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Tamil Nadu
Officials seem ignorant of its provisions CHENNAI: If the Right to Information Act was enacted to promote transparency, its implementation has fallen far short of the intent. Recently, an activist for a RTI awareness campaign approached the Health Department for some clarifications on the immunisation policy. The government decided to allow immunisation only at Public Health Centres after the death of four children on April 23 when they were vaccinated against measles. The Public Information Officer asked the activist to submit a letter and give him a week to furnish the information. However, at the end of the week, the officer informed him that the file had gone to another officer who, in turn, denied him access, saying he had not received any application for inspection. Though this would seem merely symptomatic of bureaucratic hurdles in getting anything out of the government records, the fact was that the Public Information Officer and other officers seemed ignorant of the provisions of the Act, especially Section 4, which deals with public disclosure. Section 4(1)(b) of the Act provides for voluntary disclosure of all important details of organisation with repeated updates by all ‘public authorities,’ including all government departments. Section 4(1)(c) also mandates that these public authorities “publish all relevant facts while formulating important policies or announcing the decisions which affect the public.” The Act talks about regular publication of these details voluntarily on the internet and through other means. But most departments take a significant amount of time updating some parts on their websites. The activist, however, says a physical inspection of these files was the least they could allow. With sufficient notice, it should have been easy enough for the Public Information Officer to arrange for the inspection, he says. Ten days after this incident, when the Public Information Officer did not follow up on his promise of meeting his request, the activist took up the matter with the State Information Commission, and is awaiting its judgment. The activist says he had similar experience in the Finance Department, relating to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund, and at the Tahsildar offices at Nungambakkam and Mylapore, which he inspected for compliance with voluntary disclosure directives. The direct method for people to obtain information from public authorities is to file a petition. This involves writing a letter, seeking a particular piece of information, with a Rs. 10 court stamp affixed on it. It is mandatory for the Public Information Officer to provide the required information in a month. If a satisfactory reply is not obtained, the petitioner can appeal to the Appellate Authority, and then to the State Information Commission, if he or she is still not satisfied. Section 4 of the Act covers voluntary disclosure by public authorities. The public authority is obliged to provide information to the public on the organisation details, and, in general, on all facts that affect the public. It also requires such authorities to provide reasons for administrative decisions to the affected persons.
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