The new year is off to a bad start for the state as far as the Right To Information (RTI) Act is concerned. The pendency of appeals under the landmark Act will cross the 20,000 mark on January 1, 2012, thanks to the failure of the Congress-NCP government to appoint the chief information commissioner as well as commissioners for Mumbai and Konkan region. This will be the highest pendency of appeals in...
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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 »CIC Shailesh Gandhi interviewed by Shonali Ghosal
Is the shortage of information commissioners responsible for killing RTI? That’s not the only thing responsible. The bigger issue is that commissioners need to dispose of far more cases than they have been. Three years ago, they were disposing of not more than 2,000-2,500 cases in a year. Even now, there are lots who do not manage even 1,000 per year. If we continue like this, then no number of commissioners...
More »RBI wants stay on CIC order on Panipat resident's RTI plea by Anita Singh
Reluctant to reveal the names of top 100 bank loan defaulter businessmen of the country, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has filed a petition in the Delhi High Court, seeking a stay on the orders passed by the Central Information Commission (CIC). On November 15, CIC, while deciding a petition filed by local RTI activist P P Kapoor, had directed the RBI to provide him the names of defaulters by...
More »RTI appeals pile up as pleas to fill vacant posts fall on deaf ears by Prajakta Chavan
-The Hindustan Times Nearly 20,000 Right to Information (RTI) appeals concerning central ministries are waiting to be disposed but there just aren't enough hands to do the job. Chief central information commissioner Satyananda Mishra has written at least two letters to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) asking for the five vacancies to the post of chief information commissioner be filled up, but to no avail. The RTI Act has sanctioned 10 information...
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