This RTI reply is a case of serial lies

The officialdom’s reluctance to part with public information sought under the Right to Information Act (RTI) is by now a well known fact. When nodal officers concerned disclose information, they hide more than they reveal, and often end up being penalised by appellate authorities.

However, an RTI reply furnished to an applicant in Devanahalli Taluk near Bangalore is simply shocking as it exposes the utter callousness of the nodal officers responsible for handling RTI applications. The RTI applications in question are about disposal of three applications regarding monthly pension for differently-abled people.

The detailed reply, a copy of which is in the possession of Deccan Herald, on the application is full of surprises that are too good to be true. May be they are true in parts. Sample these: the taluk officials had worked on nine Sundays (April 25, May 9, June 6, June 20, July 4, August 1 and December 12 in 2010, and February 12 and February 20, 2011) in connection with the application.

The claim of working on nine Sundays is not all. The reply indicates that they had worked on two second Saturdays (April 10 and May 8 in 2010) as well.

And, in one case, the office concerned received the RTI application on a Sunday (January 30, 2011) and cleared it after two weeks—again on a Sunday (February 13, 2011). But this one takes the cake. The taluk officials even worked on a non-existent day - February 29, 2010.

Be informed that in 2010, being a non-leap year, there were only 28 days in February.
The officials concerned, as per the reply, cleared three applications on the pension claim for even before they were submitted. On February 29, 2010 (the day that did not exist), they gave a written explanation for rejection of the pension claims. But the three applications, according to the reply, were received by the office much later—two applications on July 6 that year and the third one on July 12.

The lies go on. The officials stated that nine applications were received on January 30, 2011, a Sunday. And, then on May Day, when the government offices were closed, these officials cleared applications. They also worked on September 10, 2010, and November 1, 2010—the first one was again a government holiday for Ramzan, and the second one, too, was a holiday on account of Karnataka Rajyotsava.

When contacted by Deccan Herald, the taluk office confirmed that it had provided a 14-page reply to the RTI applicant seeking detailed information on the issue on December 19, 2011. The seemingly serial lies in the reply apart, the applicant is yet to receive the relevant information that was sought through the application.