Anybody who has been to Pune would know that the Pune Municipal Corporation is not a very competent body. The city is going down rapidly and hardly anything is being done to stop the slide.
I have been reading up on the Right to Information for quite some time and now intend to use it to get some answers on an important issue, Footpaths. I have written about this before “Pune Corporation – The Art of Converting Public Parking Spaces Into Private Property” and “Footpaths are for pedestrians and not illegal chaat stalls”
All over the city, builders are converting footpaths into parking places or approach roads for their buildings. I intend to get the following info under the Right To Information Act
- Details of new footpaths created in the last 2 years
- Details of repairs done to existing footpaths in the last 2 years
- Want to know if it is legal for footpaths to be paved by the builder instead of the PMC
- Has any action been taken against any building / builder for paving a public footpath without PMC permission?
- What action has been taken against PMC staff for failure in stopping encroachment and misuse of footpaths?
- Are footpaths designed so as to prevent any vehicle parking or their use as approach roads to buildings / parking areas?
- Which roads will get new footpaths in 2007?
- Is PMC bound to develop and maintain footpaths for all new roads in the city?
I might rephrase things a bit. But this is more or less the info I would be ask for.
I went through Right To Information Info at –
- Consumer Forum Procedure for request of Information
- Parivartan – How To Apply
- PMC Egovpmc – RTI Officers
- Model application Format for obtaining information under “RTI Act, 2005”
- Right To Information Act
- Right To Information FAQ
- Right To Information Campaign Workbook
While most of my queries have been answered. I still could not find a satisfying answer to –
- How much to pay as RTI fees and what’s the easiest way to pay them?
- None of the docs state clearly what is the amount I need to pay. They state that I will have to pay Rs 25 + photocopying/ postage on actuals. If this amount is going to change from case to case, it means I have to personally go to the PMC office and ask the bureaucrat what amount I need to pay. I would then have to pay it by standing in queues and filling more forms.
- This I think is a big flaw as it eliminates the option of me getting things done by post and without having to suffer the irritations that inevitably follow a visit to a govt. office.
- There’s no provision for electronic money transfer. It might seems elitist to talk of electronic transfers in a poor country, but the act should provide for it.
Ideally I should be able to make an online payment for a flat fee of say Rs 100. Then fill up a form on a central RTI site. The site should be well aware of the Public Information officer (PIO) to contact. The PIO should get anemail and I should get a confirmation.
Looking at the government’s e-awareness record, e-Right to Information is unlikely to happen in the near future, so I guess I should start planning my visit to the PMC office.
Any suggestions on how I could simplify the process or make better use of my application, are most welcome.