Harikumar Pallathadka

Harikumar Pallathadka
Born 21 May
Kasaragod, Kerala, India
Residence Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Nationality Indian
Relatives Dr. Pallathadka Keshava Bhat (Paternal Uncle)

Harikumar Pallathadka (Harikumar P in short) is a prominent Indian Right to Information (RTI) (known as FOI in the west) and Social Activist.

History

He holds an MBA.[1][2]

He is a National General Secretary of India Against Corruption from September 2013.

Activism

His series of RTI applications on Indian Income Tax system have highlighted the fact that barely 3% of Indians pay income taxes as of 2006.[3][4] This issue has widely been discussed in the media and forums.

His RTI applications on security of Electronic Voting Machines led to the Election Commission of India to divulge details regarding the EVM's and to publicly release the copy of the expert Committee report on security of EVM's headed by Prof. PV Indiresan.[5][6]

In January 2008, the Government of India was forced to update and properly maintain the official website of the RTI following the order of the CIC acting upon the complaint of Harikumar. The CIC has also commended the efforts of Harikumar in its order and asked the department to implement and to introduce various public friendly initiatives for the effective implementations of the RTI Act, 2005.[7]

He raised the matter of frequent accidents of Sea Harrier fighter jets with the Indian Navy through media.[8][9] After that even the media has continued raising the questions of safety of security of older Sea Harrier fighter jests with the Indian Navy. Finally in August 2009, after another crash, The Indian Navy has grounded the entire Sea Harrier fighter jet fleet for probe.[10][11]

His RTI applications on internal border disputes within India led to the Government of India revealing in 2006 that there were nearly a dozen of unsolved and pending disputes of that type.[12]

His series of RTI applications on Indian Prisoners of War has shed light on inconsistencies of official figures between various departments of Government of India and this has led to various measures being taken by the Government of India in the matter of Indian Prisoners of War.[1][13][14]

After an RTI concerning pesticides, 25 pesticides were banned for manufacture, import and use in India which involved a health hazard to human beings, animals and damage to the environment and others faced partial curbs by the Government of India .[15]

He has also attempted to highlight the problem faced by students due to the existence of more than "200 fake educational institutions" that prey on students in India. He has tried to shed light on various socially relevant subjects including Indians believed to be detained in Pakistani jails.[1][2] He has fought many cases against several private Universities across various Indian States for the implementation of RTI and Public disclosure in the Private Universities including the states of Punjab, Nagaland,[16] Meghalaya.[17]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Noronha, Frederick (21 May 2007). "This man keeps digging out official information". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  2. 1 2 "This man keeps digging out official information.". Hindustan Times (New Delhi, India). 21 May 2007.
  3. ↑ has only 31.5 million taxpayers - Hindustan Times
  4. ↑ Punjab Kesari NewsDetails
  5. ↑ How secure is the EVM?Poll panel answers - Hindustan Times
  6. ↑ "How secure is the EVM? Poll panel has the answer.". Hindustan Times (New Delhi, India). 1 June 2007.
  7. ↑ Central Information Commission
  8. ↑ The Indian Navy’s deadly aircraft - Home - livemint.com
  9. ↑ Half of Sea Harrier fleet gone in 20 years -Hindustan Times
  10. ↑ Navy grounds Sea Harrier fleet after crash off Goa - Economy and Politics -livemint.com
  11. ↑ "HOVER AND OUT ; Over half of the Navy's fleet of Sea Harriers has crashed leaving a void in its air defence capability. With the aircraft going out of production there is little scope of future procurement also.". india Today  – via HighBeam Research (subscription required) . 7 January 2008. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  12. ↑ India alone has a dozen border disputes! - Hindustan Times
  13. ↑ RTI reply reveals no consistency in govt's figures on PoWs | news.outlookindia.com
  14. ↑ India doesn’t know how many PoWs are in Pakistan prisons - Economy and Politics - livemint.com
  15. ↑ 25 pesticides banned in India, others face partial curbs - dnaindia.com/mobile
  16. ↑ http://nlsic.gov.in/appeals%20&%20complaints2006-11/dc12-27aug.pdf
  17. ↑ http://megsic.gov.in/2008/Complaint-19-2008.pdf
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