> Date: Monday, 31 December, 2007, 5:42 PM
> The citizens of india got thier right to information through
> RTI Act which turns 2.5 years this year end. But it
> functions as though it were 75 years old and in an advance
> state of bureacratic senility.
> Even routine RTI requests for "public" documents
> can linger for months .
> The back log of pending appeals and complaints on RTI
> requests with karnataka information commission at the last
> count was nearing 1200. In neighbouring maharastra it an
> whopping 12000.the Dates for the next three years of the
> four commissioners in Maharastra are booked with this
> unmanageable number of refusals.Figures for the
> centralinformation commission are not available
> These figures may even be misleading ,because some agencies
> don't even bother to submit their
> monthly/quarterly/annual compliance reports.
> " Right to information is water torture" RTI
> Crusaders and members of national Campagin told me today on
> the new years eve. "it's drip,drip,drip. you wait
> and you wait and you go on waiting".
> If only the government had that much patience when it wants
> taxes from us for instance.
> I analyse the cause of RTIs paralysis is not bureaucratic
> senility , but a stratergy of delay by an cartel of
> officers and administration obsessed with keeping secrets.
> The Dept of Personnel & training ,Government of India
> is telling all public authorities has adopted the be
> -damned attitude about public information.
> Public authorites have conveniently resorted to look for
> any excuse to deny RTI request , their trump card being
> "fiduciary " "not in Public interest"
> "invasion of Privacy" are simply "not
> available or cannot be given"
> They are free to do so because there are no consequences
> for non compliance . Government employees are not penalised
> or prosecuted for ignoring the law .The annual Report of
> Central information commission
> of 2005-2006 says "zero" for number of cases
> where penalty levied and collected. Such cases are
> Microscopic in almost all states.
> " there is absolutely no incentive for Government
> employees to act with any sense of urgency on RTI requests
> ,and there is every incentive to delay and delay ---
> unquestioined leave , travel to Capital cities and TA ,DA .
> A bill in Parliament should be presented this Winter
> session called "Faster and speedy RTI Act"
> Parliment should insist this coming year (2008) that it be
> taken seriously by bureaucrats who think Peoples right to
> information is a joke.
> N vikramsimha , KRIA Katte ,Trustee , Mahithi Hakku
> Adayayana kendra #12 Sumeru Sir M N Krishna Rao Road ,
> Basvangudi < Bangalore 560004.
>
>
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