Harikumar Pallathadka
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Harikumar Pallathadka (Harikumar P in short) is a prominent Indian Right to Information (RTI) (known as FOI in the west),
Social Activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from ...
, Senior Administrator, Eminent Professor, Scientist and expert in Constitutional Law.


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. This issue has widely been discussed in the media and forums. His RTI applications on security of
Electronic Voting Machines An electronic voting machine is a voting machine based on electronics. Two main technologies exist: '' optical scanning'' and '' direct recording'' (DRE). Optical scanning In an optical scan voting system, or marksense, each voter's choice ...
led to the
Election Commission of India The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body established by Constitution of India, the Constitution of the Republic of India empowered to conduct free and fair elections in the Republic of India. It is headed by a Chief Ele ...
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. 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 CIC may refer to: Organizations Canada * Cadet Instructors Cadre, a part of the Canadian Armed Forces * Canadian Infantry Corps, renamed in 1947 to Royal Canadian Infantry Corps * Canadian International Council * Canadian Islamic Congress * Chemi ...
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. He raised the matter of frequent accidents of
Sea Harrier The British Aerospace Sea Harrier is a naval short take-off and vertical landing/vertical take-off and landing jet fighter, reconnaissance and attack aircraft. It is the second member of the Harrier family developed. It first entered servic ...
fighter jets with the
Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...
through media. After that even the media has continued raising the questions of safety of security of older Sea Harrier fighter jets 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. 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. His series of RTI applications on Indian
prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...
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 A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...
. 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. 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 India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. He has tried to shed light on various socially relevant subjects including Indians believed to be detained in Pakistani jails. 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, and Meghalaya.


Research and Publications

He has authored hundreds of Research Papers and holds hundreds of national and international patents to his credit.


History

He was a National General Secretary of
India Against Corruption India Against Corruption (IAC) is a non-political anti-corruption movement in India since 2007 which rose to prominence during the anti-corruption protests of 2011. Divisions among personalities on IAC's platform eventually led to the formation ...
from September 2013.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pallathadka, Harikumar Living people Indian civil rights activists Indian human rights activists 1984 births Activists from Kerala People from Kasaragod district Right to Information activists