Indian Express: Pune: Monday,
October 17, 2016.
AS MANY as 25
public authorities have failed to submit their annual returns with the State
Information Commission (SIC) for the year 2015, in defiance of the Right to
Information (RTI) Act. This omission assumes significance as there was no such
dereliction of duty by public authorities last year.
The RTI law
mandates that every public authority i.e. government offices has to send its
annual report to the SIC to help the latter in preparing the Annual Report of
the state. The report is supposed to contain the number of applications
received by the public authority, the number of applications which went for
first appeal and the number of applications challenged by the Information
Commission. These figures help in deciding the state of awareness and
implementation of the RTI Act in the state.
The 10th
Annual Report of the SIC reveals that in 2015, as many as 8,68,818 RTI
applications were received the highest ever since the implementation of the RTI
Act. Though this indicates renewed interest in the Act by the general public,
the response from public authorities leaves much to be desired.
Of the 25
authorities which have not filed their annual returns, eight are various
departments and commissionerates while 17 are corporations. The Transport
Department under the Home Department, the Employment Guarantee Scheme
Department, Drinking Water and Sanitation Department and the Minorities Welfare
Department have failed to provide their annual reports to the SIC. Among the
state-run corporations, CIDCO, the Punyasholk Ahilyadevi Sheli Mendi
Development Corporation (corporation for the development of goat and sheep
rearing), the Fisheries Development Corporation and all seven corporations run
by the social justice and equality department have failed to file their annual
reports.
RTI activist
Vijay Kumbhar said the failure of the public authorities to submit their annual
reports is a clear violation of the privilege of the state legislature.
“However, the Commission, other than taking note of the non-submission, has not
taken any action against them. The report is an eyewash and it does not show
the real sorry state of affairs about RTI in the state,” he said.
.JPG)
.JPG)
