The Brave Pedestrian

Mumbai, 31st March, 2017: Unknown to most Mumbaikars, MCGM issued a circular last week giving notice that the Capital Valuation for the forthcoming years has been completed for determining property tax applicable to property owners and that "they will be available for inspection at the office of the Asstt. Assessor and Collector in the respective wards … between 23rd March 2017 to 13th April 2017." It added that "complaints against the Capital Values... must be made in writing by the property owners themselves or by the persons duly authorized by them under a power of attorney." BMC’s notice may be downloaded from this link:   http://bit.ly/MCGM-Notice-23-3-2017 Sometimes, the assessment department makes mistakes in fixing the capital value, which results in huge disputed dues. If the window of opportunity given under the circular is not promptly availed, then property owners such as housing societies are left with the costly option of going to...

1. What is Right to Information (RTI)? Right to Information means our right to get information from “public authorities”. Broadly speaking, RTI means that We The People have the right to procure copies of documents from State and Central Government, and other organizations that are controlled, or substantially owned and financed by the government. Right to Information Act 2005 (RTI Act 2005) is called the “Sunshine Act” , because it helps people like you and I -- the citizens of India – to make the government transparent. Also, just as sunlight destroys germs, the Sunshine Act helps the common man to fight against corruption, and to fight for getting his rights from various government authorities, and also from government-regulated private parties such as suppliers of various goods and services, builders and contractors, utility companies, etc. 2. What does RTI Act say? In a nutshell, the Right to Information Act says that any citizen of India has the righ...