Skip to main content

Gujarat RTI watchdog: State departments fail to provide basic information to common citizens

By Our Representative
The Gujarat Information Commission (GIC), the state's right to information (RTI) watchdog, has taken strong exception to failure of various Gujarat government departments to “proactively” disclose RTI information to the general public, saying, guidelines for it are not being “implemented properly”, adding, there has been a “lack of authentic and timely information on the activities carried out for implementation the RTI Act by different departments.”
The GIC, in its annual report for 2013-14, especially objects to what it calls “non-receipt of positive response from the administration” when it comes to complaints from the "common citizen". It says, “Majority of applications received pertained to the services/working of village panchayats/ district panchayats/ municipalities, police stations, district collectorates, electricity supply companies, district education offices/ universities etc.”
Pointing towards indifference all around while providing information in these areas, the GIC says, “To avail of the services common citizens had to deal with the bureaucracy in these offices on a day-to-day basis” and it here where the problem was most pronounced. In fact, the GIC notices that often even the “record of the case is not available with the concerned offices.”
Even they, the GIC says, the rejection of the RTI pleas in Gujarat was quite small, just about 3.32 per cent in 2013-14, though certain departments registered a higher rejections such as Gujarat State Assembly (14.08 per cent), finance (7.95 per cent), health and family welfare (7.35 per cent), general administration (6.88 per cent), agriculture and cooperatives (5.96 per cent), and home (5.75 per cent).
The GIC says, the highest number of rejections, 711, pertained to information about “intelligence and security organization”, followed by 306 rejections about “information supplied by a third party relating to trade and commerce secrets protected by law.”
Then there were 304 rejections which involved “infringement of copyright substance in a person other than the state”, and 214 rejections about “personal information, disclosures of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual”.
In all there were 5,748 rejections in 2013-14, the GIC says, adding, the departments topping the number of rejections being revenue (1,889, or 4.72 per cent), followed by home (1,720, or 5.96 per cent).

RTI activist doubts GIC figures

A senior Gujarat-based RTI activist has said that the GIC's low number of rejections contradict the information collected under her. Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (MAGP) convener Pankti Jog says, “Going by the complaints that we receive on our RTI hotline, the rejections as high as 50 per cent. Apparently, the GIC has not counted the rejections which it has itself mentioned in the departments which directly concern the common citizens, with whom we directly interact with.”
According to Jog, “Nearly 60 per cent wouldn't even make a complaint, as the GIC admits, in case different Gujarat government officials disclose the information voluntarily, as required by the law. Further, to say that third party information cannot be given is wrong. These third parties have obtained commercial permissions from government, hence there is no reason why it cannot be given.”
Jog says, “Under the pretext of not giving information from third party, those who are sought to be defended as builders who construct illegal buildings, contractors who obtain government work bypassing laws, and even defaulters who fail to pay power bills.”
As for “proactive disclosures”, Jog believes, “In November 2013, templates were sent for making proactive disclosures by putting up information on blackboards at public distribution system (PDS) shops, panchayats, primary and secondary schools, and so on. But even today no steps have been taken in this direction. The GIC should have taken note of it.”

Comments

TRENDING

Campaign group urges INDIA alliance to release Jharkhand manifesto to counter BJP’s 'divisive' agenda

By Our Representative  The Loktantra Bachao Abhiyan, an advocacy group, has issued a press release urging the INDIA alliance to release a Jharkhand-specific manifesto to counter the BJP’s "divisive" electoral agenda. With just two weeks remaining before the assembly elections, the INDIA coalition has yet to announce its plans and priorities for the state. Meanwhile, the BJP's campaign, according to the press release, is centered around communalism, divisiveness, and distraction from Jharkhand's core issues.

Tributes paid to pioneer of Naxalism in Punjab, who 'dodged' police for 60 yrs

By Harsh Thakor*  Jagjit Singh Sohal, known as Comrade Sharma, a pioneer of Naxalism in Punjab, passed away on October 20 at the age of 96. Committed to the Naxalite cause and a prominent Maoist leader, Sohal, who succeeded Charu Majumdar, played hide and seek with the police for almost six decades. He was cremated in Patiala.

Israel's 'war crime': 18,000 children died not just from bomb explosions but also starvation

By Sandeep Pandey*  Last year 6 years old Madiha was a guest during Diwali at our home in Lucknow. Listening to the sound of fire crackers bursting outside she remarked, ‘It appears as if we’re in Gaza.’ She has probably no idea of the extent of damage and loss of life that has taken place in Palestine but can relate to sound of crackers as bombs exploding over Gaza.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Will Left victory in Sri Lanka deliver economic sovereignty plan, go beyond 'tired' IMF agenda?

By Atul Chandra, Vijay Prashad*  On September 22, 2024, the Sri Lankan election authority announced that Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power (NPP) alliance won the presidential election. Dissanayake, who has been the leader of the left-wing JVP since 2014, defeated 37 other candidates, including the incumbent president Ranil Wickremesinghe of the United National Party (UNP) and his closest challenger Sajith Premadasa of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya. 

Will Bangladesh go Egypt way, where military ruler is in power for a decade?

By Vijay Prashad*  The day after former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left Dhaka, I was on the phone with a friend who had spent some time on the streets that day. He told me about the atmosphere in Dhaka, how people with little previous political experience had joined in the large protests alongside the students—who seemed to be leading the agitation. I asked him about the political infrastructure of the students and about their political orientation. He said that the protests seemed well-organized and that the students had escalated their demands from an end to certain quotas for government jobs to an end to the government of Sheikh Hasina. Even hours before she left the country, it did not seem that this would be the outcome.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah  The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Why Han Kang refused to celebrate her personal accomplishment: Nobel Prize in literature

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  South Korean Nobel laureate Han Kang has declined to celebrate and refused to address a press conference after winning the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature, citing the deaths, destitution, pain, and suffering of people affected by the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. As reported by the Korea Times, Han Kang’s father Han Seung a renowned Korean writer conveyed her daughter’s message that “with the war intensifying and people being carried out dead every day, how can we have a celebration or a press conference?” She said that “she won’t hold a press conference”. 

In the pantheon of Indian cricket, VVS Laxman as symbol of elegance, resilience, unselfish brilliance

By Harsh Thakor*  On November 1st, legendary Indian cricketer VVS Laxman celebrates his 50th birthday. Known for his elegance, Laxman turned impossible matches on their heads with a style that captivated cricket fans worldwide. He wielded his bat like an artist’s brush, finding gaps on the field with surgical precision, creating innings as meticulously as a sculptor carves a masterpiece. Born in Hyderabad, Laxman inherited the stylistic lineage of local icons ML Jaisimha and Mohammad Azharuddin, blending it with a grace reminiscent of Gundappa Viswanath.