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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Government denies information to Central Information Commission by Nidhi Sharma

Government denies information to Central Information Commission by Nidhi Sharma

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published Published on Mar 3, 2012   modified Modified on Mar 3, 2012
-The Economic Times

The attempt of Central Information Commission (CIC), the final appellate authority for implementation of Right to Information (RTI) Act, to bring transparency in the functioning of ministries and autonomous bodies has come a cropper with the government refusing information to the panel itself.

CIC has been facing a problem making public authorities (government departments, apex bodies, autonomous organisations and ministries) divulge details on how they are implementing RTI Act. Each public authority is supposed to file 'returns' before CIC, furnishing details on how many applications were received, disposed & denied information every quarter. This information is then compiled by CIC in an annual report rating government ministries on their efficacy in implementation of the Act. CIC, however, is finding it difficult in getting this information from the ministries.

Confirming this, Chief Information Commissioner Satyananda Mishra said, "since the RTI Act was implemented in October 2005, we never got full information from the government on its RTI Act implementation. We have never received 100% response despite our repeated reminders." CIC's attempt to make the ministries fall in line has drawn a blank. Mishra had written a letter to parliamentary affairs ministerPawan Bansal, seeking his help to make errant ministries reveal their RTI report card in their annual reports. Bansal, however, has refused to get into this and has asked CIC to pursue the matter with Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the nodal ministry for RTI Act.

CIC had been pulled up by Parliament's Committee On Papers Laid On The Table for not compiling its report on how the government had been faring on RTI implementation. Till last monsoon session, CIC had been lagging behind in the exercise and had tabled only three reports (2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08) since RTI Act had been implemented. In 2011, CIC was lagging behind by three years because the government's departments, ministries and autonomous bodies had been refusing to follow the rulebook and submit statistics on RTI Act implementation. After it was pulled up by the parliamentary committee, CIC cleared the backlog and tabled three reports (2008-09, 1009-10 and 2010-11).

A senior official of the commission said, "We have had to go with incomplete picture in our reports. We keep sending reminders to the ministries but nobody files these returns." The official said that the commission is now planning to go to the parliamentary committee and suggest that the way each ministry includes implementation of reservation in government jobs a similar format for RTI Act should be followed. "We have to take this up because we are finding it very difficult to get information from the government. If a rule is in place, it would give people a clear picture," said the official.

The Economic Times, 3 March, 2012, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/government-denies-information-to-central-information-commission/articleshow/12117262.cms


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