A Coalition of various Civil Society Organizations in Bangalore has been organizing a Press Conference on the last Thursday of every month since May 2009 in Bangalore.  The purpose of this press conference is to bring before the press, the success stories of the use of Right to Information Act, 2005 in bringing justice to the public.

We here by present you TWO RTI success stories in today’s press conference.

Case-1

Dr.Jagadish Sanganal is working as Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Veterinary College, Bangalore. Prior to this Dr.Jagadish was working as Veterinary Officer in the Department of Animal Husbandary, Government of Karnataka during 1999 to 2009.  He applied for the post of Associate Professor at Veterinary University, Bidar, Karnataka in 2007.  Dr.Jagadish had to face many hurdles to go through the treacherous recruitment procedure at the University, thanks to the rigid, ineffective system at the University.

Dr.Jagadish faced the following obstacles one after another from the University,
–    Obstacle by converting the recruitment rules of general to the backlog,
–    Obstacle in the form of eligibility considering the date of issue of provisional degree certificate instead of final viva date,
–    Obstacle in the form of lack of experience in the teaching instead of considering Teaching-Research-Extension experience,
–    Obstacle in the form of not considering the previous salary grade and service

Dr.Jagadish has been making applications under the RTI Act, 2005 over a period of last two years, and been able to overcome the rigid bureaucratic and administrative hurdles in ascertaining his position in the University.  But he is still fighting for his legitimate rights.

Case-2

The case of the connivance of Commissioner, Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) in allowing encroachment of Government land by New Cambridge School in RPC Lay out, Ward No.34, Bangalore.

In this case, the Corruption and dereliction of duty in allowing encroachment of 12,026.25 square feet of Government land and construction of buildings without securing plan from the competent authority by New Cambridge School Trust, CA Site No.7, RPC Layout, Ward No.34, Bangalore.

The Assistant Executive Engineer No.2 West Sub Division BDA who is supposed to take action against encroachment of land which is value that Rs. 6 Crores in the open market is completely protecting the illegal encroachment by recommending regularization to his official superiors. This clearly shows dereliction of duty and official favour by him. The above irregularities were exposed when an application under RTI was filled before the Executive Engineer BDA West Division, Bangalore. A complaint has also been filed against the Commissioner of BDA before the honorable Lokayuktha on the basis of the documents procured under RTI Act.

As of now four RTI Clinics were conducted over last four months. We have had more than 120 people approach us for every clinic that we organized. This last Saturday, 26th September 2009, of this month; once again we will be organizing a RTI Clinic at Cubbon Park, opposite Press Club at 2 pm to 4 pm. We are requesting everybody to visit our clinic and make it successful.

For details call RTI Activists, Anand, 92410 12730, Manohar, 95350 37596, Vikram Simha, 98860 20774 or K. Sudha, CFAR, 94495 44211.

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