The
Hindu: Chennai; Monday, 23 February 2015.
Residents’
welfare activists have alleged government departments fail to acknowledge their
Right to Information (RTI) applications.
According to
RTI activist V. Santhanam, to get an acknowledgement, people are forced to send
the petition by registered post or speed post, which means they have to shell
out an additional Rs. 30, at the least.
In 2006, the
State government had issued an order instructing government departments to
acknowledge RTI pleas immediately, and at the most, within three days of the
receipt of petitions.
The order
also stipulated that the grievance itself should be redressed within a period
of two months, or the applicant intimated if it takes longer.
Mr. Santhanam
said though the government order is clear, none of the government departments
follow it in addressing public grievance petitions.
S. Ramesh,
another activist, said the petitions submitted at ‘Jamabandhi’ (a meeting
organised by revenue officials of a particular district) are directed to the
department concerned, but no reply is issued.
Sources with
the municipal administration department said the grievances are fed into a
computer and redressal mechanism is in order. As mentioned in the government
order, longer tenure of work undertaken was communicated to petitioners through
text messages, the official said.
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