Violation of the RTI Act

Sec. 5(1) of the Right to Information Act, 2005 mandates that every public authority shall designate Public Information Officers (PIO) in all administrative units or offices under it to provide information to persons requesting for the information under this Act. According to Sec. 6(1) of the Act, a person, who desires to obtain any information under the Act should make a request in writing, along with the fee, to the designated PIO.

But some public authorities are misinterpreting this section of the law to make it difficult for the public to get the information they want. For example, Mysore City Corporation has appointed the assistant commissioners in charge of each of the 9 MCC zonal offices as PIOs, but has not appointed any PIO in the main MCC office. As a result, if a person wants information pertaining to MCC as a whole (such as the number of property owners in Mysore who have paid their property tax), he has to file 9 applications to the 9 PIOs. To do it, he has to go to the 9 zonal offices spread all over the city and spend 10 Rs. for each of those applications. He then has to add the numbers given by the 9 offices to get the information he wants. If getting information becomes so difficult, no one will ever make use of the RTI Act and the fundamental reason for establishing the act is lost.

There are some types of information such as births and deaths which are held only by the MCC main office. There is no PIO who handles applications requesting such information.

Therefore, we urge the Commissioner of MCC to designate a PIO for MCC main office so as to not defeat the intention of the RTI Act.

 Vishwas Krishna, member, MGP

Brigade Developers Pays Rs. 1 Lakh To Settle Case On Overcharging

Brigade Developers, a builder of apartment buildings, has paid P.M.Bhat and K.W.Bopaiah Rs. 1 lakh each to settle cases which they had filed against excessive fees collected from them.

The complainants had bought apartments constructed by Brigade Developers. Before handing over the apartments to them, Brigade Developers had collected from them large amounts for various services ( including more than Rs. 25,000 as electricity connection charge, more than Rs. 15,000 as water connection charge and Rs. 10,000 as Corporation Khatha assessment charge). The complainants later found out that the authorities did not charge anywhere close to the huge amounts collected by the builder. In fact, Mysore City Corporation did not charge anything for Khatha assessment. The complainants then wrote to the builder to render a true statement of accounts for the fees levied, but they received no reply. So they filed cases (OS Nos. 426/2002 and 47/2002) before the Court of Small Causes at Mysore claiming that in the absence of a true statement of accounts, they should get back the amounts they had paid as various fees. The case was referred to Lok Adalat in which the case was settled for Rs. 1 lakh each to the complainants (4-8-2010). The court fees paid by the complainants were also returned to them.

MGP has received complaints from apartment buyers that many apartment builders are charging exorbitant fees for services such as the ones mentioned above. They should ask for a statement of accounts and if the statement is found unsatisfactory, proceed to file a case for the recovery of the excess amount paid. MGP has also brought the case of excessive Khatha assessment fee to the notice of Mysore City Corporation and asked it to publish an advertisement in the public interest to give the correct picture on various fees it charges to builders.

B.Vaikunth Shenoy, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

MCC Tender

Mysore City Corporation took out a full page tender advertisement in some of the local papers. It has called for tenders on 261 works which include asphalting roads and alleys, laying of interlocking tiles, construction of drains, etc. Building of a Samudaya Bhavana in Yadavagiri for Rs. 3 lakhs is one of the works on this list.

MCC's tender advertisement raises some questions:

1. Who sets MCC's priorities? The Samudaya Bhavana is the only work allotted to Yadavagiri. Some of the roads of Yadavagiri have not seen repair in decades. Also, the water pipe laying under JNNURM has destroyed several roads. Many of the roads in the locality are quite steep and rain water gushing on them has left large craters in its wake. Is construction of a Samudaya Bhavan a higher priority than repairing these decrepit roads?

2. Does Yadavagiri need a Samudaya Bhavana? None of the residents I know has expressed any interest in getting one.

3. According to a contractor I know, Rs. 3 lakhs will get you only a 4 square building. What can one do with a 20x20 Samudaya "Bhavana"?

4. Where is the space to build the Samudaya Bhavana? Yadavagiri does not have any CA sites. So it can only be built on a residential site or space allotted to a park or land belonging to the Railways. Are all these options not illegal?

N.Prakash, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

War On Cancer: Are We Winning?

The President's Cancer Panel, which consists of distinguished scientists and physicians, reports to the President of the United States on the development and execution of the National Cancer Program of the USA. It's latest report submitted in May, 2010 has recommended that a prevention-oriented approach

should replace the current reactionary approach which emphasizes treatment after cancer is detected. Since this would mean that cancer detection and treatment would lose hundreds of billion dollars in funding, the report of the PCP has evoked sharp reactions from the cancer detection and treatment community.

Even after two hundred billion dollars (or Rs. 9 lakh crores!) have been spent over the last few decades to wage a "war on cancer" (the National Cancer Institute of the USA, by itself, has spent more than $105 billion) featuring intense and costly treatments, the actual survival rates have increased only marginally. The death rate for cancer (adjusted for age) dropped only 5% in fifty five years 1950-2005. If reduction in smoking and adoption of healthier life-styles are factored in, even this small reduction in the death rate may disappear or even become negative (In comparison, death rate for heart disease dropped 64% in this period, and that for flu and pneumonia fell by 58%). This means that despite innumerable new cancer drugs and new cancer treatments, cancer survival rate has not increased in the last 55 years.

Some rare cancers such as myeloid leukemia can be held in check by the drugs now available. But with most common forms (and many rare forms) of cancer, the outlook is not that good. If there is metastasis (i.e., the disease moves from one part of the body to another), the 5-year survival rates are 30% (prostate cancer), 20% (breast cancer), 10% (colo-rectal cancer) and less than 10% (lung cancer). These numbers have not changed in the last several decades.

The statistics quoted above are from New York Times of 23-4-09 . New York Times is one of the leading newspapers of the world known for its sober in-depth reporting and is not given to fear-mongering or sensationalizing. It seems that such undeniably discouraging statistics made the President's Cancer Panel acknowledge for the first time in its 13 year history that the war on cancer is not being won despite astronomical spending and therefore recommend that the focus should be shifted from curing cancer to preventing cancer.

Despite these startling facts, it is surprising that most doctors and ordinary people feel that cancer can be cured. It seems that most experts and the media are glossing over these numbers and presenting only the positives of cancer treatment. Except for some forms of cancer (childhood cancers and testicular cancer), there is no cure once the cancer has spread. It can only be kept in check and that too for a limited period. When a treatment offers a "significant survival advantage", this advantage could only be a few more weeks or even days. These facts are again from the New York Times article.

The PCP report points out several major shortcomings in current cancer research. Some of them are:

1. When cancer risk from radiation exposure is estimated, it is based on the impact on a "Reference Man" - a hypothetical male, 5'7" tall, weighing 157 pounds, and who is Western European. It will definitely not apply to most men on earth and certainly not to women. So what is safe for the Reference Man may not be safe for the vast majority of people on this planet. Radiation doses in cancer treatment are also based on the "Reference Man" and so are inappropriate for the vast majority of people.

2. People who receive multiple CT scans or other tests that require radiation may be getting more radiation than Hiroshima atomic bomb survivors. Radiation is a proven cause of cancer. Since prescription of scans is increasing exponentially, a significant portion of the public are at risk of increased incidence of cancer.

3. When cancer risk from chemicals are estimated, chemicals are studied only one at a time. The combined effect of more than one chemical (it may be much higher than the sum of the effects) or the long-term effects from multiple exposures are not considered.

There are some other myths related to cancer such as:

*Surgery is believed to be a cure for cancer, especially cancerous tumours. But there is evidence that surgery can promote migration of cancer cells to other parts of the body and actually worsen the patient's condition. This has been discussed in a National Center for Biotechnology Information publication . It appears that there are inherent immunological mechanisms in the body which inhibit migration of cancer cells from tumours, but surgery suppresses these mechanisms. As a result, many cancer patients who may survive for long without surgery may die soon after surgery.

*Screening for cancer is being promoted with the belief that if cancer is detected early, it can be nipped in the bud. An article in the 20-10-09 issue of New York Times indicates that this may not always be the case. It appears that there are thousands of cancer cells in everyone, but in the vast majority of the population, none of these cells, if left alone, will start multiplying and pose a threat to life. Only in a very small percentage of people will the cells multiply and pose a danger. Increased scanning detects increased cancer cells, but most of them are innocuous. But these cases are given cancer treatment when there is no need for treatment at all. This is a clear case of over diagnosis. But most doctors still find it hard to believe that many cancers are not dangerous and might actually go away on their own. According to Dr. Peter Albertsen, chief and program director of the urology division at the University of Connecticut Health Center, "Politically, it's almost unacceptable".

But facts are hard to ignore forever. The American Cancer Society, which has always been a staunch defender of cancer screening, has finally admitted in its website that the benefits of detecting many cancers, especially breast and prostate, have been overstated. According to Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the cancer society, "I'm admitting that American medicine has over promised when it comes to screening. The advantages to screening have been exaggerated."

C.V. Nagaraj, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Why Is BSNL Doing This?

Prof. B.S.N. Prasad, member of Mysore Grahakara Parishat, writes

I have a prepaid BSNL mobile. Some time ago, I received a message on my mobile which read "Dear customer, you have been charged Rs. 28 for our BSNL tunes. Enjoy the service for the next 30 days". I received a similar message a couple of minutes later, charging me Rs. 12 this time. In a space of two minutes, Rs. 40 was deducted from my prepaid account.

My wife who was using this mobile earlier tells me that similar deductions happened in the past also. Unfortunately, she has deleted all the messages and so I do not know exactly how many times BSNL has charged me for its tunes.

But I have never asked for these tunes and so it appears that BSNL is charging me whenever it feels like it, without my permission.

After running around a lot, I found that I could deactivate this "service" of BSNL by calling 56702. Even deactivation took some effort since 56702 is an interactive faceless service that persisted on selling the tunes under various schemes.

My wife and I have neither the time nor the resources to enjoy the BSNL tunes. BSNL has put me, a senior citizen, to unnecessary trouble and expense. Why is it doing this?

Letter to the Finance Minister- Meagre interest rates on bank deposits

To,

Sri. Pranab Mukherjee,
Honble Minister for Finance
Government of India
(pkm@sansad.nic.in)

Sir,

I am writing on behalf of the over seven hundred members of Mysore Grahakara Parishat (a registered consumer organization of Mysore, Karnataka) and countless other citizens of our country about the meagre interest rates on bank deposits.

1.The maximum rates of interest being paid by banks is 7½-8% (for deposits of 10 years) and 3-3½% (for savings accounts). But the current inflation is more than 12%. As a result, depositors are losing purchasing power heavily.

2.In developed economies, interest rates normally equal the inflation rate. For example, in the US where the current inflation rate is about 1.1%, the interest rate on CDs exceeds the inflation rate for periods longer than 15 months.

3.Public sector banks in India have made record profits this year. Bank profits should not be at the expense of the poor and the middle class depositors.

4.This approach of squeezing the poor and the middle class to increase profits deserves your urgent attention. The government should take immediate steps to increase the bank interest rates to at least nullify inflation.

We look forward to your reply so that its contents may be circulated to our members and to other members of the public.

Yours sincerely,

Maj.Gen. (Rtd.) S.G.VOMBATKERE
President
Mysore Grahakara Parishat,

Photos from the July 2010 issue of Grahaka Patrike

(Dr.Bhamy V.Shenoy)

MCC has announced plans to build public library in People's park. This plan violates Karnataka Parks, Playfields and Open Spaces (Preservation and Regulation) Rules, 1985

 (B.V.Shenoy)
Roadside trees have a hard time surviving in Mysore. The tree on the left has be pruned mercilessly by CESC while the tree on the right, weakened in the stem and the roots by repeated assault my man, has been toppled by rain and wind.

(B.V.Shenoy)

Trenches dug by utility companies to lay cables or pipes are not backfilled properly. Earth mounds left on streets pose a danger to traffic.

(B.V.Shenoy)

MGP members met MCC officials and the Regional Fire Officer to discuss ways to make city buildings fire-safe.

Does More Choice Lead To More Unhappiness?

The right to choose freely is one of the six basic consumer rights accepted worldwide. It is based on the assumption that when consumers are given an abundance of options for any particular goods or service, they can make a satisfying choice and this will lead to happiness.

But research done by psychologists in the last few years (Scientific American, December, 2004, Journal of Consumer Research, September, 2006) has come to the surprising conclusion that the opposite is true. This research is now again in the news since in the West, more choices than ever are available in the market place, but consumer happiness seems to be declining steadily. There is speculation that psychological problems such as depression which are spreading in society like an epidemic may also be connected to this "choice overload".

Logic suggests that having options allows people to select precisely what makes them happiest. But, as studies show, abundant choice often makes for misery. It is not clear if some choice is better than none, but more is certainly not better than less. This is especially relevant now in India when consumers are being offered more and more choices in the liberalized (profusion of consumer goods) and privatized (replacement of government monopolies with several private players) economy.

Psychologists have been able to pinpoint the ways in which availability of choice leads to unhappiness. Some of them are as follows:

1. To make the best use of the choice available, one has to read labels, read consumer magazines, make product comparisons and compare notes with other purchasers. Naturally, this takes enormous effort and time. So decision making becomes slower. Research by psychologists, Barry Schwartz of Swarthmore College, USA and Rachael Elwork and Sheena Iyengar of Columbia University, USA has found that people who do all this and finally make a decision are nagged by alternatives they did not have time to investigate. They compare themselves with others and if they have done better, the increase in their happiness is small, but if they did worse, the increase in their unhappiness is much higher. They tend to brood over their bad choices. As a result, persons who made the best use of the choices before them were less satisfied with life, less happy, less optimistic and more depressed. The problem becomes even more acute when more choices are available to them. Alvin Toffler, in his famous work "Future Shock", says that as the choice increases, "freedom of choice" ironically becomes the opposite - the "un-freedom".

Nobel prize winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman of Princeton University and Amos Tversky of Stanford University have shown that losses have a much greater psychological impact than gains. A less than the best choice hurts more than the best choice gives a good feeling. When there are plenty of choices, the number of less-than-the-best choices increases and hence one's misery.

Simona Botti (Cornell University) and Ann McGill (University of Chicago) have found that if the difference between the choices is small, the person making the choice feels more strongly that he has made a bad choice and hence is more unhappy.

2. People who make the best use of the choices before them have the highest regret sensitivity, as established by Schwartz, Elwork and Iyengar. With many options available, the chances increase that a really good one is out there, and they feel that they missed it. The more alternatives there are, the deeper is their sense of loss and the less satisfaction they derive from their final decision.

3. A process termed "adaptation" by psychologists is also responsible for unhappiness. When people purchase something new, they feel pleasure, but very soon they get used to it and the pleasure is no longer there (something akin to "Familiarity breeds contempt"). If they put in a lot of time and effort in making the best choice and the pleasure they get from it is gone within a short time, they will feel like a fool for having put in all that effort.

4. When plenty of choices are available, studies have found that people's expectations increase. When expectations are high, the probability of disappointment is also high.

The finding that giving more choices to people is likely to make them more unhappy has shaken one of the corner-stones of the consumer movement. It also has serious implications with respect to our system of elections in which the voter has several choices.

B.V.Shenoy, Mysore Grahakara Parishat