Times of India: Mumbai: Tuesday, April 18, 2017.
In
an order that is expected to bring in transparency into the workings of the
Right to Information Act, Maharashtra State Chief Information Commissioner
Ratnakar Gaikwad directed the state chief secretary to create an online RTI
register in every office which has a public information officer.
Gaikwad
directed that such an 'e-register' must be maintained with information on
applications filed and disposed under RTI. He called for implementation of the
online platform by June 15 this year.
"This
platform will facilitate compilation and tracking of RTI applications filed
offline as well as those that might be filed online with departments,'' said
the CIC after observing that there was a "total lack of review of
performance of PIOs and appellate authorities by their superiors''. It had led
to public authorities having to "pay huge compensation to
information-seekers from public exchequer''. "The government was also
responsible for ineffective implementation of such a revolutionary Act, which
directly relates to citizens exercising their fundamental right to
expression,'' said Gaikwad in his order passed on April 16.
The
CIC was responding to a complaint filed by former Central Chief Information
Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi that it was difficult for department heads and the
information commission to review the overall performance of PIOs to take
corrective action in real-time when delays and other lapses occur. Gandhi
sought a direction to all public authorities to publish details of RTI
applications and their disposal on one platform.
Gandhi
had submitted that such a register would facilitate reviewing of the overall
performance of individual public information officers and the first appellate
authorities by the department head and the Information Commission. "It
would also facilitate preparation of an annual report on the state of RTI in
the state, which needs to be presented to the state assembly,'' he said.
Gaikwad
appreciated Gandhi's suggestions. He said a similar notification was being
issued by the department of personnel and training, where it had asked public
authorities to pro-actively disclose RTI applications and appeals received and
their responses on their websites.
Gandhi
told the state CIC that "software could easily be developed so that a
dashboard showing each PIO's performance and of the public authority would be
transparent for every one to see.''
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