NRIs Dismayed at the Lax Functioning of the Chief Information Commissioner

11th October 2006
College Park, Maryland

NRIs around the world are shocked and dismayed at a series of retrograde decisions taken by the Central Information Commission with respect to enforcing the Right to Information Act, 2005. A report emanating from a public hearing which was attended by the information commissioners in Delhi on 24th September 2006, has given damning evidence of a multitude of such decisions.

"The CIC has completely mutilated the RTI Act by passing a series of bad decisions and not fulfilling its duty of penalizing defaulting PIOs" fumes an infuriated Vishal Kudchadkar, a Los Angeles resident.

The progressive and landmark Right to Information Act came into being in October 2005, after a 15 years long grassroots struggle for transparency in governance spearheaded by Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS). Training camps have been organized across the country by various groups and well-minded citizens to make people aware of the act and its provisions. Every strata of the society is enthusiastically using the Act to successfully redress and rectify grievances that arose out of blatant corruption in government offices.

The penalty clause of the Act is essential to success of this revolutionary legislation. By not penalizing a single PIO in over 1500 cases that the commission has disposed, the information commission has failed in fulfilling its obligations under the Act. Even worse it sends a clear message to the defaulting PIOs that they can continue to deny the citizens of the country their fundamental right without the fear of retribution.

Registering his displeasure at the functioning of the CIC, Arun Gopalan, who lives in Maryland says: "71% of the cases have been dismissed by the CIC without even hearing the parties. This is a gross violation of principles of natural justice and is simply not acceptable".

NRIs including India Friends Association (IFA), an organization of NRI professionals dedicated to grassroots development in India, have have been emailing the President, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, to express their disappointment over CIC's inaction and to urge him to order an enquiry against the functioning of the Central Information Commission under sec 14 of the RTI Act. The President has the powers to order such an enquiry and to replace the Commissioners if they are found incompetent.

Rashim Singh, a resident of Houston, explains what RTI means to her as an NRI: "Having seen the fruits of participatory democracy, transparent governance and an informed citizenry in the US, I wish the same for India. I believe the true potential of India can be achieved if the common masses are freed from the shackles of corruption."

Contacts
Arun Gopalan (College Park, MD)
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , (240) 421-5510

Vishal Kudchadkar (Los Angeles, CA)
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , (323) 632-6479