Hemant Goswami

Hemant Goswami

Hemant Goswami
Born 1971
Delhi
Organization Burning Brain Society
Citizens' Voice
Tobacco Free World Foundation
Resurgence India
Servants of the People Society
Political movement Right to Information
Public Health & Tobacco Control
Civil Rights
Right to Education
Agriculture Reforms
Judicial Reforms
Awards Global Smoke-Free Partnership Award
Young Leadership Award

Hemant Goswami (born: 1971).[1] is an Indian social activist working on public health and civil right issues.[1] Besides being known as one of the most vociferous voices against tobacco,[2][3][4][5][6][7] Hemant is also credited with creating the first smoke-free city[8] in India and also in any third world country[9][10] with the effective use of Right to Information Act.[11][12][13] He was awarded the "Global Smoke-Free Partnership Award" in 2008[14][15] and also "Extraordinary Activist Award"[16][17] for the innovative use of legal action and activism resulting in the smoke-free Chandigarh initiative.[18][19] Hemant Goswami is the great-grandson of Swami Rama Tirtha the 19th century spiritual leader and social reformer.[20] Hemant is the founder of many NGO's including Burning Brain Society,[20] Tobacco Free India Coalition and Citizens' Voice which were till recently managed by him from Chandigarh.[21] Hemant is closely associated with Servants of the People Society too and is also working as the 'Chief Executive officer (CEO)' of The Samaja, one of the largest selling Oriya daily newspaper founded by Gopabandhu Das in 1919.[22]

Contents

Biography

Hemant Goswami was born in Delhi on June 30, 1971[23] to an Indian Air Force Officer and a teacher. With initial education in electronic sciences,[20] Hemant moved to management and started his career as a marketing professional, management consultant and a trainer.[24] After working for a few years as a management consultant and trainer, in 2001 he left his other professional assignments to work full time as a social activist[25] with major focus on fighting corruption, judicial reforms[26][27][28] and ensuring transparency.[29] He strongly believes that problem in these areas of governance is the main reason for the abuse of civil rights of the people. Tobacco control[30] and countering substance abuse are another major areas of his work in public health.[25] During his college days, he founded Society for Prevention of Crime and Corruption, a NGO to work on corruption issues. In 2001, he founded the Burning Brain Society[31] and in 2004 formed Citizens' Voice.[32]

Known as an independent voice in challenging corruption[33] and ensuring accountability[34][35] in public service[36] and governance[1] at the highest echelon.[37][38] The infamous Red Cross Scam of Punjab,[39] the 83 Crores Punjab Agro-diversification scam,[40][41] the CM relief fund mis-utilization, and many other such like expose against corruption have been brought to light by his group as a part of 'Mission Zero Tolerance' initiative of Resurgence India. Hemant Goswami also effectively uses judicial activism for getting results in matters of public importance through the use of Public Interest Litigation.[42][43] While his work on tobacco control and right to information has been widely recognised[44] and won him numerous awards,[15][16] his fearless fight against narcotics and drug mafia and their nexus with the police[43] has won him much public appreciation. In one of his daring acts, while arguing a public interest petition himself, in-person, Hemant produced packs of drugs in the open High Court before the Chief Justice to expose the easy availability of Drugs.[45][46] Hemant actively works on Right to Education (RTE) issues and empowerment of economically deprived children.[47][48] His firm stand against exploitation of children by the private educational institutions has been criticised by the private schools.[49] Hemant has also moved the courts against the Government for violation of child rights and to stop widespread child labour,[50] his efforts against exploitation of children has forced the government to constitute Commission for Child Right in the State of Harayana, Punjab and Chandigarh.[51] Hemant is also associated with work on Genetically Modified Food and Agriculture reforms and is also connected with Kheti Virasat Mission.[52][53][54] In 2011 a documentary film titled "Change Catalyst" was produced which documented the process followed by Hemant Goswami to make Chandigarh as India's first smoke-free city.[55]

Action against Tobacco

Hemant's fight against tobacco has continued since his school days. Continuing his strong actions against tobacco has produced encouraging results.[25] Remarkable among the results is churning the city-state of Chandigarh as the first city-state in the emerging world to be smoke-free.[2][56] The success of smoke-free Chandigarh has been made into a documentary film titled "Change Catalyst - Creating Smoke-Free Cities."[57] Fighting numerous battles in the court has also produced good results and these include taking on one of the major tobacco companies to force them to drop the trade-name of their cigarette brand from their (surrogate) promotion activities undertaken in the name of rewarding brave people. Besides the regular monitoring and reporting violations of law[58] by the tobacco industry, Hemant had also exposed the nexus of the tobacco companies[59] and political parties[60] to prove how tobacco companies were paying donation to almost each and every political party in the parliament of India.[61] The expose ensured that the overt political funding by the tobacco industry to political parties has stopped. Legal fight against the illegal Hookah/Shisha Bars has resulted in closure of illegal tobacco and nicotine supply in the northeren region of India.[62][63]

Activism on Right to Information

As a hardcore activist advocating free speech and fighting for complete Right to Information (RTI), Hemant's activism has resulted in many tangible results.[25] While the smoke-free Chandigarh initiative itself largely succeeded due to innovative use of RTI[2] wherein Hemant filed nearly 300 RTI petition just to bring in accountability in action and to set the ball rolling for the implementation of the smoke-free laws.[12] Besides taking tough stands against any proposed amendment to the RTI Act, Goswami has boldly taken senior bureaucrats and Governors to task too for lack of transpaprency and accountability in their offices. When the Governor-Administrator of Chandigarh refused to follow the Right to Information Act, Hemant fought a long and bitter battle to ensure transparency in the office of the Governor-Administrator of Chandigarh. After a long legal battle, favourable orders were secured in July 2008 from the Central Information Commission(CIC) and thereafter the office of the Governor-Administrator was forced to open its public records for the public and operate in a transparent manner.[34][37] Subsequent to this, the Administrator-Governor of UT of Chandigarh increased the fee for obtaining information by 500%.[64] Once again Hemant fought the decision tooth and nail[65] and after many public interactions and Writ Petitions in the High Court[66] the decision to increase the fee had to be reversed.[67] Another remarkable initiative of Hemant Goswami, as a part of "Mission Zero Tolerance" against corruption, resulted in an consolidated order by the CIC (deciding 52 complaints by "Society for Prevention of Crime and COrruption" in one order), wherein all Central Government and Chandigarh Administration offices were directed to ensure proper implementation of the Right to Information Act 2005 and thereby for the first time directions were issued to the Government to proactively publish all the public documents online on the internet.[35][68][69][70]

Awards and recognitions

A few of the recognitions accorded to Hemant Goswami for his work are;

Affiliations and assignments

Hemant is affiliated and associated with the following organisations;[25][74]

Writings

Hemant has written four books and many short articles on varied subjects. Not only that it shows his mastery over many subjects and domains but it also reflects the different phases of his life. He authored his first book, "Towards a Perfect Democracy," on his political thoughts and philosophy at the age of 28 years. This book is also credited as the first full-length online book by an Indian author to be launched on the internet.[82] His published books are;

Creative Pursuits

The creative talent of Hemant reflected in his paintings during his early days. He won many prizes and recognitions in various regional, national and international awards during his student days.[25] Later on he shifted to digital forms and more recently to amateur film making. Hemant is pursuing film-making mainly to aid his social activism and as a tool of mass communication for social change. Hemant has produced and directed a few documentaries and short films, some of them are;

Papers and Scientific Presentations

Besides numerous writings, presentations and lectures by Hemant Goswami, here are some of the most recent papers and presentations by him at prominent international forums and conferences;

  • Tobacco in Movies and Impact on Youth : Paper (WHO-MoHFW, India study, 2005)[89][90]
  • Tobacco in Movies and Impact on Youth : Presentation (13th World Conference, USA, 2006)[91]
  • Promoting Tobacco via "Research," (BMJ, 2006)[92]
  • Exploring Strategies for Developing Community Advocacy (Global Health Conference, USA, 2007)[93]
  • Associating tobacco with bravery and its impact (13th World Conference, USA, 2006)[94]
  • Evaluation of tobacco control legislation in India (13th World Conference, USA, 2006)[95]
  • Future Possibilities in Policy and Legislative Measures to Control Tobacco (5th Annual Conference, ISPTID, Hong Kong, 2006)[96]
  • Civil Society Monitoring of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control: 2007 Status Report of the Framework Convention Alliance (Co-Authored – India Report)[97]
  • Strategic Activism for Enforcement of Tobacco Control Laws: - A Case Study for Tobacco Control Advocates (8th APACT Conference, Taiwan, 2007)
  • Role of Movies in Promoting Favourable Impression of Tobacco among Youngsters (8th APACT Conference, Taiwan, 2007)
  • Beyond The FCTC – Future Possibilities on Ending Tobacco (8th APACT Conference, Taiwan, 2007)
  • Reduced Ignition Propensity (RIP) Cigarettes – Facts, Fiction and Manipulations (ISPTID, Little Rock, 2007)
  • Rural and urban divide in awareness and sensitization level on AIDS (IAS 2007 - 4th Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment and Prevention - Sydney, 2007)[98]
  • Use of Legal Innovations for Practical Results (5th World Conference, Washington DC, 2008)
  • What FCTC Missed Out – The Logical Conclusion (SRNT 2008, Thailand, 2008)
  • Enforcement of Tobacco Control Laws - (WHO, Intercountry Workshop on Tobacco Control Legislation, Colombo, 2008)
  • Litigation in Tobacco Control; Tobacco Industry Tactics - (WHO, Intercountry Workshop on Tobacco Control Legislation, Colombo, 2008)[99]
  • Smoke Free Chandigarh - A Case Study (14th World Conference, 2009)[100]
  • Making The Indoor Environment Smoke-Free (14th World Conference, 2009)[101]
  • Continued Indirect and Surrogate Promotion by Tobacco Industry - The Wolf in the Lamb Skin (14th World Conference, 2009)[102]
  • How subversion of tobacco advertisement bans defeat tobacco control policy objectives (World Conference on Lung Health, Cancun, Mexico, 2009) [103]
  • Smoke-free Chandigarh: a case study (World Conference on Lung Health, Cancun, Mexico, 2009)
  • Winning Strategies – What works in smoke-free initiative in the emerging world: Learning’s from smoke-free Chandigarh case study (Asia Pacific Conference on Tobacco or Health, October 2010, Sydney, Australia)[104]

References

  1. ^ a b c Website of Hemant Goswami
  2. ^ a b c d They made a difference, really - The Indian Express
  3. ^ Indian Activist Stage Sit-In at White House, Protests U.S. Failure to Ratify the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
  4. ^ Anti-Tobacco Efforts Are No Match for Tobacco-Company Maneuvers in India - Winter 2005 edition
  5. ^ Outlook India - The noose around tobacco companies is tightening, but they won't walk away without raising a stink
  6. ^ Salman caught in a smoking hot controversy
  7. ^ RTI query on Dutt smoking in prison - Nadeem Inamdar, The Indian Express
  8. ^ Smoke Free Chandigarh Website
  9. ^ Chandigarh to become India's first smoke-free city - DNA India
  10. ^ Chandigarh to be a puff-free city
  11. ^ Chandigarh to become India's first smoke-free city - The Hindustan Times
  12. ^ a b Chandigarh will be India's first smoke-free city - Jaideep Sarin, IANS, The Asian Age
  13. ^ News from NDTV and Siti News - You Tube Video
  14. ^ a b GSP Monthly E-Newsletter - 2008-09-18
  15. ^ a b c Award for Hemant Goswami - The Tribune
  16. ^ a b c Global award for city activist (Pradeep Sharma - Tribune News Service)
  17. ^ Hemant Goswami Presented Activist Award
  18. ^ Award for fighting tobacco menace
  19. ^ International tobacco-control award for Indian social activist and Thailand's health minister
  20. ^ a b c Rama Tirtha kin sets up NGO, A. S. Prashar - Tribune News Service
  21. ^ Website of Citizens Voice
  22. ^ The Samaja Website - Contact Us
  23. ^ Facebook Fan Page of Hemant Goswami
  24. ^ Who’s the hero? Why Burning Brain of course - July 2005, Civil Society Magazine Article
  25. ^ a b c d e f More About Hemant
  26. ^ Cure To The Failing Judicial System
  27. ^ Judiciary’s image takes beating in bribery scandal: experts - IANS
  28. ^ The image of judiciary
  29. ^ RTI Act only on paper: Survey - The Tribune
  30. ^ Radio New Internationalist - Up in smoke
  31. ^ Burning Brain Society
  32. ^ Citizens' Voice website
  33. ^ CBI begins investigation into Chandigarh sports dept bungling - Punjab Newsline Network
  34. ^ a b UT administrator told to appoint info officer - Pardeep Sharma, The Tribune
  35. ^ a b Information Commissioner admonishes Chandigarh Administration to follow the RTI Act in its letter and spirit
  36. ^ Chandigarh Administrator exceeded his brief - The Hindu
  37. ^ a b ‘UT Administrator not above the provisions of RTI Act’- The Hindu
  38. ^ Filmcity project: ‘criminal breach of trust’ by Administration - The Indian Express
  39. ^ IAS officers loot funds for Kargil war heroes
  40. ^ One more arrested in farm councils scam
  41. ^ Punjab CM orders inquiry into multi-crore crop diversification scam
  42. ^ JD Supra Documents
  43. ^ a b Drug mafia-cop nexus: NGO suggests panel
  44. ^ Our unsung heroes - KICKING THE BUTT (The Times of India)
  45. ^ To expose easy availability of drugs, activist produces hashish in court - The Indian Express
  46. ^ Hashish packet makes its way to court - The Times of India
  47. ^ EWS students: Schools not keeping up
  48. ^ Keep 15% quota for poor students on hold: HC
  49. ^ UT schools get RTE directives sans Patil’s nod
  50. ^ PIL on child labour
  51. ^ Haryana to get child rights protection commission
  52. ^ Government violating laws to promote GM crops
  53. ^ Interaction on GM crops
  54. ^ Kheti Virasat Mission
  55. ^ Change Catalyst- Creating Smoke-Free Cities
  56. ^ What could not do through bullets, have achieved through RTI petitions
  57. ^ Dailymotion Video - Change Catalyst: Creating Smoke-Free Cities
  58. ^ India: promoting tobacco via "research"
  59. ^ Experts discuss ‘manipulations’ of tobacco industry
  60. ^ SAD got donation from tobacco giant
  61. ^ “Tobacco money” is not merely a religious issue: BBS
  62. ^ HC issues notice to admn on hookah bars
  63. ^ HC questions UT over Hooka bars
  64. ^ Social activist questions hike in RTI fee
  65. ^ HC Notices to Centre, Admn on Promulgation of RTI Rules
  66. ^ HC issues notice on petition challenging RTI fee hike
  67. ^ Admn Rolls Back RTI Application Fee Hike
  68. ^ CIC asks UT to implement RTI Act fully
  69. ^ Publish reasons for all decisions that affect the public, rules CIC
  70. ^ Order by Central Information Commission
  71. ^ Third Annual Global Smokefree Partnership Awards
  72. ^ Young Leadership Award for Chandigarh social activist
  73. ^ Young Leadership Award for Chandigarh social activist
  74. ^ 14th World Conference on Tobacco or Health
  75. ^ Servants of the People Society - Our Organisation
  76. ^ The Samaja Website
  77. ^ Steering Committee on Tobacco ADS set up
  78. ^ Anti-tobacco task force
  79. ^ PUBLIC REPRESENTATIVES IN TOBACCO CONTROL CELL
  80. ^ Department of Public Relations, Chandigarh Administration
  81. ^ Progressive Development Facilitators website
  82. ^ a b Reprint of Web book released - The Tribune
  83. ^ Rediff Books
  84. ^ Students shown the way to a dream job at workshop - The Tribune
  85. ^ The Tobacco Menace
  86. ^ Google Video - Tobacco in Movies(32 Mins)
  87. ^ Google Video - The Lost track
  88. ^ The Last Song by a Cancer Victim
  89. ^ WHO Sponsored Study
  90. ^ WHO Website - Break The Tobacco Marketing Net
  91. ^ Presentation at the 13th World COnference on Tobacco or Health, Washington DC, USA
  92. ^ BMJ - Tobacco Control
  93. ^ 34th Global Health Conference - Policy Series, USA
  94. ^ 13th World COnference on Tobacco or Health, USA
  95. ^ 13th World COnference on Tobacco or Health, USA, 2006
  96. ^ Scientific Programme - ISPTID
  97. ^ FCA Annual Report 2007
  98. ^ International Aids Society
  99. ^ WHO Intercountry Workshop
  100. ^ 14th World Conference on Tobacco or Health
  101. ^ 14th World Conference on Tobacco or Health, Mumbai
  102. ^ 14th World Conference on Tobacco or Health, Mumbai - March 10, 2009
  103. ^ Union World Conference
  104. ^ APACT 2010

External links