Kalahandi Khadya Adhikar Abhiyan

Statue para, Bhawanipatna, Kalahandi, Orissa – 766 001 E.mail: kkaabpt@rediffmail.com

Date: 21st November 2005

To

Mr. Nabin Pattnaik

Chief Minister, Orissa

Nabin Niwas

Bhubaneswar

Orissa

Sub: Regarding amendment of Orissa Right to Information (RTI) Rules and its replacement by the appropriate, citizen-friendly Rules in conformity with the RTI Act 2005.

Hon’ble Sir,

Greetings from Kalahandi Khadya Adhikar Abhiyan (KKAA)!

Ours is a voluntary and informal network of concerned citizens, activists, NGOs and civil society groups in Kalahandi. We have been involved in the right to food campaign in the district of Kalahandi since 2002.

On 16th November 2005 we had a workshop on Right to Food, Work and Information, at Bhawanipatna where people from all walks of life (teachers, advocates, concerned citizens, voluntary organizations and friends from media) had participated.

All the participants were of the view that the historic Right to Information Act is a great tool for empowerment of the poor and marginalized. But it was a matter of great disappointment for the members present in the workshop to find the gap between the central RTI Act and the RTI Rules framed under it by the Orissa State. The Orissa State Rule is against the spirit of the Central Act. The following are some of the flaws in the State Rules which we would like to bring to your kind notice;

  1. The Rule framed in the State is highly undemocratic as its formulation is not based on consultation with civil society groups and public opinion.
  1. In a state where more than 47% of its people are living below the poverty line,  can we justify the fee regime proposed under Orissa RTI Rules? The prescribed fee structure is also contrary to injunctions given in the Central Act. This fee structure would only dissuade the poor and marginalized citizens from seeking any information from the public servants under the Act.
  1. It seems the provision made under Orissa Rules (13) is designed with an intention to harass the citizens whoever would seek information. There is a provision for confiscating the landed property in case of failure to pay up a sum arbitrarily charged by the officer. We squarely condemn this provision which is totally against the central Act.  
  1. Regarding Exemption of fees for the people living below the poverty line, the Rules have allowed the exemption of application fee only {vide Rule-4(1)}, while depriving the BPL families of their lawful right to avail the exemption of the other fees (photocopy charges and fees for the electronic medium). This  provision of Orissa RTI Rules should be struck down, and the Orissa Rules should allow the exemption of all fees for the BPL persons as prescribed by the central RTI Act.
  1. The Sections 27 and 28 of RTI Act have categorically specified the four kinds of fees only, beyond which no appropriate Government or competent authority can impose any other fees. But the Orissa Rules have prescribed fees like fee for the 1st and 2nd appeals as Rs. 40/- and Rs. 50/- respectively. The Orissa Rule 10 has stipulated that the cost of damage is to be paid by an applicant citizen if any damage is caused by the PIO while collecting sample of any construction work.  Again, the deposit of expenditure for production of witness or documents before the Information Commission as required under the Rule-12 to be made by the appellant is contrary to the provision of the Central Act that the burden of proof should lie on the PIO in any appeal proceedings. These extraneous provisions need to be struck off to bring the Orissa Rules in compatibility with the RTI Act 2005.
  1. It was most astonishing to find the provision under Orissa Rule (Sub-Rule 2 of Rule-4) under Orissa RTI Rules that the Applicant has to satisfy the PIO about his/her identity before his/her application is considered, since the Section 6(2) of the RTI Act categorically says that an applicant ‘shall not be required to give any reason for requesting the information or any other personal details except those that may be necessary for contacting him.’ This is a clear violation of the essence of the Act.
  1. The Application for Information (Form-A) under Orissa Rules is too long, complex and over-demanding one, which would not only frighten away the ordinary members of the public from applying for information under the Act, but is also contradictory to the Central Act.
  1. Again, the Form A Column-8 (Is this information not made available by the Public Authority) is absolutely redundant. It is just a common sense that if a citizen happens to know where a piece of information is available, why should he go at all for applying under the Act by paying fees? Similarly, the Column-7 asking ‘Has this information been provided earlier?’ is simply ridiculous, since a person might ask for the same information again by paying the required fees, if he has somehow lost it. Again, the Column-9 asking, ‘Do you agree to pay the required fee?’ is uncalled-for, since a person may not afford the high price that a PIO shall arbitrarily demand in the Form-B (Intimation for payment).
  1. RTI Act under Section 27(1) says that every ‘appropriate Government may make rules to carry out the provisions of this Act. But the Orissa RTI Rules have conspicuously failed to make the appropriate Rules on the following matters, which need to be made up at the earliest.

o Transfer of an Application for information from one PIO to another PIO when the information asked for is available with the latter, as required under Section-6(3) of the Act.

o Provision for the PIO to help the persons unable to write, in the matter of making his oral request into a written application as required under Section 6(1b) and help the ‘sensorily disabled’ persons to access and inspect the documents as required under Section-7(4) of the Act.

o The provision for procedure and forms necessary for issuing notices to the third party in connection with disposal of an application for third information as required under Section-11 of the Act.

We sincerely request you (the state Govt.) to place a fresh set of draft rules (under the RTI Act) in the public domain for opinion by the members of the public before notifying its final version in the Gazette of Orissa. Before that please make necessary amendments in the Rules already framed and circulate it the civil society groups for their opinion.

Thanking you.

Yours sincerely,

(RAJKISHOR MISHRA)

Convener KKAA

And on behalf of the participants

CC: Collector and District Magistrate Kalahandi for information and necessary action.