BMC officer sat on 67 RTI queries

[karira]

As reported by TNN in timesofindia.indiatimes.com on 05 October 2008:
BMC officer sat on 67 RTI queries-Mumbai-Cities-The Times of India

BMC officer sat on 67 RTI queries

MUMBAI: What do you do when babus refuse to hear your appeals under the Right to Information (RTI) Act? You file a series of RTI queries asking for the status of these appeals. That’s what a group of civic activists did when ward officials sat on appeals pending for months.

Acting on these RTI queries, the civic administration initiated an inquiry against ward officer A B Khanolkar after it was found that during his tenure as assistant commissioner in Dadar-Mahim (G-north), he did not take up for hearing as many as 67 RTI appeals.

“He never bothered to even look at these pending appeals. This is in blatant violation of the RTI Act,’’ said Bhaskar Prabhu of Mahiti Adhikar Manch, an NGO that takes up RTI-related issues.

Prabhu had filed an RTI query, seeking details of pendency of appeals across wards after he came to know that public information officers and appellate authorities were delaying giving information within the stipulated 30-day period.

S K Nangia, coordinator of AGNI, another NGO, then followed up on the matter. He filed an RTI query asking what action had been taken against Khanolkar for this “dereliction of duty”.

“I got a reply from deputy municipal commissioner Sudhir S Naik saying a showcause notice had been issued against Khanolkar, asking him to explain the lapses,’’ Nangia said.

Activists were shocked that though a monthly review meeting was conducted across all wards, the G-north ward officials initially claimed that there was no pendency of appeals. “It was only when we filed an RTI query that the lapse came to light,’’ Nangia said.

Meanwhile, Khanolkar said the delay was not due to his fault and the office superintendent did not submit the files
to him on time. “I did not know that the hearing for these cases was pending. Once I came to know about it, the cases have been disposed of,’’ he said.

A senior official with the municipal corporation said the appellate authority (in this case Khanolkar) was fully responsible for taking up the cases and could not shrug off his duty.

TOI had earlier reported about how the huge pendency of appeals was slowly rendering the RTI Act ineffective in the long run. The six information commissions across Maharashtra had a whopping 16,866 appeals pending till June this year. Mumbai alone had 4,818 appeals pending till June.

The information commissions received 26,870 appeals but disposed of only 9,914 in the same period.

[sidmis]

RTI queries slowing BMC work: Sena
as reported by Sandeep Ashar, October 06, 2008 | DNA

The ruling Shiv Sena alliance in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) feels that queries asked under the Right To Information Act (RTI) are slowing down pace of development work taken up by BMC. The party claims that RTI queries have delayed provision of basic civic facilities. With a rise in queries being filed under RTI, senior engineers and officials spend more time in answering them. This affects provision of basic civic facilities, Sena corporator Rahul Shewale said.

The Shiv Sena is now demanding specialised RTI cells to be created for all civic departments. Currently, assistant municipal commissioners and deputy municipal commissioners have been appointed as appellate authorities. Engineers heading departments are appointed as public information officials (PIOs). On behalf of the party, Shewale will be moving a notice of motion at the general body meeting, demanding the creation of specialised RTI cells.

"RTI hearings are held three days a week. Head of departments and senior engineers, who are supposed to visit the ward frequently, are answering queries. This affects their efficiency. The creation of RTI staff will also ensure quicker replies to RTI applications," he said.

While RTI activists were not averse to the creation of a special cell, they did not agree that applications hinder civic work. "It is owing to RTI applications that there is a deal of transparency and efficiency," said RTI activist Simpreet Singh. Civic engineers welcomed such a move. Incidently, M/East municipal ward has seen 52 RTI applications filed with the maintenance department and 103-odd filed with building proposal department in August.


DNA - Mumbai - RTI queries slowing BMC work: Sena - Daily News & Analysis