Maharashtra ranks 2nd in pending RTI appeals

Maharashtra state information commission (MSIC) ranked second after UPSIC in pending RTI appeals and complaints, as per a nation-wide study conducted by an NGO on Information Commissions (ICs) released on Friday. According to the study, the state failed to be compared in a number of parameters because the annual report and data was not available.

The Report card on the performance of information commissions in India is a study conducted by Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS) and Centre of Equity Studies (CES).

It compared all other ICs, except Jammu and Kashmir, from January 2016 to October 2017. The report covered various aspects such as number of appeals and complaints registered, disposed, returned by each IC, quantum of penalty imposed, amount recovered, compensation awarded, disciplinary action, appeals and complaints, and annual reports published.

The study found that Uttar Pradesh has registered the highest number of appeals and complaints (83,054), followed by the Central Information Commission (47,756) and Karnataka (32,403). Mizoram and Meghalaya registered the lowest number of appeals and complaints — 21 and 63 respectively.

Maharashtra could not be compared in most parameters because it has not published its 2016 and 2017 annual reports as yet. On appeals and complaints registered and disposed, the study stated that the monthly reports that MSIC recommended, provided incomplete information. "They have linked wrongly and data for some months – like February and November 2017 – is missing. Appeals of January 2016 are not reported," says Amrita Johri, who worked on the study.

"A message of transparency must be sent by the commission," says Anjali Bhardwaj, who co-authored the study, "The moral authority of it being the guardian of the transparency is lost if it does not give information. Maharashtra is a big state and gets large number of appeals. To say that such figures will be available only after the annual report is prepared, is wrong."

"Imagine if every other public authority said that they will give information once the annual report is prepared?," adds Johri. "That would defeat the purpose of the RTI Act. The penalty and enquiry report is missing for many years on the link provided, which gives one an idea about the compliance of orders."

MSIC is also one of the three commissions without a permanent information chief – it has not had one since April 2017. Some appeals in MSIC have been pending for over two years.

Max Pending

• As of October 31, 2017, the maximum number of appeals/ complaints were pending in UP (41,561) followed by Maharashtra (41,178) and Karnataka (32,992).