Economic
Times: Ahmedabad: Sunday, 12 October 2014.
Nine years
after introduction of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, Gujarat is still
lagging behind in its implementation, alleged rights activists here today.
"RTI Act
will complete nine years on October 12, 2014. As per Section 27 of this Act,
the state governments are given powers to frame rules for implementation of the
Act," activists from a city-based NGO 'Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel'
(MAGP) said in a press statement.
"Though,
Gujarat has made the best rules in RTI Act, it has been lagging behind in the
implementation of the Act and there is a lot to be done in its
implementation," MAGP office-bearers Pankti Jog and Harinesh Pandya
alleged.
MAGP alleged
pendecy in hearing of RTI appeals, non-appointment of Information Commissioners
in fair numbers, lack of "pro-active disclosure" initiatives in
government offices and denying of information to the applicant.
"As per
Section 15(2)(b), state government can appoint maximum ten information
commissioners in state. But the Gujarat government has not appointed the
information commissioners in sufficient numbers, despite the Gujarat High
Court's directions on the issue," the statement said, adding that there
are four information commissioners in the state, including Chief Information
Commissioner (CIC).
According to
the NGO, there is a backlog of 7,196 cases before the SIC up to September 2014.
"Despite
several circulars of the SIC and the state's General Administration Department
for 'pro-active disclosure', there are various government offices from state
secretariat to village-level office who are not implementing it," MAGP
alleged.
It said that
in 37 per cent cases of RTI applications, people have to approach SIC as they
do not get information through pro-active disclosure.
"In five
per cent cases of RTI applications, the applicants are denied information with
a reason that 'records are not found'," they alleged.
When contacted,
state Law Minister Pradipisinh Jadeja said, "I do not have any such
details that RTI Act is not being properly implemented in the state. During
last 4 years, I never came across with any such details, so I cannot say much
on this.
"But, I
assure people that we will take necessary steps if there are any problems in
the implementation of the Act," Jadeja told PTI.
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