RTI IMPLEMENTATION: An issue of grave concern

After Irom Sharmila last year, Anna Hazare wins IIPM's 2011 Rabindranath Tagore Peace Prize of Rs. 1cr. To be handed over on 9th May

How highest government offices are denying RTI implementation

Right to information, or RTI ' being touted as one of the revolutionary achievements of the UPA ' has virtually become a dormant volcano. With an aim to address issues of rampant corruption, fight injustice, lack of accountability and transparency among ministers and bureaucracy, the UPA regime implemented the amended version of RTI in 2005. Information disclosure in India was hitherto restricted by the Official Secrets Act 1923 and various other special laws, which the new RTI Act now relaxes.

The Centre's move to amend sections of the RTI Act negates the very purpose for which the Act had been passed. The Chief Information Commission (CIC), an autonomous body that ensures the implementation of RTI Act, expressed dissatisfaction over non-cooperation of some important state agencies.

Recently, an RTI activist Subash Chandra Agrawal requested the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) Wajahat Habibullah to issue a notice to the Prime Minister Office (PMO) for non-compliance with RTI in providing information about personal assets of Union ministers. But responding to CIC's request, the PMO said that it needs to take a call from both houses of Parliament. But despite clearance from both the Houses, the PMO is purportedly not declaring it ' meaning denial of the RTI.

In another case, P.D. Bunker, an appellant and an accountant with the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), demanded a copy of the CBI report under RTI in the case of M/s Govind Rubber. But the Public Information Office (PIO) of the EPFO denied citing it is confidential. The RTI Act does not recognise 'confidential' as being a ground for denial in Section 8(1). The Sikkim Bhutia Lepcha Apex Committee sought clarification from the Chief Minister Office (CMO) on CM Pawan Chamling's controversial statement during the Jorethang Maghey Mela on a road accident, where three of his adversaries died. But the committee didn't get a desirable response from the CMO.

The UPA government may also bring an amendment which allows rejection of request for information, which is considered 'frivolous and vexatious.' This merits serious concern as it makes non-compliance easier. Information can be withheld or refused whimsically based on this exemption. The proposed amendment favours the information provider who would be only too happy to reject many of the requests on flimsy grounds. For the RTI Act to manifest its benefits, information should be viewed from both the information-seeker and the providers' angle. The amendment would demean the interests of the information seeker. The spirit of this citizen-centric legislation that brought in a paradigm shift in the citizen-government relationship is being dampened.

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PIRACY TERROR FUNDING: The silicon terrorism

After Irom Sharmila last year, Anna Hazare wins IIPM's 2011 Rabindranath Tagore Peace Prize of Rs. 1cr. To be handed over on 9th May

How piracy is funding the global terrorism?

The Hurt Locker, a story on Iraq war and winner of six Academy Awards, may be just another movie in the line of terrorism, but it took war on piracy to an interesting turn. One of the scenes in the movie, where Christopher Sayegh (as Beckham) sells pirated DVDs and various electronic items outside the Jeremy Renner's military base, may not be the climax, but has a significant role in the theme of the film. The pirated DVDs, which are sold for about $1 each, are not only a major source of terror funding in the Middle-East, but are sources of minting money for global terror groups.

On May 2010, Voltage Pictures, the production company of The Hurt Locker, sued thousands of computer users who downloaded pirated copies of the film and filed complaints against 5,000 unidentified BitTorrent users with the US District Court (largest lawsuit of its kind). In addition, it demanded $1,500 from each defendant to release them from the suit. This case, however, may be one-of-its-kind, but it would surely go a long way in influencing production companies to take such steps to reduce piracy. According to a report, counterfeiting and piracy cost around $250 billion annually from the movie industry. Terrorists and organised criminal groups are exploiting this huge market in order to fund their evil plans ' for instance, the highly active D-Company that spearheads the major syndicate involved with film piracy in India and sub-continent for the past 25 years. In 2004, an Interpol report revealed that intellectual property crimes (illegal CDs manufacturing) are a growing resource for terrorist groups from Northern Ireland to the Arab world, including Al-Qaida and Hezbollah. This mode of terror funding is not only present and practised in Asia and the UK, but also found in Latin American countries like Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. According to a report by Rand Corporation, Hezbollah receives $20 million annually from proceeds of pirated films in the tri-border area. Moreover, restrictions on release of international movies in countries like China (allows only 20 foreign movies per year) have cost its industry a whopping $2.5 billion in 2005 (the last available data), due to influx of pirated DVDs. Studies say that developing a pirated DVD in South Asian countries costs less than 70 cents and these can be sold in developed countries for around $10 each. Not only is developing a pirated DVD relatively safer and cheaper, the transfer is equally easy. For example, in France, transacting counterfeit products, including pirated DVDs, is punishable by a fine up to $0.19 million and imprisonment up to two years (whereas selling drugs is punishable with 10 years imprisonment along with a fine up to $9.5 million). However, the pirating gets more lucrative not just because of the returns it offers, but also because of the low risk factor. The rate of conviction for piracy is lower compared to that of smuggling drugs. In 2002-03, merely 134 criminals were convicted of piracy while smuggling of drugs pushed around 1.5 million criminals behind the bars in the US alone.

It is just not about saving millions of dollars that finds its way into the terror industry, but actually about several innocent human lives that are eventually hit. While anti-piracy laws will take its own time to stop piracy, a move like Voltage Picture's will certainly deter internet users from downloading pirated movies.

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Bright students venture out for higher education

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Brain drain

Assam has been witnessing a considerable rate of brain drain in the last five years. Most of the bright students, who secured good marks in the board exam, are going to other states like Delhi, Bangalore and Maharashtra in pursuit of higher education.

According to some students, the primary reason for this exodus is the scarcity of seats available in local universities, engineering and medical colleges. The state has four universities two of which are Centrally owned, six government institutes of business management, two engineering institutes of national repute and six government institutes of science and technology. But all these have failed to enroll the huge number of higher education aspirants from the state.

Rakesh Dutta, who secured 80 per cent marks in the higher secondary level exam in the science stream this year, told TSI: “I will go to Delhi and take admission in any engineering colleges there. In Assam there are only three engineering colleges. Even if I get admission here, I won’t get the opportunity to prepare for competitive exams. In Delhi I have a better chance. After completing B.E, I will sit for the reputed Indian administrative service”.

Another student Saurabh Jyoti Hazarika, who passed higher secondary in 2010, also wants to go to Delhi for higher studies. “Job opportunity is nil in the state. Even government jobs are difficult to get. Moreover, to get it we have to pay money as bribe. The multinational companies also recruit outsiders. So, I have decided to go to Delhi,’’ he said. Hiranmoy Pathak, a lecturer of a junior college of the state, said: “Greater employment opportunities outside Assam have encouraged students to go outside the state.”

A large number of students are moving out from the state because of the lack of adequate infrastructure. The only way out is that the government spends more money in improving the education system.

Monalisa Gogoi

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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LOCK, STOCK, CLICK AND BUY

eBay made its India foray with the takeover of 5 year old bazee.com in 2005 and has since then relied largely on multimedia advertising on the internet. However, this is the first time that this net giant is charting a completely new route through virgin waters. According to Mohamed Rizwan, Senior Creative Director, Wieden+Kennedy, a part of the creative team that worked on the campaign, “The brief was to promote eBay as a shopping destination where you get a wide range of top quality products, great deals and the ease of paying safely through a credit card. The ads communicate this in a funny, over-the-top manner in the form of a DD-esque call-in show ‘The eBay Way’ where callers are told the benefits of shopping on eBay, regardless of their problems.” However, cracking the Indian consumer conundrum won’t be easy. There are a plethora of factors that compound the complexity so evident in a rapidly transitioning Indian consumer space. Firstly, Indians are the best bargainers in the market and getting the best deals on the internet without having a chance to bargain face to face especially for used items might seem deterring to prospective buyers. Secondly, with regards to goods, Indians almost always, ‘touch’ and ‘feel’ and then buy. Though attitudes are changing, it will take a lot of time before consumers can buy high involvement products like mobiles, laptops and household appliances on eBay. As K. J. Singh, co-founder and CEO, Evolve Brands says, “For start, it should get offline as well and should have some availability in the malls where the customers go for shopping. Most of its target segment which is online also shops offline and needs to get a mindshare when offline and therefore the branding in the cluttered market is important also in case there are some offers which could be informed offline and executed offline.”

The third factor critical to the fortunes of eBay will be the variety of choices in the deals it provides to the customers. But on this, Muralikrishan B, Director, Marketing & Product, eBay India, asserts, “One of eBay India’s key advantages is the wide variety of products available – ranging from mobiles to necklaces, digital cameras to salwar kameez, diamond rings to laptops etc. The audience that comes onsite appreciates the variety and we are seeing good traction across categories as a result of this campaign.” Finally, online transactions are still perceived as a fodder for fraud by many Indians and it won’t be easy to break the taboo. Despite the fact that the campaign itself highlights the safety feature in its punch line, the starting point for the company would be to attract more and more hits to the website and slowly create the buzz through more outdoor events, follow-up TVCs and offering attractive pricing for different product categories.

However, leading brand analysts in the country do not seem to be resonating to the company’s tunes. While some have labelled the presence of Dr. Puri and Komal Singh as the uncle and aunty just pushing people to eBay, others are more sceptical of the campaign’s ability to eventually lead the visitor to actually buy from just being a casual visitor. Leading brand analyst Harish Bijoor, CEO, Harish Bijoor Consultants adds on a harsher note, “I do not believe this current spate of e-bay advertising is going to build anything much for it. I am personally not convinced that the set of retro-creatives do anything to the brand at all. At best, it causes for a perk-up in the awareness scores for the brand. I do not believe the campaign is efficient enough on the counts of building interest in the portal, stoking desire to visit and finally creating action of the actual buy.” However, how joyful will eBay’s India journey be would be clear in the coming months. If it is, it would be a marked shift in the attitudes of Indian consumers. If not, Pierre Omidyar might just realize that there are not many takers in India for broken lazer printers (the first ever product sold on eBay).

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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