DDA, Delhi Police top list of RTI queries in capital

[sidmis]

DDA, Delhi Police top list of RTI queries in capital

AS reported in Economic Times, Jun, 2008, 1109 hrs IST, IANS

NEW DELHI: People in the capital seem to be most unhappy with the ways
of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and Delhi Police, if the
number of applications made under the Right to Information (RTI) Act
is any indication.

According to figures compiled by Kabir, an NGO working on RTI, the
capital's land management agency received 12,970 RTI applications from
October 2005 to December 2007 and Delhi Police 12,229 during the same
period.

"We filed RTI applications in various departments of Delhi to
understand the growth and trend of the RTI Act in the national capital
since it was notified in 2005," Neeraj Kumar, who works with Kabir,
said.

"Delhi Police and DDA received maximum applications, which clearly
implies that people face maximum problems at these places," he said.

The other top government bodies in Delhi that received a large number
of RTI applications are the education department (4,175), the food
supplies and consumer affairs department (2,535), the Delhi Jal Board
(1,698) and the office of the commissioner of industries (1,496).

"The process of getting this data was not smooth at all. Several
departments didn't give us any data and we have filed a first appeal.
We are still pursuing those applications," Kumar added.

As far as the lowest number of RTI applications is concerned, the chit
fund department got only 13 applications. Other departments receiving
fewer applications are planning (17), archaeology (25), Home Guards
and civil defence (34) and public works department (57), the data
shows.

According to the RTI Act, if an applicant does not get the required
information, he or she can file a first appeal in the same department
with a senior official. However, if he is not satisfied with that
reply, he can file a second appeal at the Information Commission.

In cases that needed first appeals, Delhi Police topped the list.
"Delhi Police received the highest number of first appeals at 1,177
followed by the education department (447), Delhi Jal Board (260), DDA
(258), the department of training and technical education (251) and
the transport department (122)," said Kumar.

Delhi Police were again leading the list of cases where second appeals
were filed.

The number of second appeals filed against Delhi Police, DDA, the
education department, the department of training and technical
education, Delhi Jal Board and the food supplies and consumer affairs
department are respectively 135, 81, 59, 45, 20 and 14.
"We analysed the data and found that departments like Delhi Police,

DDA, the education department and Jal Board are those where a common
man in Delhi faces maximum problems," said Kumar.
On data regarding RTI applications before the Municipal Corporation of
Delhi, Kumar said: "We have received some data from MCD and a part is
awaited. It is huge and will take a lot of time in compilation."


DDA, Delhi Police top list of RTI queries in capital- Politics/Nation-News-The Economic Times

[maneesh]

If along with the numbers NGO can provide the type of RTI query or the broad category then it is can be found out what type of queries are raised by citizens. It may be possible that may query will be among the statutory information under RTI Act which the organization has to publish sou motto.

[karira]

Maneesh,

Actually, the Delhi Government is one of the few State Governments in the country which has a very exhaustive website on RTI.

It provides RTI application statistics, searchable data base of questions asked so far, status of applications, status of appeals, statistics of applications and appeals, etc.

It also lists the Sec 4 RTI suo moto disclosure of the 17 point manual of each department.

http://delhigovt.nic.in/rti/default.asp