Task cut out for new CIC: 2,000 pending complaints

On December 1,Sarkar was elevated to the post of CIC after serving as the State Information Commissioner,and K John Koshy was made the new SIC. After Sarkar’s predecessor Arun Bhattacharya retired on August 5,the commission was left with only one state information commissioner. But according to Section 15 (2) of the RTI Act,the information commission should have one CIC and state information commissioner. Consequently,the commission as lying defunct.

“The commission’s main objective will be to change the mindset of government officials who are reluctant in giving information to general people. The government departments will also have to adopt the practice of maintaining records properly,” said Sarkar.

The commission intervenes only after it receives complaints that either the required information was denied by the government department or given misleading or wrong information. According to Sarkar,the commission received about 30 such complaints on a monthly basis.

Since the pathbreaking RTI Act was implemented in the country five years ago,the West Bengal Information Commission’s performance has been sluggish. Till date,it has been able to dispose of only 767 cases. The commission was rated lowest on the satisfaction level as per the survey conducted by Arvind Kejriwal,a prominent RTI activist. The survey showed that only six per cent people had expressed their satisfaction with the reply they received using the Act.

Sarkar,who is now at the helm of the affairs,is planning to lay special emphasis on spreading awareness about the use of the Act among the public and government functionaries. The commission plans to hold workshops in each districts.

“The commission will write to all the district magistrates on this issue. During the weekened,I or the SIC will visit the district and hold workshop there,” said Sarkar.