RTI Success Stories - First

The plan here is to Share my success / failure stories with RTI 2005 . FYI , I am not a RTI activist. I do Not belong to any party .  The timing of this has nothing to do with AAP . I have minimal knowledge on RTI . I do have basic ideas about RTI and of course I will share my experiences here .

Introduction
What is RTI : I am not going to lecture on this . There are umteen sites telling us what is RTI . How you can file them , etc.  Some of the links I like 

http://rtionline.gov.in/

http://www.rtiindia.org

Story 1 :  Did my EPF get transferred ?

I had to make a couple of Job changes  in 2008 . When I Joined the new organization , I did not want to close out my PF account as my other friends had suggested . I chose to transfer and wait for the transfers to happen . Although I submitted my transfer application as soon as I joined the new Organization in May 2009 , my new Org took its own time to consolidate and Send it to EPFO office . I believe they did it in Sept 2009 . I forgot abt my PF transfer and I was engrossed at my new work . Time flew ..2010..2011 , .. I did not even know my PF had gone into a black hole . Where to go..Whom to approach . At the max , I would follow up with my PF dept and ask them if my PF has got transferred for which they would have the same ans as I did . I was just hoping for the best .
   Thanks to one of my colleagues , he suggested to file a RTI to get the status . I spoke with him in length . I was never convinced that it would work . Ok..so what next .. I was researching a lot of sites to know about RTI , etc.  I had drafted the letter several times . My laziness always overtook me and I never posted any of the letters to the PIO , EPF dept . For some reason , in late 2012 , I thought let me fire a print out and speed post the letter . Done . Keeping my fingers crossed to get the reply . 
 Oof .. Sharp 20 days , I did get a reply from the PIO , EPFO Bangalore saying my EPF from  both the organizations have been transferred . Infact it was transferred by 2011 . I had no idea abt the transfer otherwise . But my mission was met to get to know that EPF had got successfully transferred .
Although I was not completely convinced that RTI enabled my transfer , I was atleast happy that my PF was transferred .  Thanks RTI .
Rating :  7 on 10 . 
Why not 10 on 10 ?  First RTI , being cautious abt the success . It did help me in achieve my goal . But I didnt still know how to use this effectively to get my job done . 

Good Job Mate .

"That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind".. That One small step has more success stories to follow . Keep coming back . 

Madhu
Right or wrong to information ? 

Dish ...

Certainly this post is not on food . what else could this be ? My coz calls me to check which sat TV should he subscribe ? mmm....
   Ta da.. Whats the first thing we do if we want to review ... Google govindan as I chellam call it . Does a research ..read several reviews  ..then choses a brand advertised by one of the Khans..
  Rewind !! Sunday mornings 25 years back ( gosh I am too old ) , if I had to watch He-Man Cartoon , I had to finish all my homework on Saturday . Not that I finished them , but I atleast had to act as if I had done .But today , there are 15 cartoon channels ..Gosh ...my niece is glued to all the cartoons 24x7. God pl help .
  When I used to pass Sadras Bus Stand , there used to be an inverted umbrella antenna , which used to retransmit the received data . Today each one of our apt have the setup .
  Now with Set top boxes mandatory in most of the major cities / towns , these channels are basking in the glory .

Talking about dishes ( read dish antennas ) , who can forget the tripartite communication strategies in olden days for antenna tuning . TV antennas used to receive signals and we would receive the only channel ( Doordarshan ) . Wind blows and the antenna turns like a wind vane in the direction of the wind ... All the kids where in the terraces trying to change the direction of the antenna back to its original position .  Madhu in the terrace turning the antenna to its original direction , Amma in the balcony to transmit the message from madhu . Appa actually checking in the TV and checking for clarity .

As a child I used to curse the wind . Now there is no such Antenna.. All of us are glued to the TVs without the 5 / 7 stripped antennas but a small dish in our terrace .. Luckily they dont change directions!!

Technology evolved .

Madhu
Ant Anna or Ant thambi ?

  

Third time unlucky

One two three.. I could not get luckier this time . I am finally Ousted . Tell me what wrong did I do ?

I am the first Chief minister to have survived 2 No confidence motion in a span of 2 weeks. Just that it costed me that much more . What the hell , I was the one who brought BJP to power in a southern state for the first time .

If people ask me about what I have done for Karnataka , I rebutt back , why are you asking me this ? Why did you not ask the same with my predecessors ? I was busy going to temples and meeting astrologers .

When Opposition claimed that I had given money to keep their mouth shut , I had said I will take a 'Truth Test' in Dharmastala that I had not paid a pie . Unfortunately I could just go to the temple but could not take the test because "the question paper was out".

I have wonderful sons , hence gave away the govt land to them out off turn . Now tell me whats wrong in this ?

I swear that I am "less" corrupt than my previous govt . Now you cant blame me for the corruption that other people had done !

Illegal Mining ? What is that ? Where is Bellary ? I did not derive any benefits from Illegal Mining . Whatever I got from it , I gave it back to party . Didnt I ?
When the Lokayukta report was published , I was busy in a holiday in Mauritius enjoying a vacation . Tell me which is more important ?

Now with so many achievements under my belt , not sure why my part high command wants me to leave this post . Can anyone help me ?

Cheers,
Maddy urappa ??

Germination ...

Good news over good news.. I got a place to stay for myself ..a small one about 2 months ago . Me and my wife decided that we would have a small terrace garden .
To start with we have a few flowers in pots . How can we forget not having vegetables .
We have beans which have sprouted within a week of planting . Got Palak , Methi , etc .
Hope the sow gives us a great reap to atleast keep our enthu going on .
let me post as and when I get more experience on my gardening skills.

Cheers,
Madhu
- The Mali

Socially Networked

My partner has been bugging me to blog for all this time and I have been escaping saying I am BC !! Really busy or lazy ? Well partly both are true . Probably ran out of topics .. Really ? Then how am I connected to the whole world .
There been a flurry of socially networking site . The Orkuts of the world , Facebooks ..Twitter ..
Well to net unaware netizens if I have to help understand what these are then these are networking sites to say hi to all your friends and keep them aware of what you are up to .
I have seen some of my friend's tweets as " I am going to bed" ..Gosh guys are you so very vela .
In my perspective the only benefit these sites have is to pass time . Initially I was thrilled by Orkut which brought in a connection to my old friends . But then as time passed , I realized that the only thing I had to say them was a simple Hi... I didn't have anything much to say :( Then what are the benefits of these social network sites. One big benefit that I could think of as create a lot of controversies . FYI ..Twitter has made a MP fall down just because he could keep his mouth shut .
Does that mean don't I have any such ids in these social sites. Of course not . I am a guy who has logins in almost all the sites and pretty decently active in all these sites but still believe its of no use . I am always in touch even in these only with whom I am actively connected .
My juniors have a different philosophy together . They claim face books of the world have been the best things to use in the internet . mmm..fair thought and I have always seen them connected only in one of the social sites ..
Knock Knock..my door bell rang . I saw an unknown person at my my door step . He had come to give my post mail . Realized that he was my neighbour whom I haven't met for the past 2 years that I have lived in this apartment . Neither did he have a clue that I was his neighbour .
Just an irony in the world of social networking , the neighbours arent networked :(

ESPecial win

Long Hiatus ..reason certainly not whats there in the title. But the one i had put up as an exciting day . Yes I have upgraded my status . So so good with a lot of tension before the status change . Now things are settling down . I am safe with no injuries from poori kattais and idli karandis. I have outsourced some of my activities and am certainly having more free time than before . hopefully she doesnt read this post lest i will be having more work .

Chal Cia.. This post has got nothing with the title . Just a misnomer title .

Madhu
- No longer a bachelor .

Caught napping

Yesterday evening , I had to go to the bank to check if my account has got transferred from Kalpax to Bangalore . yes you read it correct . I have an account still in Kalpakkam . After 10 years I decided to get this account transferred .
.Should I go to the bank just to transfer this amount . Anyways the account has stayed dormant for 10 years , Cant I let it stay as it is ...Several thoughts were running . The thought of bangalore traffic made me think to avoid it . I poushed myself over and decided to go for it .
Being an avid follower of rules, I hate breaking lines . Try to follow traffic rules as much as possible. Avoid bribing people for any reason . And of course try not to take bribes . Not that I am govt. servant for me to take bribes . Sometimes I feel I act like rules Ramanujam . As I got closer to the bank and was waiting for a signal to get green , I heard a lorry honking right behind . I was just cursing the lorry driver for severly honking at me . Hey idiot , its still red , you cant go over the signal . As the signal got green , I took a U Turn and moved away giving way to the
lorry . Ha I was feeeling relaxed for having such lorries get past me . As I had started accelerating my bike ......
From no where did a constable appear and waved her hand accross . I didnt do any thing wrong ..Did I . I have my papers , I didnt jump any signal . I wanted to make myself doubly sure , if she was asking me to stop ..Creech...my brakes were on and I moved to the left to park my bike . I started to tell her that I didnt jump signals , I had my papers on ..etc. etc . For which she quietly said there a NO U turn signal and I didnt obey it . Oops. didnt I notice it at all ..

My pocket grew lighter by Rs.100 and I had my challan for taking a wrong U turn .

Madhu
- the traffic breaker .

Another year passes ...

A long year passed ...A lot of ups and downs as usual ..Lot of stuff happened .Interesting and uninteresting . The future is always exciting . Let me see whats in store for me in 2010 .

Madhu
- Eagerly entering 2010

Finally its out..

Long waits..Costly elections .low percentage turnouts. Multi Party system.Third fronts .Nehru-Gnadhi Dynasty . Modi-Advani Factor .26-11 .Recession..Aam Admi..India Shining..

Its all over . UPA is set for another term . Singh is Kingh .

Madhu
- Just a voter.

Maiden English

Rani has been our servant maid for over a year now . She talks very little and finishes her work very sincerely . The problem is language. I and my amma cannot speak kannada and Rani cant speak Tamil. Mode of communication is then Tannada . English was a taboo. She couldnt understand a word in English .
She doesnt bunk and her work is decent. But I have only one complain. She comes very late for work . She comes at 11:00 Am. Well I have asked her to report at about 7:00 am , so that she can clean the house even when I am there. Every time I have asked her to come early , she said she was working in homes where the couples were working for a fraud hit software company . Both the couples had to leave before 9:00 and it was next to impossible for Rani to come to my house at 7:00 . Point agreed . But on Sundays , she used to be at 7:00 . What ? Why do you take me for granted and disturb me at 7:00 on sundays. Am I not a office goer? Come on..

We have got used to her timings and she has got used to ours. I have stopped complaining about her weird timings to my house . Time has passed . Suddenly one fine day she starts coming at 7:00 am in the morning . We thought initially that this was a temporary arrangement and she would get back to her normal timings. After a week , amma slowly asked Rani why she was coming early these days. For which she silently replied , she was affected by "RECESSION" and carried on her with work.

Madhu
-Awed by effects of recession