-DNA The first day of the mass clearing programme of RTI applications piled up at the state information commission (SIC) was a grand success, with 53 of the 63 appellants (81%) making it for the hearing on Tuesday. The commission hopes to hear nearly 600 second appeals in the four-day ‘special appeal disposal programme’ kicked off at the Poddar Medical College on Dr Annie Besant Road at Worli. Acting state chief information commissioner...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Special session to dispose of pending RTI appeals from Mumbai HQ by Prajakta Chavan
To dispose of pending Right To Information (RTI) appeals, state information commissioner Vijay Kuvalekar will hold Special Appeal Disposal Programme at Ramnath Anandilal Podar Medical College (Ayurved) in Worli on January 4, 5 and 6. Till November 30, more than 19,000 appeals were pending with the state information commission office. Almost 2,200-2,500 new appeals are filed in the state every month. “As part of this programme, the appellant, public information officer (PIO)...
More »Special drive to clear RTI backlog
-The Times of India Work at the offices of Information Commissioners across the state has slowed down due to staff shortage, resulting in a pile of 19,000 pending RTI appeals. Of the 144 posts sanctioned by the state for the eight benches of state Information Commissioners, including the chief, 50 have not been filled. Apart from pending appeals, there are 3,447 complaints that need to be addressed. RTI activist Mohammed Afzal said...
More »Info chiefs push for citizens' charter to save sunshine law
-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...
More »What’s Ailing RTI? by Shonali Ghosal
THE MERE suggestion of any amendment to the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, sends civil society into a tizzy. Perhaps this level of anxiety is necessary to protect the common man’s most important tool to hold the government accountable. But what if the RTI is dying, not because of government intervention but negligence? The pendency of complaints and appeals in several states is on the rise, while the number of...
More »