Tripuratimes: New Delhi: Thursday, 12 October 2023.
The State Information Commission in Tripura is "completely defunct" as no new commissioner has been appointed upon the incumbent demitting office, says an RTI advocacy group.
In its report, the Satark Nagrik Sangathan analysed the working of the Central Information Commission and State Information Commissions.
The report was published on Wednesday on the eve of the 18th anniversary of the Right to Information Act.
It said that Jharkhand, Telangana and Mizoram too do not have State Information Commissioners as a result of which these Commissions are completely defunct in the absence of new commissioners.
The group said six commissions the Central Information Commission and SICs of Manipur, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Punjab are currently without a head.
The report said the backlog of complaints and appeals is steadily increasing in the transparency panels, with over 3.21 lakh cases pending on June 30, 2023, in the 27 information commissions from which data was obtained.
"Using the average monthly disposal rate and the pendency in commissions, the time it would take for an appeal/complaint to be disposed of was computed.
"The assessment shows that West Bengal SIC would take an estimated 24 years and one month to dispose of a matter. A matter filed on July 1, 2023, would be disposed of in the year 2047 at the current monthly rate of disposal!
"In Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra SICs, the estimated time for disposal is more than 4 years and in Odisha and Arunachal Pradesh more than two years," it said.
The report said 19 out of 29 Information Commissions, or 66 per cent, have not even published their annual report for 2021-22, which is a mandatory exercise under the law.
"The analysis of penalties imposed by information commissions shows that the commissions did not impose penalties in 91 per cent of the cases where penalties were potentially imposable," it said.
The State Information Commission in Tripura is "completely defunct" as no new commissioner has been appointed upon the incumbent demitting office, says an RTI advocacy group.
In its report, the Satark Nagrik Sangathan analysed the working of the Central Information Commission and State Information Commissions.
The report was published on Wednesday on the eve of the 18th anniversary of the Right to Information Act.
It said that Jharkhand, Telangana and Mizoram too do not have State Information Commissioners as a result of which these Commissions are completely defunct in the absence of new commissioners.
The group said six commissions the Central Information Commission and SICs of Manipur, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Punjab are currently without a head.
The report said the backlog of complaints and appeals is steadily increasing in the transparency panels, with over 3.21 lakh cases pending on June 30, 2023, in the 27 information commissions from which data was obtained.
"Using the average monthly disposal rate and the pendency in commissions, the time it would take for an appeal/complaint to be disposed of was computed.
"The assessment shows that West Bengal SIC would take an estimated 24 years and one month to dispose of a matter. A matter filed on July 1, 2023, would be disposed of in the year 2047 at the current monthly rate of disposal!
"In Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra SICs, the estimated time for disposal is more than 4 years and in Odisha and Arunachal Pradesh more than two years," it said.
The report said 19 out of 29 Information Commissions, or 66 per cent, have not even published their annual report for 2021-22, which is a mandatory exercise under the law.
"The analysis of penalties imposed by information commissions shows that the commissions did not impose penalties in 91 per cent of the cases where penalties were potentially imposable," it said.
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