JOIN USBengaluru may pride itself as the IT capital of the country, but when it comes to extension of public services online, the state has a long way to go, though it does have the credit of pioneering projects such as Sakaala and Bhoomi. Nearly a year after the government, based on a Supreme Court order, announced that Right to Information (RTI) applications can be filed online, only six of the 39 secretariat offices have enabled the online process so far.
Civic agencies like Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA), where public interface is the maximum, are yet to go online in this respect. It is a sad commentary on bureaucrats implementing the project that even the offices of the chief minister and the chief secretary have not been enabled for RTI online. The online service would have been a boon to the common man, especially RTI activists, during these testing times. Indeed, even the Department of Health and Family Welfare, which should have been among the first to open RTI online during the pandemic, hasn’t done so.
While the government claims that the delay is due to a glitch in the payment gateway, doubts arise about the real reason, considering the bureaucracy’s typical aversion to parting with information. At a time when even petty shopkeepers have gone digital, it is inconceivable that the government, with all its might and resources, is unable to resolve an insignificant issue like including a payment gateway.
Apparently, this is because the RTI application is currently hosted by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) and cannot be linked to the state’s treasury software, Kajane-2. While officers claim that all issues will be resolved once the application is shifted to the state data centre, it is obvious that the will to do so has been clearly lacking for over a year now.
Though RTI was made a law to ensure transparency, there has been an increasing tendency to block information, often citing inexplicable reasons. The ease of online RTI services would go a long way in holding politicians and bureaucrats accountable, something that the ruling class, understandably, does not relish. The government should set a definite deadline and ensure that all departments, public sector undertakings and corporations start the online RTI process at the earliest.
Any more dilly-dallying will only confirm doubts that the delay is deliberate and aimed at curtailing the free flow of information. A government that has no skeletons to hide in its cupboard should not be afraid of subjecting itself to public scrutiny.