Times
of India: Chennai: Tuesday, 17 February 2015.
State
government officials infamous for delaying replies to applications under the
Right to Information Act have come up with a new tactic flooding applicants
with papers from various departments under their jurisdiction.
RTI
applicants say that though the department where the application is sent has the
required data, queries are sent to different sub-departments and they receive
the information from different zones at different points.
"When I
collate the data, I find myself staring at a sheet of paper with several gaps.
They send us a whole lot of data on different papers, but the relevant
information is missing. Most departments don't want to be transparent,"
said R Natarajan, an RTI activist.
For example,
an application to the corporation's Public Information Officer is forwarded to
15 zones half of whom don't even bother replying.
Former
central chief information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi said it was illegal to
transfer RTI applications if the information is available with the original
department. "PIOs can transfer applications only if they don't have
consolidated information. The unnecessary transfer of applications is a waste
of time and money for applicants as well as for the government.
TNSIC should
impose penalty on such officers".
Many
activists say the Tamil Nadu State Information Commission (TNSIC) rarely acts
against errant PIOs. "It's difficult to get information as applications
shuttle among various departments.
PIOs are
least bothered to respond to RTI applications as they know they will never be
punished," said M Thuyamurthy, an RTI activist from Tondiarpet. Most
departments were hesitant to upload particulars on their website, he said.
Some scholars
say their research is affected due to such an attitude. "I filed several
RTI petitions in various states for data and found PIOs in TN to be the
worst," said a research scholar in a college.
Sources say
many PIOs use complicated language and generally confuse matters to discourage
applicants. Most of them cite staff shortage, lack of records and pressure from
higher officials to delay or deny information under the act. A PIO in the
corporation said they didn't have a centralised system to gather information
from zones. "Many PIOs are busy with other work and don't have the time to
furnish the information within the stipulated time," he said.
Gandhi said
an online RTI filing facility would help save paper and postage charges.
"It will help transfer applications to various departments online. It will
also help citizens track applications." In November 2014, the Supreme
Court asked the Centre and all the states to take a decision on a PIL seeking
setting up of a mechanism to provide information under the RTI Act through
'electronic' means within three weeks. The PIL also sought directions to the
states and others for constituting 'call centre as voice facilitation centre
for filing RTI applications and appeals over the phone' on the lines of action
taken by Bihar government.
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