TwoCircles:
Shimla: Monday, 23 February 2015.
The Right to
Information (RTI) Act is fast turning into a weapon for government employees to
settle professional scores in Himachal Pradesh.
Though the
maintainability of the pleas filed by one government employee against another
for information pertaining to professional conduct is debatable, the filing of
such "frivolous" or "personal-in-nature" applications is on
the rise despite a state information commission directive in this regard.
"On an
average, more than 60 percent of the total applications are those relating to
the issues of government employees," a senior functionary in the
information commission told IANS, requesting anonymity as he is not authorised
to speak to the media.
He said that
a major number of queries are from those who want to know not only professional
but also personal information about their colleagues - subordinates or seniors.
Several
applications have been filed seeking information on the income tax returns of
officers, names of their spouses and even their marital status.
Issues
regarding promotion, elevation from state administrative or police services to
the IAS (Indian Administrative Service) or the IPS (Indian Police Service),
transfers, drawing and disbursing powers and bills raised by a fellow colleague
as travel expenses constitute the major chunk of RTI queries.
"Such
queries certainly do not constitute public interest. In fact, they (the applicants)
are empowering themselves. But we cannot stop anyone from filing
applications," the official said.
Last year an
RTI activist asked how much the government spent on sending boxes of apples as
Diwali gifts and a list of the recipients.
One RTI application
sought a list of journalists accredited with the state public relations
department, their qualification, salary and the like.
Later, the
journalists gave a written declaration that the qualifications and salary were
personal to them and should not be shared with the public.
Interestingly,
the RTI activists have not even spared the state information commission
authorities.
Only
recently, a senior officer in the information commission found himself at the
receiving end after an 'activist' questioned his absence from the office on a
day when certain RTI applications were to be decided.
Questions
were raised on the reason for his absence from the office. As a result, the
very next day, the officer found himself completing all necessary formalities
relating to his leave.
The issue of
minimising the misuse of the RTI came up while hearing a plea of Shimla's
Himachal Pradesh University professor Shekhar Sharma, who sought official
details about the university.
"The
appellant himself is a senior functionary of the university and the rules and
regulations of the university are accessible to him. Interpretation of rules
can be discussed at administrative level. This can't form the basis of
information under the RTI Act," observed information commissioner K.D.
Batish.
"Officials
of the public authority, themselves being the custodians of the information,
are not expected to access information under the RTI Act," he noted, while
turning down Sharma's appeal.
"If this
practice is encouraged, it will adversely affect efficiency and good
governance."
Warning the
government functionaries against using the RTI as a tool to settle personal
scores, the order said: "It's also noticed that some functionaries working
under the public authority unnecessarily ask voluminous information in order to
settle personal scores with their colleagues."
"Stringent
penal provisions of the RTI Act should not be invoked for ulterior motives.
This practice has to be discouraged and stopped," Batish added.
The state
information commission has one chief information commissioner and one
information commissioner.
As per the
commission's records, 61,202 applications were received by 110 public
authorities in 2012-13. In 2006-07, the number was just 2,654.
The
commission in 2013-14 received 670 appeals and 43 complaints. From 2006 to
2014, Rs.444,242 was awarded as compensation to the appellants and complainants
by the commission.
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