Instead, the RTI activist got dozens of letters in Kannada, Telugu, Oriya, Bengali, Gujarati, and other dialects of Hindi.
All MK Haridas wanted to know was how much the government earned from and spent on the general elections. Instead, the RTI activist got dozens of letters in Kannada, Telugu, Oriya, Bengali, Gujarati, and other dialects of Hindi. He is yet to decipher the scripts on the replies, but judging from whatever he could, every letter says someone has been told to reply to him.
Haridas, president of Proper Channel, a Kochi-based NGO that collects information through RTI, wanted to know the number of candidates that contested the 2004 and 2009 general elections. In his application to the Election Commission (EC) under RTI, he sought to know how much money the government spent on elections and how much it got through the forfeiture of deposits.
EC replied on the third day. In 2004, 5,433 candidates contested the elections, costing the government Rs1,093 crore. This year, the number of candidates was 9,867, but data on cost was not available. EC forwarded the query to electoral officers in 28 states and seven UTs, who in turn gave it to their subordinates.
According to Haridas, the “drama” started when “letters started pouring in from across the country. Most were written in regional languages. The postman was confused. The pincode, too, was written in the regional language”. When he got somebody to read the letters, it was found that his request has been forwarded to someone in the official hierarchy.
“This is a misuse of section 6(3) of the RTI Act, which says that the authority should inform the applicant if the application is being transferred to another authority. “What’s the point if I can’t read it? Officials are failing the Act,” he said. Had the authorities taken the RTI Act in spirit, the applicant would have got a one-page reply in English or Hindi.
Haridas spent Rs10 as application fee, but the stamps on the reply envelopes — 188 till Saturday — are worth Rs3750. Authorities in UP and HP spent Rs25 each on postage to ask Rs2 as extra fee for the information. “Authorities in Jharkhand have sent a rate card asking me to pay Rs1980 to 22 officials for 19 days to collect the information,” he said.
Haridas, who has filed 280 RTI applications so far, wishes he’d not undertaken the latest mission.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}