Hindustan Times: Indore: Thursday, October 16, 2014.
The State
Information Commission has issued show-cause notice to the Indore divisional
commissioner after failing to get a ‘satisfactory’ response on the issue of
bringing government-aided non-government organisations (NGOs) under the ambit
of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Notices were also issued to the
collectors of about two dozen districts in Indore, Gwalior, Chambal, Rewa and
Sagar divisions, asking for status reports on the same issue.
In October
last year, the Supreme Court had also held that NGOs and private organisations
which are “substantially financed” by the government or its authorities, come
under the ambit of RTI Act, making them liable to reveal information under the
transparency law.
In the
notice, the State Information Commission (SIC) asked the Indore commissioner’s
office to explain why penalty should not be imposed for failing to come up with
suitable response to an earlier letter.
The notice
was issued last week, with instructions to reply within seven days.
The notice
also mentioned that if reply is not received, the commission would be at
liberty to take action according to rules. The Indore commissioner’s office is
yet to respond to the notice.
The
information commission’s action came after a complaint under section 18 of RTI
Act was filed last month.
The
complaint, filed by activist Ajay Dubey, alleged that the divisional and
district-level authorities had failed to ensure provisions of the RTI Act, 2005
and subsequent rules framed by the state government regarding inclusion of
“substantially-financed NGOs” (those with government grant of over Rs. 50,000)
under RTI ambit.
According to
RTI Act, the aided NGOs have to appoint public information officer, appellate
authority and make proactive disclosure on various important points including
utility of funds on their websites.
Dubey said
that despite the state government’s specific instruction in this regard in
March 2009, the provisions are not being implemented.
The Indore
divisional commissioner’s office was served initial notice last month and it
replied on September 24, saying that the information was under compilation.
When
contacted, the Indore divisional commissioner Sanjay Dubey confirmed receipt of
the show-cause notice.
Refusing to
reveal the contents of the reply, Dubey said that information on aided NGOs was
not available or compiled by divisional commissioner’s office as the office did
not give out any grants to NGOs.
"I have
asked the collectors in the district to compile the information and provide it
to the applicant and inform us," he said.
Though no
linked to the SIC’s letters, the prime minister’s office (PMO) had earlier this
year asked all ministries to furnish details of NGOs working with them on
various projects.
The PMO
directive followed a report from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) alleging that
foreign-funded NGOs were threatening India's economic security. NGOs had
rubbished the IB report.
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