The Asian Age: Nagpur: Friday, December 22, 2017.
Chief
minister Devendra Fadnavis assured the Maharashtra Council that the state
government would increase the number of Right To Information (RTI) commissions
in the state. “These are a quasi-judicial authority. So increasing the numbers
will be decided only after a discussion with the state RTI commissioner, if
needed. We will not restrict information,” said Mr Fadnavis. He also said that
the state government would look at possible solutions to deal with people who
are misusing the RTI Act.
“Without
diluting the RTI Act, we will see if anything can be done to prevent its
misuse,” said Mr Fadnavis. There will be a new government resolution (GR) for
members of the legislature, he added.
Congress MLC
Sanjay Dutt had raised the issue of pendency of cases under RTI commissions at
different locations in Maharashtra. “Due to vacancy in almost every commission
office, there is large pendency of work. Nashik division has 10,600 speaks in
pending, Pune division 8,246, Aurangabad 7,000 and Konkan 4,000,” said Mr Dutt.
He also said that vacant post of the state’s chief RTI commissioner is also a
matter of concern.
In his reply,
Mr Fadnavis said that the file for appointment of the state’s chief RTI
commissioner is being sent to the governor for approval. About the pendency of
the work, Mr Fadnavis said, “We are completely positive about the effective
implementation of the Act. So, we will provide all the needed infrastructure to
the commission.”
Many members
raised the issue of a new GR about information to be given to MLAs and MLCs.
“This GR is trying to define ‘information’. But this has already been done in
the Central Act itself. So, there is confusion on the restriction of
information that is to be given to legislative members,” said Opposition leader
Dhananjay Munde.
Mr Fadnavis
has denied this by saying that there won’t be any restriction from the government’s
side. “There was confusion about the information that needed to be given to the
people’s representatives. So this GR is a guide for all departments.” Senior
member Jayant Patil raised the issue of an RTI activist who blackmailed people.
“There are many such fake RTI activists. We need to act on this,” said Mr
Patil. The CM also accepted that there are some people who are misusing the
Act. “We will look into the situation. Without diluting provisions in the Act,
if there is a possibility of something being done, the government will look
into it,” said Mr Fadnavis.
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