Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Info chiefs push for citizens' charter to save sunshine law

Info chiefs push for citizens' charter to save sunshine law

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Dec 29, 2011   modified Modified on Dec 29, 2011

-The Times of India

 

The query filed under the Right To Information Act (RTI) in August was quite clear but even after four months, there seems to be no hope of getting a reply to it. And even information commissioners are aware of the hurdles the applicants have to face.

The applicant wanted to know if there was any Airports Authority of India (AAI) rule that prohibited an employee from discussing with other staffer any air-traffic or air-safety incidents. A month later, the applicant, an AAI employee, received a response saying answering the question would drain AAI's resources. The applicant filed an appeal with the AAI appellate authority Jyoti Prasad, who ruled that AAI should reply to the query within a month's time. A month later, the applicant received a letter from AAI which said they could not reply to the RTI query as the "question was not clear". Now, it has been four months since the seemingly simple query was first filed, but there has been no hope of getting a reply to it.

Every month, hundreds of RTI applications, especially the ones posing controversial queries, are stonewalleby government officials with impunity. If the RTI Act was to be honoured the above-mentioned applicant should have received a reply in September. "It was a simple question and it is hard to see how replying to it could have strained AAI's resources as claimed by the AAI's public information officer," the source added. None of the AAI officials has been hauled up or fined for violating the RTI deadline and denying a reply, despite an order from the AAI appellate authority. Such instances are commonplace and activists and RTI information commissioner say if the said manner of dodging/delaying RTI queries continues, the ever-increasing number of pending appeals will eventually render the Act impotent. The central information commission (CIC), headquartered in Delhi, had as many as 22,725 RTI appeals (if an appellate authority denies information, the applicant can approach an information commissioner) pending before it as on November, 2011. With each passing month, the number of pending appeals goes up, increasing the time it takes to get a response.

The fact was registered in the November meeting of central information commission when information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi proposed the need for a citizens' charter. The draft charter, presented in the meeting, underlined, apart from other points, the immediate need to set deadlines for disposal of appeals. The draft set the deadline to 2015 to achieve a list of objectives. The first was to ensure that over 95% appeals and complaints are adjudicated within 120 days of reaching CIC. "Ensure that non-compliance of CIC's orders is brought to less than 5%. All public authorities are routinely complying with their obligation to disclose certain categories of information suo motu," it added. And finally, digitization of records and use of e-processes in the working of CIC.

The Times of India, 27 December, 2011, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Info-chiefs-push-for-citizens-charter-to-save-sunshine-law/articleshow/11260866.cms


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close