Indian Express: Pune: Sunday, April 29, 2018.
The State
Information Commissionerate (SIC) is facing a 40 per cent staff crunch and the
high number of vacancies is affecting the functioning of the SICs, as per the
annual report of the SIC that was published a few days ago. The report reveals
that of the 17 sanctioned posts in the State Chief Information Commissioner’s
office in Mumbai, 10 are vacant. In each of the other seven SIC benches in the
state, six to seven posts are vacant.
The SIC
benches in the state have quasi judicial powers as they take up cases against
government officials who have failed to provide information under the RTI Act.
The SICs also need sufficient number of clerical staff to ensure proper and
timely functioning of the benches.
In its annual
report, the SIC pointed out the various problems it faces due to the vacant
posts. “Given the quasi judicial nature of the work, it is necessary for us to
give dictations with explanations for the orders. Given the growing number of
appeals, only two clerks are not enough and the number should be increased to
four,” stated the report.
The state
government is yet to take any steps to address this issue, despite being
informed about the vacant posts by the SIC. “Some of the posts have been filled
on a contractual basis, but the state government needs to fill the rest of the
vacant posts,” the report read.
Former
Central Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi claimed that the high number
of vacant posts was a “deliberate attempt to weaken the RTI Act, which has
played an important role in ensuring transparency in the system”.
“The fact that
the state does not have a Chief Information Commissioner for over a year speaks
volumes…,” he said.
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