Total No. of 10,000 cases pending with Odisha Information
Commission- RTI is almost dead in Odisha
Commission- RTI is almost dead in Odisha
Dear friends
Just few days
back, Nabin Patnaik, Chief Minister, Odisha has asked the District Collectors
to enforce transparency and stop corruption in administration. It sounds good
and might be inspiring. But in practice, Nabin Patnaik neither wants
corruption to be checked nor transparency to be enforced in administration.
RTI Act which came into force w.e.f. 12th October, 2005 across the
country including Odisha (except Jammu & Kashmir) has mandate to enforce transparency
in the administration. But astonishingly,
from the day one, the state Govt. conspired to dilute and destroy RTI
Act by way of framing anti-people, illegitimate and absurd Odisha RTI Rules,
2005 and giving appointment of useless, lethargic, inefficient and corrupt
people as Information Commissioner. The
cumbersome procedure for filling compulsory
RTI Application, illegal demand of proof of citizenship from Information-seekers,
illegal collection of fee for First Appeal and Second Appeal etc. under Odisha Rules is meant not to allow the common people to access the information. Similarly, Nabin Patnaik Govt. has made
the Information Commission defunct by appointing useless, lethargic, inefficient and corrupt
people as Information Commissioner. These Information Commissioners
neither hear the case properly due to lack of knowledge
about the law nor write the decisions effectively. Due to their inefficiency, they manage to
hear case 12 to 15 cases per day and close the hearing by 1.30 PM.
Due to less number of cases being heard by the Commissioners, the pending of the cases is increasing every year and rate of disposal
of the cases by Commission is also declining rapidly. Mrs. Sashi Prava Bindhani
and Sri L.N.Patnaik has been proved
as worst Information Commissioners in Odisha since 2006.
back, Nabin Patnaik, Chief Minister, Odisha has asked the District Collectors
to enforce transparency and stop corruption in administration. It sounds good
and might be inspiring. But in practice, Nabin Patnaik neither wants
corruption to be checked nor transparency to be enforced in administration.
RTI Act which came into force w.e.f. 12th October, 2005 across the
country including Odisha (except Jammu & Kashmir) has mandate to enforce transparency
in the administration. But astonishingly,
from the day one, the state Govt. conspired to dilute and destroy RTI
Act by way of framing anti-people, illegitimate and absurd Odisha RTI Rules,
2005 and giving appointment of useless, lethargic, inefficient and corrupt
people as Information Commissioner. The
cumbersome procedure for filling compulsory
RTI Application, illegal demand of proof of citizenship from Information-seekers,
illegal collection of fee for First Appeal and Second Appeal etc. under Odisha Rules is meant not to allow the common people to access the information. Similarly, Nabin Patnaik Govt. has made
the Information Commission defunct by appointing useless, lethargic, inefficient and corrupt
people as Information Commissioner. These Information Commissioners
neither hear the case properly due to lack of knowledge
about the law nor write the decisions effectively. Due to their inefficiency, they manage to
hear case 12 to 15 cases per day and close the hearing by 1.30 PM.
Due to less number of cases being heard by the Commissioners, the pending of the cases is increasing every year and rate of disposal
of the cases by Commission is also declining rapidly. Mrs. Sashi Prava Bindhani
and Sri L.N.Patnaik has been proved
as worst Information Commissioners in Odisha since 2006.
RTI
Application was filed to Odisha Information Commission seeking information
about details of cases received, disposed and pending since 2006.
The information supplied by the PIO dated 8.6.17 is as follows.
Application was filed to Odisha Information Commission seeking information
about details of cases received, disposed and pending since 2006.
The information supplied by the PIO dated 8.6.17 is as follows.
|
Year
|
|
Cases received
|
Cases disposed
|
Cases pending
|
|
|
Complaint cases filed
under section 18 of the RTI Act |
|||||
|
2006
|
|
644
|
309
|
335
|
|
|
2007
|
335
|
1972
|
381
|
1926
|
|
|
2008
|
1926
|
1973
|
527
|
3372
|
|
|
2009
|
3372
|
2557
|
886
|
5043
|
|
|
2010
|
5043
|
3344
|
1570
|
6817
|
|
|
2011
|
6817
|
3310
|
5163
|
4964
|
|
|
2012
|
4964
|
2781
|
6265
|
1480
|
|
|
2013
|
1480
|
1733
|
2168
|
1045
|
|
|
2014
|
1045
|
709
|
1463
|
291
|
|
|
2015
|
291
|
501
|
69
|
723
|
|
|
2016
|
723
|
600
|
136
|
1187
|
|
|
2017 (upto
31.5.2017) |
1187
|
253
|
98
|
1342
|
|
|
Second
Appeals under Section 19(3) of the RTI Act |
|||||
|
2006
|
|
202
|
108
|
94
|
|
|
2007
|
94
|
437
|
152
|
379
|
|
|
2008
|
379
|
370
|
129
|
620
|
|
|
2009
|
620
|
373
|
132
|
861
|
|
|
2010
|
861
|
421
|
273
|
1009
|
|
|
2011
|
1009
|
605
|
456
|
1158
|
|
|
2012
|
1158
|
2197
|
1274
|
2081
|
|
|
2013
|
2081
|
3111
|
2003
|
3189
|
|
|
2014
|
3189
|
3182
|
2841
|
3530
|
|
|
2015
|
3530
|
3229
|
657
|
6102
|
|
|
2016
|
6102
|
3121
|
1240
|
7983
|
|
|
2017 (upto
31.5.2017) |
7983
|
1316
|
1044
|
8255
|
|
Comments
a.
It shows that Total cases (Complaint Case + Second Appeal) pending with Odisha
Information Commission is 9597.
It shows that Total cases (Complaint Case + Second Appeal) pending with Odisha
Information Commission is 9597.
b.
The way the information
Commissioners are hearing the cases,
If someone files a complaint case to-day,
his/her case will be heard after 3
years. If the information is supplied after 3 years, the said information may
have lost its relevance. That’s why the Common people are seen not interested
to file cases in the office of
Information Commission.
The way the information
Commissioners are hearing the cases,
If someone files a complaint case to-day,
his/her case will be heard after 3
years. If the information is supplied after 3 years, the said information may
have lost its relevance. That’s why the Common people are seen not interested
to file cases in the office of
Information Commission.
c.
Similarly, the PIOs are also
casually dealing RTI applications and denying information being pretty
aware that the case will be heard after three years with
no penalty, as the Commission hardly imposes penalty on erring PIOs.
Similarly, the PIOs are also
casually dealing RTI applications and denying information being pretty
aware that the case will be heard after three years with
no penalty, as the Commission hardly imposes penalty on erring PIOs.
The moot question
is how transparency will be
enforced without effective
implementation of RTI Act in Odisha. So Nabin Patnaik’s claim of enforcing transparency is sheer
deception.
is how transparency will be
enforced without effective
implementation of RTI Act in Odisha. So Nabin Patnaik’s claim of enforcing transparency is sheer
deception.
Pradip Pradhan
M-9937843482
Date-15.6.17
