One year of Right To Information – CIC on the dock
The Central government which was the architect of Right to Information (RTI) Act, is a major defaulter.
A study conducted by Delhi-based NGO, Centre for Media Studies (CMS), says that 43 per cent of Central ministries and departments have less than 50 per cent compliance rate when it comes to responding to RTI requests.
The PM with the CIC
Twenty-six per cent comply with RTI requests in 50-70 per cent cases while only 17 per cent respond in more than 70 per cent of the
cases. In states and Union Territories (UTs), the compliance rate averages just 29 per cent.
++ there has been no compliance of Section 4 (2) of the Act, which requires public authorities to disclose information suomotu.
++ most public authorities, particularly at the district level, do not display names and details of public information officers (PIOs) on their notice boards or appoint very junior officials as PIOs.
++ People in rural areas have no access to information under the RTI as commissioners are located in capital cities.
++ Very often the information provided is incomplete, misleading, and unclear
++ The judiciary, including Bombay High Court, has not complied with the provisions of the RTI and designated PIOs and appellate authorities.
++ Most of the information commissioners do not use the penalty clause against officials providing wrong or no information.
++ The CIC has so far penalised only in two cases and withdrew the penalty in one case later.
"we must guard against the growth of professional middlemen in the use of this Act as seen in some other countries.", said the Prime Minister at the first anniversary celebrations and added, “Since it is a law for common benefit in relation to public authority, we are all stakeholders in the Act and must guard against allowing it to become a tool for promotion of an adversial relationship between stakeholders.”
The inaugural of the First anniversary attended by the President did not really go well, with protestors wearing the T-shirts that had sported slogans like "President we want to speak for 2 minutes with you", "CIC has killed RTI" and "Sack CIC, Save RTI".
In his address in the presence of the PM on the valedictory Day, Chief Information Commissioner WajahatHabibullah remarked, "One of the informal consensus on the opening day was to sack me. But I do not know whether that consensus still stands or not after three days of deliberations."