TRS government violated RTI Act, says Congress

The Hindu: Hyderabad: Friday, 26 February 2016.

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee has, through a letter addressed to the Chief Secretary Rajiv Sharma, questioned the blocking of the webpage for sharing of government orders, ‘http://goir.telangana.gov.in’, and described it as clear violation of the Right to Information Act, 2005.

The letter was shared with the media on Thursday, wherein the party’s chief official spokesperson Sravan Dasoju pointed out that the blocking of the page was in violation of Chapter-II, section 3, 4(1)(a), 4(1)(b), 4(1)(c), 4(1)(d), 4(2), 4(3), and 4(4) of the RTI Act. The sections clarify that it is mandatory for State and Central governments not only to publish all the government orders and policies in public domain, but also present them through Internet, the letter said.

Mr. Sravan referred to an earlier letter written to the Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, and an RTI petition to the Public Information Officer of the General Administration and IT department (attached to the letter), seeking reasons for the closure of the website, and said they got no information so far.

The letter accused the Telangana government of destroying open dialogue, transparency and accountability which are basic tenets of healthy democracy, and expressed dismay that even civil servants and governor have become mere spectators of gross violations by the ruling government.

“The political bosses, in order to gain political advantage, may seek undemocratic path, but the civil servants, who are supposed to be the servants of Indian Constitution, should not forget their fundamental duty of protecting the constitution and the rule of law. With regard to violating the RTI Act, even the Honourable Governor, who is the first citizen of the state, is also maintaining a questionable silence… the silence of responsible officers would lead people to lose faith in democracy causing socio-political revolutions and it is very detrimental to the very existence of democracy,” the highlighted portion of the letter read.

Making an earnest appeal to the chief secretary to unblock the webpage, Mr.Sravan sought to know if there is any predicament on the part of the government to the constitutional provisions, so that the party can approach court of law.