DNA:
Mumbai: Monday, 06 July 2015.
Maharashtra
has the highest number of second appeals in the country, when it comes to Right
To Information (RTI) queries. Second appeals not being heard is one of the
biggest factors killing the RTI Act.
Though the
Central Information Commission (CIC) receives the maximum queries, a study of
state information commissions (SICs) placed Maharashtra in a dubious first.
Karnataka, Kerala, Gujarat and Odisha followed the state.
The highest
number of appeals in Maharashtra pertained to urban development department
replies. The study by Common Wealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), however,
acknowledged that Maharashtra receives the maximum RTI queries among states.
The state has a good record in clearing backlog also, but much more needs to be
done, it observed.
"The
high proportion of second appeals and complaints filed in Maharashtra indicates
the high level of dissatisfaction among RTI users with the decision-making
processes involving Principal Information Officers (PIOs) and First Apellate
Authorities (FAAs)," said Venkatesh Nayak, who was part of the study.
"While
the three commissioners (Gaikwad, Jain and P W Patil) and are doing a good job,
the state's pending figures are not encouraging. The answer may be lying in the
information that PIOs are giving," he said. In 2014, Maharashtra saw over
7 lakh applications – second only to the CIC, whose figures were over 8.3 lakh.
Karnataka's and Gujarat's comparative figures were 4.5 lakh and 1.4 lakh,
respectively.
Ratnakar
Gaikwad, chief information commissioner, Maharashtra, has created an all-India
of clearing 803 appeals in a month. Ajit Kumar Jain, information commissioner
for the Brihanmumbai bench has cleared 550 appeals.
When
contacted, Gaikwad, said: "The total receipt of appeals in Maharashtra per
year is over 30,000. Pendency of 24,000 clearly means average pendency is less
despite a large number of positions lying vacant during the last three years or
so. It is only recently that the post of SIC was filled up. Had there been no
vacant posts (greater Mumbai bench was vacant for over three years), the
pendency rate would have been perhaps below 5,000," said Gaikwad.
Nayak has
some more suggestions. "It may be a good idea for them (PIOs, FAAs) to
know what sections are cited for rejecting appeals. It is something that the
commission should be compiling but they have not been doing. The commission
could also look at introducing more benches to reduce pendency," he said.
Of the 29
SICs, CHRI compared only 11 as others did not either publish their annual
reports or failed to provide details. The study was called 'State of
Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India, a rapid study 3.0',
based on annual reports of information commissions for 2012-2014.
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