Dehradun, dated 22 August 2024, Today, Chief Information Commissioner in-charge Vivek Sharma, while addressing a press conference at the Information Rights Bhawan Ring Road Auditorium, gave information about the future plans and programs of the Commission. On this occasion, Information Commissioners Vipin Chandra and Yogesh Bhatt along with Secretary Information Commission Arvind Pandey were present.
Chief Information Commissioner in-charge Vipin Sharma said that with the aim of encouraging Public Information Officers and First Appellate Officers for effective implementation of the Right to Information Act in the state, the State Information Commission will reward five Public Information Officers for better disposal of request letters and three Appellate Officers for effective disposal of first appeal on the occasion of RTI Day.
With the aim of helping Public Information Officers deal with the practical difficulties in disposing of information request letters of the general public under the Right to Information and to give information about the provisions of the Act, 2 workshops will be organized every month department-wise at the Commission Headquarters. With the aim of increasing awareness among the general public about the Right to Information and to make good use of it in public interest, the Commission will organize awareness programs through law colleges and higher education institutions.
In the same sequence, a state level debate competition and discussion will be organized on the occasion of RTI Day.
The State Information Commission, with the objective of creating a positive environment regarding the Right to Information and increasing awareness about the Right to Information among the general public, informed about the innovative initiative being started by the State Information Commission during a joint press conference at the State Information Commission headquarters by Chief Information Commissioner-in-charge Vivek Sharma and State Information Commissioners Vipin Chandra and Yogesh Bhatt.
In the press conference, Chief Information Commissioner-in-charge Vivek Sharma said that there is a need to increase awareness about the Right to Information among the general public in the state and to make the Public Information Officers competent. For this purpose, the Commission has taken some important decisions. According to the Chief Information Commissioner-in-charge, Uttarakhand is in a much better position regarding the implementation of the Right to Information Act.
Out of the total request letters received in the state, second appeal / complaint is being made by the requesters in only 4 percent of the cases. This means that the information requesters are satisfied with the disposal being done by the Public Information Officers and Departmental Appellate Officers and they are receiving information on time.
The Commission has provided the facility of online request, first appeal, complaint and second appeal to the citizens in the month of January, 2024, which is being availed by the concerned parties as per their convenience. Apart from this, there is no obligation for the appellants and complainants as well as departmental officers to come to the Commission to present their side in the complaint and second appeal registered in the Commission. Appellants / complainants can present their side in the Commission through Google Meet or phone call (hybrid mode). Links have been provided on the Commission’s website to connect through hybrid mode in all the benches. The general public and departmental officers are saving their time, labor and money by making full use of the hybrid facility.
An application is being prepared to provide SMS / e-mail facility for registration of second appeal and complaint received by Uttarakhand Information Commission, date of hearing, uploading / giving information about copies of final / interim orders. A new application is being prepared on the Commission’s website to make the registration of second appeal / complaint more easy. The above facilities will be started for the use of the general public on the occasion of the 19th anniversary of the Right to Information Act.
While informing about the disposal of appeals/complaints, the Chief Information Commissioner-in-charge said that during the period from 01.04.2023 to 31.03.2024, a total of 6637 cases were heard by the Commission and 3960 cases were disposed of. On 31.7.2024, a total of 951 cases are pending for hearing in the Commission.
During the period from the establishment of the Commission to 30.06.2024, the Commission has also imposed a penalty of Rs. 2,92,24000 in 2264 cases. During this period, compensation of Rs. 5,27000 has also been provided to the applicants in 123 cases.
Out of the amount of Rs 2 crore 92 lakh 24 thousand in 2264 cases of penalty/compensation, the Public Information Officers have recovered only Rs 1 crore 5 lakh 31 thousand.
