Times of India: New Delhi: Friday, October 25, 2013.
With 6,000 RTIs applications
under his belt, Subhash Agrawal, 63, is well known for his role in exposing misdeeds
and scams in the corridors of power. A cloth merchant in Delhi’s Chandni Chowk
area, he tells Saira Kurup that the Act has put immense power in the hands of
the people.
Do you think the RTI Act has even partially
fulfilled its objectives?
Yes, definitely. The Act has empowered commoners
even more than MPs who get just one chance to quiz the government during
question hour. An RTI petition gets three first, through the PIO, then through
successive first and second appeals.
What are the weak links in the implementation of
the law?
The weakest links are sections 27 and 28 which
give often-misused powers to states and competent authorities to frame their
own RTI rules, which are at times in total contradiction to the Act’s
provisions. These sections must be repealed. There should be penal provisions
for first appellate authorities and competent authorities. To prevent misuse of
the Act, the fee should be increased to Rs 50, with, say, 20 copied pages of
documents provided for free. This fee should be uniform for all states. The Act
should also be suitably amended to bring some categories like multistate
cooperative societies, publicprivate-partnerships and all national sports
bodies including BCCI under its ambit.
Any advice for fellow citizens who want to file an
RTI?
Be short, precise and straightforward in your
queries, which should be on neatly typed sheets.
A big problem with the commissions is mounting
pendency and delays.
Pendency and delays are mainly because of delayed
appointment of information commissioners (ICs). The system should allow for
pre-selection of ICs so that they can take charge immediately on retirement of
earlier ICs. The administrative system at Central Information Commission (CIC)
needs a drastic overhaul to improve efficiency and cut down administrative
expenses.
Have you applied for a post in CIC? If selected,
what do you plan to change?
I have applied for the post of chief information
commissioner. If selected, I will do my best for genuine petitioners, and try
to curb frivolous petitioners. Every hearing at the CIC costs a lot. There was
a curious case where a petitioner filed 122 cases, but never appeared at the
studio booked for video-conferencing. Each time, then CIC Satyanand Mishra had
to pass stringent remarks against the petitioner.
Do you consider any particular RTI as your moment
of triumph?
Those which got the maximum media attention were
about wealth declaration by judges and bringing political parties under the
purview of the RTI Act. The practice of declaration of assets by ministers and
the President is also the result of my RTI petition.
Another of my petitions revealed that then
President Pratibha Patil had made a huge expenditure of Rs 225 crore on her
friends and relatives during her foreign tours. Smart cards meant to restrict
entry to the Planning Comm i s s i o n’s luxury toilets were disabled after a
reply to my RTI exposed the p r a c - tice.