Times of India: Chennai: Tuesday,
8 October 2024.
The Tamil Nadu govt's
initiatives to enhance transparency through the Right to Information (RTI) Act
have apparently remained in low gear since 2021. The annual policy notes of the
human resources management (HRM) department have been replicating the same text
each year, presenting stagnant progress reports on the goal of making online
information accessible across all govt departments.
As signatories to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the Union and state govts are committed to meeting targets under SDG Goal 16. This goal provides for constitutional, statutory, and policy guarantees for public access to information, reduction in footfall in govt offices of people seeking information, and developing effective, accountable, and transparent institutions at all levels. Tamil Nadu has been reporting progress on these SDGs since 2022.
Another SDG target is the proportion of the population satisfied with their last experience of public services, a metric not published by govts. Tamil Nadu has also not moved ahead with a right to service law promised by the DMK ahead of the last assembly elections, which would be consistent with SDG 16.3 aimed at reducing corruption and promoting transparent, citizen-focused governance.
Tamil Nadu has reported its compliance with SDG 16 targets in the HRM department policy notes since 2022-23, when P T R Palanivel Thiagarajan was minister. The note states that officers respond to more than 3 lakh RTI requests each year, a figure that has remained unchanged across four reports, with identical text on reforms even after Minister Thangam Thennarasu took over. New HRM Minister Kayalvizhi Selvaraj must now tackle the stagnant issue of administrative reforms to make digital access to information through the RTI Act, which would encourage more citizens to use the law.
The online RTI software platform for citizens is available to all state govts, but only a few have used it to expand the number of departments featured. Tamil Nadu has limited it to state-level departments, district collectors, revenue, land survey, and taluk officers. Key agencies providing citizen services, such as urban planning, building plan sanctions at CMDA, water supply, transport, civil supplies, health, and pollution control, are not listed.
A check of the state RTI portal on 4 October showed none of the key departments were listed for Chennai, while Coimbatore fared better with more govt authorities included. In contrast, Rajasthan's RTI portal lists all PIOs across several service departments, and Karnataka's portal includes the Bengaluru development authority, water supply, metro rail, and all urban local body divisions.
Prioritising the inclusion of departments handling key citizen services such as the CMDA, the Chennai, Avadi, and Tambaram corporations, all Chennai metropolitan area municipalities, the transport department, Chennai metropolitan transport corporation, metrowater, and civil supplies, would scale up the utility of the Tamil Nadu portal quickly.
The Tamil Nadu portal seems to be a slow ‘work in progress', evident in the section listing "offices at state level where citizens can file RTI petitions directly". Clicking on departments, including HRM, produces the terse reply, "No HoDs onboarded".
Since its introduction in October 2005, the RTI Act has been popular, yet govts have not made it easier for citizens to use its provisions. Most Tamil Nadu departments not listed on the portal require paper applications and cumbersome payment methods such as court fee stamps, cash, or demand drafts. Applicants may also face extra costs for sending applications via Speedpost or Registered Post, or for submitting them in person. Online applications mandate fee payments through internet banking or cards, creating access barriers. On the other hand, govt departments replying to physical petitions use the postal system and incur an expenditure. This too would be avoided by onboarding all authorities.
In response to an RTI petition, the HRM department said online filing for RTI petitions and first appeals began in all Secretariat departments in August 2022 and was extended to the revenue department and district-level offices in February 2023. Most collectors are now included, and action is being taken "to extend it to remaining offices of the revenue department and then to the heads of departments and district-level offices of all other departments, in a phased manner."
A request from the state govt to allow RTI fee payments via UPI is pending with the State Bank of India in Chennai. The PIO said govt departments accept RTI applications sent by private courier and provide information.
The municipal administration, water supply, rural development, health, school education, cooperation, and food departments were instructed to provide online RTI training for information officers and first appellate authorities.
The administrative reforms bureaucracy at the HRM department, however, did not clarify whether all govt orders are published online as required by section 4 of the RTI Act. It took the stand that collecting this information from all departments would amount to creating fresh information, which was not provided for in the law.
Another query about how many public information officers faced penalties for refusing to provide information has been transferred to the Tamil Nadu information commission, and a response is awaited.
As the current govt enters its final phase and the 2030 SDG deadline approaches, Tamil Nadu must shift its transparency and governance initiatives into high gear for tangible progress. Instituting administrative reforms would enhance the effectiveness of welfare measures and empower citizens to hold elected officials accountable.
As signatories to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the Union and state govts are committed to meeting targets under SDG Goal 16. This goal provides for constitutional, statutory, and policy guarantees for public access to information, reduction in footfall in govt offices of people seeking information, and developing effective, accountable, and transparent institutions at all levels. Tamil Nadu has been reporting progress on these SDGs since 2022.
Another SDG target is the proportion of the population satisfied with their last experience of public services, a metric not published by govts. Tamil Nadu has also not moved ahead with a right to service law promised by the DMK ahead of the last assembly elections, which would be consistent with SDG 16.3 aimed at reducing corruption and promoting transparent, citizen-focused governance.
Tamil Nadu has reported its compliance with SDG 16 targets in the HRM department policy notes since 2022-23, when P T R Palanivel Thiagarajan was minister. The note states that officers respond to more than 3 lakh RTI requests each year, a figure that has remained unchanged across four reports, with identical text on reforms even after Minister Thangam Thennarasu took over. New HRM Minister Kayalvizhi Selvaraj must now tackle the stagnant issue of administrative reforms to make digital access to information through the RTI Act, which would encourage more citizens to use the law.
The online RTI software platform for citizens is available to all state govts, but only a few have used it to expand the number of departments featured. Tamil Nadu has limited it to state-level departments, district collectors, revenue, land survey, and taluk officers. Key agencies providing citizen services, such as urban planning, building plan sanctions at CMDA, water supply, transport, civil supplies, health, and pollution control, are not listed.
A check of the state RTI portal on 4 October showed none of the key departments were listed for Chennai, while Coimbatore fared better with more govt authorities included. In contrast, Rajasthan's RTI portal lists all PIOs across several service departments, and Karnataka's portal includes the Bengaluru development authority, water supply, metro rail, and all urban local body divisions.
Prioritising the inclusion of departments handling key citizen services such as the CMDA, the Chennai, Avadi, and Tambaram corporations, all Chennai metropolitan area municipalities, the transport department, Chennai metropolitan transport corporation, metrowater, and civil supplies, would scale up the utility of the Tamil Nadu portal quickly.
The Tamil Nadu portal seems to be a slow ‘work in progress', evident in the section listing "offices at state level where citizens can file RTI petitions directly". Clicking on departments, including HRM, produces the terse reply, "No HoDs onboarded".
Since its introduction in October 2005, the RTI Act has been popular, yet govts have not made it easier for citizens to use its provisions. Most Tamil Nadu departments not listed on the portal require paper applications and cumbersome payment methods such as court fee stamps, cash, or demand drafts. Applicants may also face extra costs for sending applications via Speedpost or Registered Post, or for submitting them in person. Online applications mandate fee payments through internet banking or cards, creating access barriers. On the other hand, govt departments replying to physical petitions use the postal system and incur an expenditure. This too would be avoided by onboarding all authorities.
In response to an RTI petition, the HRM department said online filing for RTI petitions and first appeals began in all Secretariat departments in August 2022 and was extended to the revenue department and district-level offices in February 2023. Most collectors are now included, and action is being taken "to extend it to remaining offices of the revenue department and then to the heads of departments and district-level offices of all other departments, in a phased manner."
A request from the state govt to allow RTI fee payments via UPI is pending with the State Bank of India in Chennai. The PIO said govt departments accept RTI applications sent by private courier and provide information.
The municipal administration, water supply, rural development, health, school education, cooperation, and food departments were instructed to provide online RTI training for information officers and first appellate authorities.
The administrative reforms bureaucracy at the HRM department, however, did not clarify whether all govt orders are published online as required by section 4 of the RTI Act. It took the stand that collecting this information from all departments would amount to creating fresh information, which was not provided for in the law.
Another query about how many public information officers faced penalties for refusing to provide information has been transferred to the Tamil Nadu information commission, and a response is awaited.
As the current govt enters its final phase and the 2030 SDG deadline approaches, Tamil Nadu must shift its transparency and governance initiatives into high gear for tangible progress. Instituting administrative reforms would enhance the effectiveness of welfare measures and empower citizens to hold elected officials accountable.
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