Complaints Pile Up Against ICs In State

Complaints Pile Up Against ICs In State 17 Jan 2009, 0532 hrs IST, Neha Shukla, TNN LUCKNOW: The growing dissatisfaction over sloppy pace of implementation of the Right To Information (RTI) Act in Uttar Pradesh has even not spared the information commissioners (ICs). Its two and a half years long existence has raised serious questions about the functioning of the ICs, entrusted with the task of implementing the Act. Consider the facts: The governor’s office has received 67 complaints till September 2008 against the ICs. This has been revealed by the public information officer (PIO) of the governor office in response to a RTI query by Ram Sharan Sharma in October 2008. In case of complaints received against ICs, the governor under section 17(1) of the RTI Act can make a reference to the Supreme Court for an inquiry into the complaint. Once the SC allows the inquiry, the governor can prohibit the IC from attending the office under section 17(2) of the Act. But, in this matter, the PIO added that not even a single complaint warranted action. "It is ridiculous that not even a single complaint was found worthy of action," said Sharma, a retired engineer and a member of Right to Information Awareness Forum. "If this is the case, why the PIO did not reveal the details about the nature of complaints which I had asked for," he said. He had asked for the list of complainants, nature of complaints and action taken on them.

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