Applications too many, too long
Sidharth
Reporter , December 22nd, 2008
Around 3,300 Right to Information (RTI) applications are pending in
the district with almost 1,800 from Pune alone. People who file too
many cases are responsible for the situation. Length, number and
various issues raised by the same person are major roadblocks in
speedy dispensation of RTI applications.
When contacted, activists underlined how the RTI Act is not being used
properly by applicants. Major General (Retd) SCN Jatar, RTI activist
from Public Concern for Governance Trust (PCGT) told Sakaal Times,
"The purpose of the Act is to provide maximum information to maximum
people. It does not mean one person gets into the limelight."
Pune Divisional Information Commissioner Vijay Kuvalekar said, "Of the
520 cases pending in Sangli district, around 250 have been filed by
six persons and 200 by a single person. I am not saying that their
cause is not genuine, but if it becomes like a hobby, where is the
question of maximum benefit for people and if we go chronologically,
in order of names, some people will never get their turn."
Added Jatar, "Bureaucrats seem to be the ones using the Act the most.
And they use it to settle scores."
Kuvalekar said, "In our RTI awareness programme, this is a point we
try to stress. The act is not a mechanism to get revenge or settle
scores. It is for public interest and not for personal gain." The RTI
queries range from genuine concerns to the bizarre. Sample this: An
applicant asks for names of headmasters of 110 schools from Pune in
the last five years. Information on 70 different topics unrelated to
each other are asked for in the same letter.
The commissioner said, "In some cases, I have appeals which run into
80 pages and once I had a 300-page appeal each from four concerned
parties in a case."
Many applicants do not stick to one subject and ask for information on
unrelated subjects, added the commissioner.
There are people who have made filing RTI applications on behalf of
other persons into a money-making business. "About a year ago, we came
across letters from different people but with the same handwriting and
same address. Inquiries revealed that this person used to file RTI
applications on behalf of other people and even faked signatures. For
each application, he used to charge Rs 1,500 to 2,000. There might be
more people like him," said the commissioner.
http://www.sakaaltimes.com/2008/12/22000751/RTI-misuse-applications-too-m.html