Times of India: Ahmedabad:
Tuesday, April 16, 2013.
Narendra Modi
might be wanting to encash 'brand Gujarat' in 2014, but the state he rules
still prohibits information under the RTI, which can check corruption to a
great extent.
In 2011-12,
the Gujarat Information Commissioner received 5,224 complaints and appeals, of
which 2,699 were disposed off - the disposal rate was 51.66 per cent.
Of the 5,224
applications, 70 per cent were appeals. The report tabled in the state Assembly
revealed of the 3,803 appeals filed, 1,887 were disposed off. Similarly, of the
1,421 complaints, 812 were disposed off by the Gujarat Information Commission
(GIC).
The revenue
department had the maximum 1001 appeals and complaints in 2011-12, followed by
the urban development and urban housing with 698 appeals and complaints.
The report
stated the education department had 622 appeals and complaints, followed by
panchayat, rural housing and rural development with 578 appeals and complaints.
The four departments accounted to 55.48 per cent of the total appeals and
complaints.
During
2011-12, various government departments and public authorities functioning
under them received 54,560 applications, of which the urban development and urban
housing alone accounted to more than 29 per cent share, followed by the home
department and energy and petrochemical department with a share of 13.20 per
cent and 10.28 per cent, respectively.
Last year, a
farmer and RTI activist from Kutch setting himself on fire in the presence of
11 policemen at a revenue office last year after his attempts to get
information were thwarted. But, the state administration seems to be
unrelenting.
The report
further said of all the district collectors in Gujarat, only information was
available in the case of Surendranagar Collectorate. Information of public
authorities like other district collectorates, superintendent of stamps under
the jurisdiction of revenue department and its district and taluka level
officers, office of relief commissioner, office of the commissioner and
secretary (land reforms), Gujarat Revenue Commission, Gujarat State land use
Board was not uploaded on the website.
Also, the
information of home department and offices of 10 district superintendents of
police and offices of all police commissioners and their subordinate officers
was not made available.
This does not
end here. The information of Municipal Corporations of Ahmedabad, Rajkot,
Vadodara, Junagadh and Gandhinagar, various schools, colleges and institutes
were also not shared.
The report
further states that majority of the applications were about the functioning of
the local self government, including corporations, villages, talukas and
district panchayats. The commission stated that the dispute were arising due to
lack of transparency in working, vested interests, denial; to provide
legitimate services, delay in attending to the requests, unwillingness for
decision-making, lacking execution, among others.
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