Nagpur: If the erstwhile Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was blamed for trying to kill RTI , the present BJP government too is no different. With no regular chief information commissioner (CIC) in the country, over 38,487 cases have piled up with the office in Delhi. Even at decent rate of deciding 250 cases per month, it will take at least five years to clear the backlog even if not a single new case is filed.

There is no full-time CIC since September 2013. The post was managed for one year through additional charge up to September 2014. In the last seven months, there is nobody having even additional charge. The fact has come to light through information sought under RTI by city activist Avinash Prabhune . As of May 7, 2015, total pending cases with Chief Information Commissioner had touched 14,543.

Prabhune said responsibility must be fixed on department of personnel and training (DoPT), working under PMO, for inordinate delay in appointment of CIC. Such delays could not be justified. “The CIC appointment process started in November 2014 but has not been finalized yet. The appointment process should have been started well before September 2013, when CIC was due for retirement,” he added.

The RTI activist stated such delay only helped public authorities and institutes in withholding information. If the matters are not decided for years together the basic purpose of RTI application is defeated and gravity of issues diluted. Prabhune urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to look into the matter. “Failure to sort out disputes under RTI has burdened judiciary. Many litigations can be curtailed if proper information is received quickly,” he said.

Initially, RTI Act helped unearth scams and kept effective check on bureaucracy. It was enacted to provide information to public in order to promote transparency and accountability in the working of authorities, he added.

Important departments dealt with by CIC include president’s secretariat, PMO, Parliament, cabinet secretariat, Supreme Court , high courts, CAG , Election Commission, ministry of defence etc.

INFO DELAYED IS INFO DENIED

Status As Of MAY 7, 2015

Cases With Chief Info Commissioner — 14,543

Ministrywise break up of cases--

Ministry of Defence: 4159

Ministry of HRD : 1575

Indian Air Force: 1498

CBDT: 1126

Supreme Court: 289

UT of Chandigarh: 286

Prime Minister Office : 267

Department of Personnel & Training: 240

Staff Selection Commission : 220

University Grants Commission: 220

Central Vigilance Commission: 192

High Court : 187

CBSE: 183

CAG: 171

Ministry of Commerce: 165

Ministry of Pensions : 165

Kendriya Vidyalaya: 161

Ministry of Steel : 158

Steel Authority of India : 156

Union Public Service Commission : 151

National Thermal Power Corporation : 149

President Secretariat: 148

Ministry of Power : 146

University of Delhi : 129

Ministry of Textiles : 113

AICTE: 111

CBI: 81

Parliament: 80

Other Departments: 2017

CASES WITH INFO COMMISSIONERS

Chief Information Commissioner (Vacant): 14543

Vijay Sharma : 6120

Basant Seth: 3254

Yashovardhan Azad: 4839

Sharat Sabharwal: 4343

Manjula Prasher: 3420

MA Khan Yusufi: 835

MS Acharyulu: 1133

TOTAL = 38,487

