To
The Governor Of Odisha
Bhubaneswar
Sub: Appeal for suitable changes in Orissa RTI Rules- 2005
Honourable Sir,
We the citizens of India would like to bring into your attention the following few obstacles imposed in Orissa RTI Rules which are against the spirit of Right to Information Act. All these obstacles are proving to be big hurdle in accessing information for the people, particularly rural people. These have been pointed out by various social activists several times, but unfortunately no action has been taken so far.
Therefore, we as citizens of India are requesting you to take positive actions by directing Orissa Government to make necessary changes in its RTI Rules, so as to make it more accessible to all sections of public.
« Form A
Only Orissa has a compulsory form for applying for information under section 6. Not only that this form asks for various information regarding the applicant which should not be asked as mentioned in RTI
Act- 2005. Eg- Permanent address, Name of Father/ Spouse, Proof of identity as citizen. RTI Act (Section 6) has clearly mentioned that an applicant can¡¦t be asked to provide any other information in his application than his/her contact details only. Applicants feel threatened in giving these informations. Also availability of the form is a big problem in rural areas.
We want these questions ¡V Permanent address, Name of Father/Spouse, Proof of identity as citizen to be removed form this Form-A and it should be made optional to apply in this form, not compulsory. Similarly
Form D and E for First and Second Appeal also should be made optional, not compulsory.
« Fees and payment modes
There is a fee of Rupees 20/- and Rupees 25/- for First Appeal Second Appeal respectively. Nowhere in India, including for Central Public Authorities there are Appeal fees. Also these appeal fees has to be paid by court fee stamp, which is very difficult for rural public.
Therefore we demand there should not be any appeal fees for both First and Second Appeal.
Again fee for application under Section 6 is to be paid by only cash or treasury challan. Though Information commission has given in its ruling about the acceptability of application fees through other modes like demand draft, IPO etc, since there is no such notification in the Official Gazette has been issued by Government, many offices are not obeying it.
Therefore we demand government circular should be issued to all the offices about acceptability of application fees by other modes like demand drafts, IPO etc.
„« Giving Importance to Section 4
Section 4, which is about public authority¡¦s obligation in pro active disclosure is not being followed by many public authorities.
Particularly, the offices away from the towns or cities do not have any information with them. In many panchayats, even nationalized banks, there are not even signboards of Public Information Officers. Some of the banks are even feigning ignorance about it. However, rural public can access information quicker only through proper implementation of Section 4.
Therefore we demand strict circular from government to be issued to all public authorities, for proper implementation of Section 4. Also signboards about PIO/ Appellate authority should be there in all offices, particularly in rural areas. Also we want rigorous implementation of Orissa RTI (Amendment) Rules 2006, which inter alia obligates each public authority to maintain a register for recording the particulars of visitors seeking suo motu information under Sec-4 of the Act.
We urge you to take immediate actions in these matter as these are not only for protecting our fundamental right, but also to ensure transparency and proper implementation of various schemes and projects that come for people.
Thanking you
Yours faithfully
Loka Adhikar Sammukhya, Kalahandi
NOTE: You are requested by LASK to go through the letter given below and mail it in your organisation/ groups to the governor and a copy to the State Information Commission.
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