A Right to Information (RTI) reply from the office of the chief minister on the number of
files that serve individual interest and private nature says there are no such files.
RTI activist Anil Galgali had sought this information after NCP supremo Sharad Pawar targeted the chief
minister by saying that latter suffered some kind of paralysis while signing files.
Responding to this, Prithviraj Chavan said he had cleared all files of public importance, and only those which served individual interests might be pending.
Galgali filed the RTI query on September 12, seeking to know how many files that violate norms were pending with the chief minister’s Office (CMO) . He also sought details of rejected files and the action taken on officers sending files violating norms or serving individual interests.
The RTI reply stated the chief minister takes individual decision on each files and the files are then sent back to the respective departments. The CMO does not record or maintain details of decisions taken.
According to the reply, the CMO received as many as 28,395 files from 47 departments from November 20, 2010, to October 4, 2010. Of this, 27,135 files were sent back to the respective departments and only 1,260 files are pending with the CM. Besides, the reply pointed out that none of the files were confidential.
On whether action has been taken on officials for sending files violating norms and those that serve individual interest, the reply said it was not possible to give such information as the query concerns classified information.
Hence, it does not come under RTI Act. The Act only entails provision of information which is recorded or descriptive.
Galgali then filed an appeal and sought to know if the CMO does not maintain the records of decision taken or files rejected.
The appeal was rejected and the appellate authority informed him that the files which have chief minister’s remarks or notings are available with the respective departments. If Galgali wanted this information, he may apply to all the 47 departments individually and obtain information of the chief minister’s remarks on individual files.
If records are maintained by the CMO, Galgali said, there will not be any tampering of the CM’s remarks or notings. It will also make it easier to take action against officials pursuing files of individual nature.
Transparency is the name of the game
The CMO received as many as 28,395 files from 47 departments from November 20, 2010 to October 4, 2010. Of this, 27,135 files were sent back to the respective departments and only 1,260 files are pending.
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