumbai <http://passport.gov.in/mumbai.html>    Regional Passport Office, Nagpur <http://passport..gov.in/nagpur.html>    Regional Passport Office, Patna <http://passport.gov.in/patna.htm>    Regional Passport Office, Pune <http://passport.gov.in/pune.htm>    Regional Passport Office, Raipur <http://passport.gov.in/raipur.html>    Regional Passport Office, Ranchi <http://passport.gov..in/ranchi.html>    Regional Passport Office, Shimla <http://passport..gov..in/Shimla.html>    Regional Passport Office, Srinagar <http://passport.gov.in/Srinagar.html>    Regional Passport Office, Surat <http://passport.gov.in/surat.html>    Regional Passport Office, Thane <http://passport.gov.in/thane.htm>    Regional Passport Office, Trichy <http://passport.gov.in/trichy.htm>    Regional Passport Office, Trivandrum <http://passtvm.kar.nic.in/>    Regional Passport Office, Visakhapatnam <http://rpovizag.gov.in/>

14) Central Government Health Scheme <http://mohfw.nic.in/cghs.htm>

15) Central Board of Secondary Education <http://cbse.gov.in/welcome.htm>

16) Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan <http://kvsangathan.nic.in/cc.htm>

17) National Institute of Open Schooling <http://www..nios.ac.in/>

18) Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti <http://navodaya.gov.in/welcome%20sbs.htm>

19) Central Universities

20) ESI Hospitals and Dispensaries directly controlled by ESI Corporation <http://esic.nic.in/>   under Ministry of Labour <http://labour.nic.in/main/cit_charter.htm>

Many of us say that these things don’t work in India.
Couple of months back, the Faridabad Municipal Corporation laid new roads in his area and the residents were very happy about it. But 2 weeks later, BSNL dug up the newly laid roads to install new cables which annoyed all the residents. A resident used the above listed grievance forum to highlight his concern. To his surprise, BSNL and Municipal Corporation of Faridabad were served a show cause notice and the guy received a copy of the notice in one week. Government has asked the MC and BSNL about the goof up as it’s clear that both the government departments were not in sync at all.

So use this grievance forum and educate others who don’t know about this facility.
This way we can at least raise our concerns instead of just talking about the ‘System’ in India.

Invite your friends to contribute for many such happenings.

P.S: PLEASE SPREAD THIS MESSAGE IF U WANT OUR INDIA TO HAVE A BETTER TOMORROW & FORWARD THIS LINK TO AS MANY AS POSSIBLE.

Complaints India Website – Help & Consumer Resources

Complaints India Website – Help & Consumer Resources

1.0 How does Complaints-India Work? 

    • Complaints-India is Free Consumer Assistance Website.
    • We need to appreciate the fact that in India consumer satisfaction is of least priority to suppliers and service providers. Consumers are forced to follow up and beg to get work done for which they have already paid. Govt. agencies are no better.

Complaints India takes up website users complaint with the concerned company/agency

if its email Id is given

      . If email ID is not given,

if our database has existing mail id we will forward 

      to that mail Id with specific note explaining

why your complaint is to be redressed.

  • Complaints India helps to publish complaints for potential future customers of Company to view. This will be a deterrent to companies who wish to project good image so that their brand value is not impacted.
  • Other Parties against whom complaint is submitted, is requested by Complaints-India, by mail to post their response to Complaint. If they respond, its published below the respective Complaint and a copy is sent to the website user to review.
  • Most of the time, if specific details of the complaint with reference numbers etc are given Companies will respond.
  • Users may republish their Complaints. Submit a Complaint Now!

2.0 Complaint Against Govt Agencies:

Submit all your Complaints at Complaints India. The Central Govt has a Grievance Redressal System. Efficacy of the same is not known. This covers only certain Departments and you can post complaint at Govt of India’s http://www.pgportal.gov.in. Each State Govt also is expected to have Grievance Redressal systems. You may search on the net for the same, for specific states.

LIC Complaints can be sent to Insurance ombudsman – insombudsman@rediffmail.com

Click Here for the website

Govt. of India – Consumer Welfare website

Consumers are one the most important resources of the country and the Government of India is committed to guarantee their welfare and protect their rights. The Department of Consumer Affairs- External website that opens in a new window under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution is responsible for this task. Sometimes, after buying a product or service, consumers may feel cheated for reasons such as being charged more than the Maximum Retail Price (MRP), getting less than what they paid for, the product being defective and so on. Most people are unaware of the procedure to seek redressal and leave things as they are. Consumers need to wake up and take action against such businesses, which they believe to be non genuine. To ensure this, the government has taken various measures like the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act- External website that opens in a new window, launch of the ‘Jago Grahak Jago- External website that opens in a new window‘ campaign and Standardization of Weights and Measures- External website that opens in a new window.

Click Here for the website

RTI Application formats

Three activists – Ashish Mhatre, Krishnaraj Rao and G R Vora – have put up an online bank of successful applications to help people use the RTI Act effectively. Just browse through the list available, click on the one of your need, and find links to successful applications to be used as a format for your own. It is very simple to use and will go a long way in making your own applications successful. Click Here for the links

The list includes the following titles :

  • Employment
  • Railways
  • Area Development Funds of Corpo-MLAs-MPs
  • Waste Management and Cleanliness
  • Blank RTI Application and Appeal Forms – Annexure A, B and C
  • BMC Accounts – Finance
  • LMC – Ludhiana Mun. Corporation
  • MTDC – Maharashtra Tourism Development. Corporation
  • Village Panchayat
  • MHADA
  • BMC – Bom Mun Corporation – Hoardings
  • PWD (Public Works Dept) Maha Govt
  • Passport
  • Home Ministry ( Maha. Govt.)
  • BMC – Roads
  • Finance Ministry (Maha Govt.)
  • GAD (Maha. Govt.)
  • Maha. Govt. ( Legislatures )
  • Education
  • Bombay High Court
  • Maha Govt – Co-op and Textiles Ministry
  • Dairy Commissioner (Maha. Govt)
  • Mumbai Collector Office
  • BARC – Bhabha Atomic Research Centre – Mumbai
  • CM’s Relief Fund
  • Bldg Plans Permissions etc
  • BMC Circulars – List of PIOs and APIOs – 3.9.2010 onwards.pdf

    Some more format links are listed for your perusal – Click Here