The letter was one among some 22 that the government published on the website of the Department of Personnel and Training.
A few days ago, news of a letter published on the website of the Department of Personnel and Training (DOPT) received much media attention, because it labelled Anna Hazare as 'mad' and 'communal'. According to the reply to an RTI query by activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal, the letter was published on the orders of the officer on special duty (OSD) to finance minister Pranab Mukherjee.
"In the letter written by Shri Mohammed Aasim Khan, it has been alleged that Anna Hazare is communal. The above letter was posted on the website of the 'Lokpal' as per the directions issued by the OSD to the honourable finance minister," reads the reply Mr Agrawal received from the DOPT.
The reply of the principal information officer says, "only those suggestions were uploaded on the website for which orders were given by the higher authorities."
The said letter, written in Hindi, created a stir, as it termed Mr Hazare's campaign as a "disruptive movement that seeks to displace institutionalised democracy with mobocracy". It also accused Mr Hazare of being mad and communal. This letter was among a bunch of letters written by others like Arvind Kejriwal, Loksatta party chief and general secretary of the Foundation for Democratic Reforms Jayaprakash Narayan and Delhi Lokayukta Justice Mohammad Sarin.
On the Lokpal Bill itself, the principal information officer yhe DOPT has received 706 written proposals in hard copy and 14,875 suggestions by email. However, the "suggestions received are yet to be examined by the section concerned," the PIO told Mr Agrawal.
Mr Agrawal has also demanded a detailed response from the office of the finance minister, along with relevant correspondence and file notings regarding the publication of the letter. He has also filed a first appeal, as not all his questions were answered by the PIO. In his first appeal application, he says, "It is not clear how the OSD to the union finance minister could intervene in an aspect being handled by an officer of the DOPT as referred to in the response to the query."
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