11 June,2010 09:20 AM IST | | Alifiya Khan
Mandatory details on info commission website missing in violation of RTI Act, finds activist
Citizens who passionately care about their right to information are beginning to tighten the screws on Chief Information Commissioner Suresh Joshi. Two days after MiD DAY reported Joshi had not replied to RTI queries about him for two years and that applicants said he held hearings without his hearing aid, a city-based activist sent a complaint to his office stating Joshi was violating the Right to Information Act.
Outdated
The complaint letter sent by activist Vijay Kumbhar says the website of the State Information Commission has become outdated and provides incomplete information.
Section 4 of the RTI Act makes it mandatory for the information commissioner to update his website within 120 days of joining office and to post details on it about the functioning and salaries of employees. "Basic information, such as contact details of the commissioner, his address, email and numbers, has not been updated. If someone wants to complain or write to him, how should they contact him?" said Kumbhar. "He also hasn't put up details of salary like what he gets paid, how many staffers he has, and their salaries. According to Section 4 of RTI Act, he should have put up this information."
Other problems
A visit to the website, https://sic.maharashtra.gov.in/, confirms Kumbhar's claims. There were several other problems also with the site, such as no registration form to create a username if one wants to use the 'log in' option on the site.
"All information commissioners and the chief must voluntarily give details of their office," said Kumbhar. "But only details of the Pune bench are uploaded. The other six information commissioners, including Joshi, haven't
bothered with disclosing their details."
