Centre has no information regarding which State Information Commission is defunct
12 Oct, 2013Ref: MP information commission is defunct for the last 6 months
URL: http://www.rtifoundationofindia.com/mp-information-commission-defunct-last-6-months
Comment: Let me tell u first that implementation of RTI act, 2005 requires every state to have one Chief Information Commissioners and upto ten Information Commissioners. There are a large no. of states in which there is not a single member in the State Information Commission, such as MP., and manipur. As such, Whole RTI act becomes defunct as there is no one to whom one can appeal. Section 15 of the Act provides that whenever an application for any information is denied information or given inappropriate information or is given half-baked information, he or she can make a first appeal to the department itself. Thereafter, if he still remains unsatisfied he can go for a second appeal to the information commissioner and a final appeal to the CIC.
"But with no information commissioners in the state, no appeal is taken. Incidentally, Section 15 of the Act is also not clear of what action can be taken in such a situation.
I FILED AN APPLICATION UNDER THE RTI ACT—
Respected sir/madam, I request for the following information:
1. Names of states and union territories in which STATE INFORMATION COMMISSION is defunct (not a single member, presently) or in which number of members are not according to RTI act.
2. If State information commission is defunct or not with directed number of members, then which authority will be held responsible for the situation.
3. Has any action been taken against such states which do not comply with the such requirements of State information commission, if yes then please ATTACH THE DOCUMENTS related to such action taken against the non complying states.
THIS WAS THE REPLY WHICH I GOT FROM DoPT:
I I am directed to refer to your online RTI request dated 27.09.2013 and to say that establishment of State Information Commissions is the responsibility of the concerned state Government. The State Chief Information Commissioner and the State Information Commissioners are appointed by the Governor (of respective states) on the recommendation of committee consisting of (i) the Chief Minister, who shall be the Chairperson of the committee; (ii) the Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly; and (iii) a Cabinet Minister to be nominated by the Chief Minister. Information as to which State Information Commission is working or defunct, is not maintained by the Central Government.
I have also filed the same RTI application in DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS AND PERSONNEL GRIEVANCES, the department responsible for effective implementation of RTI act and the reply is awaited. Let’s see what we can get from it.
And, something about another murder of another RTI activist. JAISAL villgae in jodhpur rajasthan, Sambhu Singh Bishnoi, who had exposed alleged forgery of sarpanch in NREGS card and rs. 50 lakh scam involving tube well installation, was killed brutally with rods and sticks along with his brothers and sons.
R.I.P RTI activism, LONG LIVE RTI Activism.
Name: Diwakar Dhurandhar