[IAC#RG] Fwd: Meeting of RTI activists at Chennai

 To

 

India Against Corruption

 

 

 

 

                                                                                R T I  ACT  NOT  IN  LETTER  AND  SPIRIT                                                                                                             

 

Nandini Voice For the Deprived, a Chennai based NGO , organised a meeting to discuss the issues relating to Right To Information Act on 21^st September  at Youth Hostel, Adyar, Chennai.

The meeting was attended by several RTI activists and general public.

The objective of the meeting is to provide a forum to  RTI activists to express their views on the implementation of the RTI Act.

After in depth discussions for over three hours, the views expressed during the meeting are given below .

 

 

Not implemented in letter and spirit :

·         While  departments do provide response to RTI queries, the overall view is that the RTI Act,in  most cases , are  not being implemented in letter and spirit by the government departments and the original expectations of the common man about the RTI Act have not been met.

Time stipulation not followed :

·         Several instances were cited to highlight the fact that thirty days stipulation to provide reply to RTI letters are not met and there have been number of instances ,where RTI letters have not  even been acknowledged  at all and ignored.

Appeals sent to Information Commissioners are often  treated in lukewarm manner and require repeated reminders for the papers to move. Sometimes, the letters sent by Information Commissioners to the Appellate authorities of the government departments are themselves ignored.

·         One can  take up the issues if RTI replies are not given adequately. But, what can the person do if the queries would not be acknowledged at all in spite of repeated reminders?

·          No proper system has been developed to ensure that the RTI letters would be handled within the stipulated time which is one of the reasons for inordinate delay.

Lack of transparent procedures for appointing Information Commissioners & PIO

·         There are no stipulated and transparent procedures  such as qualification and background for appointment of Public Information Officers in the government departments. For example, in a technically oriented organisation such as Health Department , a technically qualified person can serve better as Public Information Officer since he can understand the intricacies of the issues better. Further, Public Information Officers are given the function only as additional job apart from their other duties.

·         There are also no set procedures for appointment of Information Commissioners and sometimes such appointed Information Commissioners have unrelated background which affect their efficiency in performance.

Personal security threat to RTI activists :

·         Some  RTI activists have faced personal security threat , since the content of the RTI letter are leaked out to the affected parties by the government departments. This has deterred several persons from filing RTI applications.

Evasive reply:

·         In some cases, by way of RTI reply ,the government department  refer simply to some website links without explaining appropriate details. This not only creates problem for those who are not trained in the use of computers but also amount to inadequate and evasive replies. The department should answer the query as per the Act instead of giving such evasive replies.

Cover under classified information :

·         Sometimes, the departments simply refuse to provide information , stating that  it is a matter of classified information , whereas the classified information is not well defined.

 

Any information that is not considered classified for providing information to Parliament or Legislative assemblies should also be made known to the public under RTI Act.

Lack of support from Consumers Court :

·         In case one would not get proper replies for the RTI queries from the concerned departments and Information Commissioners would also not act, one cannot approach the Consumers Court,  since in several cases the consumer courts have refused to entertain such applications.

  RTI Activism has become a full time job :

·         In the normal course, if rules and regulations were to be followed by the government as per the RTI Act, one should get reply to RTI queries without hassles. But, this is not the case.

 

An RTI activist often has to fight hard to get response for the queries and repeatedly follow up with the departments. One even require advise of legal professional to get replies for RTI queries .A busy individual with his own activities may not be able to devote the required time and efforts to get the replies in the present conditions.

 

Reflection on the quality of governance :

    ·         While the rules and regulations of the RTI  Act are, by and large ,well drafted, the problem arises in the quality of implementation and level of commitment of the top bureaucrats to implement the Act adequately.

    ·         The inability of the government to successfully  implement the  RTI Act is the reflection on the quality of governance at the central and state level.

 

 

N.S.Venkataraman

Nandini Voice For The Deprived