[HumJanenge] Low rate of hearing based disposal by the Odisha Information threatens the RTI regime in the state

Low  rate of hearing based disposal  by the Odisha Information threatens the RTI regime in the state as a whole

 

Dear friends,

On 17.11.2011, I had submitted an RTI Application to the office of Odisha Information Commission to know about the nos. of cases heard and disposed by the Commission from January to November, 2011. The information supplied by the office of the Commission is mentioned below.  Earlier, I have made an analysis of how the arbitrary, unilateral disposal of the cases by the Commission has resulted in widespread disappointment and anger among the RTI Activists in the state. Now I like to bring to your notice how  the Commission has been too slow in respect of hearing of the cases and their disposal, resulting in   growing pendency of  unheard cases.

 

Details of cases heard and disposed by the Commission within period  Jan to Nov. 2011

 

Month of 2011	Odisha Chief Information Commisssioner		Mr. Jagadanand, SIC		Mr. Pramod Ku. Mohanty, SIC
	No. of Complaint and Second Appeal  cases heard	No. of Complaint and Second Appeal  cases disposed	No. of Complaint and Second Appeal  cases heard	No. of Complaint and Second Appeal  cases disposed	No. of Complaint and Second Appeal  cases heard	No. of Complaint and Second Appeal  cases disposed
	1	2	3	4	5	6
Jan to Nov.2011 ( 11 months)	1469	704	1712	849	1272	490

 

Analysis

a.       From the above table, it is learnt that Mr. Jagadanand has heard and disposed of highest number of cases  in comparison to  other two  Commissioners.

b.      If we take monthly hearing and disposal of cases by each Commissioner, the finding is as follows.

Name of the Commissioner	Average Monthly  hearing of the cases	Average Monthly disposal of the cases
Mr. Tarun Kanti Mishra, SCIC	133	64
Mr. Jagadanand, SIC	155	77
Mr. Pramod Mohanty, SIC	115	44

 

c.       If we make  analysis of nos. of cases heard and disposed  by the Commission per day ( average 20  days is taken for hearing  per month),  the picture is as follows-

 

Name of the Commissioner	Average hearing of the cases per day	Average   disposal of the cases per day.
Mr. Tarun Kanti Mishra, SCIC	6.5	3.2
Mr. Jagadanand, SIC	7.75	3.85
Mr. Pramod Mohanty, SIC	5.75	2.2

 

d.      It shows how the Information Commissioners are hearing such minimal number of cases (5 to 7 number of cases per day). As it is seen, the Commission takes just two to three hours to hear 7 no. of cases in a day. 

e.      As we know, the primary duty of Information Commission as per the RTI Act  is to hear  and dispose the cases.   Anyone can notice that the daily session on the hearing of cases by the Commission gets over by 12.30 or at maximum by 1 o'clock.  God knows, what the Commissioners do and how they spend rest of time every working day..  It needs to be mentioned here that to facilitate their administrative work, the Commission has engaged a total of 40  staffs  in the office i.e., highest in the country.

 

f.        We also see that the Information Commissioners are seen spending a lot of   time to address so-called seminar and workshops on non-RTI issues as Chief Guest or Chief speaker   organized by NGOs. .

 

g.       For hearing and disposal of the cases, each Commissioner receives  more than  Rs. 1,50,000 towards salary per month excluding other perks. If we calculate all the expenses  made for the Commissioners in a month, it will be around Rs 2 lakh per head.  Thus we are paying more than Rs. 6,000/- per head per day.  On calculation it is found that  a Commissioner takes Rs. 2000/-   for disposal of a case, which is certainly a huge amount in the country.   It deserves to be mentioned here that while a Commissioner in Odisha disposes average 65 cases per month,  a Central Information Commissioner does dispose 250 to 350 cases per month. A glaring difference in deed!

 

 A lethargic work habit coupled with inefficiency   of the Commissioners has led to staggering rise of pendency of cases  in the state. Under the circumstances squandering of a huge amount from state exchequer  after the upkeep of such a Commission has proved a great burden on the people of the state. If anybody has doubt on my findings, , I welcome them to respond accordingly, and let there be a genuine discourse  around it   in the larger interest of the state.

 

 

Pradip Pradhan

M-99378-43482