Three lakh and counting: RTI pleas pile up at information commissions across India

Source: The post is based on the article “Three lakh and counting: RTI pleas pile up at information commissions across India” published in The Hindu on 12^th October 2022.

What is the News?

According to a private report, after 17 years of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, nearly 3.15 lakh complaints and appeals are pending with 26 information commissions across India.

What is the present status of RTI complaints and appeals?

Incremental backlogs: The backlog of appeals or complaints is increasing in commissions every year. The number of appeals and complaints pending in 2019, from data obtained from 26 information commissions was 2,18,347. In 2022 the number was 3,14,323.

The large backlog of cases has resulted in a long waiting time for disposal.

States with high backlogs: The highest number of pending cases was in Maharashtra (at 99,722), followed by Uttar Pradesh (at 44,482), Karnataka, the Central Information Commission and Bihar.

Defunct information commissions: Two information commissions—Jharkhand and Tripura—out of 29 across the country have been completely defunct for 29 months and 15 months respectively.

Lack of enough manpower: Several information commissions, including the Central Information Commission, are working at reduced capacity with less than the stipulated number of members being in office.

Another report mentions that one-fourth of information commissioner posts are vacant and there are only 5% (only 8) women information commissioners in the country.