Times of India: New Delhi: Tuesday, 15 July 2014.
Despite a
backlog of over 24,000 cases, the Central Information Commission (CIC) appears
to have slowed down in its hearings. An assessment by former information
commissioner Shailesh Gandhi shows that disposal of cases has come down though
the number of information commissioners has increased.
Gandhi's
assessment indicated that in the six months (January-June) this year,
individual commissioners disposed 730 to 1,441 cases. The total disposal of
eight commissioners was 8,485, which would give 16,970 cases annualized, an average
of 2,121 cases per commissioner.
In 2011 when
there were only six commissioners in the CIC, the annual disposal was 22,513
giving an average of 3,752 per commissioner. "Eight commissioners this
year will do less work (16,970) than six commissioners (22,513) in 2011. At
this rate, they will need about 18 months to clear the present backlog of
24,834 cases,'' Gandhi said.
He added,
"If citizens are not vigilant, the commissions will become less
accountable and RTI will work with reduced efficacy. It is possible to clear
6,000 cases per year. If this is done, the commissioners would be giving
decisions within 90 days and RTI would be very effective.''
Gandhi said
he had raised the issue with the CIC a month ago but had not received a
response. "In March 2011, we had resolved that each commissioner would
dispose 3,200 cases annually. I was disposing over 5,000 cases and it was
expected that subsequently, the norm would be increased. Incidentally Mr
Ratnakar Gaikwad, CIC of Maharashtra, is also disposing more than 5,000 cases a
year,'' he said.
A recent
study showed 19% increase in RTI applications at the CIC. It also said there
was an overwhelming 66,000 cases in just six information commissions of the
country.
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