Tardy disposal of RTI cases, vacancies: Backlog in 26 commissions reach 2.55 lakh

By A Representative
Marking the 16th anniversary of the implementation of the top transparency law Right to Information (RTI) Act, the civil rights organisation, the Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS) has said in a comprehensive report on the functioning of the information commissions across India that while three out of 29 information commissions (ICs) – in Jharkhand, Tripura and Meghalaya – are “completely defunct” as no new commissioners have been appointed upon the incumbents demitting office, three other commissions, Nagaland, Manipur and Telangana, are headless.
Titled "Report Card on the Performance of Information Commissions in India, 2021”, the report points out that as many as “13 commissions have an estimated waiting time of one year or more to dispose a matter”. Giving details, the report says, the Odisha State SIC would take six years and eight months to dispose a matter. “A matter filed on July 1, 2021 would be disposed in the year 2028 at the current monthly rate of disposal”, it adds.
Next is Goa, whose IC “would take five years and 11 months”, followed by Kerala, four years and 10 months, West Bengal four years and seven months, and for Maharashtra three years six months. “The estimated time required for disposal of an appeal/complaint in the Central Information Commission (CIC), which is the transparency watchdog of the Government of India, was one year and 11 months”.

Compiled on the basis of information received under the RTI Act, the report examines the performance of all 29 commissions in India in terms of the number of appeals and complaints registered and disposed by them, number of pending cases, estimated waiting time for the disposal of an appeal/complaint filed in each commission, frequency of violations penalised by commissions and transparency in their working.
The report says, “The long delays in disposal of cases can be attributed largely to two factors: vacancies in commissions and tardy rate of disposal by commissioners. While some commissions have fixed annual norms for disposal for themselves (the CIC has set a norm of 3,200 cases per commissioner annually), most information commissions have not adopted any norms regarding the number of cases a commissioner should deal with in a year.”
The report says, three posts of commissioners in CIC are vacant, even as the backlog of “appeals/complaints has been steadily increasing and currently stands at nearly 36,800 cases.” Among states, the SIC of Maharashtra tops the list. It has been functioning with just four information commissioners, including the chief, for the past several months, as a result of which “the number of pending appeals/complaints has risen from 46,000 in 2019 to 63,000 in December 2020 and 75,000 in May 2021.
According to the report, “The number of appeals and complaints pending on June 30, 2021 in the 26 information commissions, from which data was obtained, stood at 2,55,602. The backlog of appeals/complaints is steadily increasing in commissions. The 2019 assessment had found that as of March 31, 2019, a total of 2,18,347 appeals/complaints were pending in the 26 information commissions from which data was obtained.”

Comments

Academics urge Azim Premji University to drop FIR against Student Reading Circle

By A Representative A group of academics and civil society members has issued an open letter to the leadership of Azim Premji University expressing concern over the filing of a police complaint that led to an FIR against a student-run reading circle following a recent incident of violence on campus. The signatories state that they hold the university in high regard for its commitment to constitutional values, critical inquiry and ethical public engagement, and argue that it is precisely because of this reputation that the present development is troubling.

Was Netaji forced to alter face, die in obscurity in USSR in 1975? Was he so meek?

By Rajiv Shah This should sound almost hilarious. Not only did Subhas Chandra Bose not die in a plane crash in Taipei, nor was he the mysterious Gumnami Baba who reportedly passed away on 16 September 1985 in Ayodhya, but we are now told that he actually died in 1975—date unknown—“in oblivion” somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Which city? Moscow? No one seems to know.

UAPA action against Telangana activist: Criminalising legitimate democratic activity?

By A Representative The National Investigation Agency's Hyderabad branch has issued notices to more than ten individuals in Telangana in connection with FIR No. RC-04/2025. Those served include activists, former student leaders, civil rights advocates, poets, writers, retired schoolteachers, and local leaders associated with the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Indian National Congress.

The ultimate all-time ODI XI: A personal selection of icons across eras

By Harsh Thakor* This is my all-time best XI chosen for ODI (One Day International) cricket: 1. Adam Gilchrist (W) – The absolute master blaster who could create the impact of exploding gunpowder with his electrifying strokeplay. No batsman was more intimidating in his era. Often his knocks decided the fate of games as though the result were premeditated. He escalated batting strike rates to surreal realms.

Aligning too closely with U.S., allies, India’s silence on IRIS Dena raises troubling questions

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* The reported sinking of the Iranian ship IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka raises troubling questions about international norms and the credibility of the so-called rule-based order. If indeed the vessel was attacked by the American Navy while returning from a joint exercise in Visakhapatnam, it would represent a serious breach of trust and a violation of the principles that govern such cooperative engagements. Warships participating in these exercises are generally not armed for combat; they are meant to symbolize solidarity and friendship. The incident, therefore, is not only shocking but also deeply ironic.

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.

Asbestos contamination in children’s products highlights global oversight gaps

By A Representative A commentary published by the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) has drawn attention to the challenges governments face in responding effectively to global public-health risks. In an article written by Laurie Kazan-Allen and published on March 5, 2026, the author examines how the discovery of asbestos contamination in children’s play products has raised questions about regulatory oversight and international product safety. The article opens by reflecting on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that governments in several countries were slow to respond to early warning signs of the crisis. Referring to the experience of the United Kingdom, the author writes that delays in implementing protective measures contributed to “232,112 recorded deaths and over a million people suffering from long Covid.” The commentary uses this example to illustrate what it describes as the dangers of underestimating emerging threats. Attention then turns...

The kitchen as prison: A feminist elegy for domestic slavery

By Garima Srivastava* Kumar Ambuj stands as one of the most incisive voices in contemporary Hindi poetry. His work, stripped of ornamentation, speaks directly to the lived realities of India’s marginalized—women, the rural poor, and those crushed under invisible forms of violence. His celebrated poem “Women Who Cook” (Khānā Banātī Striyāṃ) is not merely about food preparation; it is a searing indictment of patriarchal domestic structures that reduce women’s existence to endless, unpaid labour.

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

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah 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".

Search This Blog