JOIN USRTI Act: Only six depts posted with queries
Of the 33 government departments in the State, only six departments in the top order have been petitioned with majority queries under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, according to the statistics available with the State Information Commission.
Addressing the media here on Tuesday, State Information Commissioner Dr Shekar D Sajjannar said that of the total 4,25,475 applications received under Right to Information Act in 2013-2014, 96.84 per cent of the applications have been disposed. Departments like Revenue, Urban Development, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, Transport, Education and Home, account for 77.64 per cent of the total applications. Interestingly, the first three departments in the order constitute 65.23 per cent of applications received by the Commission. The remaining 23 per cent of the applications pertain to 27 departments.
Giving the split figures, the Commissioner said that Revenue department received 1,46,715 applications, while 1,32,353 applications were disposed; followed by Urban Development - 89,026 received and 83,550 disposed; RDPR - 74,001 and 70,839; Transport - 22,718 and 21,773; Education - 21,139 and 20,755; and Home - 12,049 and 12,027.
However, the Commissioner said, 3.16 per cent of the total applicants have approached the commission comprising 2,970 complaints and 10,490 in the form of appeals.
Stating that the Act was on the verge of completing one decade in existence on October 12, Sajjannar said that as many as 62,602 public authorities (offices holding the information) were functioning in the State, followed by 80,000 Public Information Officers (PIOs).
Sajjannar said, during the previous fiscal, the Commission levied penalty of Rs 1.34 crore on the PIOs, with Rs 12.12 lakh among the same awarded as compensation to the applicants. The maximum penalty of Rs 39 lakh has been imposed on RDPR department, followed by Rs 36 lakh on UDD, and Rs 29 lakh on the Revenue department.