Maharashtra needs 8 SICs, has only five: RTI Act implementation takes a hit

At the end of 2018, the SIC structure in Maharashtra seems to be severely impaired, as the benches of Konkan, Pune and Nagpur are lying vacant and the existing SICs have been given additional charge.

By the end of November, 36,389-second appeals were pending in the state, with Pune’s SIC bench leading the list with 9,294 pending appeals.

Timely access to information under the Right To Information (RTI) Act has become increasingly difficult for residents of the state as, despite having a sanctioned strength of eight commissioners, Maharashtra has just five state information commissioners (SICs) right now, including Sumit Mullick, the state chief information commissioner.

The SICs are at the helm of the three-tiered structure made by the RTI law, and they are also the last court of appeals for those seeking information. Other than Mullick, the state is supposed to have seven other SICs — in Konkan, Greater Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Aurangabad, Nagpur and Amravati, respectively. Local residents apply to SICs when their earlier efforts to gain information in government offices, via RTI applications, have failed.

At the end of 2018, the SIC structure in Maharashtra seems to be severely impaired, as the benches of Konkan, Pune and Nagpur are lying vacant and the existing SICs have been given additional charge.

Explained

Pendency delays fight to access information

Vacant positions in SIC benches are a major cause of worry for RTI activists, who say these inevitably delay the common man’s fight to access information. In some SIC benches like Pune, appeals that are more than three years old are being heard right now, and in many cases, the matter is no longer relevant to the applicant. “SICs who are given additional charge often have to travel large distances and divide their time between two benches... they are not able to do justice to either,” say activists.

Nashik SIC K L Bishnoi has been given the charge of Konkan, while Amravati SIC Sambhaji Sarkunde is looking after the bench in Pune. Dilip Dharurkar, the SIC Aurangabad, has been given the additional charge of Nagpur bench. As the SICs with additional charge have to look after two benches, they also have to travel extensively for their work.

SICs are appointed by the governor after being recommended by a special committee that is headed by the chief minister. Other members of the committee include the second-most important minister of the state cabinet and the leader of the opposition. But, even as so many benches remain vacant, the state government is yet to take any concrete steps to appoint SICs.

Due to a large number of vacancies, thousands of second appeals are pending across the state. By the end of November, 36,389-second appeals were pending in the state, with Pune’s SIC bench leading the list with 9,294 pending appeals. In some cases, local residents have to wait for more than three years to get a date for hearing.

The annual report of the SICs has also recommended the creation of extra benches to tackle the mounting pendency. Former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, however, claimed that the state government didn’t want transparency as it had “skeletons in its cupboard”.
“Like justice, information delayed is information denied and with such a large pendency, the Act is of no use to people,” he said.
Pune-based RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar said, “The double standard of the government in terms of RTI is evident in its reluctance to fill up the vacancies. No one in the government is bothered about this”.

Parthasarathi Biswas

Partha Sarathi Biwas is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express with 10+ years of experience in reporting on Agriculture, Commodities and Developmental issues. He has been with The Indian Express since 2011 and earlier worked with DNA. Partha's report about Farmers Producer Companies (FPC) as well long pieces on various agricultural issues have been cited by various academic publications including those published by the Government of India. He is often invited as a visiting faculty to various schools of journalism to talk about development journalism and rural reporting. In his spare time Partha trains for marathons and has participated in multiple marathons and half marathons. ... Read More

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