Re: [rti4empowerment] Fwd: State CIC aims to dispose of 550 appeals per month .... TOI 12 Jul pg 7

Believe he is doing a good Job, and giving out good Judgements,
and also orders passed and given on the day itself. its restores the faith citizens have bestowed in RTI

On Sun, 15 Jul 2012 11:16:56 +0530 wrote
>

YOUR
RIGHT TO KNOW State CIC aims to dispose of 550 appeals per month
Prafulla Marpakwar TNN


Mumbai:
After taking over as the state chief information commissioner, Ratnakar
Gaikwad has put on fast track the entire set-up to provide information
to the common man. Besides setting a target for disposal of pending
appeals within six months, Gaikwad has knocked at the doors of all the
heads of departments for implementation of the RTI Act in letter and
spirit.
    "I found that a large number of appeals are pending
across the state. All regional commissioners will have to draft a
strategy for early disposal. In 24 working days, since I took over, I
have disposed of 400 appeals. I have decided to dispose of at least 550
appeals per month," Gaikwad said.
    The former chief secretary
said that while 4,500 appeals are pending before the CIC, nearly 21,000
appeals are pending across the state before regional commissioners. "I
studied the working of central
information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi, who disposed of 500 to 550
appeals a month. It should not be difficult to do the same," he said.
    Gaikwad has drafted an ambitious plan to bring in more accountability. "We must set a deadline," he said.
    On
reviewing RTI Act implementation, Gaikwad found there was lack of
seriousness at all levels and authorities did not pay enough attention
on implementation. "First appellate authorities are not passing orders
within 30 days and in many cases, orders are not well reasoned," Gaikwad
said in a letter to civic chief Sitaram Kunte.
    Further, Gaikwad
said, a scrutiny reveals that immediate superiors of officers dealing
with RTI were not concerned about implementation.
    Gaikwad has
asked the BMC to catalogue all records, make them available to the
public, make record management technologically driven, make special
arrangements for aid to citizens, conduct a monthly review of receipt
and disposal of applications and monitor compliance of CIC orders. He
has further asked the BMC to take seriously all hearings before the CIC
or the commissioner, depute a senior official for the purpose and draft
a plan for implementing CIC directives. "Any lapse in the
implementation hereafter will be viewed seriously," Gaikwad warned.

Number of appeals pending in state: 20,606

•Mumbai : 4,094

•Konkan : 1,728



•Pune : 4,856

•Aurangabad : 3,252

•Nashik : 2,734

•Amravati : 1,703

•Nagpur : 599


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Bhaskar Prabhu
Mahiti Adhikar Manch
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