Times of India: Ranchi: Friday,
April 19, 2013.
The
Right to Information (RTI) Act has proved to be a boon for information seekers
across the country as also Jharkhand. Missing land records in the state,
however, remain one of the biggest problems, something which even the
information commission in Jharkhand has failed to set straight. The chief
information commissioner, Justice D K Sinha, former judge of the Jharkhand high
court, talks to Sanjay Ojha about the problem of missing land records and
piling cases owing to lack of adequate manpower in the commission. Following
are excerpts...
The RTI
has proved to be one of the most lethal weapons in the hands of the common man
to extract information from government offices, which was almost impossible
until a few years ago. How has the response been in Jharkhand?
Like any
other place in the country, the RTI has proved beneficial to information
seekers even in Jharkhand and thousands of people have benefited from it. On an
average, 30 complaints reach the commission every day and we ensure that the
complainant gets the information s/he is seeking.
There is a
set format for getting information, which begins at the lowest level from the
office of the principal information officer. Can an aggrieved person directly
approach the commission with the complaint?
Yes, in case
the government has not appointed the information officer for an office or the
officer is not entertaining the application, the aggrieved person can directly
approach the commission.
It is a
common complaint that principal information officers try to hide facts and at
times even demand huge fees. Collecting information is believed to be a long
and tedious process?
Any
government department, state assembly or even the judiciary, cannot take more
than the amount fixed for a particular work. An information seeker can get
every detail permitted under the law by paying Rs 10 as fee and Rs 2 per page
in case of a government office. If the applicant needs information from the
court, he will have to pay Rs 5 per page apart from the fee. For assembly, it
is Rs 10 per page. If any officer is asking for more money in the name of fee
and charges, the complainant should approach the commission.
Can you
name the department against which maximum complaints reach the commission?
Most of the
complaints are related to missing land records. It is surprising that 20-25% of
the complaints received by the commission are related to land records. The
matter has been brought to the notice of the government.
Has the
commission punished those officials who were not able to provide information?
The
commission has not only recommended departmental action against them, but also
imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 in strict adherence to the RTE Act. In the last
calendar year (2012), the commission issued orders against 18 officials.
Is the
commission facing certain constraints at the moment?
Against the
sanctioned strength of seven members, including the chief information
commissioner, there are only two people working in the commission at the
moment. The commission receives around 30 complaints every day. The rate of
disposal is around 8-10 per working day. Around 5000 complaints are pending. If
the government fills all the vacancies, we can expedite disposal and minimize
pendency.
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