It is a planned implementation of Satellite Based Navigation System (SBNS) developed by Airports Authority of India (AAI) and ISRO. GAGAN is expected to provide a civil aeronautical navigation signal consistent with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Standards and Recommended Practices as established by the Global Navigation Satellite System Panel. GAGAN was launched in August 2010. With this India has become the 4th Country in the World to have satellite based navigation system. It is a system to improve the accuracy of a GNSS receiver by providing reference signals.
rawan239
Components of Ecosystem
The components of the ecosystem is categorised into abiotic of non-living and biotic of living components. Both the components of ecosystem and environment are same.
- Abiotic Components
the inorganic and non-living parts of the world. consists of soil, water, air, and light energy etc. involves a ,large number of chemicals like oxygen, nitrogen-, etc. and physical processes including volcanoes, earthquakes, floods, forest fires, climates, and weather conditions.
Abiotic factors are the most important determinants of where and how well an organism exists in its environment. Although these factors interact with each other, one single factor can-limit the range of an organism.
- a) Energy
Energy from the sun is essential for maintenance of life. Energy determines the distribution of organisms in the environment.
- b) Rainfall
- c) Temperature :-Temperature is a critical factor of the environment which greatly influences survival of organisms. Organisms can tolerate only a certain range of temperature and humidity.
- d) Atmosphere :It is made up of 21% oxygen, 78% nitrogen , 0.038% carbon dioxide and other inert gases (0.93% Argon, Neon etc).
- e) Substratum :Land is covered by soil and a wide variety of microbes, protozoa, fungi and small animals (invertebrates) thrive in it
- f) Materials:
(i) Organic compound
Such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, humic substances are formed from inorganic compound on decomposition.
(ii) Inorganic compound
Such as carbon, carbon dioxide, water, sulphur, nitrates, phosphates, and ions of various metals are essential for organisms to survive.
- g) Latitude and altitude
Latitude has a strong influence on an area’s temperature, resulting in change of climates such as polar, tropical, and temperate. These climates determine different natural biomes. From sea level to highest peaks, wild life is influenced by altitude. As the altitude increases, the air becomes colder and drier, affecting wild life accordingly.( wild life decrease as altitude increase)
- Biotic Components :Biotic components include living organisms comprising plants, animals and microbes and are classified according to their functional attributes into producers and consumers.
Primary producers – Autotrophs (self-nourishing) Primary producers are basically green plants (and certain bacteria and algae). They synthesise carbohydrate from simple inorganic raw materials like carbon dioxide and water in the presence of sunlight by the process of photosynthesis for themselves, and supply indirectly to other non- producers.
In terrestrial ecosystem, producers are basically herbaceous and woody plants, while in aquatic ecosystem producers are various species of microscopic algae.
- b) Consumers — Heterotrophs or phagotrophs (other nourishing)
Consumers are incapable of producing their own food (photosynthesis).
They depend on organic food derived from plants, animals or both.
Consumers can be divided into two broad groups
(i) Macro consumers- They feed on plants or animals or both and are categorised on the basis of their food sources.
Herbivores are primary consumers which feed mainly on plants e.g. cow, rabbit.
Secondary consumers feed on primary consumers e.g. wolves.
Carnivores which feed on secondary consumers are called tertiary consumers e.g. lions which can eat wolves.
Omnivores are organisms which consume both plants and animals e.g. man.
(ii) Micro consumers – Saprotrophs (decomposers or osmotrophs)
They are bacteria and fungi which obtain energy and nutrients by decomposing dead organic substances (detritus) of plant and animal origin.
The products of decomposition such as inorganic nutrients which are released in the ecosystem are reused by producers and thus recycled.
Earthworm and certain soil organisms (such as nematodes, and arthropods) are detritus feeders and help in the decomposition of organic matter and are called detrivores.
BT Brinjal & Risk assessment
BT Brinjal
- In 2006, Maharashtra Hybird Seeds Company submitted biosafety and efficacy data to the GEAC and applied for permission to conduct large-scale trials
- At the same time SC imposed a ban on the on-going field trials
- An expert committee was constituted by GEAC to look into the concerns raised by several civil society actors
- SC later lifted the ban on field trials
- After a series of reviews the environment ministry declared a moratorium on Bt Brinjal in Feb 2010
Risk assessment
- Civil society has demanded that the science of risk assessment be made rigourous, independent and peer-reviewed
Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers
The executive powers of the President are exercised by the Council of Ministers. The Constitution provides that “there shall be a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister at the head to aid and advise the President in the excercise of his functions”. Here the word “shall” indicates that the President cannot function without the Council of Ministers. The President is the constitutional head of State, but the real Head of the government is the Prime Minister.
The Constitution of India provides for a parliamentary system of government and, therefore, divides the executive into two parts: the nominal and real executive. The President of India is the nominal executive and the Council of Ministers is the real executive which works under the leadership of Prime Minister. Article 74, 75, and 78 of the constitution provide for provisions relating to the council of Ministers and the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister shall be appointed by the President and other Ministers shall be appointed by the President upon the advice of the Prime Minister. The Ministers hold office during the pleasure of the President. The council of Ministers shall be collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha. A minister who for any period of six consecutive months is not a member of the Parliament shall at the expiration of that period cease to be a Minister.
The Prime Minister being the head of the Council of Ministers, selects the Ministers to be sworn in by the President. The Ministers in fact are chosen by the Prime Minister and remain Ministers as long as they enjoy the confidence of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister distributes portfolios among Ministers. The President can change the portfolios as and when he desires. The Prime Minister can drop a Minister or ask for his/her resignation. The Prime Minister presides over the meetings of the Cabinet and conducts its proceedings. As head of the Cabinet, he/she largely influences the decisions of the Cabinet. The Prime Minister co-ordinates the working of various ministers.
The Prime Minister, as the leader of the Lok Sabha, is also the leader of the Parliament. In the capacity as the leader of the majority party it is he who decides, in consultation with the Speaker, the complete agenda of the house. The summoning and proroguing of the house is decided upon by him. He can address each house of the Parliament but can vote only in the house to which he belongs. The Prime Minister has the most effective power to ask for dissolution of the Lok Sabha.
The Prime Minister is the Ex-officio Chairman of the Planning Commission (Now NITI Ayog) as well as of the National Development Council. He/She represents the nation at the international conferences as the head of the government.
Constitution of India states that “There shall be a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister at the head to aid and advise the President who shall, in the exercise of his functions, act in accordance with such advice: Provided that the President may require the Council of Ministers to reconsider such advice, either generally or otherwise, and the President shall act in accordance with the advice tendered after such reconsideration.”
Important Acts
The Govt. of India Act | Gave assurance that there would be no more territorial possessions. Titles were |
1858 | bestowed on many princes & the right of adoption was accepted. No |
interference in religious matters. | |
The Indian Council | Provided that there was no difference between the central & provincial |
Act 1861 | subjects. The number of additional members in the council was fixed between |
four to eight. The Act also provided the Madras & Bombay governments the | |
right to make laws. | |
Morley Minto | The number of members in the Imperial Legislative Council was raised to 69 |
Reforms 1909 | out of which 37 were to be govt nominees & 32 non-govt. The non-govt |
nominees comprised 5 members nominated by the governor general & 27 | |
elected members (13 represented Maharajas, 6 land lords, 6 muslims & 2 | |
Chambers of Commerce in Bengal & Bombay). | |
Montagu-Chelmsford | Setup a bifurcated legislature consisting of two houses ie the Council of States |
Reforms 1919. | & the Central Legislative Assembly, in place of former Imperial Coucil |
consisting of only one house. Some of the functions of the Secretary of State | |
were taken from him & given to the high commissioner for Inida who was to | |
be appointed & paid by the government of India. For the first time the King’s | |
Council was established. The ambit of communal electorates was exapned to | |
give representation to the Sikhs, Anglo Indians, Europeans & Christians | |
alongwith the Muslims. The representation of Indians was increased in both | |
the central as well as provincial legislatures. | |
Govt of India Act | Contained 451 articles. It was to have two chambers, the council of state & the |
1935 | federal assembly. The Indian council was abolished. Expanded communal |
representation. Decided to establish a federation of India consisting of | |
Governor’s provinces & princely states. It was compulsory for the governor’s | |
provinces to accede to the proposed federation, whereas in the case of princely | |
states, it was voluntary. All constituent parts of the federation were to have full | |
interinal autonomy. To implement the act it was proposed to establish a federal | |
executive & a federal legislature. Under the act, dyarchy in the provinces | |
earlier established by the act of 1919 was replaced by Provincial Autonomy. | |
The distinction between reserved subjects & transferred subjects was | |
abolished. Burma was separated from India. The governor was not bound to | |
accept the advice of council of ministers. |
Arunachal Pradesh Tax and economic reforms
Arunachal Pradesh Tax and economic reforms
Major Land Mark Economic Reform Goods and Service tax
The launch of GST on July 1, 2017 was indeed a historic occasion and a paradigm shift as India moved towards ‘One Nation, One Tax, One Market’.
Benefits:
- Consumers – Removal of cascading in taxes and efficiency gains will bring down the overall cost paid by consumers.
- Trade and Industry –
- It will benefit because of uniform single indirect tax throughout the country, seamless flow of input tax credit, removal of tax related barriers ate inter-state borders, reduced logistic costs, end to end IT enabled system and minimal interface with tax authorities.
- Exports will become more competitive and Make in India programme will get a major fillip due to increased ease of doing business and protection from cheap imports as all imports will be subject to integrated GST, in addition to the basic custom duty.
- Manufacturers – They will be able to take rational decisions with regard to sourcing of raw materials, location of manufacturing and warehousing facilities.
- Central and State Governments – Will witness tax buoyancy and the tax collection costs will reduce significantly.
- Ease of doing business –
- Simpler tax regime with fewer exemption
- Reduction in compliance costs – no multiple record keeping for a variety of taxes so lesser manpower needed
- Simplified and automated procedures for various processes such as registration, returns, refunds etc.
- All interaction to be through the common GSTN portal – minimal public interface between the tax payers and administration
- Harmonization of laws, procedures and rates of taxes
Need for Constitutional Amendment:
- Indian constitution had clearly demarcated the fiscal powers between Centre and States as per the entries in Union and State list.
- Centre – Levy tax on the manufacture of goods (except alcoholic liquor for human consumption, opium, narcotics etc.). Centre, alone, is also empowered to levy service tax.
- State – Levy tax on the sale of goods.
- In case on inter-state sales, the Centre had power to levy tax (the Central Sale Tax) by the tax was collected and retained entirely by the states.
- Amendment concurrently empowered the Centre and States to levy and collect GST.
Journey to launch of GST in India:
- The idea of GST was first mooted in 2000 and a committee was set up under the chairmanship of Asim Dasgupta (the then West Bengal Finance Minister).
- In 2003, another task force under Vijay Kelkar to recommend tax reforms were formed.
- During the presentation of 2006-07 union budget, the govt. proposed to introduce GST from April 1, 2010.
- The constitutional amendment (122nd) bill was introduced in 2014 and finally became act in September 2016. It became the 101st Amendment act.
Constitution (101st Amendment) Act 2016:
- It empowers both, the Centre and the States, to levy and collect GST.
- The GST has been defined as a tax on supply of goods or services or both, except supply of alcoholic liquor for human consumption.
- Thus, alcohol for human consumption has been kept out of the GST by way of the definition of GST in the constitution.
- On the other hand, five petroleum products viz. petroleum crude, motor spirit (petrol), high speed diesel, natural gas and aviation turbine fuel have temporarily been kept out and GST council would decide the date from which they shall be inducted in GST.
- Inter-State supply of goods and services (Integrated GST, IGST) would be levied and collected by Centre. It will ensure that the GST is truly destination based consumption tax and there is seamless flow of input tax credit, even when goods and services are moving from one state to another state.
The GST Council of Arunachal Pradesh Tax and economic reforms:
- The guiding principle of the GST Council is to ensure harmonization of different aspects of GST between the Centre and the States as well as among States with a view to develop a harmonized national markets for goods and services within India.
- Chairperson – Union FM,
- Vice Chairperson – to be chosen amongst the ministers of State Govt.
- Members – MOS (Finance) and all Ministers of Finance/Taxation of each state
- Quorum – 50% of total members
- States – 2/3 weightage and Centre – 1/3 weightage
- Decision by 75% majority (the weightage of voting has been so assigned that it is not possible for either the Centre or the states to take any decision unilaterally)
- However, till now all the decisions in the council have been taken by consensus and there has not been any occasion for voting.
- The difficult issue of cross empowerment and administrative division of tax payers between the states and center was resolved in a true spirit of give and take.
- Council to make recommendations on everything related to GST including laws, rules and rates etc.
- The newly created constitutional body, the GST Council, has emerged as a new model of cooperative federalism, where the centre and the states are willing to share and pool in their sovereignty and give fiscal space to each other.
Compensation to the Arunachal Pradesh Tax and economic reforms:
- As GST is a destination based tax, there was an apprehension that many manufacturing states might lose revenue after implementation of GST.
- Hence, the act provides for the compensation to the States for loss of revenue arising on account of implementation of GST for a period of 5 years.
- The compensation act has fixed the revenues of the year 2015-16 as the base year revenues and further a nominal annual growth rate of 14% has been provided.
- The Act provides for levying of a cess, which shall be used for compensation to the states in case there is loss of revenue. This cess shall be levied on luxury items and goods.
Deciding Tax Rates of Arunachal Pradesh Tax and economic reforms:
- While deciding tax rates, the council has tried to achieve balance between three objective:
- To ensure that interests of poor and vulnerable sections of the society are protected and goods of mass consumption and essential commodities remain at affordable level.
- To ensure that the overall revenues of the States and the Centre are protected.
- To see that the tax incidence on the goods and services does not increase or decrease substantially from the present incidence of tax.
- Hence four tax rates of 5%, 12%, 18% and 28% slabs have been decided.
Supporting Medium and Small Enterprises:
- The law provides for an exemption threshold where by it is not mandatory for a business whose aggregate turnover in a financial year is less than Rs. 20 lakh ( Rs. 10 lakh for special category states) to register.
- There is also a composition scheme under which an eligible registered person, whose aggregate turnover in preceding financial year did not exceed Rs. 75 lakhs can opt to file summarized returns on a quarterly basis.
- The taxpayers dealing in goods and restaurant sector can only opt for the composition
- Under the composition scheme, the manufacturer will pay tax at the rate of 1%, restaurant sector @ 2.5% and traders @ 0.5% of the turnover each under CGST act and SGST act.
- However, the service providers and the tax payers making inter-state supplies or making supplies through e-commerce operators are not eligible for composition scheme.
Tracking Tax leakages and Corruption:
- The mechanism of matching of invoices will ensure that the input tax credit of purchased goods and services will only be available if the taxable supplies received by the buyers get matched against the taxable supplies received by the suppliers.
- The GST Network is responsible for the IT backbone and is geared to generate more than 3 billion invoices per month.
- It will check tax frauds, tax evasion and would bring more and more businesses into formal economy.
- Tax payers can register, file returns and make payment of taxes on a single portal on the
- Even in rare case, if the tax payer is to interact with the tax authorities, he will have to interact with only one authority either from the State govt. or from the Central govt.
Conclusion:
The launch of GST is a transformative reform and will change the way businesses are done in India. Radical change of this magnitude is bound to bring about some pain bu the gains of little pain are going to be many and long lasting for the Indian economy.
Indian National Army and Subhash Chandra Bose
Indian National Army
Indian National Army, also known as the Azad Hind Fauj, was formed for the liberation of India from the British rule. It was formed in South-East Asia in the year 1942 by pioneering Indian Nationalists and prisoners who wanted to throw off the yoke of foreign domination and liberate the country. The INA was initially formed under Mohan Singh, after the fall of Singapore, the captain in the 1/14th Punjab Regiment in the British Army. However, the first INA under Mohan Singh collapsed and finally it was revived under the leadership of Subash Chandra Bose in 1943. Bose`s army was declared as the Azri Hukumat e Azad Hind. Indian National Army emerged along with Mahatma Gandhi`s peaceful resistance movement within India. In contrast to Mahatma Gandhi, Bose advocated a more aggressive confrontation with the British authorities.
Origin of Indian National Army
INA was formed during the first world war when the Ghadar Party and the emergence form of the Indian Independence League planned to rebel in the British Indian Army from the Punjab through Bengal to Hong Kong. However, this plan met with failure after the information was leaked to British Intelligence. During the Second World War, the plan to fight the British found revival and a number of leaders and movements were initiated. These included the various “liberation armies” which were formed in as well as with the help of Italy, Germany as well as in South-east Asia. Thus in South East Asia the concept of the Indian National Army emerged. It was supported by the Japanese 15th army and led by Bose.
Composition of the Indian National Army
Indian National Army had many valued freedom fighters that helped in the battles. They all had a brilliant background and fought for a similar cause, freedom of India. The INA freedom fighters were from every sphere ranging from barristers to plantation workers. The revival of the Indian National Army was done by Subhash Chandra Bose. Most of the people who joined the army had no prior military experience and thus to ensure a well-trained army, Bose established an Officers Training School for INA officers and the Azad School for the civilian volunteers Many youth were also sent to the Imperial Military Academy in Japan for advanced training. Every soldier was required to spend about six to eight hours of training daily. The training included physical training, army drill and handling arms such as rifles, pistols, hand grenades and bayonets. The soldiers also attended lectures of Indian and world history and military subjects like map reading as well as signaling.
Battles of Indian National Army
The battles that were fought by the Indian National Army during World War II were fought in the South-East Asian region. The operations include Malayan Campaign in 1942 as well as Burma Campaign. The operations of the INA involved the battle of Imphal, Kohima, Pokoku and Irrawady River operations. It began a long march over land and on foot towards Bangkok, along with Subash Chandra Bose. At the time of Japan`s surrender in September 1945, Bose left for Manchuria to attempt to contact the advancing Soviet troops, and was reported to have died in an air crash near Taiwan. On the other hand the INA fighters were imprisoned. The prisoners faced the death penalty, life imprisonment or a fine as punishment if found guilty.
Women in Indian National Army
Indian National Army was structured in a way that lodged active participation from women. A women regiment was formed in 1943. INA had John Thivy, Dr. Lakhsmi Sehgal, Narayan Karruppiah as well as Janaki Thevar as its members. Among the masses attending Bose`s rally on 9 July, Dr.Lakshmi, responded immediately to his appeal to form a Women`s Regiment. She visited many families to persuade the women to join the INA. Many were reluctant; however, she managed to gather twenty enthusiastic girls who were willing to break the traditional barriers. The girls presented the guard-of-honour to Bose. He was impressed and invited Dr. Lakshmi to lead the Women`s Regiment. On 12 July 1943, Bose announced the formation of the Women`s Regiment, naming it “Rani of Jhansi Regiment” which in later years was considered to be a special characteristic of the INA. INA fighters were not invited to join the Indian Army after India`s independence. However, a few ex-INA members later have seen prominent public life or held important positions in independent India. The Indian National Army thus rose to power under the able leadership of Bose. Though it was ultimately disbanded, its heroic attempts at forming an army and taking a radical step towards Indian Independence marked a significant step in the Indian Independence Movement.
Subhas Chandra Bose
Subhas Chandra Bose was most dynamic leader of India`s struggle for independence. He is more familiar with his name Netaji. His contribution towards India`s Freedom struggle was of a revolutionary. Subhas Chandra Bose was born on 23rd Jan, 1897 in Cuttack, Orissa, India. From his childhood he was a bright student and was a topper in the matriculation examination from the whole of Kolkata province. He graduated from the Scottish Church College in Kolkata with a First Class degree in Philosophy. Influenced by the teachings of Swami Vivekananda, he was known for his patriotic zeal as a student. He went to England to fulfil his parents` desire to appear in the Indian Civil Services. He stood fourth in order of merit. But he left civil Service`s apprenticeship and joined India`s freedom struggle.
During his service with the Indian National Congress, he was greatly influenced by Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Sri Aurobindo. He did not agree with Gandhiji`s methods of achieving Independence through non-violence. He believed that the only way of achieving Independence was by shedding blood. He therefore returned to Kolkata to work under Chittaranjan Das, the Bengali freedom fighter and co-founder of the Swaraj Party. He was imprisoned for his revolutionary activities on various occasions. In 1921, Bose organized a boycott of the celebrations to mark the visit of the Prince of Wales to India for which he was imprisoned for the first time. Bose was elected to the post of Chief Executive Officer of the newly constituted Calcutta Corporation in April 1924. That same year in October, Bose was arrested on suspicion of terrorism. At first, he was kept in Alipur Jail and later he was exiled to Mandalay in Burma. Bose was once again arrested on January, 1930. After his release from jail on September 25, he was elected as the Mayor of the City of Kolkata. Netaji was imprisoned eleven times by the British over a span of 20 years either in India or in Rangoon. During the mid 1930s he was exiled by the British from India to Europe where he championed India`s cause and aspiration for self-rule before gatherings and conferences. Throughout his stay in Europe from 1933 to 1936, he met several European leaders and thinkers. He travelled extensively in India and in Europe before stating his political opposition to Gandhi. Subhash Chandra Bose married Emilie Schenkl, an Austrian born national, who was his secretary, in 1937 in German. Bose wrote many letters to Schenkl of which many have been published in the book “Letters to Emilie Schenkl”, edited by Sisir Kumar Bose and Sugata Bose.
Subhas Chandra Bose became the president of the Haripura Indian National Congress against the wishes of Gandhiji in 1938. He was elected as the president for two consecutive terms. Expressing his disagreement with Bose, Gandhi commented “Subhas` victory is my defeat”. Gandhi`s continued opposition led to Netaji`s resignation from the Working Committee. He was left with no alternative but to form an independent party, the “All India Forward Bloc”.
In his call to freedom, Subhas Chandra Bose encouraged full participation of the Indian Masses to strive for independence. Bose initiated the concept of the “National Planning Committee” in 1938. His correspondence reveals that despite his clear dislike for British subjugation, he was deeply impressed by their methodical and systematic approach and their steadfastly disciplinarian outlook towards life. The contrast between Gandhi and Bose is captured with reasonable measure in a saying attributable to him “”If people slap you once, slap them twice”. Having failed to persuade Gandhi for the mass civil disobedience to protest against Viceroy Lord Linlithgow`s decision to declare war on India`s behalf without consulting the Congress leadership, he organised mass protests in Kolkata. The disobedience was calling for the `Holwell Monument` commemorating the Black Hole of Kolkata. He was thrown in Jail and was released only after a seven-day hunger strike. Bose`s house in Kolkata was kept under surveillance by the British. With two pending court cases; he felt that the British would not let him leave the country before the end of the war. This set the scene for Bose`s escape to Germany, via Afghanistan and the Soviet Union. In Germany he instituted the Special Bureau for India under Adam von Trott zu Solz, broadcasting on the German-sponsored Azad Hind Radio. Here he founded the “Free India Centre” in Berlin, and created the Indian Legion consisting of some 4500 soldiers who were the Indian prisoners of war. The soldiers had previously fought for the British in North Africa prior to their capture by Axis forces.
Transparency, accountability and responsiveness in governance
Transparency and accountability in administration as the sine qua non of participatory democracy, gained recognition as the new commitments of the state towards its citizens. It is considered imperative to enlist the support and participation of citizens in management of public services. Traditionally, participation in political and economic processes and the ability to make informed choices has been restricted to a small elite in India. Consultation on important policy matters, even when they directly concern the people was rarely the practice. Information-sharing being limited, the consultative process was severely undermined.
There is no denying the fact that information is the currency that every citizen requires to participate in the life and governance of society. The greater the access of the citizen to information, the greater would be the responsiveness of government to community needs. Alternatively, the greater the restrictions that are placed on ‘access’, the greater the feelings of ‘powerlessness’ and alienation. Without information, people cannot adequately exercise their rights and responsibilities as citizens or make informed choices.
Government information is a national resource. Neither the particular government of the day, nor public officials, creates information for their own benefit. This information is generated for the purposes related to the legitimate discharge of their duties of office, and for the service of public for whose benefit the institutions of government exist, and who ultimately (through one kind of import or another) fund the institutions of government and the salaries of officials. It follows that government and officials are ‘trustees’ of the information of the people.
Nonetheless, there are in theory at least, numerous ways in which information can be accessible to members of the public in a parliamentary system. The systemic devices promote the transfer of information from government to parliament and the legislatures, and from these to the people. Members of the public can seek information from their elected representatives. Annual reporting requirements, committee reports, publication of information and administrative law requirements also increase the flow of information from government to the citizen. Recent technological advances also help to reduce further the gap between the ‘information rich’ and the ‘information’.
However, in spite of India’s status as the world’s most populous democratic state, there was not until recently any obligation at village, district, state or national level to disclose information to the people – information was essentially protected by the colonial secrets Act 1923, which makes the disclosure of official information by public servants an offence. The colonial legacy of secrecy, distance and mystification.
of the bureaucracy coupled with a long history of one party dominance proved to be a formidable challenge to transparency and effective government let alone an effective right to information secretive government is nearly always inefficient in that the free flow of information is essential if problems are to be identified and resolved.
Right to information has been seen as the key to strengthening participatory democracy and ushering in people centred governance. Access to information can empower the poor and the weaker sections of society to demand and get information about public policies and actions, thereby leading to their welfare. Without good governance, no amount of developmental schemes can bring improvements in the quality of life of the citizens. Good governance has four elements- transparency, accountability, predictability and participation. Transparency refers to availability of information to the general public and clarity about functioning of governmental institutions. Right to information opens up government’s records to public scrutiny, thereby arming citizens with a vital tool to inform them about what the government does and how effectively, thus making the government more accountable. Transparency in government organisations makes them function more objectively thereby enhancing predictability. Information about functioning of government also enables citizens to participate in the governance process effectively. In a fundamental sense, right to information is a basic necessity of good governance.
In recognition of the need for transparency in public affairs, the Indian Parliament enacted the Right to Information Act (hereinafter referred to as the RTI Act or the Act) in 2005. It is a path breaking legislation empowering people and promoting transparency. While right to information is implicitly guaranteed by the Constitution, the Act sets out the practical regime for citizens to secure access to information on all matters of governance.
Right to information : Challenges
The most contentious issue in the implementation of the Right to Information Act relates to official secrets. In a democracy, people are sovereign and the elected government and its functionaries are public servants. Therefore by the very nature of things, transparency should be the norm in all matters of governance. However it is well recognised that public interest is best served if certain sensitive matters affecting national security are kept out of public gaze. Similarly, the collective responsibility of the Cabinet demands uninhibited debate on public issues in the Council of Ministers, free from the pulls and pressures of day-to-day politics. People should have the unhindered right to know the decisions of the Cabinet and the reasons for these, but not what actually transpires within the confines of the ‘Cabinet room’. The Act recognizes these confidentiality requirements in matters of State and Section 8 of the Act exempts all such matters from disclosure.
The Official Secrets Act, 1923 (hereinafter referred to as OSA), enacted during the colonial era, governs all matters of secrecy and confidentiality in governance. The law largely deals with matters of security and provides a framework for dealing with espionage, sedition and other assaults on the unity and integrity of the nation. However, given the colonial climate of mistrust of people and the primacy of public officials in dealing with the citizens, OSA created a culture of secrecy. Confidentiality became the norm and disclosure the exception. While Section 5 of OSA was obviously intended to deal with potential breaches of national security, the wording of the law and the colonial times in which it was implemented made it into a catch-all legal provision converting practically every issue of governance into a confidential matter. This tendency was buttressed by the Civil Service Conduct Rules, 1964 which prohibit communication of an official document to anyone without authorization. Not surprisingly, Section 123 of the Indian Evidence Act, enacted in 1872, prohibits the giving of evidence from unpublished official records without the permission of the Head of the Department, who has abundant discretion in the matter. Needless to say even the instructions issued for classification of documents for security purposes and the official procedures displayed this tendency of holding back information.
The Official Secrets Act, 1923 should be repealed, and substituted by a chapter in the National Security Act, containing provisions relating to official secrets.
Implementation of right to information act
In order to enforce the rights and fulfil the obligations under the Act, building of institutions, organization of information and creation of an enabling environment are critical. Therefore, the Commission has as a first step reviewed the steps taken so far to implement the Act as follow:
Institutions
Information Commissions
Information Officers and Appellate Authorities.
Information and record keeping
Suo motu declaration under Section
Public Interest Disclosure.
Modernizing recordkeeping
Capacity building and awareness generation
Creation of monitoring mechanism
Capacity Building and Awareness Generation
Training programmes: The enactment of Right to Information Act is only the first step in promoting transparency in governance. The real challenge lies in ensuring that the information sought is provided expeditiously, and in an intelligible form. The mindset of the government functionaries, wherein secrecy is the norm and disclosure the exception, would require a revolutionary change. Such a change would also be required in the mindset of citizens who traditionaly have been reluctant to seek information. Bringing about this radical change would require sustained training and awareness generation programmes. The Commission’s own experience in seeking information from select public authorities reveals that even some PIOs are not conversant with the key provisions of the Act. The Information Commissioner’s Office in the United Kingdom has published an ‘Awareness Guidance’ series to assist public authorities and, in particular, staff who may not have access to specialist advice about some of the issues, especially exemption provisions. This practice may also be adopted in India.
Awareness generation: The enactment of the Right to Information Act has led to an intense debate in the media on various aspects of freedom of information. Despite this, enquiries reveal that level of awareness, particularly at the grass roots level, is surprisingly low. In order to achieve the objectives of the Act it would be necessary that citizens become aware of their entitlements and the processes required to use this right to improve the quality of governance. Awareness generation so far has been largely confined to government advertisement in print media. An effective awareness generation campaign should involve multi media efforts including street plays, television spots, radio jingles, and other mass communication techniques. These campaigns could be effectively implemented at low cost, once committed voluntary organizations and corporates with creativity, passion and professionalism are involved.
Issues in implementation
The implementation of the RTI Act is an administrative challenge which has thrown up various structural, procedural and logistical issues and problems, which need to be addressed.
Facilitating Access: For seeking information, a process as prescribed under the Act has to be set in motion. The trigger is filing of a request. Once the request is filed the onus of responding to it shifts to the government agency. Based on the experiences there are some issues arising in the implementation:
- Complicated system of accepting requests.
- Insistence on demand drafts.
- Difficulties in filing applications by post.
- Varying and often higher rates of application fee.
- Large number of PIOs.
Complicated system of accepting requests : While accepting applications, Departments insist that cash be paid at the accounts office. In Ministries, the accounts office and the PIOs office are different and at times in different locations. The Rules also prescribe that for each extra page of information, Rs. 2 has to be paid, for which the applicant has to go through the same process. The difficulty would get further pronounced in field offices, many of which do not have provision to collect cash. Moreover, getting a visitor’s pass to enter a government building results in unwarranted wait times (especially, when the PIO responsible might not be available owing to a number of other responsibilities which (s)he handles). Therefore, the process of filing requests for information needs to be simplified.
Insistence on demand drafts: Though there is a provision to pay fees through bank drafts, this poses another problem, as the bank charges Rs 35 to prepare a demand draft of Rs 10. Therefore the insistence by some departments to receive fees only through demand drafts and not in cash needs to be dispensed with.
Difficulties in filing applications by post: Under the existing dispensation, filing applications by post would necessarily involve payment of the application fee by way of demand draft or Banker’s cheque.
Varying and often higher rates of application fee: Different States have prescribed different fees in this regard. The Tamil Nadu Right to Information (Fees) Rules provides that an application fee of Rs 50 has to be paid for each request. During its public hearing in Chennai, the Commission was informed that this high rate of fees discouraged filing of applications under the Act. Therefore there is a need to harmonise the fee structure.
Suggestions
- In addition to the existing modes of payment, appropriate governments should amend the Rules to include payment through postal orders.
- States may be required to frame Rules regarding application fee which are in harmony with the Central Rules. It needs to be ensured that the fee itself does not become a disincentive.
- Appropriate governments may restructure the fees (including additional fees) in multiples of Rs 5. {e.g. instead of prescribing a fee of Rs. 2 per additional page it may be desirable to have a fee of Rs. 5 for every 3 pages or part thereof}.
- State Governments may issue appropriate stamps in suitable denominations as a mode of payment of fees. Such stamps would be used for making applications before public authorities coming within the purview of State Governments.
- As all the post offices in the country have already been authorized to function as APIOs on behalf of Union Ministries/Departments, they may also be authorized to collect the fees in cash and forward a receipt along with the application.
- At the Government of India level the Department of Personnel and Training has been identified as the nodal department for implementation of the RTI Act. This nodal department should have a complete list of all Union Ministries/ Departments which function as public authorities.
- Each Union Ministry/ Department should also have an exhaustive list of all public authorities, which come within its purview. The public authorities coming under each ministry/ department should be classified into (i) constitutional bodies, (ii) line agencies, (iii) statutory bodies, (iv) public sector undertakings, (v) bodies created under executive orders, (vi) bodies owned, controlled or substantially financed, and (vii) NGOs substantially financed by government. Within each category an up-todate list of all public authorities has to be maintained.
- Each public authority should have the details of all public authorities subordinate to it at the immediately next level. This should continue till the last level is reached. All these details should be made available on the websites of the respective public authorities, in a hierarchical form.
- A similar system should also be adopted by the States.
Elections are the primary means for citizens to hold their country’s officials accountable for their actions in office, especially when they have behaved illegally, corruptly, or ineptly in carrying out the government’s work. For elections — and the people’s will — to be meaningful, basic rights must be protected and affirmed, as through the Bill of Rights in the United States. James Madison, the author of the Bill of Rights, believed that the very basis for government’s responsiveness was the assurance that citizens would have sufficient knowledge to direct it. If citizens are to govern their own affairs, either directly or through representative government, then they must be able to have access to the information needed in order to make informed choices about how best to determine their affairs. If citizens and their representatives are not well informed, they can neither act in their own self-interest, broadly speaking, nor can they have any serious choice in elections, much less offer themselves as candidates.
Cold Desert/ Temperate Desert
Cold desert of India include areas of ladak, leh and kargil of kashmir and spiti valley of Himachal Pradesh and some parts of northern Uttaranchal and Sikkim. Lies in rain shadow of Himalaya Oak, pine, deodar, birch and rhododendron are the important trees and bushes found there. Major animal include yaks, dwarf cows, and goats.
Severe arid conditions – Dry Atmosphere
Mean annual rainfall less than 400mm
Soil type – sandy to sandy loam , Soil pH – neutral to slight alkaline.
Soil nutrient – Poor organic matter content ,low water retention capacity
Bio-diversity
Cold desert is the home of highly adaptive, rare endangered fauna, such as
Asiatic Ibex, Tibetan Argali, Ladakh Uriyal, Bharal, Tibetan Antelope (chiru),
Tibetan Gazelle, Wild Yak, Snow Leopard, Brown Bear, Tibetan Wolf, Wild
Dog and Tibetan Wild Ass (‘Kiang’ a close relative of the Indian wild ass) ,
Woolly hare, Black Necked Crane, etc.