People still recollect that the Right to Information Act was introduced in the State in the month of February 2011 with extraordinary fanfare. We were assured that any Government functionary not responding to the request of an individual or organization for access to information would be dealt with severely in terms of the Act of Right to Information.
By and large, people of the State began to believe that there was definitely an organ provided by the Government to which complaints or grievances can be brought and which is very likely to do them justice. There is comprehensive philosophy behind the Government of India introducing the Right to Information Act and then pursuing boldly to make it meaningful. It has to be observed that functionaries in various departments and organizations of the Government had developed the habit that something which they considered classified had never to be disclosed. It had become difficult to make them understand that India was no more a British colony and induction of new culture of transparency and openness was very much desired to be there. When the RTI Act was passed, the Government was obliged to constitute Information Commission and provide it with manpower and wherewithal so that it would effectively enforce the right to information philosophy. According to the Act, anybody asking information or status of his or her case pending with the Administrative Departments had to be provided the requisite information. Once the process began, the administration found that some of its powers would become weak and even would lose the teeth. This was felt by the administration as encroachment on their exclusive powers since they have been trained or brought up in a close atmosphere of colonial period. Then something strange happened. The Government brought about amendments in the powers and terms of reference of the Information Commission. Many powers were withdrawn and many were curtailed. In a sense, the Commission was made toothless. That was the task of the bureaucracy as it felt its powers and jurisdiction were threatened and challenged.
Not content with amendments to the powers and authority of the Information Commission, the State Administration adopted lackadaisical attitude towards the Commission by allowing its Chief Information Commissioner and one Information Commissioner to retire and not fill their vacant posts. After the retirement of the CIC in February last, the Commission remained headless and the lone Information Commissioner was shouldering the responsibility of discharging official business of the Commission single handed. It is not very difficult to understand that one Information Commission is not supposed to carry the burden of three officers single handed. Still, he not only contributed along with other two former officers of the Commission in setting up the institution in a befitting manner but also carried the burden of functioning to his full capacity. But he too has reached superannuation and now the organization called State Information Commission is without the head and the tail. It is virtual demise of the Commission. The Government did not even prepare the panel of prospective candidates who could be considered for the position of Chief Information Commissioner and two Information Commissioners.
This is a sad commentary on the thinking of the Government in regard to proper enforcement of the Right to Information Act. By allowing the Commission to wither away, a direct blow has been dealt to the very philosophy of Right to Information. By dealing a body blow to the State Information Commission, the Government has made it sufficiently clear that it is not interested in bringing the state functionaries within the ambit of accountability. The question is how can the Government claim that it is committed to good governance when it has made successful efforts to dry up the Commission? It is betrayal of the trust that people have reposed in the Government that their rights including the right to information will be protected. The Government should immediately move and revive the Commission with full life and energy.
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