INFORMATION COMMISSIONER SUGGESTS EFFECTIVE USE OF RTI ACT

Dwarkaites demand equal water sharing, early start of hospital and Unified Assembly constituency. 

M. K. Gupta 
Free Lance Journalist

Govt. should be more efficient to give good governance, needs Human Resources as DoPT is not fully competent in this, RTI application should be brief and focused, said Shailesh Gandhi, Central Information Commissioner in the meeting organized by the Dwarka Forum on 13th November in Dwarka. He gave an example of United States, one can know the status of his Passport etc. on phone whereas in India, for this one has to file an RTI application.  Mr. Gandhi said that the more citizens should be made aware of RTI Act and this responsibilities lies on the voluntarily organizations and activists and we should not over expect from the govt on this. He stressed for the computerization of government record which is still being kept on old system pertaining to very old period. 


About the much published misuse of RTI Act, he said that there may be minor misuse and every law is prone to it to some extend giving example of the Dowry and Act on SC/ST atrocities but this does not mean that we should do away with such laws.  Renowned RTI activists Mr. Subhash Chandra Agrawal and Madhu Agrawal were honoured by Dwarka Forum on behalf of residents for their exemplary contribution in the field of good governance with the help of RTI and achievement of Subhash about the declaration of assets by the SC judges were lauded. He highlighted the role of citizens to bring change in the present state of governance.

Dwarkaites have unanimously passed a resolution demanding equal per capita water supply for Dwarka with the rest of Delhi, early start of 750-bed hospital and unification of Dwarka MCD wards and Assembly Constituency for keeping whole of Dwarka in to one Assembly constituency. In the meeting organized by Dwarka Forum, Rajesh Gahlot, Councillor and Ex. Dy. Mayor of Delhi apprised about the status of on-going work and projects in the pipeline.  He informed that out of two new football stadiums in Delhi, one will be in Dwarka.  He said that the dense carpeting of entire roads in Dwarka will be undertaken soon and that construction of two Community Centres at Sector 17 will start in about a month.  The work on 80-metre road connecting Dwarka and Gurgaon via Palam Vihar is on fast track.  The consultant for multi-level parking has been selected and he will give report on this soon. To start with, every district park, there will be a public convenience and work for lights on the footpaths around the park will start in a month and later-on every park will have such facilities. The MCD has allotted two acres commercial land to build its office in Dwarka which may be used as South Delhi Municipal Corporation Office once trifurcation of MCD takes place.

Keeping in view of large population of Purvanchalies at Dwarka, more ‘Chath Ghaths’ will be constructed in District parks.  From now, the villages within Dwarka will be considered as a part of Dwarka and the DDA will develop each village and up to Rs. 8 crore may be spent on each village.  Paalam Drain from Sector 3, Madhu Vihar onward will also be covered.


For poor sanitation and garbage disposal, the MCD has imposed a penalty of Rs. 30-lakh on private contractor and MCD is aware about the poor sanitation conditions and is working on to imporve it.  The High Tension lines on the side-roads will be laid underground shortly.  However, he said that the solution of burning problem of water and construction of 250-bed hospital may still take two-three -year; these projects belong to Delhi Govt.  Mr. Gahlot said that Dwarka contributes maximum revenue across Delhi and deserves proper attention and informed that with his efforts, the Property Tax on common areas has been withdrawn. He said that for the water requirements of parks will be met from the drain water after treating and supplying it to the parks. The tender of dense carpeting at Metro View Apartments, Sector 13 has been floated and the work will start soon.

The meeting was attended by the representatives of RWA and CGHS and traders and other associations, Ashok Kumar, Robin Sharma, Mukesh Sinha, Yashwant Prakash, S.S. Dogra, PS Singh, J.B. Mudgil both advocate and and a large number of other residents.


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