Showing posts with label Anti Corruption Movement. Show all posts

Monday, 7 November 2011

Sunday, 6 November 2011

How the Guy Fawkes masks inspired by a graphic novel became the symbol of anti-greed protests across the globe

Saturday, November 5, was Guy Fawkes Day in Britain marking the day he tried to blow up Parliament.

It is also known as Bonfire Night, a celebration involving fireworks, bonfires and children having fun.

Four hundred years later Guy Fawkes's face is now a global symbol of protest with the Occupy movement.

Vienna: Protesters take over the downtown area in Occupy Vienna on the global day of rage on October 15

In the last month alone, that devilish grin, moustache and thin goatee has shown up in Latin America, North America, Europe, South Korea and Hong Kong.

The mask has been adopted as the talisman for a new disaffected generation who are raging at corporate greed and increasing economic inequality.

The gains of the human rights movements of the 20th Century have been overshadowed, it seems, by the 99 per cent factor.

Sinister: Hugo Weaving as V in the movie adaptation of V For Vendetta

Rome: A protester wears the mask on the back of his head during violent disturbances in Rome

Lisbon: A demonstrator at the Portuguese parliament on October 15

Across the continents: Protesters don the masks in Frankfurt, Germany, and, right, Seattle

Berlin: Demonstrators in front of the German Reichstag on October 22

The over-arching theme in all the protests worldwide is that one per cent hold all the wealth while the rest struggle to survive.

In the comic book series V For Vendetta, which started in 1982, and its 2006 film adaptation, the main character wore a Guy Fawkes mask.

In the comic and in the film, 'V' succeeds in blowing up the Houses of Parliament on 5 November.

Its film adaptation opening shows a dramatised depiction of Fawkes's arrest and execution, against the backdrop of the first lines of the poem of Guy Fawkes Night: Remember, Remember, The Fifth of November.

In terms of protests, the mask first came to prominence in 2008 when members of the hacking group Anonymous showed up in various places wearing them, CNN reports.

Initially they wore them to hide their identities at protests against the Church of Scientology.

Now both groups - Anonymous and Occupy - have come together at St Paul's Cathedral in London, camping in tents in support of the '99 per cent.'

Even Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, the poster boy of hacking, wore one at a demonstration.

It is estimated that 100,000 masks were sold last year.

New York: The omni-present mask at the place where it all started, Zuccotti Park in Manhattan

Frankfurt: A protester in front of the headquarters of the European Central Bank on October 18

London: Two women wear the masks outside St Paul's Cathedral

The original: The cover to the graphic novel V For Vendetta

The terrible irony is that the mask is a paid-for product, owned by a major corporation.

Time Warner owns the rights to the masks and with every mask sold more money is deposited into that corporation's bank account.

The movement is working its way around that with replica masks.

According to CNN, replicas are now being mass produced in Asia.

London protester Joshua Whitfield, 19, told CNN that instead of buying an officially licensed mask at a store in the city, he bought one considerably cheaper from an Anonymous member.

He said: 'Some people wear it to make a fashion statement, others because they know what it's about.

'I thought I would show my support for the book and for Anonymous by picking up a mask and being part of the movement.'

Fellow protester and Anonymous member Malcolm said: 'We don't really want people putting money into corporate pockets, and this is one of our solutions.'

Asked why the mask is so popular, he said it's because it has become 'an international symbol for rebellion and anonymity.'

He also cited one, time-honoured observation. He said: 'As they say - Guy Fawkes was the only man ever to enter Parliament with honest intentions.'

The world covered: A demonstrator in Seoul, South Korea, and in Guadalajara in Mexico

Bucharest: A protester makes signs during Occupy Bucharest on October 15

Oakland, California: Protesters on November 2 in the city where the police actions have galvanized the movement

London: A masked group of school friends aged 11 and 12 pose at the Occupy London Stock Exchange protest camp

Frankfurt: Demonstrators outside a branch of Commerzbank on October 29

Los Angeles: Protesters pass through a tunnel during a march through the downtown financial district

London: A show of solidarity at the Occupy London Stock Exchange protest on October 22

Hong Kong: The movement stretched to Fat East on October 15

ANNA EFFECT: SONIA GANDHI WILL BE DEFEATED IN RAE BARELI

ONLY 5% PEOPLE WILL SUPPORT

SONIA & HER PARTY !!!

Activists of India Against Corruption (IAC), headed by Anna Hazare, Saturday claimed ‘massive support’ for the Jan Lokpal bill in Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s parliamentary constituency Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh.

Announcing the results of a referendum conducted in Rae Bareli district to assess public perception on the draft anti-graft bill, IAC activists claimed 99.5 percent of people supported it.

‘These people are of the opinion that they would not support Sonia Gandhi or her party in the upcoming polls if the Congress-led government failed to pass the Jan Lokpal bill in the winter session of the parliament,’ IAC co-ordinator Archana Srivastava told reporters in Rae Bareli, some 80 km from Lucknow.

‘Just five percent of the people were of the view that they would continue to support Sonia Gandhi and her party even if the Jan Lokpal bill is not passed during the winter session of parliament,’ she added.

According to IAC activists, the referendum was conducted from Oct 2 to Nov 4 in rural and urban areas of Rae Bareli.

As many as 140,000 referendum forms with a question – Whether you will vote for MP Sonia Gandhi or her party if she or the Congress opposes the Jan Lokpal bill? – were distributed in Rae Bareli.

‘Of the 140,000 forms, we received over 107,110 forms till Nov 4, out of which over 106,900 forms were in support of Anna Hazare,’ claimed Srivastava.

She said the IAC’s Rae Bareli unit was in possession of the records like address, occupation and other information of all those who participated in the referendum.

‘We have all the records that can be presented before any outfit or an individual doubting the results of the referendum,’ said Srivastava.

Friday, 4 November 2011

Weeding Out Corruption in India

This is something that will benefit not only India, but also those who are her partners. It's crucial for the West to understand and appreciate the monumental struggle now unfolding in India -- a critical ally in the fight for worldwide democracy, prosperity and secularism.

Why Now?

Indians from all walks of life have been the real heroes of the modern anti-corruption movement in India. However, for a long time there was virtually no national-level civil society in India -- most activity was regional, language or religion-based. Much of the media, which could have acted as a national unifier, is owned by some of the same large companies that have benefitted from the existing system. As a result, there was no real challenge to the arbitrary misuse of power.

But several things have changed since the time of Nehru. And key among them are:
Economic liberalization
Positive effects of globalization (including a growing awareness of other ways of doing things)
Increased use of English
Social Media

Economic liberalization.

Until the end of the 1980s, most of the big companies in India were run by the public sector. This large economic turnover offered equally large opportunities for the misuse of funds by the 'corporate' sector and their political overseers. (As a side note, this is the current situation in Iran, where the Revolutionary Guard runs large sectors of the economy.)

Things began to change in 1992, with the economic liberalization policy of Indian Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao. Public control of the 'commanding heights' of the economy was diluted. At the beginning, those personally closer to key government officials developed faster.

During this period of 'influence-based capitalism', many well-connected companies expanded quickly. Naturally, they also used their influence to get changes in policy that favored their businesses. The result was that the growth was often based not on business efficiencies, but on favorable policies.

Devesh Kapur, director of the Center for the Advanced Study of India at the University of Pennsylvania, describes how that affects the Indian middle class by saying: "This middle class is less about 'what the state can do for me' than 'the state is preventing me from doing what I want to do.'"

In the mid-1990s, there was a growth breakthrough in sectors unconstrained by regulations. For example, the vast regulatory system was slow to catch on to the IT sector and service industries. As a result of this blind spot, both sectors grew exponentially, and quickly became global players.

This has resulted in the creation of a new class of business people who have succeeded not through corruption, but in spite of it. While previously, industry grew through influence/corruption, the new private sector finds corruption not an asset, but a hindrance.

Positive Effects of Globalization.

This new globally competitive business sector is largely fluent in English and social mediasavvy. They see how things are being done elsewhere and want the same efficiencies and freedom from corruption at home.

And it's not just the business sector. The number of people with a vested interest in an honest system has exploded. From the newly educated middle class to those in rural areas, people are becoming aware that the local corrupt officials are part of a larger system that is smothering the country and stealing the future from their children.

Through the common use of English and technological innovations like cheap mobile phones and Internet access, a truly national Indian civil society is coming of age. It has seen that corruption is not necessary. For example, not long ago, something as simple as booking a rail ticket or flight could require a bribe. Now it can be done cleanly online. Before, getting a phone line put into a home or office took months and a pay-off. Now you can get a mobile phone and SIM card at the corner shop.

Times have changed. And, when it comes to corruption, the Indian public isn't going to take it anymore.

What now?

As understanding grows that corruption isn't fixable in a one-off solution, those who have been tracking and analyzing these issues for decades are stepping forward. On October 14th, India's newly formed Action Committee Against Corruption in India (ACACI) held its first official meeting. The Committee's core team consists of many key members of the brain trust who have been guiding the movement since the early days, and is a who's who of the anti-corruption wars.

Some of the members:

The Committee is chaired by Dr. Subramanian Swamy, a Harvard professor and former Indian government Law Minister. Firebrand Dr. Swamy has a track record of bringing to book some of the biggest political players so far caught up in the corruption scandals, including a governmentminister.

Prof R. Vaidyanathan, from the Indian Institute for Management Bangalore, has been systematically looking at the issue since the mid-1990s, producing groundbreaking research on the causes and reach of the challenge.

Journalist M. D. Nalapat wrote a series of columns in the 1970s condemning public sector illegalities and was forced to quit as editor of Mathrubhumi newspaper as long back as 1984 because of his anti-corruption coverage. When he was finally hired by the Times of India in 1989, his first story was about how the Chief Minister of Karnataka was giving away expensive land on the cheap to favorites. Another series on corruption in 1995 finally got him pushed out from theTimes, as well. Nalapat turned to academics and column writing. In a sign of the changing times, Nalapat recently returned to a staff position in journalism, becoming a columnist for the Sunday Guardian.

The Committee's objectives include analyzing, and proposing counters to, the root causes of corruption in India. A main goal is to give information to Indian civil society.

For many, social activist Anna Hazare, recently arrested and released in connection with his anti-corruption fast, has become an important symbol of the anti-corruption movement. However, there is growing concern that, in spite of his best intension, and those of his followers, his single shot solution (an anti-corruption superagency that itself, despite the best of efforts, risks becoming corrupt) may not be enough to inoculate the system from the debilitating parasite of corruption. The challenges are too complex and embedded. There is a growing need and demand for systemic solutions. Which is where the new Committee comes in.

While many brave individuals have been fighting the anti-corruption battles for a long time, they have been largely voices in the wilderness, until recently.

However, as these experts combine forces with the new wave of courageous, aware and engaged Indian civil society, there is a chance that the hold corruption has over India may start to weaken. Through the efforts of Indian civil society, India as a nation is truly coming of age.

This is something that will benefit not only India, but also those who are her partners. It's crucial for the West to understand and appreciate the monumental struggle now unfolding in India -- a critical ally in the fight for worldwide democracy, prosperity and secularism.

This is Part Two of a two part series on the roots of corruption in India, and some of what is being done to weed it out. This first part looked at causes of corruption in modern India. The second part looks at how the battle against corruption in India is being waged, and why winning that fight is critical not just for India, but also for global security.

Wednesday, 2 November 2011

Origins of Corruption in Modern India - I

There is a revolution in India.

Individual by individual, an anti-corruption wave is growing within Indian civil society. In recent months, people from all sectors of Indian society have said 'enough is enough' and, each in their own way, are doing something about it. Some are taking to the streets, others are online, some are using the courts, others have turned to the media. The swelling wave has already washed away one government minister and is lapping at the ankles of some of the country's biggest players.

The implications are global. As the West and India work more closely together, corruption in India risks spilling over into partner systems. By cleaning up India, Indians are not only reclaiming their own country, they are making the world a more stable place. For anyone interested in lasting global security, it's important to understand how India has ended up where it is today, and what Indian civil society is fighting for.

Origins of Corruption in Modern India include:
Public sector pay and powers
The tax collecting system
Campaign financing

1. Public Sector Pay and Powers.

When the British took over large sections of what is now India from the East India Company, the British government acknowledged that, given the vast discretionary powers of the administrators, there could be the temptation to skim from the booty. So, they put in place a system that ensured that British officials posted to India would be very well paid -- and punished for dishonesty -- in order to mitigate the urge to dip into the coffers.

When India gained Independence in 1947, Prime Minister Nehru retained the extensive powers of the British colonial administration -- including laws that gave officials the right to intervene in almost any aspect of daily life. However, at the same time, he also dramatically reduced salaries in the public sector.

The result was a system in which an enormous number of poorly paid public employees had wide-ranging opportunities to 'make a bit on the side' through administrative coercion. It was almost inevitable that corruption would start to infect the system.

For example, the average Indian policeman is paid so poorly that taking bribes is almost part of the salary structure. In 2009, the housing allowance for the head of a police station in Mumbai, one of the most expensive cities in the world, was $45 a month. To be able to afford to house themselves and their family, it is not surprising if some have resorted to taking bribes. Usually the informal 'income supplement' is limited to relatively minor cases, like a small pay-off to get out of a traffic stop, but once the rot sets in, it can spread fast and deep.

Similarly, the Indian legal system is staffed by underpaid law clerks, prosecutors and lawyers, and moves at the lethargic, erratic pace of a drunken slug. Wealthy accused can give bribes for bail or for stay orders that can last for decades or a lifetime, if necessary. As a result, the Indian legal system is a weak deterrent to crime.

The problems with the system were so obvious that when Lee Kwan Yew set up his administration in Singapore, he was careful not to replicate India's mistakes. He ensured that officials were well paid (and harshly punished for indiscretions). Currently, in Singapore, the Prime Minister earns over five times the salary of President Obama and top ministers are paid around $1million a year. Corruption is extremely low.

2. Taxation.

In India, the situation grew even worse with Nehru's introduction of a tax scheme designed in large part by Hungarian Nicholas Kaldor. By the 1970s, the highest earners were required to pay 93.5 percent in tax. And, in some cases, the combined wealth and income taxes exceeded actual income. In many cases, it was simply not possible to survive if you paid the tax that was legally required. Combine this with the enormous discretionary powers of the tax collectors and, again, it was inevitable that tax evasion through corruption began on a massive scale.

3. Campaign financing.

Simultaneously, a range of profitable sectors were heavily restricted by the government, including some foreign trade and the sale of liquor. The result was that by the 1960s, as in the United States during prohibition, mafia elements took control of the sectors, generating huge amounts of black money.

That illegal money started to slosh around the system, contaminating all it touched, including campaign financing. While the cost of running for office in India is astronomically high, legal spending limits for campaigns are unrealistically low. This means that many potential candidates start their political careers by having to engage in illegal activities such as forging campaign documents, securing funding from dodgy sources and owing debts to various mafias.

Once elected, this has the twin effect of leaving the newly elected politicians open to blackmail and also of having to repay the money borrowed to get into office. Through blackmail, they may be pressured into enacting legislation that favors the illegal sectors. In order to repay debts, they may use their position to extract bribes and provide favors.

Additionally, officially, politics pays very poorly and, as the politicians might only be in office for a single term, they only have those 4 years or so to secure their family's fortune and set up connections that will serve them well out of office or ensure their reelection.

If so inclined, and they use their position to generate cash, they might also use hawala networks and the like to stash their illegal money in safe havens, which then makes the politicians vulnerable not only to domestic blackmail but to the influence of international terrorist networks, as well.

As a result of all these factors and more, India is now caught in a situation where many sectors are steeped in endemic corruption, including those charged with controlling the corruption itself: from the politicians who write the laws to the police charged with enforcing it. Recently the amount of Indian black money in offshore accounts was estimated to be about $1.4 trillion.

This is Part One of a two part series on the roots of corruption in India, and what is being done to weed it out. This first part looks at causes of corruption in modern India. The second part looks at how the battle against corruption in India is being waged, and why winning that fight is critical not just for India, but also for global security. Part Two will look at the growing role of Indian civil society in fighting corruption, and why it's crucial for the West to understand the importance of the monumental struggle now unfolding in India -- a critical ally in the fight for worldwide democracy, prosperity and secularism.

Friends of Shehla Masood take her mission forward: re-file her pending applications

Three RTI Anonymous anti-corruption "Musketeers" !!!

Vinita Deshmukh

Besides re-filing 40-odd RTI applications which the late Shehla Masood had filed and the information of which was pending, her friends have recently launched a website ‘getup4change’which encourages citizens to file RTI queries anonymously under the banner of RTI Anonymous (RTIA)

Friends of the late Shehla Masood, the RTI (Right to Information) activist who was brutally assassinated, have formed www.getup4change.orgwhich also encourages citizens to file RTI queries anonymously under the banner RTI Anonymous (RTIA). The ‘getup4change’ team volunteers will perform the role of RTI applicants for citizens who want to remain anonymous.

Noted Bhopal-based RTI activist Shehla Masood had asked for information regarding expenditure of travel and stay in luxury hotelsillegally borne by the state government of 12 serving High Court Judges who attended the wedding of the son of Principal Secretary (law) Ashok Kumar in December 2010. At the time of her death, this application was pending.

In short, documents uploaded on the website reveal that Rajendra Prasad Mishra, Deputy Secretary, has been convicted in this matter as hospitality was provided to the 12 judges flouting the protocol of the state government’s hospitality rules. Chief Justice of Rajasthan Arun Mishra did not attend the wedding but his wife was the beneficiary of her husband’s official privileges, thus illegally giving her the status of a state guest.Payment to Hotel Noor-Us-Sabah Palace Bhopal from the State Treasury was made in the name of Justice Arun Mishra although he was absent for the wedding; various other hotels and transport agencies were also paid for felicitations and transport of these judges, flouting norms for state guests. The scandal has serious implications as the Chief Minister is personally involved since it was at the behest of his office’s orders that the expenditure was approved.

Ritesh Singh, one of the three founders, is a third-year B Tech student of IIT-Kharagpur and sat for all the 12 days on fast with Anna Hazare at the Ramlila Grounds. He has so far filed around 100 RTI applications and is a veteran amongst the three founders in RTI activism. He said, “Shehla Masood was brutally murdered on 16th August 2011, as she sat in her car on her way to Boat Club in Bhopal to fast with Anna Hazare for the Jan Lokpal Bill. The bullet pierced her… turning this Tigress, as she was known among her close friends and who was a deadly cocktail for the corrupt, into a harmless corpse.”

Then quickly correcting himself, Ritesh said, “Did I say “harmless”? No. Shehla Masood has made her point most forcefully in her death. A group of her close friends have pledged to not let this victimisation of social reformers continue any further. They have decided to punish the people who killed her, in a novel way. While the investigation has been disappointing so far, this group of her friends has decided to re-file her 40-odd pending RTI applications to trouble exactly those who wanted to silence her because they didn’t want to reply to her pending RTI applications.”

Shehla’s group of friends who are passionate about keeping her memory alive by carrying on her work of exposing the corrupt include people from varied backgrounds. Anand Sharma, Senior Engineer at Seagate Technology in Colorado, US, steers the team enthusiastically from there. He said, “Shehla was Ritesh’s close friend and both used to do RTI activism together. Ritesh and Shehla had envisaged a slightly different service named ‘RTI Leaks’ which was planned to be a one-stop source for all RTI-related exposés throughout India. While the plan was materialising, Shehla attained martyrdom.

“After about one month of activism through our Facebook pagehttps://www.facebook.com/JusticeForShehlaMasood and other initiatives, we noticed that people who dared to stand up against corruption were being victimised. We thought RTI Anonymous (RTIA) is one solution that would hopefully reduce this issue to a significant extent. After several brainstorming sessions between three of us that is, Ritesh Singh, Avnish Singh (who is an IT entrepreneur and) I, we decided to launch the websitewww.getup4change.org through which we would implement the idea of RTIA.”

The RTIA was formed on 15th October and its activities are visible through the website www.getup4change.org. Mr Sharma said, “We have had an overwhelming response from people and it was highly motivating to see that they started believing us and putting their faith in our organisation.” They already have near to 150 RTI requests and the number is growing by the day.

Vinita Deshmukh is consulting editor of Moneylife. She is also an RTI activist and convener of the Pune Metro Jagruti Abhiyaan. She can be reached at vinitapune@gmail.com

Tuesday, 1 November 2011

10 things you may like to know about ex-IRS officer Arvind Kejriwal

ONE of Team Anna Hazare’s key aides, Arvind Kejriwal, was an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer who worked as Additional Commissioner of Income Tax inDelhi before opting for a quiet exit of his high profile government job. A crusader for stringent anti-corruption laws in India now, Kejriwal once met Mother Teresa in Kolkata and worked for her for two months. He started his NGO Parivartan informally even when he was in the Income-Tax department. Here are 10 things you may like to know about Kejriwal, a Ramon Magsaysay Award winner and a confidante of Anna Hazare.

1. Hailing from Haryana, 43 year-old Kejriwal is an engineer from IIT-Kharagpur.
2. Worked for the Tata Group before joining Indian Revenue Service in 1995.
3. Before leaving the Tata and joining the IRS, he met Mother Teresa who asked him to work at Kalighat in Kolkata. Kejriwal worked for Mother Teresa for two months.

Spot Kejriwal: IRS officers of 1995 batch

4. He also traveled inside Bodoland of Assam when militancy was at its peak.
5. Kejriwal thought he would be a misfit in the IRS service, but did not leave the job immediately.
6. Started his NGO Parivartan informally even when he was an Income Tax officer. Received Rs 50,000 donation from his relatives to begin the process. The idea was to appeal people that “don’t pay bribe in the tax department, get your work done through Parivartan”.
7. Won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership in 2006.
8. Played a key role in lobbying for the Right To Information Act passed.
9. Kejriwal’s wife Sunita is also an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer. They have two children.10. He lives at Kaushambi in Ghaziabad district of Uttar Pradesh. It’s just at the outskirts of Delhi.

School of Thought: More schools may come up in corrupt bureaucrats' houses in Bihar

The IAS officer's confiscated house at Bailey Road, Patna

Students enjoy the spoils of suspended babu – is what one of the national dailies gave a headline to Bihar CM Nitish Kumar’s politically brilliant idea of converting suspended 1981 batch IAS Shiv Shankar Verma’s Patna mansion into a school for Dalit children. As children were puzzled to find a new environment, a three-story house with marbles from Rajasthan and furnished with expensive interiors, Bihar chief minister was reportedly “excited” over the development and vowed to humiliate more corrupt bureaucrats in this innovative fashion.

With 16 more such cases of confiscation in the pipeline, the question is whether Bihar CM would succeed in creating more such schools.
Meanwhile, Verma has reportedly moved the Supreme Court, challenging Patna high court order of August 19, 2011, upholding the confiscation of his property under the provisions of Bihar Special Courts Act, 2009. Originally hailing from UP, Verma has been under suspension from July 2007 after Special Vigilance Unit raided his place and assets worth about Rs 1.4 crore were unearthed.
According to media reports, 361 of 3,321 primary schools in Patna district alone do not have buildings of their own. Armed with a new legislation, chief minister Kumar said he would like to see more schools run from palatial buildings of corrupt government officials.
As Kumar’s earlier move of keeping bureaucrats’ list of properties in public domain forced the Centre to do the same for its own officers, it remains to be seen whetherNew Delhi too comes up with a better idea of what to do with confiscated properties of corrupt bureaucrats.

Saturday, 29 October 2011

Team RTI Anonymous: The fire of activism was always there within three of them !!!

Ritesh Singh

Anand Sharma

1a. Could you briefly tell me how Ritesh , Avnish and Anand came to collaborate on this
initiative.
The fire of activism was always there within the three of us. Anna’s 14 day fast, spurred us into action.
Ritesh (19 yr. old 3rd Computer Sc. Student IIT Kharagpur) ended up fasting for 14 days in Ramlila Ground and was admitted to ICU.
Avnish (An Entreprenuer, who heads various web-based companies) was a volunteer in Ramlila Ground, helping in the cleanup/crowd control, getting beaten up/yelled at by huge amount of people in Ramlila.
Anand Sharma (Sr. Staff Engineer - Seagate Technology, USA, was involved in various protests during Anna’s fast).

We three were part of the the IAC facebook group and started posting our opinions on what should be done next, on various facebook IAC forums. That led to chatting over facebook and google talk. The Chat graduated to 3-way conference calls from Anand in US to Ritesh and Avnish in Kharagpur and Delhi respectively. Currently, our daily communication is thru skype/Voice over IP Telephones/Email/Google Chat.
We may have not touched each other physically, but have seen/heard & read about each other, with the help of today’s technology

1b. One of Ritesh's article mentions, that he had envisaged RTI Anonymous originally with Shehla Masood. Was that the original inspiration for the initiative?
Shehla was Ritesh’s close friend and both used to do RTI activism together. Ritesh & Shehla had envisaged a slightly different service named RTI Leaks. RTI Leaks was planned to be a one stop source for all RTI related expose throughout India. While the plan was materialising, Shehla attained martyrdom.

After about one month of activism through our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/JusticeForShehlaMasood and other initiatives, we noticed that there was a gaping hole in the existing anti-corruption laws. People who dared to stand-up against corruption, were being being victimised. RTI Anonymous, is one solution that would hopefully reduce this issue to a significant extent.

Long brainstorming sessions between the three of us, finally resulted in this idea.
With the technical expertise, experience and background that the three of us already have, implementing this idea on a website was the next most logical thing to do. And thus RTI Anonymous was born.

1c. How many individuals form your core team?
Ours is a movement where everybody is welcome and there is no specific core team.
However right now, we three (Ritesh, Anand and Avnish) are working the hardest for the cause and we like to fondly call ourselves the core team.

2a. When was RTI anonymous operationalised (rough date).
The site was operationalised on Oct 15th 2011

2b. What has been the response of the public, as of now?
From the day of launch (Oct 15th), we have had an overwhelming response from people and it was highly motivating to see that they started believing us and putting their faith in our organization.
As of Oct 30th (within 15 days) we have a a total of 130 RTI Requests.
What started of with just three people has now expanded to a volunteer group of about 35 people, from different parts of India & USA. .
We now have a team of about 15 IIT Kharagpur Students, working through the night, learning and drafting RTI’s
We have about few retired government officials, who are not only experts in legal matters/labor laws & state laws, but have also been Public Information Officer for few years, before retiring. They now do a final review of all RTI applications.
For Example: Mr. Ramakrishna Manja of Bangalore is a 65 year old retired Registrar and had been a Public Information Officer in the Institute of Mathematical Sciences.

We have about 10 experienced RTI activists from different parts of India, who are helping us too.
So the response is two fold -- 105 RTI Requests & about 35 volunteers and this number is growing

2c. Any success story you'll would like to highlight? (Eg: Your site shows number of RTIs filed/printed/resolved etc. Are those the latest figures or please send me the latest ones.
Yes, we have a very important success story that we want to highlight. It is about Madhya Pradesh High Court Judges given undue favours by Chief Minister’s Office. This can be a big story since the Chief Minister's Office was directly involved (see Document Number 3 from top on http://getup4change.org/rti/madhya-pradesh-high-court-judges-given-undue-favours/) and it was because of recommendation from that office that public money was used to pay for the judges' trips. Furthermore, 4th Document from top clearly shows written records by Sahayak Satkaar Adhikari stating that wife of Rajasthan High Court Chief Justice Shri Arun Mishra utilized all facilities provided by the state even though she wasn't officially a state guest.
This is clearly a misuse of Public Money for personal luxury and shows one instance of how Chief Ministers can keep High Court Judges Impressed, even more so when India is a country of starving millions. It has taken a lot of time for us to expose this. Your coverage will help to prevent such irregularities in future.
Yes, all figures available on the site are latest.

3) At a time when the government is trying to clamp down on the reach of the RTI, what according to you is the role/importance of a platform like yours.
RTI Anonymous clearly assumes much more importance in current scenarios where RTI Activists are frequently being victimised. About Government clamping down on the reach of RTI, we as part of RTI Activist community are fairly confident that we won’t allow that to happen through peaceful and democratic assertion.

4a) Could you elaborate a little about how your initiative actually functions?
On RTI Anonymous, a user can simply click on ‘Submit RTI’ on the homepage to file an RTI Application. They can also send their request directly to us through email (by creating a dummy email address).
He/she has an option to give his email address if he/she wants to be notified about the status/progress of his RTI Application through his email. Otherwise he/she can very well file it through a dummy username. Once the user Submits his/her RTI Application on RTI Anonymous, we extensively edit it to make it stronger and less ambiguous.
And then we file it through a random volunteer, who are based in different parts of India completely bypassing possibility of any victimisation” So this means a volunteer in Delhi with a proper Delhi Residential Address will file an RTI for an issue with say BBMP-Bangalore.

4b) Does an RTI applicant need to pay RTI Anonymous any fees for the data he/she desires? What about RTI charges or xerox charges for documents that need retrieving?
We don’t charge anybody for any of our services. We are self funded but also supported by few generous donors. All our accounts are openly available on the website since we believe in 100 % transparency: http://getup4change.org/rti/fund-rtis-save-india/.
There are absolutely no charges of any kind we charge from applicants. All the charges related to RTI filing is been covered by organization itself. 5a) As you are aware RTI activists across the country have been under attack. What are the measures you think the government needs to incorporate to ensure the safety of such individuals.
We need strong whistle blowers protection clause as part of the Lokpal Bill with provision of severe punishment for harassing and threatening RTI activists
We never care about threats, every threat makes us more stronger and more determined towards our goal. The more you try to eliminate us, more we will increase in numbers and every time more stronger than earlier.However, we also do believe that RTI Anonymous can do a really good job in solving the problem of whistle blower victimisation.
5b) Have you'll had any such experience of threats/intimidation since the platform was floated? Given the experience of Wikileaks, do you'll fear a similar backlash from powers-that-be?
We did face hacking attempts to get our website down a few weeks ago.
We are prepared to face any such threat at all levels. Avnish himself is a x-Anonymous activist (an international group of people working for anonymous activism) and actively participated in Wikileaks movement. We have helped Wikileaks and IAC (India Against Corruption) technologically, by managing their web traffic and mirroring their website. .
6) There could be a fair deal of skepticism among users about how your platform would ensure anonymity of RTI applicants. What are the measures you'll take to protect the identity of applicants?
We don’t ask for any detail whatsoever of any applicant on RTI Anonymous. We deliver the reply on the site and send an email notification to the applicant (if he has put in his/her email address while Submitting his RTI). Since even we ourselves don’t have any details of the applicants, there is no room for skepticism/doubt that we would reveal it.

7a) Have you'll had any prior experience with RTI or is this a first-time foray into the field.
Among the core team, Ritesh is the most experience , since he has so far filed more than 100 RTI’s. But as mentioned above. The organization comprises of about 10 RTI Activists, 5 Retired and highly experienced government officials, who have been Public Information Officers. These retired government officials are experts in legal matters, State labor laws and also the entire RTI process.

7b) What according to you are the biggest challenges facing the RTI movement in the country, currently?

A deliberate attempt to create red-tapism, by making the whole process of filing RTI’s extremely complicated
Lack of Whistleblower Protection Act
Government trying to dilute the RTI Act

8) Your site mentions that many members of your core group are based abroad. Could you please elaborate your source of funding the RTI applications, given the back-and-forth correspondence it would entail to India.
The original model of RTI-Anonymous was supposed to be a self-funded initiative and we consider any donations, as motivation and encouragement to our cause.
There are several people from India and abroad(NRIs) who have pledged to send us donations.

RTI Anonymous is going to train NRI’s in USA, to draft RTI’s, using Skype-based Conference Call on Nov 5th. We have so far had about 15 NRI’s from different parts of US, enrolled for this training.

Anna's Globe