The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Southern States take the lead in forming Information Commissions

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 13, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Southern States take the lead in forming Information Commissions

Special Correspondent

State-level units will be agencies for State Government departments

RIGHT TO INFORMATION: L.V. Saptharishi, co-chairman, Confederation of NGOs of Rural India, with Padma Balasubramanian, Information Commissioner, Central Information Commission, at a seminar organised by CNRI in Chennai on Thursday. — Photo R. R agu

CHENNAI: Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh are in the forefront of forming State-level Information Commissions in tune with provisions of the recently passed Right to Information Act, Information Commissioner, Central Information Commission, Padma Balasubramanian, said here on Thursday.

While West Bengal had notified the Commission, States such as Tamil Nadu were in the process of doing so, she told The Hindu . The Tamil Nadu Government on Thursday named Commissioners under the Act, clearing the decks for it becoming functional.

No time frame

No time frame had been set for forming State-level units, but governments had been urged to do it at the earliest. The Act was a mechanism by which civil society could seek any information from any arm of the government, barring sensitive and classified details involving national security, foreign relations, strategic installations etc.

After the States set up the units under a Public Information Officer, any citizen denied information he/she sought within a specific time could appeal to the apex Commission. While State-level units would be the agencies for State Government departments, the Central Information Commission would be in charge of Central departments. The decision of the apex Commission would be final in case of an appeal and it could not be overturned by a court of law.

Earlier, inaugurating the seminar on `Role and responsibility of NGO sector in the context of implementation of the Right to Information Act' organised by the Confederation of NGOs of Rural India (CNRI), , Ms. Balasubramanian urged NGOs and social activists to create awareness about the Information Act at the grassroots.

The Act was implemented within 120 days of Parliament passing the Bill and India was the 56th country to do so. "Under the Act, refusal by a government agency to give the information sought can invite a penalty," she said. This would empower social change by enforcing citizen rights.

The Act encouraged free flow of information between the government and civil society and more NGOs should come forward to harness it, L.V. Saptharishi, co-chairman, CNRI, said.

Officials from the National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD), Oriental Insurance Company and self-help group representatives also participated.

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