Gujarat govt institute "fails" to train officials into RTI rules, babus ignorant of mode of payment to file plea

MAGP's RTI campaign

By Pankti Jog*
Manojbhai Patel filed a right to information (RTI) plea with the district collector's office, Ahmedabad, by pasting a revenue stamp worth Rs 20 on July 7, 2015.He was surprise to receive a letter from the Public Information Officer (PIO) saying that his application could not be considered, as he had not paid the fee of Rs 20 by non-judicial stamp.
The letter reached Manojbhai on August 4, 2015. The PIO is also the secretary to the collector.
The Gujarat state assembly passed new rules for RTI on March 22, 2010, which included various modes for payment for RTI application, including cash, judicial stamp paper, non-judicial stamp, non-judicial stamp paper, franking, electronic stamping, demand draft, pay order, postal order, court fee stamp, revenue stamp, challan, revenue stamp, and judicial stamp paper.
Gujarat has the highest – 12 choices – for citizens for paying for RTI pleas, which makes procedure of filing application easy and hassle free.
These rules have been published in the form of a booklet by the state-controlled Sardar Patel Institute of Public Administration (SPIPA), Ahmedabad, and an annual report of the institute claims that training of the officials handling RTI has been carried out, and all of them have got one booklet each.
Manojbhai, after receiving the reply, filed a complaint with the information commissioner, Gujarat. The commissioner passed an order, without conducting hearing, on September 9, 2015. The order quotes the Gujarat RTI rules, saying revenue stamp is allowed as a mode of payment, hence the PIO order of rejecting RTI application of Manojbhai is invalid. The PIO was directed to proceed as per the law.
The commissioner's order, interestingly, does not take serious note of the fact that the PIO, who is also senior official in the district collectorate of Ahmedabad, is ignorant of the Gujarat RTI rules of 2010, which are five years old.
Manojbhai is still to get information from the PIO. He doubts the intention of the PIO to furnish information, and thinks that the PIO would apply all available tactics to delay information.
Under the RTI Act, any citizen is eligible to access to information held by any public authority within 30 days. While the “demand side” of the law (citizens, public) is aware of the Act, and people file requests with proper fees following necessary procedures, the “supply side” still does not seem to have been trained personnel for implementing the Act. This is a major lacuna in access to information in Gujarat.
In Gujarat the responsibility for training government officials rests with SPIPA, which is supposed to train bureaucrats, system officials and employees on various governance issues. A plan is in existence, which envisages creation of a cadre of RTI master trainers, who would train other officials into implementing the Act at the local level. Several master trainers have been trained.
For reasons not known, however, the RTI master trainers have not conducted any training at district and block level. Hence, all RTI training is restricted to SPIPA and its regional training centres. As SPIPA gives all types of training, RTI is not its priority.
As there is staff deficit, officials are not nominated for training into RTI. Hence, even 10 years later, we are still left with huge number of employees and officials who are ignorant of the provisions of the law, and citizens have to break their heads and suffer.
Often official approach the RTI helpline run by NGO Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (MAGP) for guidance, as there is no official mechanism – a helpline or a help desk – which the PIOs and appellate authorities could approach to solve RTI issues.
The Government of India has been urging states to send proposals to run helplines, and also innovative projects for improving the implementation of the RTI Act. However, Gujarat has kept itself away from showing up its good practices in RTI.
At a recent RTI meet at the Kochrab Ashram, founded by Mahatma Gandhi in Ahmedabad before he shifted to the present Sabarmati Ashram location, activists and citizens demanded that government should improve implementation of the RTI Act.
There was a strong voice: If this did not happen, citizens would start a state-wide movement exposing the government’s hidden motive of “hiding facts from citizens” while talking loud about governance model, e-governance and transparent government.
–-
*With Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel, Ahmedabad

Comments

Unknown said…

RTI act के तहत वाराणसी के सांसद से जनहित में माँगी गयी जानकारी रेलवे बोर्ड से लंबित क्यू ?

विषय – १९५६ में जब आम लोगों की ज़मीन अधिगृहीत करके डीजल रेल इंजन कारखाना, वाराणसी की स्थापना की गयी थी तो उस समय आम लोगों को क्या-क्या सुविधा दी गयी थी?

October 16, 2015

From plagiarism to proxy exams: Galgotias and systemic failure in education

By Sandeep Pandey* Shock is being expressed at Galgotias University being found presenting a Chinese-made robotic dog and a South Korean-made soccer-playing drone as its own creations at the recently held India AI Impact Summit 2026, a global event in New Delhi. Earlier, a UGC-listed journal had published a paper from the university titled “Corona Virus Killed by Sound Vibrations Produced by Thali or Ghanti: A Potential Hypothesis,” which became the subject of widespread ridicule. Following the robotic dog controversy coming to light, the university has withdrawn the paper. These incidents are symptoms of deeper problems afflicting the Indian education system in general. Galgotias merely bit off more than it could chew.

Covishield controversy: How India ignored a warning voice during the pandemic

Dr Amitav Banerjee, MD * It is a matter of pride for us that a person of Indian origin, presently Director of National Institute of Health, USA, is poised to take over one of the most powerful roles in public health. Professor Jay Bhattacharya, an Indian origin physician and a health economist, from Stanford University, USA, will be assuming the appointment of acting head of the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), USA. Bhattacharya would be leading two apex institutions in the field of public health which not only shape American health policies but act as bellwether globally.

The 'glass cliff' at Galgotias: How a university’s AI crisis became a gendered blame game

By Mohd. Ziyaullah Khan* “She was not aware of the technical origins of the product and in her enthusiasm of being on camera, gave factually incorrect information.” These were the words used in the official press release by Galgotias University following the controversy at the AI Impact Summit in Delhi. The statement came across as defensive, petty, and deeply insensitive.

Farewell to Saleem Samad: A life devoted to fearless journalism

By Nava Thakuria* Heartbreaking news arrived from Dhaka as the vibrant city lost one of its most active and committed citizens with the passing of journalist, author and progressive Bangladeshi national Saleem Samad. A gentleman who always had issues to discuss with anyone, anywhere and at any time, he passed away on 22 February 2026 while undergoing cancer treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. He was 74.

Growth without justice: The politics of wealth and the economics of hunger

By Vikas Meshram* In modern history, few periods have displayed such a grotesque and contradictory picture of wealth as the present. On one side, a handful of individuals accumulate in a single year more wealth than the annual income of entire nations. On the other, nearly every fourth person in the world goes to bed hungry or half-fed.

From ancient wisdom to modern nationhood: The Indian story

By Syed Osman Sher South of the Himalayas lies a triangular stretch of land, spreading about 2,000 miles in each direction—a world of rare magic. It has fired the imagination of wanderers, settlers, raiders, traders, conquerors, and colonizers. They entered this country bringing with them new ethnicities, cultures, customs, religions, and languages.

Thali, COVID and academic credibility: All about the 2020 'pseudoscientific' Galgotias paper

By Jag Jivan The first page image of the paper "Corona Virus Killed by Sound Vibrations Produced by Thali or Ghanti: A Potential Hypothesis" published in the Journal of Molecular Pharmaceuticals and Regulatory Affairs , Vol. 2, Issue 2 (2020), has gone viral on social media in the wake of the controversy surrounding a Chinese robot presented by the Galgotias University as its original product at the just-concluded AI summit in Delhi . The resurfacing of the 2020 publication, authored by Dharmendra Kumar , Galgotias University, has reignited debate over academic standards and scientific credibility.

Conversion laws and national identity: A Jesuit response response to the Hindutva narrative

By Rajiv Shah A recent book, " Luminous Footprints: The Christian Impact on India ", authored by two Jesuit scholars, Dr. Lancy Lobo and Dr. Denzil Fernandes , seeks to counter the current dominant narrative on Indian Christians , which equates evangelisation with conversion, and education, health and the social services provided by Christians as meant to lure -- even force -- vulnerable sections into Christianity.

'Serious violation of international law': US pressure on Mexico to stop oil shipments to Cuba

By Vijay Prashad In January 2026, US President Donald Trump declared Cuba to be an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US security—a designation that allows the United States government to use sweeping economic restrictions traditionally reserved for national security adversaries. The US blockade against Cuba began in the 1960s, right after the Cuban Revolution of 1959 but has tightened over the years. Without any mandate from the United Nations Security Council—which permits sanctions under strict conditions—the United States has operated an illegal, unilateral blockade that tries to force countries from around the world to stop doing basic commerce with Cuba. The new restrictions focus on oil. The United States government has threatened tariffs and sanctions on any country that sells or transports oil to Cuba.

Search This Blog