Memorandum
(For replacement of anti-people Orissa RTI Rules framed under Right to Information Act 2005 by the appropriate, citizen-friendly Rules to be made in due manner in conformity with the mother Act, as resolved in the ‘Workshop on Right to Food and Information’ held at Rajranapur in Nayagarh district on 28/29 December 2005 under the joint aegis of Maa Maninag Jungle Surakshya Parisad and Vasundhara)
Needless to say, the citizens of the country got their legitimate right to access information from all the public authorities through the Right to Information Act 2005, which after being passed in the Parliament came into full force throughout the country including Orissa with effect from 12th of October 2005. To operationalise this historic and uniquely pro-people Act, which aims at maintaining utmost transparency and accountability in the administration at all levels and thereby delivering a clean and corruption-free system of governance, the Central Government and quite many State/UT Governments have framed Rules for their respective domains, as mandated under the parent Act. The State Government of Orissa have also framed the Rules i.e. Orissa RTI Rules 2005 for operationalising the Act in the State, and the said Rules are supposedly in force w.e.f. from 12th of October 2005.
But we are greatly disappointed having gone through the text of the Orissa Rules. On a close scrutiny, the provisions made under these Rules appear to be not only unusable and unaffordable for the common people, but also ultra vires the letter and spirit of the mother Act. We firmly believe, if the said Rules are allowed to stay in force in its current shape, not only the common people shall continue to be deprived of access to official information as ever before, but also the bureaucracy shall be enabled by these Rules to exploit, subjugate and oppress the common people with a renewed vigour using the pretext of implementing the RTI Act.
Hereunder we would like to bring to your kind notice some salient features of the Orissa RTI Rules, that contravene and defeat the wholesome provisions made under the parent law i.e. RTI Act 2005.
1) As for the fee structure under the RTI Act, while the Central Rules have provided for Rs.10/- only as Application Fee, the Orissa Rules have made it just the double i.e. Rs.20/-. As against Rs.2/- only per page of the Xerox/computer print-out fixed by the Central Govt. the Govt. of Orissa have provided for as much as Rs.5/- per page of Xerox and Rs.10/- per page of computer print-out. While there is under the Central Rules no fee provision for the first hour of inspection of the public offices and only Rs.5/- for every second hour, the Orissa Rules have fixed Rs.15/- from the very first hour itself. Again, the Orissa Rules charge as much as Rs.100/- for a CD or a Floppy as against Rs.50/- only for the same fixed by the Centre.
2) The RTI Act in its Section-7(5) has categorically said that no fee shall be charged from the BPL persons for application, cost of providing the information and cost of the print or electronic medium. But the Orissa 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 two fees.
3) 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.’ But under the Orissa Rules an applicant is compelled to disclose the personal details like name of father and spouse and personal details along with submission of a copy of voter card or passport, failing which his/her application shall stand rejected, with the application fee forfeited.
4) As per the Section 7(9) of RTI Act 05, a public authority shall provide the applicant with information in the very form in which it has been sought, and as such the Central Govt. have also prescribed no written application format for the persons to apply for information under the Act. As against this mandate of the parent Act, the Orissa RTI Rules have made compulsory a long, complex and over-demanding application form (The Form-A ) consisting of 11 columns, each of which if not filled up correctly would result in the rejection of the application altogether with the application fee forfeited.
5) The Sections 19(5) and 20(1) of RTI Act categorically say that in any appeal proceedings the burden of proof shall lie on the Public Information Officer against whom a complaint or an appeal is made by the applicant. As against this clear provision, the Orissa Rules-12 provide for the ‘Deposit of Expenditure’ to be made by the complainant/appellant concerned before the Information Commission to meet the costs required for production of evidence and witness.
6) The RTI Act in its Section 19(8b) provides for compensation to be paid by a public authority as and when the citizens suffer any loss or detriment in the process of seeking information. But the Orissa Rules-10 compels a citizen applying for a sample under the Act to pay the entire cost of damage, if any, caused during the process of sample collection by the PIO.
7) There is no provision for any penalty or damage to be paid by a citizen-applicant anywhere under the RTI Act. But the Orissa Rules-13, which is the most draconian of all, provides for realization of penalty, damage or any sum payable under the Act from the citizen by way of confiscation of his/her landed property, if he/she doesn’t pay up the said dues voluntarily within 30 days of the notice for such payment.
8) The Section 7(1) of RTI Act categorically says that an application for information can be rejected only on the specific grounds covered under Sections 8 and 9 of the Act. But the 9-column Form C (Rejection of the Application) under Orissa Rules provides for many more additional grounds, including any ground that the PIO might arbitrarily frame up, for rejecting an application.
9) As per Section 6(1) of RTI Act, an applicant can submit his/her application through email, and as per Section 7(5), a PIO is obliged to transit information through electronic medium. Again, the Section 7(9) says that the information under the Act shall be provided to the applicant in the very form in which it has been sought. But as per the Orissa Rules-4, a citizen may submit his/her application through email, but is not entitled to receive information through email.
10) The Section 7 (3) of the RTI Act provides for the PIO to mention a detail break-up of the amount payable by the applicant along with particulars of the appellate authority before whom the applicant can petition for reviewing the decision of the PIO on the amount of fees so charged or form of access so allowed. But the Form B under Orissa Rules (Letter of Intimation) provides for mentioning only the total cost payable by the applicant, and keeps no space for informing the applicant either about the detail break- up of the payable amount or about his/her right to question the PIO’s decision on amount of fees or form of access.
11) As per the Schedule on Costs and Fees under Orissa RTI Rules, an applicant has to submit the various fees required against the cost of providing information or cost of electronic medium through cash only. Though as per the Rule-4 of Orissa Rules a person can submit his/her application for information through email, and as per the Form A prescribed thereunder, a person can give the option of getting the requisitioned information through post, the Schedule compels a person to physically come to the concerned public office, only for paying the required fees. Such a provision for payment through cash only is simply absurd and unworkable.
Under the circumstances, it is earnestly requested that the current Orissa RTI Rules 2005 which is severely flaw-ridden, anti-people and ultra vires be withdrawn completely, and a fresh set of appropriate Rules be made in tune with the letter and spirit of the RTI Act 2005, based upon the public opinion as required under Section 24 of the Orissa General Clauses Act 1937.
ON BEHALF OF THE PARTICIPANTS OF THE WORKSHOP
Arakhit Sahoo, Secretary Prasant Mohanty
Maa Maninag Jungle Surakshya Parishad, Programme Officer
At/PO- Rajaranapur, Dist: Nayagarh Vasundhara
15, Sahid Nagar, Bhubneswar-7