Skip to main content

Modi's Gujarat "competed" with Karnataka in rejecting RTI pleas in 2013-14, as applications rose by whopping 41%

Counterview Desk
A just-released report, “State of Information Commissions and the Use of RTI Laws in India: Rapid Study Based on the Annual Reports of Information Commissions”, prepared by a team of researchers headed by Venkatesh Nayak of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) has said that Gujarat has one of the highest proportion of rejection of right to information (RTI) applications, close to a fifth (19.5 per cent), for reasons not pertaining to the RTI Act.
While the Central Government tops the with the highest proportion of rejections of RTI applications (35.62 per cent) “for reasons other than Sections 8, 9, 11 and 24 of the RTI Act”, Karnataka tops among states with the public authorities rejecting “more than a 30 per cent of the RTI applications for reasons not specified in the Act”, the report states.
Coming to specific sections under which RTI applications were rejected, the inter-state comparison suggests that “Section 8(1)(j), relating to the personal privacy of individuals was the most frequently invoked of exemptions by public authorities under the Central government and the Karnataka government.” Thus, invoking this section, more than a third of the RTI applications in Karnataka (33.15 per cent), followed by Central government (23 per cent) and Gujarat “a little more than 10 per cent”
At the same time, the report says, two sections – Section 9, which protects private copyright, and Section 11 which protects confidential information about third parties – were invoked rejecting more than 20 per cent of RTI applications in Gujarat.
Then, the report says, “In Gujarat, 6.2 per cent of the RTI applications were rejected for reasons specified in Section 8(1)(a) of the RTI Act, which pertains to national security and specified national interests of the state, including foreign relations.” This is followed by Karnataka, 4.8 per cent. As for the Central government, only 0.05% of the rejections were on this count.
The report further says, “In Gujarat 23.5 per cent of the RTI applications were rejected under Section 24, as they pertained to security and intelligence organizations exempted by the government from the ordinary obligations of transparency like other public authorities”. In comparison, this section was invoked only in 6.52 per cent of the cases by the Central government.
Giving other details, the report states, as was the case last year, the maximum number of vacancies in the state information commission was in Jharkhand (4), with Gujarat and Tamil Nadu closely followed with 3 vacancies each. It notes, “The appointment of the woman IC in Gujarat was quashed by the High Court for not having any of the specializations specified in Section 15(5) of the Central RTI Act.”
Regretting that “only retired career bureaucrats are serving on the state Information Commissions of Chhattisgarh and Gujarat”, the report says, both “the Central and State governments are not adhering to the directions of the Supreme Court to widen their pool to include candidates with other specializations.”
As is natural, the Central government topped the number of RTI applications in 2013-14 with 8.34 lakh, with Maharashtra coming second with 7.03 lakh applications in 2014, Karnataka 4.25 lakh applications, and Gujarat at 4th place with 1.72 lakh applications. Pointing out that there has been a drastic increase in awareness about RTI in Gujarat, the report says, “Gujarat has reported a 41 per cent increase in the number of RTI applicants in 2013-14”, followed by “Karnataka 31 per cent”.
Coming the departments which received most number of RTI applications, the report says, the rural development topped the list in Chhattisgarh (14.85 per cent) and Himachal Pradesh (10.86 per cent), while the urban development topped the list in Gujarat (24.91 per cent) and Maharashtra (30.58 per cent).
As for the home department, including the police and prisons, it topped the list in Rajasthan (28.68 per cent), with Gujarat closely following (17.26%).

Comments

TRENDING

Avoidable Narmada floods: Modi birthday fete caused long wait for release of dam waters

Counterview Desk  Top advocacy group, South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP), has accused the Sardar Sarovar dam operators for once again acting in an "unaccountable" manner, bringing "avoidable floods in downstream Gujarat."  In a detailed analysis, SANDRP has said that the water level at the Golden Bridge in Bharuch approached the highest flood level on September 17, 2023, but these "could have been significantly lower and much less disastrous" both for the upstream and downstream areas of the dam, if the authorities had taken action earlier based on available actionable information.

Junk food push causing severe public health crisis of obesity, diabetes in India: Report

By Rajiv Shah  A new report , “The Junk Push: Rising Consumption of Ultra-processed foods in India- Policy, Politics and Reality”, public health experts, consumers groups, lawyers, youth and patient groups, has called upon the Government of India to check the soaring consumption of High Fat Sugar or Salt (HFSS) foods or ultra-processed foods (UPF), popularly called junk food.

From 'Naatu-Naatu' to 'Nipah-Nipah': Dancing to the tune of western pipers?

By Dr Amitav Banerjee, MD*  Some critics have commented that the ecstatic response of most Indians to the Oscar for the racy Indian song, “Naatu-Naatu” from the film, “RRR” reeks of sheer racism, insulting visuals and a colonial hangover. It was perhaps these ingredients that impressed the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, one critic says.

Astonishing? Violating its own policy, Barclays 'refinanced' Adani Group's $8 billion bonds

By Rajiv Shah  A new report released by two global NGOs, BankTrack and the Toxic Bonds Network, has claimed to have come up with “a disquieting truth”: that Barclays, a financial heavyweight with a “controversial” track record, is deeply entrenched in a “disturbing” alliance with “the Indian conglomerate and coal miner Adani Group.”

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Savarkar 'criminally betrayed' Netaji and his INA by siding with the British rulers

By Shamsul Islam* RSS-BJP rulers of India have been trying to show off as great fans of Netaji. But Indians must know what role ideological parents of today's RSS/BJP played against Netaji and Indian National Army (INA). The Hindu Mahasabha and RSS which always had prominent lawyers on their rolls made no attempt to defend the INA accused at Red Fort trials.

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. 

Asset managers hold '2.8 times more equity' in fossil fuel cos than in green investments

By Deepanwita Gita Niyogi*  The world’s largest asset managers are far off track to meet the  2050 net zero commitments , a new study  released by InfluenceMap , a London-based think tank working on climate change and sustainability, says. Released on August 1, the Asset Managers and Climate Change 2023 report by FinanceMap, a work stream of InfluenceMap, finds that the world’s largest asset managers have not improved on their climate performance in the past two years.

'State-sanctioned terror': Stop drone attack on Adivasis, urge over 80 world academics

Counterview Desk  A joint statement, “Indigenous Peoples’ Un-Freedoms and Our Academic Freedom: A Call for Solidarity”, endorsed by over 80 signatories, including international academics, activists and civil society organizations, as well as diasporic Indian academics and researchers, working with Adivasi (indigenous) communities in India, has made an urgent appeal to prevent future drone bomb attacks by the Indian state on Adivasi villages.

Biden urged to warn Modi: US can declare India as worst religious freedom offender

By Our Representative  During a Congressional Briefing held on Capitol Hill, Washington DC, Nadine Maenza, former Chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), has wondered why the Biden administration should raise issues of mass anti-minority mob violence  -- particularly in Haryana and Manipur -- with Modi. Modi should be told that if such violence continues, the US will be “compelled by law” to designate India as one of the world’s worst offenders of religious freedom, she urged.