The Times of India: New Delhi: Wednesday, July 04, 2012.
While Shailesh Gandhi, an early crusader for the Right to Information (RTI) Act, has for long been an inspiration for the aam aadmi, he is now turning into a role model for bureaucrats, too. Maharashtra's former chief secretary and brand new Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) Ratnakar Gaikwad flew to Delhi in a bid to learn the art of disposing cases with alacrity and the effective use of technology from Gandhi, who is set to retire from his post as Central Information Commissioner at the end of this week.
With a pendency of over 20,000 cases in Maharashtra, Gaikwad himself has been hearing an average of 30 appeals a day and has managed to hear 180 last week. He believes there is a lot he can learn from Gandhi, who is known for his speedy disposals and strong orders. Gaikwad spent Tuesday morning watching Gandhi hear cases, all the while taking notes on his smartphone. He was particularly impressed to see Gandhi hear an appeal which had been filed in May. "I want Maharashtra to come to a stage where we, too, can hear appeals a month after they are filed, instead of cases dragging on for years," he said, adding that he is presently clearing cases that have been pending since 2009 and 2010.
"I have watched videos of Gandhi and have read his orders in great details. But I felt I had to watch him in action in real life, too," said Gaikwad, who took over as Maharashtra's CIC last month.
Gandhi's office is possibly the first paperless government office in the country. So impressed was Gaikwad with Gandhi's use of technology as information commissioner that he, too, has vowed to make his office paperless. He visited Gandhi's scanning room and watched with great interest the speed with which large bundles of paper were scanned and turned into digital documents. "I never thought a completely paperless office was possible," said Gaikwad, who calls Gandhi his guru.
Maharashtra had no CIC for eight months, despite an ever-increasing number of pending appeals before the state information commission. Gandhi had earlier written a letter to Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan in which he said, "The pendency is mounting and if urgent steps are not taken, RTI will suffer a grievous blow, from which it may not be able to recover. I understand that most cases are taking around a year to be decided. By inaction and allowing pendencies to mount, RTI could become dysfunctional and the aam admi in whose name we undertake most activities will stop using this important tool."
Gandhi is now very happy with the enthusiasm with which Gaikwad has taken on his new role as chief information commissioner. "I am confident that Gaikwad will be able to revive RTI in Maharashtra," Gandhi said.
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