A decade of RTI in Nagaland: Reflecting on challenges & transparency
Our Correspondent
KOHIMA, MARCH 5
The Nagaland Information Commission (NIC) today celebrated a decade of the implementation of Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 in Nagaland, reflecting on milestones, challenges as well as questions of transparency in governance after the Act was enforced in the state. The decadal event was held at the Capital Convention Centre, Kohima.
“The RTI Act which was passed as a law to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority has been the most feared and debated law in the country. If one is transparent and accountable, there is no reason why one should be scared of this law, but clearly because there is non-transparency that RTI has become a bit of a nuisance,” says Buckchem Phom the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC).
Marking the tenth-year existence of the Act in the state, the NIC brought out an audit report on proactive disclosures of public authorities (2015-16) and also the report of a study conducted by the Nagaland Voluntary Consumers’ Organization (NVCO) on the impact of RTI in Nagaland. These reports along with the CIC anniversary souvenir were released on the occasion by the Chief Minister TR Zeliang.
“Out of the total number of 92 Public Authorities (PAs) audited, 2 are reflected as highly transparent, 45 reasonably transparent, 43 limited transparency and 2 as poor level of transparency,” Phom had said. He also disclosed that altogether, 16026 RTI applications were received in various PAs in the last 10 years, out of which, 14732 were disposed. These figures do not include the period 2015-16 as the financial year is yet to end and the report for 2015-16 is yet to be received from the PAs, the official mentioned.
The CIC highlighted that the Commission, in its effort to maintain ‘no pendency’ record, disposes second appeals and complaints, but he pointed out that there are some cases which stands inquisitively as pending. These pending cases, Phom said, have been caused by the “deliberate failure” on the part of Public Information Officers (PIOs) and appellate authorities (respondent) and information seekers (appellant) to comply with the decisions of the Commission, making it difficult to close the case. Towards this, he said defaulting PIOs as well as deemed-PIOs were penalized in 36 cases as per the law for not furnishing information to the appellants within the stipulated time, and the accumulated amount of penalties from such defaulting officers stands at Rs.5,70,750, contributing to the state exchequer.
Phom said while several PIOs and First Appellate Authorities (FAAs) have done commendable jobs, some have miserably failed to take cognizance of RTI applications and first appeals, thus not only denying the seekers of getting the materials at the right stage but also burdening the Commission with second appeals for non-compliance.
“Of all the appeals preferred to the Commission, 69% are due to inaction or NO decision of the appellate authorities and 32% are due to UNSATISFACTORY decision of the appellate authorities,” he said.
The official expressed serious concern over the manner in which hurdles are sometimes deliberately created at different levels by contesting implementation of certain sections of RTI Act by giving peculiar interpretations. He said these practices provide us with sufficient reasons to believe that all is not well in the society and the transparency Act is being seen as a threat and not as a “cleansing Act”. Pointing out that accountability cannot be enforced without transparency and the rule of law, Phom asserted that the dynamic success of RTI in promoting good governance will largely depend on fixing a system of effective and better governance and keeping constant matrix of one’s behavioural change rather than simply following the stereotype of furnishing information to the seeker as a routine.
He also mentioned instances of some RTI users being subjected to unwarranted harassment in the hands of certain village councils, the designated PAs under the Act, as well as some frivolous RTI applications misusing the Act to blackmail with ill intentions even to the extent of asking PIOs and PAs for a ‘quid-pro-quo’ in settling the issue. He observed that the best way to prevent such unhealthy practices by the parties involved while using RTI tools is to fully understand the tenets of the Act and confine within the parameters of the law.
“It is reminded that the stakeholders of the Act start performing in a responsible manner, otherwise, the much desired positive impact of this game-changing law on our society will have least significance or nothing,” the CIC asserted.
A plenary session on ‘RTI: Trust Through Transparency’ was held in the afternoon with former Chief Secretary & former CIC Lalhuma, former State Information Commissioner Rev. Dr. Pongsing Konyak and former State Information Commissioner Dr. Kuhoi K Zhimomi as panellists. The session was moderated by Editor Tir Yimyim & president Nagaland Press Association, K Temjen Jamir.
Others who spoke at the event included Chief Secretary Pankaj Kumar and NIC secretary Worhonthung Ezung.
Chief Minister TR Zeliang in his address at the inaugural session of the NIC’s celebration of ‘A Decade of RTI in Nagaland’ on Saturday said that while the RTI Act 2005 is a powerful tool to bring about transparency in public offices by empowering the citizens the right to access information under the control of public authorities, there is a great need to be on guard against misuse of the Act.
He remarked that there have been reports of instances that “unscrupulous people” were misusing the provisions of RTI for extortion of money or for harassment of public officials who do not toe their line. Stating that the NIC should be alert o such kind of misuse, he called upon the Commission to be alert and try to distinguish between genuine information seekers and those who misuse RTI provisions for personal gains or for revenge.
The Chief Minister advocated that while the genuine information seekers need to be backed with strong orders, the latter kind has to be dealt with firmly and be given befitting punishment.
Pointing out that it has been brought to his notice that there are instances where public authorities and PIOs are unnecessarily harassed due to their ignorance of the RTI provisions, Zeliang reminded that the Act requires the public authorities to disclose or furnish that much of information which are available in the records of the department.
“It must be understood that the RI Act mandates and requires every public office to maintain proper records of all their important transactions, their charter of duties including the kind of services they give to citizens,” the Chief Minister said.
He said the real purpose of the RTI Act will be served when the working of the public offices are systematised, better system of record keeping and their retrieval are introduced, when there are more transparency in the decision making processes etc.
The Chief Minister on the occasion congratulated the Nagaland Information Commission on the completion of 10 years of existence and urged upon the officers and staff of the Commission to continue taking proactive measures so that the provisions of RTI Act are better understood, better utilized and better implemented by all concerned.
He also called upon all the people to put their heads together so that the RTI Act will become a useful and effective instrument to the Naga society and bring about good governance in Nagaland.
