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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Colour stickers to beat RTI!

Colour stickers to beat RTI!

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published Published on Aug 29, 2010   modified Modified on Aug 29, 2010


A steady rise in the awareness levels about the Right to Information Act (RTI) among the general public has forced babus to adopt the use of multi-coloured stick-notes (small glued sheets or post-its) on all files and petitions processed at the state secretariat. This way, there will neither be any record of favouritism shown to any issue nor evidence of any irregularity in the speedy clearance of a certain file as all the stickable notes can be removed in case of an RTI query, sources said.

As per government rules, all files have to contain relevant notings on the papers itself and not on a stick-note. "No file can be circulated without notings (observations) at various levels in the hierarchy. Of late, we are seeing files endorsed by some ministers or higher officials using the stick-note labels," an officer said.

This practice is common in revenue-generating departments like revenue, industries, information technology, municipal administration and urban development, roads and buildings, civil supplies and irrigation. These stick-notes are available in various colours like regular green, blue, yellow, purple and pink. They also use fluorescent colours of orange, yellow, green and pink for subtle differentiation.

Though these stickers do not form part of the business rules of the secretariat office manual, their use has definitely been on the higher side for the last couple of years. Historically, these multi-coloured stick-notes gained prominence in the early 1990s and reached their peak during the previous Congress regime, especially in the chief minister's office. Bureaucrats contend that there is nothing new in this. "When you are not clear about what to write or decide on an issue, a stick-note is used as a temporary measure. The ultimate decision has to be written clearly in any case," a bureaucrat explained.

Official sources said the multi-coloured stick-notes have specific purpose within each department, more so in the CM's office. " Colour coding indicates that a specific file is being perused by a particular minister\officer (obviously with a vested interest). A particular coloured stick-note label is affixed to the file so that it is not handled by anyone else," a mid-level bureaucrat revealed. However, the use of coloured pens for file notings has long been a practice followed by several disciplined officers, including the chief secretary. Their significance still holds lot of weight as any noting in black usually means negative, blue means neutral, green means clear and magenta means relaxation of rules


The Times of India, 30 August, 2010, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Colour-stickers-to-beat-RTI/articleshow/6454044.cms


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