Gross National Happiness

I have always been intrigued by the Tibetan ideology or concept about Gross National Happiness (GNH). We all have been taught to understand GDP, isn't?

What is Gross National Happiness, then? How can an intangible thingy be measured at all in the first place?

The Tibetans believe that it is possible to measure a happiness quotient by creating a habitat that brings about happiness and they have arrived at a simple formula, as well.

Happiness = 'Wanting what you have' divided by 'Having what you want'

It may sound a bit impractical to those who have become a part of the material world. But pause and think !! and try to apply to oneself and I am sure we will all agree that there is certainly an element of truth and rationale behind it. If we don't realize it today, someday we will:)

Check this link to learn more...

http://www.ted.com/talks/chip_conley_measuring_what_makes_life_worthwhile.html

The Right to Information – a boon or a bane?

The right to information is one of the fundamental rights of all human beings. Article 19 of the Indian Constitution grants the right to freedom and expression. But how can this right be exercised unless and until we have proper access to relevant information? In that sense right to information appears to be embedded under the Indian Constitution as a fundamental right, although not explicitly stated therein.

We might ask ourselves as to why do we need an Act to enforce one of our basic rights? Can we not invoke Article 19? I reckon not. If we walk into a government department and seek information from one of the officers, he is simply going to show us the way out. Therefore to be able to effectively exercise our fundamental right, we need a law detailing the modalities as to how information can be rightfully sought.

It is anybody’s guess that bureaucrats would have resisted this initiative by the Government. In spite of it all, the Right to Information Act was passed by the Indian Parliament in 2005. This Act overruled the Official Secrets Act, 1943 and other related legislations which suppressed disclosure of information leaving no scope for citizens a’ right to know’.

Tax payers have a right to know about the goings on behind the iron gates of the government precinct, don’t’ they? Hence the RTI Act was a turning point in as much as it empowers the citizens to question the actions of the people at the helm of the affairs of the country, the government and their departments. The purpose of this Act is also to ensure transparency and increase the accountability standards of the government departments/officers to the public at large. The Act empowers citizens to seek information from the Government, ask questions relating thereto, inspect and take copies of government documents, inspect and take samples of all government works/papers, affecting the rights of the citizens. Information in any form, records, memos, emails, documents, press releases, circulars etc both in electronic an non electronic form can be sought under this Act.

However certain information which could potentially affect the sovereignty and integrity of the state, intelligence, court orders that prohibit disclosure of certain information, information that would contravene the privacy laws, and issues which would breach privilege of the parliament or the state legislature, cannot be sought.

The Act has established Public Information Officers (PIO’s) & Assistant PIO’s who are responsible for accepting and scrutinizing the applications filed under the RTI. They will compile the information sought for and forward to the applicants. For matters relating to the Central Government, applications can be made to the post offices that act as the APIO’s, along with the fee. There is a specific time limit within which the PIO/APIO will have to respond; else he is liable to be penalized. This is one of the reasons as to why this legislation is working the way it was intended. If the application is rejected, the PIO/APIO has to give an explanatory statement for doing so.

In a country with egocentric and corrupt politicians {barring a few}, it may be tough for an individual to stand up for his rights and invoke the provisions of the RTI Act. Social activists and NGO’s have been instrumental in helping individuals with their breakthrough achievements. They have been able to expose irregularities in the government departments. It is by no means an easy task to deal with sensitive issues implicating the government officials, but they have been able to do so with a good success rate.

To name a few

1. An Assam based social activist exposed a scam in a rural development program launched by the government.
2. Irregularities in the selection process of candidates for the state civil services examinations by the Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission, was neatly exposed by an RTI activist.
3. The Home Ministry was questioned about the tons of grains that were stocked in the warehouse of Food Corporation of India and reportedly damaged. Rightfully so when most of us are aware that the subsidies intended by the government for the poor people, through the ration system, never reaches them fully, thanks to corruption once again where the middlemen intervene and intercept the system.
4. The trauma faced by the small farmers in Gujarat which led to them committing suicide was further investigated under RTI and the actual deaths were even more alarming than what the government had declared.

On the other hand, this Act can actually be misused for all the wrong reasons, as well. One good example is that of the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks where many innocents lost their lives. How did the terrorists manage to get accurate information of the locations and details of the places targeted? Apparently they knew their way around to tactfully obtain important details like site plans, security systems etc under the RTI. This is indeed very scary.

It is also very ironic that lately, activists who seek rightful information under the RTI Act are being silenced. This is brutal and a disgrace to democracy. The facts outlined below are quite shocking –

1. Amit Jethwa an environmental activist was shot dead outside the High Court in Ahmedabad. He has been fighting to curb illegal mining activities near the Gir lion sanctuary.

2. Pandey, a doctor from Robertsganj, a small town situated about 600 miles from Delhi had a lucky escape but was left fighting for his life as he sustained gunshot injuries. His fault? He exposed a brick scam. Roads that were supposed to be constructed in UP State were never built in spite of funds allocated by the government.

3. Few more have also been killed or found dead in mysterious circumstances, last year when they used RTI Act to expose corruption in mining, public utilities, food distribution and unauthorized water and electricity supplies.

In places like UP and Bihar, where the literacy rate is very low, more gruesome events have transpired when people have tried to fight for a cause.

NGO’s, Human Rights Commission and the Indian Janta are all fighting for their rights and have finally raised a unified voice. This is a major breakthrough after the historic win by the Indian cricket team. 2011 is the year to be. Led by Gandhian Anna Hazare, the government’s nod to passing the Anti Corruption Bill and establishing Lokpals, to try and convict the guilty and corrupt government officers/politicians is a hallmark in Indian history. This is the first time that mass opinion has forced the government to pass legislation in their favour.

Just hope that the Bill becomes an Act very soon and functions the way it is intended. Fingers crossed on that and let us hope that Anna Hazare’s crusade does not go waste. Only time will tell.


{References have been made to the Act and internet sources}

Data protection & privacy Laws - a wake up call?

Data Protection and Privacy Laws – A Wake up Call
Data protection and Privacy laws go hand in hand, and many developed countries have a proper legislation in place and some are in the process of examining the adequacy of the existing laws. UK enacted the Data Protection Act as far back as in 1984 which was subsequently repealed and the Data Protection Act, 1998 was put in place. This Act aims to protect the personal information of individuals, collected or stored for specified and lawful purposes alone. Dissemination of such information is restricted except with the consent of the individuals. I am sure most of us do recall the fine print and the tick mark to be put in a box, giving our consent to abide by the terms and conditions.
In other words, the Data protection Act places restrictions on the collection and distribution of personal data of individuals. No entity can do away with this requirement. The term entity is all encompassing, to include companies, firms, association of persons, clubs etc including online service providers and website operators. It doesn’t matter who collects the information, the crux is that the information thus collected falls under the purview of the key principles of ‘information handling’ under the Act.
Needless to say the EU Directive offers clear cut objectives and principles on the basis of which this piece of legislation has been modelled.
The next obvious question that pops in our minds is - who is responsible for regulation and compliance of this legislation? Under the UK Act, it is the Information Commissioner’s Office which is an independent authority appointed by the Crown as the regulatory authority.
It is interesting to note that the US has adopted a very different approach for protecting the privacy of individuals. The Act is more comprehensive in the sense that data protection and privacy is dealt with by a combination of enactments with separate laws for restricting and protecting privacy of electronic communications, as well; unlike the EU which focuses or relies on a single piece of legislation for both electronic and non electronic data protection.
Further for proper enforcement, US stresses on a combination of both regulation and self regulation. This is owing to the comprehensive nature of the various enactments. For instance, the United States has ensured online privacy protection of children where parental consent has to be obtained by website operators before they can collect information pertaining to them. They also have a consumer internet privacy protection act where the service providers are required to get permission of the subscribers before they can pass on the information to third parties. This is precisely the reason as to why self regulation was also thought necessary in the US context. However, in spite of all this, the digital era is a serious threat to privacy.
Smaller nations such as New Zealand also have a robust Act in place called the Privacy Act of 1993 in accordance with the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) principles and are in the process of examining the adequacy of their laws in the quest of protecting and preserving the personal information of all individuals, including those visiting the country.
In sharp contrast to the above, the data protection and privacy law in India is very sketchy. In this rapidly advancing techie era and more particularly as we awake to new scams each day, it is imperative that the legislators revisit the Personal Data Protection Bill which was passed in 2006 but since then has been put in the backburner. A short while ago the nation took pride in the statement made by Obama that ‘India is not an emerging nation, it has emerged’. Well, as encouraging as this may sound, the irony is that since the time the US President departed, we have seen scams unfolding one after another like a Bollywood drama and each leaves a mindboggling figure that has disappeared in thin air, from our financial system.
It is amusing to know that all of a sudden, the corporate bigwigs are concerned about privacy laws. Again for the right reasons or the wrong ones, time alone can tell. It goes without saying that the Radia gate spark has kindled the fire and the media has not spared in exposing those who seemingly have played mischief in getting their share of the 2G spectrum for a song. Thanks to media power for empowering the common man who have started wondering whether one of the biggest democracy is being reduced to a banana republic.
Does it not sound a bit sad that it takes a scandal to trigger an interest in the long forgotten 2006 Bill? Today magazines splash articles as to how privacy is being impinged and that our country does not have the legislation to protect the same. People are not going to forget the fact that the driving force is the Radia gate scandal and the tapes which were released implicating businessmen, politicians and even media personnel. Cases are being filed in the courts for violation of the fundamental right granted by our Constitution, as they cannot take recourse under a separate legislation, which we do not have as yet. Had the law been in place these bigwigs may have gotten away with all this? Food for thought it sure is.
Majority of the people in India do not understand the meaning of the term privacy and that they have a right to have the same protected. We have to wait and see as to how the Privacy Laws are going to shape up, as a well intended enactment or a cover up operation for the protection of the data and privacy of a select few?