UP :Govt. providing ‘Right to Entertainment’ to Safai @ deprivation of ‘Right to life’ to homeless dying due to cold // Govt.’s lame excuses & ‘hide n seek’ tactics with activist’s RTI to keep info on state funded Saifai Mahotsava behind iron curtains.

https://www.facebook.com/sanjay.sharma.tahrir/posts/1569656313250854

UP :Govt. providing 'Right to Entertainment' to Safai @ deprivation of
'Right to life' to homeless dying due to cold // Govt.'s lame excuses
& 'hide n seek' tactics with activist's RTI to keep info on state
funded Saifai Mahotsava behind iron curtains.

Press-Release / TAHRIR / 30 December 2014 / Lucknow , Uttar Pradesh ,
India.///Death Toll In Uttar Pradesh Due to Cold has Rises to 125 but
instead of doing something concrete to stop the homeless from dying
due to cold, UP Govt. is busy providing 'Right to Entertainment' to
Safai.

Recently, Uttar Pradesh's biggest rural festival, Saifai Mahotsava,
being held at the native village of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister
Akhilesh Yadav, organised by the Samajwadi Party MP Tej Pratap Yadav
was inaugurated by Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan. Ruling Yadav clan of
Uttar Pradesh was present in full force at Samajwadi Party president
Mulayam Singh Yadav's home district Mainpuri last Friday to launch the
17th edition of Saifai Mahotsav.


In 2013, the extravagant festival was criticised in view of the
Muzaffaranagar riots. Facing flak over the festivities in Saifai, Last
year Uttar Pradesh Government went too law to ban media from Saifai
Mahotsav from covering the event.
However, that did not deter Samajwadi Party Government to celebrate
the festival this year. Mulayam Singh Yadav went ahead and said that
not only the people living in urban centers have the right to enjoy
dance, but rural folks also take pleasure in it. Mulayam linked it to
'right to entertainment'.

Mulayam Singh's nephew Ranbir Singh used to hold an annual wrestling
meet in Saifai but after his demise in 1997, the party started
organising the event as Saifai Mahotsav every year so much so that the
event became a state financed event whenever Samajwadi party was in
Power in Uttar Pradesh.

This year also, Uttar Pradesh's Culture Department Secretary Anita
Meshram might have made media statements that state government has
approved Rs. 1 crore for the mahotsav but the fact is that the state
funded Saifai mahotsavs are closely-guarded secrets for UP government
so much so that Culture department's spineless officials are forced to
make lame excuses and play 'Hide & Seek' with info-seeker's RTI pleas
just to avert disclosure of info even when sought under RTI act.

A year ago, on 26-12-2013, this Lucknow based Social Activist Sanjay
Sharma had shot off a RTI plea to the PIO of CM office of UP. On first
point, Sanjay sought documents contained in files related to the whole
processes from proposal to decision making regarding organizing of all
Saifai Mahotsavas to which Dr. Lavkush Dwivedi of Culture Directorate
of UP, on 18 December 2014, has informed Sanjay that Information
sought by him is not clear. On Second point, Sanjay sought info of
Money spent from state coffers on all 'Safai Mahotsavas' ( Starting
from very first Mahotsava ) to which Dr. Lavkush Dwivedi has written
that it was not clear in RTI plea as to details of which year were
sought by Sanjay. On Third point, Sanjay sought Money earned by state
Govt. from organizing of all 'Safai Mahotsavas' ( Starting from very
first Mahotsava ) to which Dr. Lavkush Dwivedi has written that No
such points related to income from organizing of all 'Safai
Mahotsavas' are concern of Culture Department.

"Saifai mahotsavs are closely-guarded secrets for UP government so
much so that Culture department's spineless officials are forced to
make lame excuses and play 'Hide & Seek' with my RTI plea just to
avert disclosure of info even when sought under RTI act, so I have
every reason to doubt intentions of SP Govt. in organizing such
Mahotsavas" said Sanjay.


Sanjay told that on 13 January 2014,he had filed another RTI
application in the office of the district magistrate, Etawah but this
has got no response till date. This application sought response on the
money spent in holding the event, guest list, programme list, money
spent by district administration and state government and frequency of
flights that operated to bring guests to the venue but on none of the
eleven points information ever came. "Even UP state information
commission, full of sycophant info-commissioners, refused to listen to
my complaint and same was dismissed by Information commissioner Vijay
Shankar Sharma" said Sanjay.

With grim picture being painted by UPSIC, the highest authority in RTI
matters in UP, Sanjay feels that info on loot of public money on such
events shall always remain a secret.

Terming State Govt's illogical viewpoint of providing 'Right to
Entertainment' to Safai @ deprivation of 'Right to life' to homeless
of UP as tragic, inhumane and autocratic, Sanjay condemned spending on
Safai Mahotsava from State coffers as a shear wastage of public money
and that too only to quench of thirst of unending Ego of political
rulers of UP and referring the Death Toll In Uttar Pradesh Due to Cold
as 125, demanded the Govt. to ensure 'Right to Life' to each n every
homeless of UP before going to Safai like events.

Sanjay told that he is approaching Raj Bhavan of UP to personally meet
the Governor and apprise him of this high handed approach of rulers of
UP in this matter in detail to bring things to their logical ends.

RTI, RTI reply & Memo can be downloaded from given link :
http://tahririndia.blogspot.in/2014/12/press-release-tahrir-30-december-2014.html

--
-Sincerely Yours,

Urvashi Sharma
Secretary - YAISHWARYAJ SEVA SANSTHAAN
101,Narayan Tower, Opposite F block Idgah
Rajajipuram,Lucknow-226017,Uttar Pradesh,India
Contact 9369613513
Right to Information Helpline 8081898081
Helpline Against Corruption 9455553838


http://upcpri.blogspot.in/


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