‘Government, judiciary threat to RTI Act’

The Times of India: Hyderabad: Sunday, May 27, 2012.

The biggest threat to the Right to Information (RTI) Act is the government, the judiciary and the information commissioners themselves, believes central information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi.

"The government is not very keen on the RTI Act and may try to amend it in order to render it toothless. A lot of progressive orders by the judiciary are getting stayed due to the Act. If the information commissioners do not expeditiously dispose of cases then pendency will keep rising to finally affect the Act itself," he said.

Gandhi was interacting with the media at an event organised on Saturday by the Jana Chaitanya Vedika and Association for Promotion of Social Activities in Hyderabad. Stressing the importance of clearing pending cases, he said that if each information commissioner could clear about 5,000 cases a year, the disposal rate would dramatically improve. While accepting that erring public information officers should be penalized by the commission, he suggested that, with a view to improving efficiency, it would be a good idea to have an incentive system introduced for them.

"Only PIO's are liable to be penalized. Since they are the ones who face the risk of being pulled up, they should also be given an incentive based on their performance," he said.

According to him, if the paperwork is done away with, the efficiency in most government offices would increase by about 50% to 80%, ultimately helping in the Act's implementation by decreasing the burden on PIO's.

As to the stand to be taken by an information commissioner confronted by an uncooperative government department, he said: "The information commissioner should use all his powers. He should take charge of the required information by summoning the officers concerned. But if they still refuse to follow orders, they should be arrested," he said.