Times of India: Pune: Monday, May 14, 2018.
Even 25 years
after it came into force, the Public Records Act, 1993 which requires the
Central and state government to manage all their records is still just on
paper, said Right to Information (RTI) activists. They alleged that though a
large number of documents have been reported missing by various government
departments, no official has ever been punished under this Act since its
implementation.
Responding to
an RTI query by Pune resident VR Kamlapurkar, the National Archives of India
(NAI) said while the Public Records Act has been “implemented in all the
states,” there has been no action taken against any contravention of rules in
the states and no data was available for the same. The NAI had directed all the
states to give details on the Act's implementation and violations. As many as
24 states reported that the Act had been implemented, but they had no details
of any violation.
RTI activists
claim this is a clear contravention of the Act, which is not implemented in
letter and spirit. Pune-based RTI activist Vivek Velankar said the Act is very
good in principle but is only on paper and does not benefit the common man. “We
have been reading that files and papers related to many scams have gone
missing. If this Act would have have been implemented in letter and spirit, at
least some officials responsible would have been imprisoned for the missing
files and papers. The provisions of this Act would have worked as a deterrent,”
he said.
Meanwhile,
Kamlapurkar said even getting a response to his RTI query was an arduous task.
“It took me six months and two appeals to get the information. The department
was not helping. Its final response too made little sense as on one hand it is
being claimed that the Public Records Act is being implemented, but on the
other hand there is no record of any violation,” he said.
He pointed
out that under Clause 9 of the Act, whoever contravenes any of the provisions
of Section 4 or Section 8 which include taking records outside the country or
destroying them can face imprisonment (for a term that may extend to five
years) or fines (that may extend to Rs 10,000) or both.
After the
first and second appeals, in December, the application was filed with the
President, the Prime Minister and the department of personnel and training. The
application was then again forwarded to the NAI, and the ministry of justice
forwarded the RTI application to all states. “Each state may have formulated
its own Public Record Acts, but the collection of information is not simple as
there is no central authority to control departments under state governments,”
he said.
Former Chief
Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi said public records, overall, are in
bad shape. He feels there is a need to put an end to paper records. “Stop paper
records and have only computerized records. This would reduce corruption and
improve transparency and accountability,” he said.