Indian Express: Mumbai: Wednesday,
October 26, 2016.
Maharashtra
may have played a very important role in the promulgation of the Right to
Information (RTI) Act, but successive governments have been apathetic towards
the effective implementation of the Act, according to activists.
They pointed
out that as many as 40 per cent of the posts are lying vacant in the various
State Information Commissionerate (SIC) benches, as per information revealed by
the 10th annual report of the Information Commissionerate. This has affected
the disposal of appeals and delayed various orders at the SIC benches, they
said.
While the
State Information Commission is headed by the Chief State Information
Commissioner, who is posted in Mumbai, Maharashtra has seven other SIC benches.
Each bench is headed by an information commissioner, who deals with appeals and
complaints filed by RTI users in the state.
The
information commissioner, who holds a quasi-judicial post, has the power to
give directions to government officials, as well as impose fines on them. They
have powers similar to that of a high court judge.
A SIC bench
is often the last resort for many who are fighting the system to get
information to further their pursuit of justice.
Of the 136
sanctioned posts in all the commission benches, 48 are vacant. As many as 16 of
the 32 sanctioned posts of stenographers and clerks are lying vacant.
The bench of
the Chief State Information Commissioner has reported the highest number of
vacancies, with 10 of the 17 sanctioned posts lying vacant. Some benches have
started appointing contractual staff as a stopgap arrangement.
With only
three posts vacant, the Pune bench has a better staff strength.
The annual
report, which highlights the vacancies in the SIC benches, said that repeated
requests to the government to fill up the posts have been in vain.
“Being a
quasi-judicial body, the benches require stenographers and typists in large
numbers to help in issuing timely orders. However, the government has turned a
deaf ear to the commission’s request for more staff,” stated the report.
“The power to
fill up the posts lies with the bureaucracy, but they do not want to do so as
that will expose their shortcomings,” alleged RTI user Qaneez Sukhrani.
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