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The office of the State Information Commission is facing an acute staff crunch. This has now led to the piling of cases related to appeals and complaints received by the Commission from the general public under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
One of the main reasons for this is the inordinate delay by the state government in filling up the two Information Commissioner (IC) posts despite the General Administration Department (GAD) having sanctioned them way back in September 2007.
“The government orders sanctioning the two IC posts in our office have not been implemented yet. Most of the states in our country have multi-member Information Commissions with more than one IC. States like Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra and even Arunachal Pradesh have anything between four and eight ICs. But Gujarat has none,” said R N Das, Chief Information Commissioner (CIC), Gujarat.
He told Newsline on Friday that it was necessary to have adequate number of ICs in the State Information Commission offices for the speedy disposal of public complaints and appeals. The main role of ICs is to conduct the hearing in such cases on a regular basis. “Although I am the State CIC, I have to play the role of an IC too, and conduct public hearings regularly. I dispose off about 80 cases every month,” he said.
Das said the number of RTI applications in Gujarat has been increasing for the last few months. He said this reflects the “growing awareness” among the people, especially in the rural areas. “We have launched concerted efforts to reduce the pending cases, but it could be faster if the government fills up the IC posts and other administrative cadre in the Commission’s office,” Das added.
According to official figures, the Commission has a total staff strength of only 20 against the sanctioned figure of 47 in various categories. Of the three posts of Law Officers sanctioned by the government, only one has been appointed in the Commission’s office. Similarly, there is a shortage of clerks, stenographers (both English and Gujarati) and other administrative and technical hands.
Of the total 6,848 appeals and complaints filed with the Commission in the last three years, as many as 3,413 are yet to be disposed of. The number of pending complaints is 2,044, while that of appeals is 1,371. “There are several government departments/offices that are found either denying or providing inadequate information to applicants, which force them to file appeals and complaints before the Commission,” said a senior official at the State Information Commission.
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