POSCO flanking RTI # 2 on issues JagatSinghPur to PMO

To:- Ms. Sanjukta Ray,  Central Public Information Officer, Prime Minister's Office, South Block, New Delhi - 110101.
cc:-  Shri K. Salil Kumar,  Central Public Information Officer, Prime Minister's Office, South Block, New Delhi - 110101dtd: 08th June 2011
Greetings & Jai Hind!!  Most humbly request information under the RTI Act of India, 2005,  please provide me with the following information. THIS INFORMATION IS SOUGHT IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST, AND THERE IS OVER-RIDING PARAMOUNT LARGER PUBLIC INTEREST TO BE GIVEN THE INFORMATION I HAVE ASKED FOR.

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INFORMATION REQUIRED:-

a) Please provide me with information on action taken, if any, including file notings, on letter to Prime Minister of India from Mr. EAS Sarma of Vishakapatnam, dated 14th July 2010, copy enclosed as enclosure A.
b) Please provide me with information on action taken, if any, including file notings, on letter to Prime Minister of India from Mr. EAS Sarma of Vishakapatnam, dated 07th May 2011, copy enclosed as enclosure B.

c) Please provide me with information on all communications to and from Prime Minister's office pertaining to visit by South Korean President, Shri Lee Myung-Bak, who was the invited State Guest of Honor for India’s 60^thRepublic Day celebrations in 2010, that pertained to the POSCO basis the following:-

d) If any of the above said statutory records is not available, the complete details of how it was destroyed / weeded out in each case..

e) Electronic access to the catalogue (or catalogues) of all records of your public authority duly indexed in a manner and the form to facilitate right to information, either over the computer networks or in the form of a diskette or other electronic media at the prescribed fees.


Sent by eMail and signed hard copy, (signed) and humbly submitted,

Veeresh Malik,
D-61, Defence Colony,
New Delhi - 11oo24
(mobile: 00-91-99118-25500)

Note 1:-Application fee of Rs. 10/- in cash shall be submitted within 30 days as per procedure laid down by DoP&T at PIO, PMO, New Delhi, or at any one of the nominated APIOs located at the specified Post Offices in India, and a copy of this application along with receipt shall be sent to you co-terminus. Interim, you are requested to commence processing this RTI Application as per the RTI Act-2005 with effect from date of submission of this electronic copy, also as per the RTI Act-2005.

Note 2:- The public authority, PMO, New Delhi, has not yet published their arrangements to accept / accompany electronic payments for e-filings as per section 6 of the Information Technology Act 2000, is requested to do same, - and hence I am constrained to go to extra expense / trouble to file a routine email request by Postal Department also.

Note 3:- I wish to specify that you may please not provide to me that information (or particular portion thereof) which would impede the prosecution of offenders under any law of India, and also any personal information which is unconnected with any public activity/interest or which invades the privacy of any person. THIS INFORMATION IS SOUGHT IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST, AND THERE IS OVER-RIDING PARAMOUNT LARGER PUBLIC INTEREST TO BE GIVEN THE INFORMATION I HAVE ASKED FOR.

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2.2  Role of the Executive:  Prime Minister, Chief Minister and Ministers — Serving POSCO Instead of People

While the MoU itself is only a statement of intention, it is during the implementation of the MoU requirements that the perversion of the State’s role comes to the foreground as the entire machinery of government, starting from the Offices of the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister, reaffirms its commitment to this blatant giveaway of India’s wealth, even as people on the ground steadfastly oppose it.

This preference for POSCO over people was on display in January 2010, when the South Korean President, Lee Myung-Bak, was the invited State Guest of Honor for India’s 60^thRepublic Day celebrations.  Concerned over the lack of progress on the plant in the face of stiff resistance by local people, and worried that it would show the host country in a poor light in front of the state guest, the government went into overdrive trying to launch the POSCO project just ahead of the visit.¹⁹ Instead of paying heed to local concerns and working with the concerned populations to find an acceptable resolution, newspapers reported that “[t]he Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the external affairs ministry and the steel ministry have thrown their might behind the project …” and that “[g]overnment channels are working overtime to clear hurdles faced by the steel giant and consultations are on with the Orissa government to expedite the process.”²⁰

When it was clear that the project could not be launched in time for President Lee’s visit, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) held a news conference, where MEA Joint Secretary (East), Mr. Gautam Bimbawale, and a MEA spokesperson, Vishnu Prakash, both reiterated that the state and central governments were trying their best to “pave the way for the initiation of the project.”²¹ The fact that environmental clearance had been accorded to the project by the Ministry of Environment and Forests was proffered as evidence of the central government’s intention to “clear all hurdles” for the POSCO project.  Union Steel Minister, Virbhadra Singh, who met with the POSCO delegation accompanying President Lee, told reporters that “[e]fforts are being made to ensure that the entire matter is seen[sic], signed and delivered in the next 4-5 months. This includes physical transfer of land and all regulatory clearances to POSCO.” ²²

Because the government did not consider conditions in Orissa to be ‘suitable’ for President Lee to visit the POSCO site, the Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik came to New Delhi to meet and reassure him of progress on the POSCO project.  Newspapers reported Mr. Patnaik as saying that he had “assured the South Korean President that Posco project work will be expedited,” and that the state government would speed up land acquisition for the project.²³

(quoted from http://miningzone.org/campaigns/posco/iron-and-steal/ch02)