Re: [rti4empowerment] RTI queries on only 1 subject at a time: CIC, dated 9th Jan. 2011.

Dear Guptha ji , Both Mr Venkatesh Nayak and sukumar have Certainly Expressed what is Required , In Our State having Already been Imposed this Rule (ofcourse in an Little different form) , The Entire Bureacracy in Upto the Neck to Use this Worst ammendement . There are Cases and Files With me where the answer is the Reply will be more than 150 words hence ammended rule Does not permit . Therefore the Bad , Bad , worst Experience of Karnataka has to Be streched to ensure the ammendements are Not Made . The Reporter of TOI , chennai must Carry on this including Filing Appeals and If possible Other cases in Other forums as derliction of Duty , wrong interpretation etc., N vikramsimha ,Trustee RTI Study center & KRIA Katte , #12 Sumeru Sir M N Krishna Rao Road , Basvangudi < Bangalore 560004. --- On Sun, 9/1/11, M.K. Gupta <mkgupta100@yahoo.co.in> wrote: From: M.K. Gupta <mkgupta100@yahoo.co.in> Subject: [rti4empowerment] RTI queries on only 1 subject at a time: CIC, dated 9th Jan. 2011. To: rti4empowerment@googlegroups.com Date: Sunday, 9 January, 2011, 3:55 PM FROM TOI, CHENNAI, DATED 9.1.2011. FROM TIMES OF INDIA, CHENNAI, BY JEEVA, REPORTERRTI queries on only 1 subject at a time: CIC,    CHENNAI: Even as the Centre is considering amendments to the Right To Information rules, seeking to restrict RTI applications to one subject at a time and to 250 words, the Central Information Commission (CIC) in New Delhi seems to have gone a step ahead by implementing the draft proposals. To an RTI application filed by this reporter on December 6, 2010, which raised 20 queries seeking details pertaining to follow-up of fines imposed against public authorities, court stay obtained by public information officers against commission's order, disposal of cases and pending final appeals, the CIC chose to reply to only to ten questions. The remaining ten questions, the commission said, were related to a different subject matter' and hence the applicant has to file another RTI application to get the information. "Your queries number 1 to 10 would qualify as one request' for which you have paid the application fee of Rs 10. You may therefore, send separate request and pay fee for your queries number one 11 to 20,'' the reply from the CIC, dated December 30, 2010, said. This reporter had sought to know the average number of appeals received daily and, number of cases in which fines were imposed, number of errant public information officers paid the fine and those who have not paid it, number of cases in which errant public authorities obtained court stay against commission's orders and whether the CIC is included as respondent in such cases. During early last month, department of personnel and training (DoPT), functioning under the Union ministry of personnel and public grievances, released the draft amendments and announced that public can send their views on or before December 27, 2010. While the DoPT has not yet announced the decision on the draft amendments, the CIC's reply, arbitrarily enforcing the draft rules, has agitated RTI activists and groups. "When rules are not yet amended and the amendment is only in the draft stage, the CIC should clarify that under which provisions of law and under what authority it has imposed the one-subject' restriction. In fact, this reply is a standing testimony as to why we oppose the draft amendments tooth and nail," said Venkatesh Nayak, a coordinator of Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, a New Delhi-based NGO. A Sukumar, an RTI activist in Chennai, said, "We cannot accept this sort of reply from the CIC, which is supposed to safeguard the Act from being diluted by the bureaucracy. It would only mislead public authorities to discourage RTI applicants instead of encouraging them. This reply only shows that the DoPT should not give effect to the draft amendments.'' jeeva.pugazvendan@timesgroup.com