Times
of India: Chennai: Thursday, March 06, 2014.
A growing
number of RTI applications have been gathering dust at Ripon Building because
records have not been digitized. Activists are urging Chennai Corporation to
follow the Pune model of proactive disclosure to bring transparency in the
system.
They said the
civic body's health, revenue, land and estate, bus route roads and parks
departments rarely provide information under the Right to Information Act on
time.
In Pune,
Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation's 45 departments proactively disclose
important records on its website (www.pcmcindia.gov.in) in a Frequently Asked
Questions format. PCMC has also provided the timeframe within which every civic
service has to be provided.
The PCMC
website has details of unauthorized constructions, reserved lands, rates of
construction material and more. "We have developed a mobile phone
application to track complaints. The status of the complaints is evaluated by
higher officials every week," said a PCMC official.
Similarly,
Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has opened an RTI library at its headquarters
for people to get information and documents related to various civic works.
"Every Monday, people can visit the library to access documents pertaining
to contracts, minutes and agendas of council meetings," said a PMC
official.
On the other
hand, the Chennai Corporation has disclosed very little information under
Section 4 of the RTI Act, which mandates regular cataloguing and indexing of
records. Eight years after the act came into effect, the corporation has failed
to provide contact details about public information officers, despite
instructions from the state information commission.
The Chennai
Corporation receives an average of 5,000 RTI applications every year from
citizens. The queries relate to everything from delay in getting birth
certificates to poor quality roads.
"I have
filed several RTI applications in various departments of the corporation but
replies are always incomplete or vague. Many PIOs transfer applications to
other departments to delay replies," said M Thuyamurthy, an RTI activist
from Tondiarpet.
Officials
said the lack of digitized records delays replies. "Most particulars are
in the respective zonal and ward offices and there is no connectivity with the
headquarters. Only a few zones respond to the queries on time," said a PIO
of the corporation.
Officials
said they plan to put details about building plan approvals and contracts on
the corporation website.
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