Bhubaneswar: Even as Orissa POST has recently highlighted the laid-back approach of public information officers (PIOs) weakening the Right to Information (RTI) Act in the state, yet another incident of stonewalling a query under Puri district administration has come to the fore.
Some rights activists have alleged that Puri District Collector and PIO had stalled an RTI query for more than four years despite notices issued by State Information Commissioner (SIC).
In November 2015, Malaya Behera of Puri had submitted an RTI application to the PIO and the Puri Collectorate seeking information about details of Dandapokhari work sanctioned under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). The RTI query which sought information on payments made to labourers and action taken grievances among others was not responded to within the stipulated period of 30 days.
Behera made the first appeal to the First Appellate Authority (FAA) which was neither heard nor disposed of. He then filed a Second Appeal (SA) in February 2016 to which Odisha Information Commission responded and sought status report from the Collector’s office in Puri. The PIO and Puri Collector then intimated the commission that they needed some more time to gather information from Puri-Konark Development Authority (PKDA) on the matter.
However, no information was provided even though four years have elapsed. The appellant felt frustrated for appearing in 11 hearings only to be deferred later. The first hearing for SA which was initiated by the SIC, Sashiprava Bindhani, in November 2018 has been deferred to a 12th hearing scheduled for February 2020.
“In each of the 11 hearings, the PIO and the Collector have remained absent. Despite the commission’s direction to the PIO, FAA and the Collector to provide the enquiry report before next hearing, the appellant was left hopeless. We must think how one would get justice if the RTI Act is made a joke in the state,” said Pradip Pradhan, an RTI activist here.
Pradhan also criticised Bindhani’s lackadaisical approach accusing her of not exercising her rights and duties properly and delaying the case. “Under Section 18 of the RTI Act, an SIC has the right to drag the matter to a civil court. However, it seems that she is personally protecting the interests of the corrupt officials,” he stated.
Meanwhile, no response came from the Puri Collector, Balwant Singh, and Bindhani despite making several contacts with them.
Earlier, the newspaper had reported how RTI activists had accused the SICs of weakening the RTI act in the state by dilly-dallying tactic. Activists had alleged that inefficient and inexperienced SICs, appointed with political considerations or for their nexus with corrupt bureaucracy, could not hear or dispose of the cases timely or effectively despite a hefty salary and multiple allowances amounting to a staggering Rs 2.80 lakh per month.