Information delayed is information denied

[sidmis]

Information delayed is information denied
as reported by Anita Aikara, September 07, 2008, DNA India

A huge backlog of 15,000 RTI cases, many going back to 2005 when the RTI Act came to the state, is proving to be a demotivator for applicants

MUMBAI: RR Mishra, a resident of Andheri, had filed an RTI application, seeking information about the roadwork in his area to get to know the budget and check for malpractices.

He received a reply within a month, as required under the law, but the information was incomplete. He then filed an appeal. It’s been three months now and the roadwork is complete, while Mishra still awaits concrete information.

Mishra’s is just one of the 15,000 RTI cases pending with the State Information Commission, some of them dating all the way back to 2005 when the RTI Act came into force in Maharashtra.

This is just the tip of the iceberg because there is no record of the number of instances where the RTI applicant receives inaccurate, incomplete or inadequate information, or even no reply at all, and does not follow that up by filing an RTI case.

“Most applicants don’t know the process of filing an RTI case, initially with the first appellate authority, and finally with the State Information Commission if the reply remains unsatisfactory,” points out Mohammed Afzal, an RTI activist. So the 15,000 pending cases with the RTI office only represent those who took the trouble to file appeals after applications produced little response.

In all, 24,000 such cases have come to the the State Information Commission since its inception in 2005, out of which only 9,000 have been disposed of, with the remaining cases still to be heard.

Suresh Joshi, State Information Commissioner, throws up his hands, claiming helplessness. “Last year Maharashtra received 3, 18,000 RTI applications, the highest in the country, higher even than the Central government which received 1,40,000 applications. But till date, we have six information commissioners, while states like Punjab and Haryana have ten commissioners each.”

RTI activists don’t buy the excuse. “A High Court judge disposes of 2500 cases a year, and even an average commissioner clears 900 cases, while the Information Commissioner takes care of just 700 cases,” says Shailesh Gandhi, newly appointed as central information commissioner.

Joshi counters that unlike HC judges, he doesn’t have a support system. “Many people compare our systems to that of the HC but they fail to see that I don’t even have a legal advisor.”

DNA - Mumbai - Information delayed is information denied - Daily News & Analysis

[vijendra singh]

True ; like justice delayed, justice denied. Govt must amend the RTI act to increase the no. of I.Cs from 10 to 30. This will facilitate the appellants who will be able to obtain info timely. Govt must think it urgently. Delayed info becomes useless often .&the expenses , time , energy spent by the applicant/ PIO / AA /IC /Employees etc also goes waste. This causes very big national losses.