Assam CIC against change in RTI Act

Kashmir Times: Guwahati: Wednesday, 23 September 2015.

Assam Chief Information Commissioner Himangshu Sekhar Das today expressed his opposition to any change in the existing RTI Act but favoured altering the rules for faster disposal of queries.

"We should not alter the Act. It is perfectly all right. We can change the rules so that the disposal of information is faster and more accurate," Das told a press conference here.

The implementation of the Act has brought in more transparency and has affected the decision making process of the government in a positive way, he said.

The Commission, he said, will act against officials not adhering to the rules of the Act while disseminating information in the state.

The Commission currently has 5,826 pending cases against different officials and "My first priority is to clear the pending cases," he said.

"Our target is to dispose 2,500 cases annually. We have spoken to NIC for video conferencing with different complainants across the state," Das said adding the Commission has solved 4,423 cases in the last 10 years.

The Chief Information Commissioner said that most of the government websites are not updated and this has led to increase in RTI applications.

"I will request the government to update their websites so that people get all information online. This will mean that there is no reason for even filing a RTI application," he added.

Departments against whom the number of complaints are highest include Panchayati Raj and Rural Development, Education, Food and Civil Supplies, Revenue, Forest, Social Welfare and Agriculture.