Officials vanish in woodwork, stall RTI pleas in Tamil Nadu

Times of India: Chennai: Monday, 11 August 2014.

Public information officers (PIOs) are doing a disappearing act in government departments, forcing RTI applicants to play a cat and mouse game to submit a petition for any kind of data.

The RTI Act, which came into effect on October 12, 2005, specifies that government offices should display on boards the names, designations, addresses, contact numbers of PIOs and the First Appellate Authority (FAA). The law gave departments 120 days to put up the display boards. But RTI activists say that even nine years after the act was implemented not a single government office in TN has put up a board with information on PIOs.

"It's difficult to identify which officers are the designated PIOs and FAAs in a government office because there are no display boards," RTI activist Siva Elango said. "In several instances, officials refused to tell me who the PIO was. There was no way to submit an RTI application."

He said many government departments don't accept RTI applications in person but insist that applicants to send them by registered post.

"If government departments put up boards with information on PIOs, it will help the state to follow the RTI Act and ensure that people can benefit from government services without paying bribes," Elango said. "In states like Kerala, all government offices have put up boards as mandated by the act."

Vijay Anand, coordinator of NGO 5th Pillar, said most departments avoid proactive disclosure of information. "They do not have updated lists of PIOs and FAAs on their websites. They clearly do not want the public to use the RTI Act. Neither state information commission nor department of personnel and administrative reforms has taken steps to enforce the RTI Act."

He said awareness on RTI has increased over the past few years but people still find it hard to file RTI applications due to the uncooperative attitude of government officials.

Anand said a majority of central government departments have boards with data about PIOs and FAAs. "The Central Information Commission is enforcing the rules. The information commission in Tamil Nadu rarely imposes fines on errant PIOs and government officials are not keen on transparency in their departments." Chief information commissioner K S Sripathi was unavailable to comment. But an official with department of personnel and administrative reforms said they would look into the issue.

Experts say an online system saves time and reduces paperwork. "If they introduce the online facility, people can save time and money," an RTI activist said. Applicants can file an RTI application on a portal run by the Centre (www.rtionline.gov.in) at a cost of 10, payable by credit or debit card. The Bihar government also launched a website for RTI applications that receives many petitions.