Implementation of the much talked about Right to Services (RTS) Act that chief minister Devendra Fadnavis announced on Day 1 in office is likely to be the responsibility of the state information commission. A draft of the Act is said to be ready and will be put up online soon.
Implementation of the much talked about Right to Services (RTS) Act that chief minister Devendra Fadnavis announced on Day 1 in office is likely to be the responsibility of the state information commission. A draft of the Act is said to be ready and will be put up online soon.
The idea of it being with the commission was communicated by none other than Fadnavis in a meeting he had with information commissioners on January 16. In the meeting, the commissioners had sought various measures to strengthen the functioning of the commission.
"His response to our demands was positive and said the government too was keen on strengthening the commission because it was looking to give the implementation of the RTS Act to the commission instead of instituting another authority. He said soon a meeting will be held to work on the modalities," said Ratnakar Gaikwad, state chief information commissioner.
While Fadnavis was not available for comment, a senior officer present in the meeting gave some reasons. "Most people are filing RTI for information because they need redressal and delivery of services. Information as such does not give them food to eat or home to live. In some cases it does help but in most services are not given to them. That's why we are looking to give the implementation of the RTS to the commission because a lot of it pertains to information and services," said the senior officer.
However, the decision (of handing over RTS implementation to the commission) which the government is contemplating lacks sufficient details on how the state will make it possible.
"Except for Mumbai, the waiting period for second appeals is over a year. I am not sure that by giving the RTS to the commission it will work effectively. RTI may get worse and this too may become problematic. It may not be a bad idea to have secretaries of each department as second appellate authority of sorts for RTS with time limit fixed on hearing of such appeals," said Shailesh Gandhi, former central information commissioner who has been pushing for an effective implementation of RTS.
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