INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING THROUGH RTI By Shyamlal Yadav RTI
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING THROUGH RTI By- Shyamlal Yadav
RTI: Tool for agenda-free journalism… � In over 110 countries with RTI law it is new way on investigative reporting for media in “post-fact” era � In Europe “wobbing” is familiar word among journalists, it means using RTI � See the power of RTI for media, it gives “fact” it provides “truth, ” makes stories “rejoinder free” � But, Indian media failed to utilise this tool, depended on NGOs, ordinary citizen. Reporters avoid to file RTI themselves and depend on others
Success stories: Foreign travel made by ministers � From Prime Minister’s Office, Cabinet Secretariat and other 50 ministries we got the foreign travel details one-by-one. � Put the data on excel sheet and the total distance calculated with the help of other references like some websites. � Crux of the story was very amazing for my editors as well.
Ministers’ Foreign Travel Abroad Union Ministers had made foreign trips equal to 256 round of the globe in three and half years. It took six months and 59 RTI application to complete the story. Ultimately Prime Minister wrote to every minister to curtail the foreign travel expenditure
Impact: Prime Minister wrote to ministers I am, therefore, writing to ask you to severely curtail expenditure on air travel, particularly foreign travel, except in cases where it is deemed to be absolutely necessary. This economy may be made applicable immediately for your own self and also for all senior functionaries in your ministry. “ �"
Foreign travel by Bureaucrats � “ 1, 576 officials have travelled 5. 65 Crore kilometers, which is equivalent to 74 trips to moon and back. They collectively stayed abroad for 24, 458 days (over 67 years) in less than three-and-a half years. ” � I started to work on the story after some politicians complained me that I am only after politicians but real beneficiaries are bureaucrats. Data was equally amazing.
Story on foreign travel made by bureaucrats It prompted Finance ministry to issue two circulars to impose many restrictions on foreign travel expenses.
Impact: � Finance Ministry’s circular- “All mileage points earned by Government employees on tickets purchased for official travel shall be utilized by the concerned Department. It is responsibility of the officer concerned to ensure that free mileage points are used only for official travel and not for personal trips. " � Both stories prompted government to issue austerity circulars repeatedly since 2008 to curtail foreign travel expenses of ministers and bureaucrats. It is still going on….
Code of Conduct for Ministers � In 1964 there was a resolution that every minister shall declare their assets and liabilities to the Prime Minister’s Office.
PMO and Cabinet Secretariat were unaware We made story that how two high offices of the country were unaware of this code of conduct even after 44 years of resolution
Impact � Story was published in June 2008, and when the next government formed in June 2009, every minister declared their assets and liabilities on time. This is followed by present government as well. � If there has not been RTI, probably, this story would have not been possible to our readers. And this would probably have not been implemented.
Assets of bureaucrats � Filed numerous RTI to concerned department to know the details of assets and liabilities filed by senior bureaucrats. They were processing my application on the one hand on the other hand they initiated new measures to put these details in public domain. � Some officers said that their personal information could not be disclosed but we said since they are Public Servants, people have right to know what they own. We got some information and published.
Initiative started along with my application After our story, after all the government decided to put all these details on websites of their respective departments and now it is open to public scrutiny.
Life’s Insurance � Got information through RTI from Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) that there were 59 million insurance policies those were lapsed permanently due to discontinuance of premium. And the premium deposited since then had become LIC property. � Despite many efforts LIC did not provide the info on total money deposited against those policies till the date they lapsed. � We ran a single column story on our web edition on 24 th December 2008.
Story made quick effect On 19 th January 2009 i. e. after less than 25 days of this story LIC issues an advertisement in newspapers that it is going to launch the revival scheme for those policies which was for the first time in the history of LIC
PM’s Jan Dhan scheme � Jan Dhan scheme launched in August 2014 as a massive drive of financial inclusion. Over 24 crore accounts opened till August 2016, it has a Guinness record. � Huge number of accounts are deposited just Re 1 by bank staffers to impress their political bosses. � 54 RTI applications filed in 82 banks, got information from 34 banks, travelled six states to interview account holders.
Accounts with deposit of Re 1
Story published on Sept 13, 2016
The Impact. . � � � Opposition wants answers and an inquiry… Govt says next day on Sep 14: Finding facts, will check for ‘misunderstanding’ Finance Minister Sh Arun Jaitley says on Sep 16: Four banks looking into Jan Dhan account deposits, will submit report with in 10 days
RTI to know river pollution � Selected by UNESCO as one of 20 best investigative pieces across the globe. Story was result of 39 RTIs, and took a year
MPs’ working relationship � MPs have appointed close relatives as their PA
Armed Indians
What Tony Blair has said in UK… � Tony Blair, implemented FOI in UK as Prime Minister but when out of power, he said: “Freedom of Information. Three harmless words, I look at those words as I write them, and feel like my head till it drops off my shoulders. You idiot. You naive, foolish, irresponsible nincompoop. There is really no description of stupidity, no matter ho vivid, that is adequate. I quake at the imbecility of it… For political leaders, it's like saying to someone who is hitting you over the head with a stick, 'Hey, try this instead', and handing them a mallet…. The power it handed to the tender mercy of the media was gigantic. We did it with care, but without foresight. ” --A Journey, by Tony Blair, 2010, Random House
But, in India, RTI has become a lifeline now in government system… � No party opposes it, with some exceptions--- Prime Minister Sh Narendra Modi said On October 16, 2015: “If we limit RTI just to reply to questions, there will be no changes in governance. We have to analyse the RTI questions and ponder whethere is need to make changes in policy matters. ” But it is the media which can make it more impact making by using it as a tool of investigative reporting. They must not depend on the information accessed by others but file applications on their own to explore the mismanagement of public money by the high offices.
Thank you Shyamlal Yadav (Senior Editor, The Indian Express; author of JOURNALISM THROUGH RTI: INFORMATION, INVESTIGATION, IMPACT) Phone: +91 9868400278 Email: shyamlal. yadav@expressindia. com
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