A Good book on RTI by Suchi Pandey

We got to review a good book on RTI (Right to Information Act 2005, A Primer) written by Suchi Pandey and Shekhar Singh, senior founder members of NCPRI, well known national personalities in the public domain.

Yet, I had no ability to review such books which is written by Mr Shekhar Singh who is one of the best candidates to be appointed as Hon'ble Chief Information Commisioner in place of Hon'ble Wajahat Habibullah (present CIC) of this country.

NCPRI (National Campaign for Peoples Right to Information) is one of the pioneer organisations which did struggle for the implementation of this act in INDIA.

Their website is http://www.righttoinformation.info/

This book is really a nice work on RTI act which contains many 'frequently asked quesions' (FAQ) too written in simple language required from time to time for an RTI activist.

Published by : National Book Trust,

A-5 Green Park, New Delhi-110016

Price: Rs 30 only

This book review is written by:

Madan Mohan Tiwari

NFAIE working committee meeting on 16th & 17th Nov at MUMBAI

The 2 nd working committee meeting of NFAIE (National Forum for Aided Institutions Employees) for 2008-2010 will be held on 16th and 17th November 2009 at TIFR, Mumbai campus at 10:00 am.

All affiliates are cordially welcome.

(Please double-click the attached image to read it)

New Book of Mr Raj Kishore Sharma is released now

Dear friends,

A new book written by Mr.Raj Kishore Sharma, the present General Secretary of Government School Teachers' Association (GSTA), Delhi has been published now. The book named as "Pay & Other Entitlements after 6th CPC" is a good work done by him. As you know, he is the author of 'Delhi School Manual' also, which is a reference book being used in all schools and offices of Education Deptt. This book is more popular than "Swamy's Handbook" in Schools of Delhi. You will get a lot of information about pay & other entitlements written in a very simple language which is really needed after Sixth Pay Commission.

Unfortunately, this book is totally silent on the process of Bunching which is MOST needed aspect in pay fixation and this lacuna was not expected.

Mr Raj Kishore Sharma is a 'Dictionary' of rules and policy matters. Teachers always consult him for clarification on different circulars and notifications issued by the Govt from time to time.

I respect him personally.

The present book is really worthy and useful for all of us. You may get this book on leading booksellers.

We request him to compose some more books on different allowances in coming future.

Name of the Book:

'PAY & OTHER ENTITLEMENTS AFTER 6 CPC'

Price: Rs 250

Please consult:

Precious Publications

011-26602038, 011-26602040

Mr Raj Kishore Sharma

(General Secretary)

Government School Teachers'Association (GSTA),DELHI

Mob: 09811824746

This book review is written by

Madan Mohan Tiwari,

General Secretary (DELTA)

Thanks to JOSH for inviting us to work together

Dear Mr. Tiwari,

We got your reference from Hon'ble CIC and learned that you have been working on compliance to Section 4 of the RTI Act.
It is in this regard that we would like to invite you to a half day seminar on ‘RTI: New Dimensions in Effective Implementation and Reach’ to be held on 04.11.09 between 2:00-5:00 pm at Scope Complex, Lodhi Road.
The seminar is been organized by Rakshak Foundation, a group of young people, based in California and JOSH, working with young people across different colleges and Universities on issues of transparency and accountability using the Right to Information.

Mr. Shailesh Gandhi (Central Information Commissioner) and Ms. Aruna Roy (RTI activist and Magsasay Award Winner) have already confirmed their participation in the panel of this seminar.

The seminar will provide a platform to discuss the Right to Information Act, how it could be better implemented so most of the mandatory disclosers are put in the public domain i.e. proper implementation of the Section 4 of the RTI Act and how fee structure could be changed so that it can be properly used by the NRIs. Seminar sets up a stage for the public views, questions and answer and interactions with RTI activists, Central Information Commission and academicians.

Background:

Section 4 of the Right to Information Act, which lists 17 sub clauses obligates all public authorities to proactively disclose information about its functioning. According to the RTI Act all public authorities were supposed to have implemented Section 4 within 120 days from the enactment of the Act (which is by 12^th of October 2005). Section 4 is an important provision of the RTI Act, as it requires categorization and cataloging of information, presenting information in a form such that it can be accessed easily by citizens, update the information provided at regular intervals and publish all information such that it is widely disseminated.

A one day seminar was organized to discuss and understand the different requirements under the Section 4 of the RTI Act by University of Delhi along with the Central Information Commission and JOSH on the 7^th June 2009. The seminar was attended by the Vice Chancellor, Pro Vice Chancellor and Registrar of University of Delhi along with Mr. Shailesh Gandhi (Central Information Commissioner), Ms. Aruna Roy (Social Activist) and Principals and Public Information Officers of 83 colleges/institutions under University of Delhi.

After this seminar, several follow-up letters have gone out to the different colleges/institutions under University of Delhi from the Central Information Commission, JOSH and University of Delhi. As a result of which some colleges have implemented Section 4 partly while the others still needs to comply with this provision of the RTI Act.

This seminar hopes to bring together people from different fields, committed to the issue of transparency and government officials to interact and understand the importance of effective implementation of all the transparency measure as per the RTI Act.

Hope you will accept our invitation and confirm your participation in the seminar so that we can make arrangements accordingly.

Date: 4^th November, 2009

Venue: Tagore Hall, Scope Complex, near CGO Complex, 7 Lodhi Road, New Delhi

Timing: 2.00pm – 5.00pm

Thank you,

Regards,

Saurabh Sharma/Aheli Chowdhury

9811872752/9811765959

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Joint Operation for Social Help (JOSH)
C-7/E, DDA Flats, Munirka,
New Delhi. Pin Code: 110067
Phone: +91 11 26181427
http://www.josh4india.org/, josh4india@gmail.com