The
Times of India: New Delhi: Monday, October 22, 2012.
Five months
after the newly formed corporations put on hold the online filing of RTI
applications, they are still struggling to make it functional. Sources say that
as the IT department is setting up an independent system for each corporation,
it is not possible to make the service functional anytime soon.
The erstwhile
Municipal Corporation of Delhi was the first government organization in the
country to provide the facility, but post-trifurcation the three corporations
were unable to sustain it due to shortage of staff and procedural delays.
Though the
ruling BJP in the three corporations had promised that the facility will be
made operational soon, but nothing has been done so far. Sources say that due
to shortage of staff the civic agencies are unable to process the RTI
applications on time.
While the
corporations are taking their own sweet time to restart the facility, the
people are missing the "great facility". "It was a great
facility. We didn't have to go to MCD office to submit our RTI application. It
was a hassle-free process. The government should have thought about it before
trifurcating the civic agency. Does it take so long to make it operational?"
questioned Sanjay Bhargava, secretary of Chandni Chowk Sarv Vyapar Mandal, who
has filed several RTIs with the corporation.
"We are
in the process of dividing the system. We have to prepare the IT infrastructure
as per the requirements of the new corporations. It will soon be made
operational," said an official.
"We have
asked officials to make it operational as soon as possible. MCD was the first
to start the facility. But due to trifurcation most of our IT-related
initiatives have suffered," said Yogender Chandolia, chairman, standing
committee, North corporation.
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