Nirav Modi, the diamond merchant wanted in India on charges of fraud and money laundering in the estimated USD 2-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case, on Thursday lost his legal battle against extradition as a UK judge ruled that he does have a case to answer before the Indian courts. While this may be construed as a huge win for Indian government, an RTI reply published by IANS news agency last year shows India s record in catching economic fugitive offenders in last 6 years has been patchy at best. In a candid admission, the Centre has stated that of the 72 absconding economic offenders, the government has managed to bring only two in the past nearly six years, as per a reply under the Right To Information (RTI).
A man cycles past a graffiti covered wall amidst the spread of the coronavirus disease on a street in Navi Mumbai
MUMBAI: Although Maharashtra recorded the country s highest tally and toll of Covid-19 cases, it got merely Rs 108 crore from the Central government s health insurance scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY).
Neighbouring Karnataka, which had less than half of Maharashtra s 20.48 lakh Covid-19 cases, got six times the assistance at Rs 620 crore, according to statistics gathered under the RTI Act. The figures indicate fewer claims being processed in the state under the subsidised scheme for Covid treatment.
Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu got Rs 294 crore and Rs 141 crore respectively. Their Covid toll is less than a fifth of Maharashtra s 51,360 deaths so far. “These figure correlate to the worst phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, between March and December, in India,” said Jeetendra Ghadge of the NGO Young Whistleblowers who sought the information from t
Representative image
MUMBAI: Maharashtra reported 2,270 cases of farmer suicides in the 11 months between January and November 2020. This is marginally lower than the 2,566 cases reported during the same time period in 2019.
Of the 2,270 cases, only 920 or 40.5% were declared eligible for compensation, according to revenue department data collected by RTI activist Jeetendra Ghadge. The government awards compensation only in cases which it concludes are linked to indebtedness. Their kin receive compensation worth Rs1 lakh.
According to the data, more than half the farmer suicides are from the cotton belt of Vidarbha which reported 1,230 farmer suicides. The arid belt of Marathwada reported 693 cases of farmer suicides, while North Maharashtra had 322 cases. The sugar belt of Western Maharashtra had 25 cases, while Konkan reported none. Although agriculture was considered the silver lining for the economy during the lockdown, farmers found it difficult to get good prices for their
EOW converted only 7% of complaints into FIRs in 5 yrs
ByShruti GanapatyeShruti Ganapatye / Updated: Dec 16, 2020, 06:00 IST
An RTI query has revealed that the Economic Offences Wing (EOW),
Mumbai office, has received 3,457 complaints in the last five years of which only seven per cent were converted into FIRs. Also, in only 28 per cent of the complaints, were
preliminary inquiries ordered.
RTI activist Jeetendra Ghadge had filed an RTI query on August 14 asking the EOW Mumbai to give information regarding complaints filed, inquiries conducted and FIRs registered since January 2015 till August 2020. In the reply, the EOW said it received 3,457 complaints from January 1, 2015 till September 2020, of which 974 preliminary inquiries were ordered, 622 inquiries have been closed and 263 inquiries have been converted into FIRs. The reply has also said that 3,093 complaints were transferred to police stations and other departments without any inquiry during the same period.