[Assam] RTI law 'disappoints with mixed grades - HT

[Ram Sarangapani]

The more one reads about this, the more you the feeling that it is the
States that have dropped the ball here. Andhra Pradesh on the one hand seems
to be aproaching RTI in the right spirit, while the other states are still
embroiled in bureaucracy.

Highlights mine.

--Ram



RTI law 'disappoints with mixed grades
Chetan Chauhan
Free flow of information is still a distant dream despite efforts by the
government. On Thursday, the federal Right to Information Act - billed a
watershed in administrative transparency and citizens' empowerment - will be
a year old. But a pre-birthday jog down the performance lane rates it as
"more of a disappointment than a weapon of mass empowerment" as envisaged by
the National Advisory Council that drafted the law.

Even members of the Central Information Commission including chief
information commissioner (CIC) Wajahat Habibullah and information
commissioner O.P. Kejriwal admit that it has been "partially successful".
"We may not have been able to tap the potential of the Act," Kejriwal said.

A nationwide survey by the Centre for Media Studies (CMS), released on
Tuesday, explains the reasons why the Act has failed to deliver. Most of the
19 states in which the survey was conducted have only two information
commissioners housed in temporary offices with very little fund and
manpower. States like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh
and Maharashtra have only one information commissioner.

The RTI Act allows appointment of 10 commissioners. The survey says
appointment of retired government officials as information commissioners has
been the rea son behind the failure of the law.

*In Assam, a retired IPS officer heads the commission* whereas a retired
judge is at the helm in Uttar Pradesh. Andhra Pradesh is the only exception
where the three commissioners are from different professions. RTI activists
feel commissioners should be from different backgrounds to make the law more
effective.

*Another deterrent is the high processing fee charged by some states in
violation of the Act*, which stipulates Rs 10 for an application. States
like Haryana and Tamil Nadu charge Rs 50, whereas Maharashtra and Orissa
charge Rs 25 for an appeal. Andhra Pradesh scores as it charges no fee at
the village level. The mandals and the district-level organizations charge a
slightly higher amount.

*Another reason why the Act has been ineffective is the information
commissioners' reluctance to use the penalty clause against officials
providing wrong or no information*.

The survey points out that no states, barring Goa and Karnataka, have
invoked the clause. In Delhi, the CIC invoked the clause in two cases and
later withdrew the penalty in one case.

Kejriwal, however, defends the commissioners saying indiscriminate use of
the clause might have led to the collapse of the administrative machinery.
Shekhar Singh of the National Campaign for People's Right to Information
feels that a more stringent use of the clause will send the message to the
bureaucracy that tinkering with the Act will not be tolerated.

"Now, the feeling in bureaucracy is that the Information Commissioners will
protect them rather than punish them," he said. Like Kejriwal, most RTI
activists, are optimistic despite the initial hiccups*."The Act has
indicated that it is a powerful weapon to change the work culture".*
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