Shailesh Gandhi, former central information commissioner, in a letter to the Chief Minister has criticised the RTS Act and its implementation. The letter that he released to media calls on Devendra Fadnavis to ensure that the RTS is made into an effective law, otherwise it will be "fraud" on people of the state. RTS is a flagship law of the present state government.
Gandhi had filed a complaint with the Right to Services Commission (RTSC) stating that the interpretation of RTS Act by government "perverse" in not notifying all services for citizens to use them. The commission then in a landmark order on January 9, 2018 had recommended that state government put in public domain the master list of all services that public authorities provide in three months. It was to then set a "time table" indicating stages and time frame within which all services will be provided.
DNA in its April 23 report had stated how the government failed to implement the recommendations despite chief minister stating that it will be "seriously" worked upon. Gandhi in his letter stated that 500 services have been notified and there exists 1000s through various authorities. "At the rate at which they are being notified, it will take a century for them to notify all services. My basic issue with RTS is that it is turning out to be a farce. Either the chief minister should intervene and implement and put his weight behind the commissioner or call it off because it is farce and wastage of public money. They should just come out and say that the cannot implement the recommendations or come out with a time frame or call off the law," said Gandhi. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, and Swadheen Kshatriya, chief of RTSC did not respond to a text message from DNA.
