Times
of India: Bhubaneswar: Sunday, 16 November 2014.
Apprehending
criticism, the state government has started filtering official letters before
posting them on the e-Despatch system.
If this was
not enough, several departments have stopped posting letters for the last
several months.
The state
government brought 34 of its 38 departments under the online official
communication system (e-Despatch) to ensure greater transparency in
administration. Law, public grievances and pension administration,
parliamentary affairs and science and technology departments are exempted,
official sources said.
Though the
online platform was created to allow public to access official communications
between different departments, one can only find letters on tours of officials,
RTI applications, booking of guesthouses and conference halls, applications for
secretariat entry pass and appointment of subordinate officials. There is
hardly any official correspondence on policy matters.
RTI
campaigners alleged the government was deliberately trying to sweep important
information under the carpet by not uploading letters meant for public viewing.
"The government is not sincere. While it is promoting use of technology,
the officials are not utilizing it in a proper way," campaigner Pradip
Pradhan told TOI. It was stopped after some letters exposed discripancies in
the functioning of the departments, he alleged.
According to
sources, sports and youth affairs department did not upload a single letter
this year. The e-Despatch of cooperation department is not opening for past few
months.
The forest
and environment department stopped uploading letters since April and the labour
department since February.
The revenue
and disaster management department uploaded only one letter in September. The
energy, water resources and women and child development departments do not
follow the system for last several months.
Special
secretary of GA department and in-charge of administrative reforms cell Nitin
Chandra did not respond to repeated calls.
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