Bureaucrats hampering RTI: Study

The intended objective of the Right to Information (RTI) Act is hindered by IAS officers appointed in the State Information Commissions (SIC), according to a study conducted by Society of Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA). “Nearly 58 per cent of Information Commissioners in 20 SICs across eight states are from administrative background, most of them being retired IAS officers. Their dominance in the SICs restrict the access of citizens to information under the RTI Act, because these officials, conditioned as they are to work under secrecy, fail to change their attitude,” the study said.

The study was aimed at assessing the implementation of RTI and its usefulness for the ordinary citizens. It claimed that the RTI Act mostly benefited the upper and the middle class, leaving out a large section of uneducated people from its ambit.

Non-availability of addresses of Information Officers is the biggest hurdle for ordinary people. The study found that the rate of disposal of appeals was dismal in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Jharkhand.