Manish Kumar/Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Nov 2: Most RTI activists in the state believe the climate for seeking information from the government is grimmer than in Maharashtra, where an RTI activist was brutally attacked by Shiv Sena supporters in Latur recently.
Unlike Maharashtra and other states, RTI applicants in Orissa are forced to furnish a copy of their identity card along with their applications, which effectively exposes their identities and addresses before the authorities and the vested interests. This is in sharp contrast to the practice with most central government agencies that receive RTI applications online and provide information within the stipulated 30 days. Moreover, the Calcutta High Court ruled in November 2013 that replies of RTI applications could be received at post boxes to shield the applicants’ identities.
RTI activists in Orissa now demand amendment to the prevalent rules that threaten their lives. “To get information through RTI on affairs of the Rashtrapati Bhavan or the central government, we need not furnish a copy of our ID-proof documents. Orissa is one of the few states that makes ID proof mandatory. The Orissa government is also interested in knowing the name of the RTI applicant’s spouse,” said renowned RTI activist Chitta Behera.
RTI activists in the state say such rules and practices expose applicants and make them vulnerable to harassment and even murder by the corrupt. One RTI activist said he had faced many fake accusations because he asked the government some uncomfortable questions through the RTI route.
The state government’s notification of its own RTI rules, christened Orissa Right to Information Rules 2005, brought in some norms that many other states decided not to enforce. Section 27 of the Right to Information Act 2005 mandates that the state government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules to carry out the provisions of the Act.
Government officials in Orissa also often take certain measures that end up exposing the whistleblowers. On the public-government correspondence portal e-despatch, where many official correspondences are uploaded for viewing by anybody interested, RTI applications and also the copies of the applicants’ identity cards are often found uploaded, exposing them to potential harm. Such details often reach the corrupt people against whom information is sought.
The RTI scenario
* In Orissa, RTI applicants need to furnish their identity cards at the time of submitting applications
* RTI applicants in the state also need to furnish the name of their spouse or father in the applications
* These modes are in contrast to the online RTI application facility operational with the central government, where declaration of Indian citizenship is enough.
* Calcutta High Court ruled in November 2013 that RTI replies could be delivered at post boxes to protect identity of info-seekers.
* Section 27 of RTI Act, 2005, allows states to make their own rules to enforce the Act in their territories.
