Tribune News Service: Ludhiana: Wednesday, June 13, 2018.
Applicants
seeking information under the Right to Information (RTI) with respect to their
cases in the Commissioner-RTI office are a harassed lot due to the delayed
release of information. Officials in the office blame it on the lackadaisical
attitude of the Station House Officers (SHOs) concerned who show reluctance in
giving information.
During a
visit to the RTI office, The Tribune team found several applicants lamenting
that they had to do the rounds of the office to get a reply to their RTI
application, the time for which has already been extended beyond the stipulated
30 days.
The Public
Information Officer (PIO) is supposed to send the RTI reply within 30 days. But
due to negligence on the part of officers, information gets delayed. An
official of the Commissioner-RTI office said: “We are only facilitating
information between the applicant and the PIO. The SHO concerned, who looks
after the case, is supposed to send information about the case. However, they
are not cooperative at all and as a result information is getting delayed. We
have to tell the officers that action will be taken against them if they do not
provide information.”
Sarabhjit
Singh, RTI activist, said: “Information provided is often deficient or does not
relate to the queries. The officers do not identify what the query is and that
delays information. Here almost 80% of the RTI is about final reports of
investigation. People facing charges want to prove their innocence through the
RTI, which they don’t get in time. Not providing information on time can create
problems for many persons involved in various cases. This is sabotaging the right
to information that pertains to right and liberty of a person. If you are
carrying out investigation in a fair manner, what holds you from parting with
information? A victim remains a victim till the time his innocence is proved
and what is the better way other than the RTI office?”
Prince, who
filed an RTI in April, said: “I have still not received the reply. It has been
more than one month now. I have paid countless visits to the RTI office.”
Space crunch
at office
The RTI
office is grappling with space crunch as barely any visitor can enter the
office. Work is carried out through a single-window counter. An employee said:
“We are six of us who adjust in this small space. Also, first and second appeal
applications come here only. It becomes cumbersome to manage. Sometimes, we
have to call the RTI applicant inside to understand his query, which is another
problem in such a small space.”
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