The Hindu: Bhubaneswar: Monday,
August 15, 2016.
The Odisha
Information Commission miserably failed to dispose good enough cases while the
State government made an attempt to shield the corrupt by keeping the vigilance
directorate out of the purview of Right To Information Act 2005, alleged RTI
activists here on Sunday.
Activists
here on Sunday alleged that institutions set up to implement the historic act
were not performing in the true spirit.
They blamed
huge vacancies in the State Information Commission and sluggish rate of case
disposal by present information commissioner for the sorry state of affairs.
At present,
two information commissioners, L. N. Patnaik and Sashi Prava Bindhani, who were
appointed in the second week of June 2015, are hearing complaint cases.
Addressing a
press conference here, Odisha Soochana Adhikar Abhijan (OSAA), a forum of RTI
activists, alleged that analysis of number of days devoted for hearing by Mr.
Patnaik and Ms. Bindhani were 185 and 128 days respectively in a year between
June 2015 and June 2016.
“On an
average, Mr. Patnaik, State Information Commissioner, hears 162 cases (132 own
cases and 30 cases in division bench) and disposes 35 cases (31 own cases and 4
division bench) in a month. If devotion of 15 days for hearing of cases in a
month by Mr. Patnaik is taken into account, he hears only 10 cases per day and
disposes only 2 cases in a day,” said Pradip Pradhan, RTI activist.
Mr. Pradhan
said, “in case of Ms Bindhani, she hears 175 cases (145 own cases and 30 cases
in division) per month and disposes 31 cases ( 27 own and 4 cases in division
bench) per month. If 15 days is taken into account for hearing of the case in a
month, then Ms Bindhani hears only 11 cases and disposes only two cases in a
day.”
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