RTI News HT Lucknow Edition:Stands tall in Karnataka, but can’t walk in UP!

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Lucknow/Stands-tall-in-Karnataka-but-can-t-walk-in-UP/Article1-943524.aspx

Stands tall in Karnataka, but can't walk in UP!
Gulam Jeelani, Hindustan Times
Lucknow, October 12, 2012


First Published: 15:41 IST(12/10/2012)
Last Updated: 15:42 IST(12/10/2012)

While thousands of cases are pending for years in the UP state
information commission, a recent order passed by Karnataka Information
Commission (KIC) has directed a public information officer (PIO) to
provide the information sought under RTI free of charge for missing
the 30- day
deadline.

The order also asked the PIO in the district police office in Bidar
district of Karnataka, to return Rs. 62 that was charged from the
petitioner from Lucknow as photocopy amount.

This order can serve as a precedent for others to follow as for proper
implementation of the landmark transparency act is concerned. More
importantly, even if the petitioner hails from some other state, the
essence of the act remains the top priority. This order assumes
significance as the act enters its eighth year of enactment on Friday.

"The commission directs the PIO, office of the SSP, Bidar district to
pay back this fee of Rs. 62 collected from the petitioner. The
petitioner was entitled to get the information free of charge as per
Section 7(6) of the act," reads the order of KIC (KIC 1854 PTN 2012)
state information commissioner JS Virupakshaiah.

Urvashi Sharma, an activist from Lucknow, filed the plea seeking
details about the condition of traffic in the district. "My friends in
Bidar requested me to file the application," said Urvashi.

"It has perhaps happened for the first time. What matters is the
commission asked charged terming it as the violation of the act,"
Sharma said.

On the contrary, from the time when the act was enacted in UP, till
February 15, 2011, the UP State Information (UPSIC), the state's RTI
watchdog, imposed fine to the tune of Rs. 1.89 crore on public
information officers (PIOs) of government departments, according to
the reply.

Worse, the state government, which is supposed to realise the fines,
has recovered only R 3.39 lakh of this amount, the information
mentioned in the reply, a total of 827 PIOs were fined with varying
amounts. The total amount of fines imposed during the period was Rs.
1,89,31,050.

This is not all. For over two months now three individuals are
managing the 11-member strength UP State Information Commission
(UPSIC).

Not surprisingly then, there is flood of applications from all walks
of life for the coveted posts of information commissioners (ICs). As
of now, eight posts are vacant.

While four of them retired on July 12, another four retired in 2011.
Since then, there has been only one new appointment of Khadijatul
Qubra as a new IC.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Lucknow/Stands-tall-in-Karnataka-but-can-t-walk-in-UP/Article1-943524.aspx