INDEX: RTI’S FADING MARCH

To mark the anniversary of the democratic decision to grant all Indian citizens the right to ask questions of and demand accountability from their government representatives, home minister Amit Shah addressed the Central Information Commission’s (CIC) 14th annual conference. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” said Shah, “is determined to create a system where there is enough suo motu disclosure of information so that the need to file RTI applications itself is reduced.” Shah also referred to the RTI as a “milestone in India’s democratic journey”. But RTI activists have accused the Modi government of seeking to weaken the Act and reduce the status of information commissioners. Last year, activists from a dozen states took to the streets of Delhi to protest the proposed amendments to the Act, arguing that the government was delaying appointing commissioners and allowing a backlog of requests to build. A new report on the functioning of information commissions at both state and central levels shows that tens of thousands of requests are pending and that wait times for information have gone up significantly.

30,208,656

RTI requests (30.2 million) filed from 2005-06 up to October 9, 2019, says new report from Transparency International India

7,893,687

applications made to Centre. States: Maharashtra (6.18 million), Tamil Nadu (2.69 million), Karnataka (2.28 million), Kerala (2.19 million), Gujarat (1.27 million)

83

alleged murders of RTI activists, says the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative; 165 assaults, 180 cases of harassment/ threats; no official data

19 MONTHS

estimated waiting time for RTI appeals with CIC, up from 10 months in 2017; 23,541 pending complaints with the CIC, as of April 2018

2.1 MILLION

appeals and complaints received by Centre and state commissions from 2005-06 to 2018-19; most: Tamil Nadu (461,832), Centre (279,344), Maharashtra (277,228)

`27.86 CRORE

sanctioned budget for the CIC (FY18); up from Rs 24.99 crore in FY17; about Rs 107 crores for 23 state commissions in FY18

` 2.26 LAKH CRORE

levied in fines on public information officers at central and state commissions since 2006 for denying requests or giving incorrect information; Rs 33.6 lakh in FY18

`250

per day, up to Rs 25,000, the max. penalty that can be imposed on a public information officer for denying or delaying applications and appeals