Skip to main content

Gujarat witnessed 10 RTI-related murders, 43 serious attacks, as official denials for critical info pile up: MAGP

By Our Representative
Marking the 12th anniversary of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, Gujarat's independent RTI watchdog Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (MAGP) has regretted that though 55% of those using RTI are from rural areas, and seek answers on issues related to panchayat functioning, rural jobs guarantee scheme NREGA, housing, pension schemes, land matters etc., women RTI users are less than 5%.
Giving details of what has been and what hasn't been achieved under RTI, MAGP says, while the "quality of RTI applications has improved" and "people do ask specific questions, and seek copies of particular documents", with MAGP claiming it's contribution for the same, the top RTI watchdog, however, says, the quality of replies by government officials has "worsened."
The result of increased awareness of RTI, on one hand, and official inertia to provide information, on the other, is that over the last 12 years there have 10 murders of RTI applicants and 43 serious attacks. "Applicants are threatened and pressurized to withdraw their applications, especially in cases of illegal mining, encroachments, allotment of land and permissions/clearance to companies/industries", MAGP notes.
Calling it "greatest issue of concern", MAGP executive director Pankti Jog in a note says, it has been found that public information officers (PIO) do not give specific orders, underlining, "Section 8 (denying information invoking privacy or security clauses) and third party provisions are applied without application of mind and logic."
Pankti Jog
Insisting that "this shows poor quality of training inputs to PIOs and opposition to transparency and accountability", Jog says, the usual replies while denying information even include such flimsy grounds like "record not traceable, record is very old, record is too huge, application is not clear" and so on. She adds, often replies are denied saying they violate court orders "without giving rationale of how does that order applies."
While expressing satisfaction that the posts of state RTI commissioners has been increased to four, MAGP says, this happened "due to repeated petitions in the High Court", adding, "The procedure for appointment of the commissioner is not transparent", there is no "diversity in the commission" and "we do not have single commissioner other than ex-bureaucrats", unlike other states where "people from other backgrounds like journalism, social worker etc." are also chosen.
Agreeing that the number of pendency cases at the commission has reduced to 3900, as these were "always above 7500", Jog says, more often than not, "orders are not complied with", and the government's " general administrative department does not keep any track of this", adding, this shows "the attitude of the system to disobey the orders from the highest authority, which makes RTI inefficient and creates an environment of disappointment."
Jog further says that though online tools are now being used for RTI, the "public authorities in Gujarat are very poor in pro-active disclosures" and their compliance ratio on this score is "below 50%".
She adds, "Websites show outdated information. Some of the striking examples of non-compliance of pro-active disclosures are: Information on budgets and expenses are not on website in MIS form; no information on disposal of claims under the forest right Act, disbursal of amount for toilet, or housing schemes on websites."
Pointing out that there is "no online tracking" of RTI pleas, MAGP says, "Statistics of different departments show that only 10 to 12% of the applications are answered fully within time limit" at the PIO level and "another 20% are getting information at the first appellate authority (FAA) level with a delay of more than 50 days."

Comments

TRENDING

Importance of Bangladesh for India amidst 'growing might' of China in South Asia

By Samara Ashrat*  The basic key factor behind the geopolitical importance of Bangladesh is its geographical location. The country shares land borders with Myanmar and India. Due to its geographical position, Bangladesh is a natural link between South Asia and Southeast Asia.  The country is also a vital geopolitical ally to India, in that it has the potential to facilitate greater integration between Northeast India and Mainland India. Not only that, due to its open access to the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh has become significant to both China and the US.

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.

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".

'BBC film shows only tip of iceberg': Sanjiv Bhatt's daughter speaks at top US press club

By Our Representative   The United States' premier journalists' organisation, the National Press Club (NPC), has come down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for recent "attacks on journalists in India." Speaking at the screening of an episode of the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question,” banned in India, in the club premises, NPC President Eileen O’Reilly said, “Since Modi came to power we have watched with frustration and disappointment as his regime has suppressed the rights of its citizens to a free and independent news media."

Regional political dynamics 'leading to' institutional violence in SAARC University

By Sandeep Pandey*  South Asian University is a university set up in Delhi by member countries of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan and Maldives – which is open to students from all these countries. However, as SAARC is receiving little attention these days because of regional political dynamics, it appears as if SAU has lost significance too. Because of the hiatus in peace process between India and Pakistan, the Board of Governors of this University is dysfunctional.

Natural farming: Hamirpur leads the way to 'huge improvement' in nutrition, livelihood

By Bharat Dogra*  Santosh is a dedicated farmer who along with his wife Chunni Devi worked very hard in recent months to convert a small patch of unproductive land into a lush green, multi-layer vegetable garden. This has ensured year-round supply of organically grown vegetables to his family as well as fetched several thousand rupees in cash sales.

Over-stressed? As Naveen Patnaik turns frail, Odisha 'moves closer' to leadership crisis

By Sudhansu R Das  Not a single leader in Odisha is visible in the horizon who can replace Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. He has ruled Odisha for nearly two and half decades. His father, Biju Patnaik, had built Odisha; he was a daring pilot who saved the life of Indonesia’s Prime Minister Sjahrir and President Sukarno when the Dutch army blocked their exit.

Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Ban Ki-moon, others ask Bangladesh PM to 'protect' Yunus

Counterview Desk  A campaign has been launched to support Bangladesh-based economist, micro-finance guru and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, seeking signatures from citizens across the globe in order to “protect” his work, life and safety.

Electricity sharing opens up new window for India’s eastern neighbourhood engagement

By Sufian Asif* Today, challenges like climate change, pandemics, energy reliance, economic crisis, and many more are concerning us. No nation can overcome these obstacles without the assistance and collaboration of other nations. Most importantly, many of these problems have international repercussions. South Asia is facing much more difficulty when compared to other regions. In South Asia, we have some regional organizations, but they are ineffective.

'Vulgar display of wealth': Govt of India using G20 presidency for political, electoral gains

Counterview Desk  Seeking endorsement for a public statement on India's G20 Presidency, several people’s movements, trade unions and other civil society groups have come together to say that not only will G20 and its priorities “will worsen economic, social and climate crisis”, already, India’s presidency is being used “for vulgar display of pomp & for electoral gains.”