India's information commissions "riddled" with up to 10 years delay in hearing RTI pleas, Delhi public hearing told

By A Representative
Even as releasing its new report highlighting concerns regarding the performance of information commissions in India, including the Central Information Commission (CIC), a public hearing in Delhi organized by advocacy groups, Satark Nagrik Sangathan and National Campaign for People's Right to Information, has confirmed its key findings -- delays, skewed composition of information commissioners, vacancies, lack of penalty imposition and transparency in their functioning.
The report, ‘Report Card of Information Commissions in India’, was released in the presence of RK Mathur, India's chief information commissioner and Haryana information commissioners, and right to information (RTI) users and activists from 14 states -- Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala and Bihar.
The hearing was told, while people have understood the value of the RTI Act and are using it vibrantly for a variety of issues -- from demanding accountability in basic entitlements to questioning the highest officers -- the functioning of information commissions is a major bottleneck in the effective implementation of the RTI law.

RK Mathur

Chakradhar, an RTI activist from Andhra Pradesh, testified that the state has no functional state information commission for the past 11 months. After the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014, the state information commission (SIC) of Andhra Pradesh continued to function as the information commission for both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. However, SIC became defunct in May 2017 when the serving commissioners retired. No new commissioners have been appointed.
Abey George from Kerala highlighted that the SIC is functioning with only one commissioner even though nearly 14,000 appeals/complaints are pending with the commission and it takes several years for a matter to come up for disposal.
Reena testified that despite passage of more than 16 months since she had filed a second appeal with CIC, the matter has yet to come up for hearing. A single mother from Dakshinpuri, Delhi, she applied for scheduled caste (SC) certificates for her children but was told by the revenue department that she needed to produce the caste certificate of the father of her children as a mother’s caste certificate would not suffice.

Reena filed an RTI request in June 2016 seeking information about the documents required for applying for a caste certificate for her children and the procedure to be followed in case a single mother is not in possession of father’s caste certificate. She filed a second appeal with CIC on November 30, 2016. However, till date her matter has not been taken up by CIC.

Amitava Chowdhury from West Bengal said, he filed an application under the RTI Act on March 28, 2008 seeking information on the names and designations of persons connected with appointment-related activities of the West Bengal College Service Commission. However, no information was provided. Hence, he filed a complaint before SIC on February 25, 2009. The complaint was finally heard on March 7, 2018 -- more than nine years after it was filed!
Kusumlata, a resident of Moti Lal Nehru slum in Delhi, said, she filed an RTI application seeking information on her pension which was suddenly denied, without informing her. She was provided incomplete information, which was also confirmed by the first appellate authority. Despite non-compliance with the orders of the first appellate authority, CIC refused to impose penalty.
Shankar, a resident of Lal Gumbad, sought certified copy of his application for SC certificate and copy of verification report of his certificate from the revenue department though RTI on July 28, 2015. No reply was received. Therefore, he filed first appeal on September 8, 2015. During the hearing on October 13, 2015, a direction was issued to provide information within seven days. As there was no compliance, he approached CIC. While CIC issued a show case notice, till date there is no follow-up.

Comments

Uma said…

In the early days, when Shailesh Gandhi was in charge, two queries raised by me resulted in action in a week's time. After he resigned, I haven't had occasion to raise any queries but I have been reading the "horror" stories in the papers and on the 'net. No government in India will ever bring about change in the sorry state the best act is in today

April 29, 2018

Anonymous said…

Very soon CIC and SICs would become like SC and HCs.... with pendency running into lacs of cases.....

April 29, 2018

Whither space for the marginalised in Kerala's privately-driven townships after landslides?

By Ipshita Basu, Sudheesh R.C. In the early hours of July 30 2024, a landslide in the Wayanad district of Kerala state, India, killed 400 people. The Punjirimattom, Mundakkai, Vellarimala and Chooralmala villages in the Western Ghats mountain range turned into a dystopian rubble of uprooted trees and debris.

Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar’s views on religion as Tagore’s saw them

By Harasankar Adhikari Religion has become a visible subject in India’s public discourse, particularly where it intersects with political debate. Recent events, including a mass Gita chanting programme in Kolkata and other incidents involving public expressions of faith, have drawn attention to how religion features in everyday life. These developments have raised questions about the relationship between modern technological progress and traditional religious practice.

Election bells ringing in Nepal: Can ousted premier Oli return to power?

By Nava Thakuria* Nepal is preparing for a national election necessitated by the collapse of KP Sharma Oli’s government at the height of a Gen Z rebellion (youth uprising) in September 2025. The polls are scheduled for 5 March. The Himalayan nation last conducted a general election in 2022, with the next polls originally due in 2027. However, following the dissolution of Nepal’s lower house of Parliament last year by President Ram Chandra Poudel, the electoral process began under the patronage of an interim government installed on 12 September under the leadership of retired Supreme Court judge Sushila Karki. The Hindu-majority nation of over 29 million people will witness more than 3,400 electoral candidates, including 390 women, representing 68 political parties as well as independents, vying for 165 seats in the 275-member House of Representatives.

Gig workers hold online strike on republic day; nationwide protests planned on February 3

By A Representative Gig and platform service workers across the country observed a nationwide online strike on Republic Day, responding to a call given by the Gig & Platform Service Workers Union (GIPSWU) to protest what it described as exploitation, insecurity and denial of basic worker rights in the platform economy. The union said women gig workers led the January 26 action by switching off their work apps as a mark of protest.

Jayanthi Natarajan "never stood by tribals' rights" in MNC Vedanta's move to mine Niyamigiri Hills in Odisha

By A Representative The Odisha Chapter of the Campaign for Survival and Dignity (CSD), which played a vital role in the struggle for the enactment of historic Forest Rights Act, 2006 has blamed former Union environment minister Jaynaynthi Natarjan for failing to play any vital role to defend the tribals' rights in the forest areas during her tenure under the former UPA government. Countering her recent statement that she rejected environmental clearance to Vendanta, the top UK-based NMC, despite tremendous pressure from her colleagues in Cabinet and huge criticism from industry, and the claim that her decision was “upheld by the Supreme Court”, the CSD said this is simply not true, and actually she "disrespected" FRA.

With infant mortality rate of 5, better than US, guarantee to live is 'alive' in Kerala

By Nabil Abdul Majeed, Nitheesh Narayanan In 1945, two years prior to India's independence, the current Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, was born into a working-class family in northern Kerala. He was his mother’s fourteenth child; of the thirteen siblings born before him, only two survived. His mother was an agricultural labourer and his father a toddy tapper. They belonged to a downtrodden caste, deemed untouchable under the Indian caste system.

Stands 'exposed': Cavalier attitude towards rushed construction of Char Dham project

By Bharat Dogra* The nation heaved a big sigh of relief when the 41 workers trapped in the under-construction Silkyara-Barkot tunnel (Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand) were finally rescued on November 28 after a 17-day rescue effort. All those involved in the rescue effort deserve a big thanks of the entire country. The government deserves appreciation for providing all-round support.

Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb: Akbar to Shivaji -- the cross-cultural alliances that built India

By Ram Puniyani What is Indian culture? Is it purely Hindu, or a blend of many influences? Today, Hindu right-wing advocates of Hindutva claim that Indian culture is synonymous with Hindu culture, which supposedly resisted "Muslim invaders" for centuries. This debate resurfaced recently in Kolkata at a seminar titled "The Need to Protect Hinduism from Hindutva."

Report finds 28 communal riots, 14 mob lynching incidents targeting Muslims

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* A study released by the Mumbai-based Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS), supported by data from India Hate Lab, documents incidents of violence and targeting of Muslims across India in 2025. The report compiles press accounts and fact-finding material to highlight broad trends in communal conflict, mob attacks, and hate speech.

Search This Blog