Deccan Chronicle: Chandigarh: Monday,
July 11, 2016.
Thiruvananthapuram:
Despite a directive from the State Information Commission (SIC), the state
government is yet to impart information on the Cabinet decisions taken between
January 1 and March 12. While the petitioner had again approached the
commission seeking action against the officials concerned, government sources
said it was only a procedural delay.
“The
information need to be collected from various departments and hence the delay
in giving the information. We hope to provide the information without much
delay,” chief secretary S. M. Vijayanand told Deccan Chronicle. Human Rights
Defence Forum general secretary D. B. Binu had earlier approached the
commission after he was denied information regarding the minutes and agenda of
Cabinet meetings.
On June 15,
chief information commissioner (CIC) Vinson M. Paul issued orders directing the
government to provide the information sought by the petitioner within ten days
free of cost and the same should be reported to the commission secretary. The
CIC had further directed that if a cabinet decision was pending on any of the
items on the agendas sought by the petitioner, their details need not be
revealed. If there were any practical difficulties in giving certified copies
of any of the documents, the applicant should be allowed to see them and note
down required portions. Steps should also be taken to avoid such practical
issues in future.
As the
government failed to comply, Mr Binu filed a fresh petition before the SIC
seeking action against the state public information officer, apart from a
directive to give the information without delay. “The government had not even
communicated any reason for the delay yet,” he said. The Cabinet meetings
during the last three months of the previous UDF government assumed significance,
as many controversial land assignments and wetland conversion decisions were
taken during that period.
Govt sits
on web publishing suggestion:
A suggestion
of the State Information Commission (SIC) to publish all Cabinet decisions on
the website remains on paper. In a June 15 order, chief information commission (CIC) Vinson M.
Paul suggested that the government may consider publishing all Cabinet
decisions on government's official portal.
The
suggestion was widely hailed by the public as it would ensure transparency in
governance. However, the government seems to be moved little by the idea as top
government officials said that the matter was not under consideration now.
"No
discussions have taken place on the suggestion to publish Cabinet decision on
the website," a senior government official said.
While
considering the petition against the government's reluctance to provide
information of Cabinet meeting from January 1 to March 12, the CIC made the
suggestion. The CIC even maintained that details regarding all cabinet
decisions should be given under RTI Act once the procedures on the decisions
were in order.
He also added
that since the rules stipulate that departments concerned should issue orders
regarding Cabinet decisions within 48 hours, there was no reason to deny
information citing that the state information officer was unaware whether the
procedures were completed. The commission also suggested computerisation of the
Cabinet proceedings to resolve such issues. "The government seemed to be
least interested in making Cabinet details public," said Human Rights
Defence Forum general secretary D. B. Binu.
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