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(September 2010) Hemant Goswami
Hemant
Goswami
Organization Burning Brain Society
Citizens'
Voice
Tobacco Free World Foundation
Political movement
Right
to Information
Public
Health & Tobacco Control
Civil
Rights
Awards
Global
Smoke-Free Partnership Award
Young
Leadership Award
Hemant Goswami 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 presently living in Chandigarh from where he also manages NGO's by the name of Burning Brain Society[20] and Citizens' Voice.[21]
Contents
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Biography
Hemant Goswami was born in Delhi [22] 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.[23] 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[24] with major focus on fighting corruption, judicial reforms [25][26][27] and ensuring transparency [28] considering it to be a major area affecting civil rights of the people. Tobacco control[29] and countering substance abuse are another major areas of his work in public health.[24] 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[30] and in 2004 formed Citizens' Voice.[31]
Known as an independent voice in challenging corruption [32] and ensuring accountability [33][34] in public service[35] and governance [1] at the highest echelon,[36][37] Hemant Goswami also effectively uses judicial activism for getting results in matters of public importance through the use of Public Interest Litigation.[38][39] While his work on tobacco control and right to information has been widely recognised [40] and won him numerous awards,[15][16] his fearless fight against narcotics and drug mafia and their nexus with the police[39] 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.[41][42]
Action against Tobacco
Hemant's fight against tobacco has continued since his school days. Continuing his strong actions against tobacco has produced encouraging results.[24] 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][43] 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 [44] by the tobacco industry, Hemant had also exposed the nexus of the tobacco companies[45] and political parties [46] to prove how tobacco companies were paying donation to almost each and every political party in the parliament of India.[47] 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.[48][49]
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.[24] 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.[33][36] Subsequent to this, the Administrator-Governor of UT of Chandigarh increased the fee for obtaining information by 500%.[50] Once again Hemant fought the decision tooth and nail[51] and after many public interactions and Writ Petitions in the High Court[52] the decision to increase the fee had to be reversed.[53] 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.[34][54][55][56]
Awards and recognitions
A few of the recognitions accorded to Hemant Goswami for his work are;
Global Smoke-Free Partnership Award - by American Cancer Society in Bangkok; 2008 [14][15][57]
Young Leadership Award - by APCTH at Taipai; 2007 [58]
Young Scholars Award - by APCTH at Taipai; 2007 [59]
Extraordinary Activist Award (For Legal Initiatives) - by University of Washington at Washington DC; 2008 [16]
Affiliations and assignments
Hemant is affiliated and associated with the following organisations;[24][60]
Burning Brain Society - Chairperson
National Steering Committee on Tobacco Control, Govt. of India - Member [61]
Inter-Ministerial Task Force on Tobacco Control, Govt. of India - Member [62]
Chandigarh Tobacco Control Cell, Govt. of UT Chandigarh - Member [63][64]
Tobacco Free India Coalition - Founder Convener
Tobacco Free World Foundation - Director
Citizens' Voice - Chief Executive
Progressive Development Facilitators P. Ltd. - Director [65]
Society for Prevention of Crime and Corruption - Chairperson
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.[66] His published books are;
How to Fight Corruption and Live With Dignity - 2003
The Tobacco Menace - 2005 [69]
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)[70][71]
Tobacco in Movies and Impact on Youth : Presentation (13th World Conference, USA, 2006) [72]
Promoting Tobacco via "Research," (BMJ, 2006) [73]
Exploring Strategies for Developing Community Advocacy (Global Health Conference, USA, 2007) [74]
Associating tobacco with bravery and its impact (13th World Conference, USA, 2006)[75]
Evaluation of tobacco control legislation in India (13th World Conference, USA, 2006)[76]
Future Possibilities in Policy and Legislative Measures to Control Tobacco (5th Annual Conference, ISPTID, Hong Kong, 2006)[77]
Civil Society Monitoring of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control: 2007 Status Report of the Framework Convention Alliance (Co-Authored – India Report)[78]
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)
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)[79]
Smoke Free Chandigarh - A Case Study (14th World Conference, 2009)[80]
Making The Indoor Environment Smoke-Free (14th World Conference, 2009)[81]
Continued Indirect and Surrogate Promotion by Tobacco Industry - The Wolf in the Lamb Skin (14th World Conference, 2009)[82]
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.[24] 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;
Tobacco in Movies and Impact on Youngsters (2005)[83]
The Lost Track - Sports in India, Dreams Hopes and Reality (2007)[84]
The Last Song (2008)[85]
References
^ a b c d They made a difference, really - The Indian Express
^ Indian Activist Stage Sit-In at White House, Protests U.S. Failure to Ratify the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
^ Anti-Tobacco Efforts Are No Match for Tobacco-Company Maneuvers in India - Winter 2005 edition
^ Outlook India - The noose around tobacco companies is tightening, but they won't walk away without raising a stink
^ RTI query on Dutt smoking in prison - Nadeem Inamdar, The Indian Express
^ Chandigarh to become India's first smoke-free city - DNA India
^ Chandigarh to become India's first smoke-free city - The Hindustan Times
^ a b Chandigarh will be India's first smoke-free city - Jaideep Sarin, IANS, The Asian Age
^ a b c Global award for city activist (Pradeep Sharma - Tribune News Service)
^ International tobacco-control award for Indian social activist and Thailand's health minister
^ a b c Rama Tirtha kin sets up NGO, A. S. Prashar - Tribune News Service
^ Who’s the hero? Why Burning Brain of course - July 2005, Civil Society Magazine Article
^ Judiciary’s image takes beating in bribery scandal: experts - IANS
^ CBI begins investigation into Chandigarh sports dept bungling - Punjab Newsline Network
^ a b UT administrator told to appoint info officer - Pardeep Sharma, The Tribune
^ a b Information Commissioner admonishes Chandigarh Administration to follow the RTI Act in its letter and spirit
^ a b ‘UT Administrator not above the provisions of RTI Act’- The Hindu
^ Filmcity project: ‘criminal breach of trust’ by Administration - The Indian Express
^ To expose easy availability of drugs, activist produces hashish in court - The Indian Express
^ Hashish packet makes its way to court - The Times of India
^ What could not do through bullets, have achieved through RTI petitions
^ Publish reasons for all decisions that affect the public, rules CIC
^ Students shown the way to a dream job at workshop - The Tribune
^ Presentation at the 13th World COnference on Tobacco or Health, Washington DC, USA
^ 14th World Conference on Tobacco or Health, Mumbai - March 10, 2009
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hemant
Goswami
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